TODAY'S CONSIDERATIONS
ANNOUNCEMENTS
1. Following eye surgery, clear focusing has not returned and eye strain results from anything other than a brief exposure to a computer screen; moreover, two follow up procedures must be arranged to "fine tune" the effects of the surgery; hence, the postings will be brief for awhile.
2. [See the offer following this post for details on how you can watch a retreat on video which includes a detailed discussion of all seven of the steps on the path as used by Maharaj]
3. Here, with those who are still driven to talk about "God," the "Son of God," the "Holy Spirit," "Buddha," "Krishna," etc., etc., etc., the invitation to them is to view those as verbs, not nouns. See the end of the post for the full meaning and implications of that.
4. A new video ("Number Ten: Awakening Together Satsang, March 2018") has now been added in the far right column of this page, offering the opportunity to view a recent 2018 satsang session with Floyd being interviewed by Regina and Jacqueline of "The Awakening Together Group."
A site visitor said: "Everyone is fanatical about something - Maharaj was fanatical about non-duality - you're fanatical about non-duality."
If one observes the prerequisites discussed yesterday which are required for fanaticism to manifest, it should be clear to the wise that the issue which humankind needs to address is not fanaticism but involves all of the causes of fanaticism.
There is not a single seeker who has ever heard me advise, "You need to stop being fanatical" or "You need to get treated for your fanaticism." There are many, on the other hand, who have heard me advise them to consider the possibility that they are being driven by an obsessive mind (and by the Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder) and that they might consider seeking treatment for those since they are resulting in fanatical thinking and talking and behaving."
That was the hidden message - presented succinctly in ten words - from the Cherokee sage I visited in Santa Fe (the details of which regular visitors to the site are familiar with). His words to me, after I explained all I had done and all I intended to so in the future, were "Well then. You're going to be a very busy boy."
First, as for Maharaj:
During his "Forest Dweller Stage" and his "Seeking Stage," the presence of an obsessive personality was obvious. He tried to pass on the non-dual understanding to one and all, whether they had invited him to do so or not.
Later, as he cast aside some of the final personal identifications - including "The Super Religious" identity and "The Spiritual Giant " identity and the "Super Seeker" identity - he exhibited less and less obsessiveness.
He conducted a morning session in the loft, then often went for a ride in the countryside with a friend who owned a car; he sat on the banks of the various creeks and rivers in Bombay / Mumbai and observed nature at play; in the afternoon, he opened the loft again to visitors and then spent the remainder of the day sharing meals with friends or enjoying the quiet.
The obsessiveness became less and less prevalent. In the end, it disappeared.
The same pattern had unfolded here.
It was 43 years ago in 1975 that a professional said to me, "You might consider the possibility that they are being driven by an obsessive mind and that you need to be treated for the Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder because it's resulting in your behaving fanatically." He said it, but I could not hear it. Why? For one, because he wanted to prescribe synthetic lithium, and after I researched the side effects of that drug, I ignored everything else he said as well.
It was 29 years ago that another man said to me words that were similar: "You might consider the possibility that they are being driven by an obsessive mind and that you need to be treated for the Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder because it's resulting in your behaving fanatically." He said it, but I could not hear it. Why? Because he told me that "being close to God would eliminate the Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder," but I saw that he and his mates who were supposedly close to God were some of the most obsessive people on the planet.
Then a woman diagnosed the same problem which the two men had seen earlier, but when she mentioned a short-term use of lithium, I rejected her advice and told her why, cataloguing all of the negative effect of synthetic lithium. Her reply: "I agree, that's why I've never prescribed that. Instead, my clients understand what Spinoza said, that there is not a body and a mind but that there is a body-mind and that imbalances and deficiencies in the makeup of the body and its chemistry can affect how the mind functions and how persons feel and behave." (Maharaj said the same.)
She said, "OCD is as much an issue regarding body imbalances and deficiencies as it is a mind issue, so my clients address that issue with an all-natural food supplement . . . a non-synthetic, all natural form of lithium. You could try it for ninety days and if you don't see and feel the level of freedom which my other clients have found, it's non-addictive so you can stop. Meanwhile, there are also other understandings regarding the mind and personality disorders which you can seek which can provide a deeper understanding of what is happening with your mind and body and how to bring about increased healing."
I tried it and the results have been a permanent state of freedom from the mind and freedom from the ravages of personality identification as well. It was a missing piece. Grandmother's words came back; Maharaj's pointers became clear; the points behind the non-dual messages offered by Yeshu'a were understood. Between the use of natural supplements and a deeper understanding of the causes of obsessive thinking and talking and behavior, all of that stopped. True peace started.
Nowadays, when able, I spend a brief time posting certain pointers on a blog site. After that, non-duality is not considered again for 24 hours even as non-dual, nisargan, natural abidance happens during those hours.
Occasionally, a friend and I might discuss the role which the non-dual understanding plays in the dancing lightly which we enjoy and the dancing lightly which we see others enjoying if they have attained the understanding.
Nowadays, the non-dual understanding determines the way that every aspect of the relative existence happens, but all happens without thinking or considering non-duality. Mind-free and personality-free abidance simply happens spontaneously and automatically.
Moreover, I do not discuss non-duality with my daughter (except in some cases where she seeks advice and what is offered might be steeped in the non-dual understanding without non-duality per se being discussed). I do not discuss non-duality with other relatives. I do not discuss non-duality with neighbors.
The same was the case with Maharaj.
The rear wall of his flat and loft was attached to the rear wall of the building on the street behind him which happened for a time to house a brothel. No one in that establishment - where women (trapped in body identification) worked and where men (driven by body identification) paid for their services - had the slightest clue about the non-dual-related activities being conducted on the other side of the back wall of their building.
Maharaj did not go about the neighborhood trying to pass on the understanding to those who did not invite him to do so. He abided spontaneously and offered the non-dual understanding for limited periods during the day and only to those who came to find it. The rest of his day was not pre-occupied with non-duality except to the degree that the understanding determined - spontaneously - whatever happened throughout his day.
It matters not what "Maharaj" had early on. It matter not what "Floyd" had early on. It matters not what you had early on, though it can certainly matter - relatively speaking - what you have now.
What matters now is what persons no longer have - what they no longer believe - what they have cast aside - what they are now free of - not what they have learned but what they have unlearned - not what they were taught but what they have been un-taught - and not what was driving them before but what is no longer driving them at all.
And even that can matter only now, during the AM-ness, during this Beingness stage, not later during the THAT-ness stage which is beyond both the Beingness and the Non-Beingness as well.
To be continued.
THE NEWEST OFFER:
Watch an updated seven-hour streaming video of a retreat with Floyd Henderson which can be viewed by anyone with internet access. (In this video, all seven of the steps on "the path" as taught by Maharaj are explained and discussed.)
If interested; click the button below to pay the fee via PayPal. You will then receive an email which includes the link for you to view the private, unlisted video via an arrangement we have made with YouTube, Inc. You do not have to have a YouTube account to watch this privately streamed video.
(If you do not receive the link promptly, your computer or email provider may have high filter settings. Check your spam and trash folders because some providers automatically transfer emails containing links to those folders.)
To access the seven-hour streaming video of a retreat and begin watching right away, click this "Buy Now" button:
Please enter into the silence of contemplation.
[NOTE: The four most recent posts are below. You may access all of the posts in this series and in the previous series and several thousand other posts as well by clicking on the links in the "Recent Posts and Archives" section.]
In addition to the five non-duality books made available without charge by Andy Gugar, Jr. (see “FREEBIES” above), you can now access nearly 3,300 posts for any topics of interest to you.
Here, with those who are still driven to talk about "God," the "Son of God," the "Holy Spirit," "Buddha," "Krishna," etc., etc., etc., the invitation to them is to view those as verbs, not nouns.
THE EXPLANATION
If looked at as nouns, they point to illusions and are, therefore, a total waste of time to even discuss; if looked at as verbs which are resulting in certain sane but rare behaviors among humanity, then they are worthy of some attention during the relative existence.
Meaning? There are members of certain groups who say things such as "My concept of God in the past was of a weak God, an absentee God, A Santa Claus-type God, a mean, punishing, vindictive God, etc. Today, I am in close contact with a loving and caring God whom I worship and praise and glorify and give thanks to."
The reply to that usually goes like this: "If you are in contact with a God that wants to be worshipped and praised and glorified, then you're dealing with someone like yourself - a narcissist - and hanging out with narcissists will never bring an end to your narcissism (that narcissism evidenced by the fact that you think you are "godly").
Next, in the phrase 'loving and caring God,' any supposed God that truly had her or his act together would tell you that the totally irrelevant part of that phrase is 'God' and that the only part that is relevant is the "loving and caring" part.
"That is, a non-narcissistic god / goddess would say, "I care not an iota about being worshipped and praised and glorified by you or anyone else. How arrogant and insecure and needy would I have to be to want that? Forget the man-made, dreamed up noun 'God' and focus on the 'God as a verb' understanding and then go forth and let loving and caring be verbs - not adjectives - and let them generate the act of love and the act of caring and let those actions manifest through you."
Yeshu'a (Jesus) and Pope John Paul II and Pope Francis were spot on:
"No one shall ever see 'the kingdom of heaven.' It is within"
and
"Heaven and earth shall fade away."
--Yeshu'a (Jesus)
and
"Heaven and hell are not geographic places but are states of mind, nothing more than concepts dreamed up by men."
--Pope John Paul II
"There is no hell."
--Pope Francis, the current pope
[in an interview with journalist Eugenio Scalfari,
a writer used by the Pope to issue off the record
teachings \
which become a part of the Papal Magisterium]
Here's
the direct link to the VIDEO VERSION
of the "Awakening Together" satsang session with Regina and Jacqueline referenced earlier, 18 MARCH 2018.
If preferred, here's
the direct link to the AUDIO VERSION
of that session.
