TODAY'S CONSIDERATIONS
ANNOUNCEMENTS
1. Following eye surgery, clear focusing has not returned and eye strain results from anything other than minimal exposure to a computer screen; hence, the post today will be brief.
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."
DISSOCIATION
In psychology, the term "dissociation" describes a wide array of experiences from (1) mild detachment from immediate surroundings to (2) more severe detachment from physical and emotional experiences.
The major characteristic of all dissociative phenomena involves a detachment from reality, rather than a loss of reality (as in psychosis). Dissociative experiences are further characterized by a variety of maladaptive mental constructions rooted in an individual's imagination.
Levels of dissociation can be charted along a continuum. In mild cases, dissociation can be regarded as a coping mechanism or a defense mechanism in seeking to master, minimize or tolerate stress or boredom or conflict.
Toward the more pathological end of the continuum, dissociation can describe common events such as daydreaming while driving a vehicle, but further along the continuum, there can be so-called “altered states of consciousness” which are highly touted among some Eastern seekers or Westerners who would be like Eastern seekers. The more accurate term in such cases would be "warped or blocked states of consciousness and unconsciousness."
Dissociative disorders are sometimes triggered by trauma but may be preceded by stress, by the use and abuse of psychoactive substances, by no identifiable trigger at all, or by trying to follow a “path” to “Realization” which has subsequently gone horribly awry (often as a result of the nonsense heard and accepted as presented by those whom Maharaj warned seekers to stay away from, namely, those he referred to as “Big Name Teachers.” Why?
Because they are “popular,” and since persons who make up the populous are almost all trapped in the Ultimate Sickness, then the fact that those teachers are being followed and endorsed by the masses who are trapped in ignorance and insanity is hardly a viable endorsement.)
More pathological dissociation involves dissociative disorders, including a depersonalization disorder with or without alterations in personal identity or sense of self (which is not about denying that false identities should be discarded but rather involves giving any validity to valid elements of the AM-ness, to valid elements of the present relative existence). These alterations can include: a sense that self or the world is unreal;
forgetting identity or assuming a new self (fugue) or a New Supreme Self; and fragmentation of identity or self into separate streams of consciousness which produces suffering as a result of developing multiple personality disorders or accepting "a good or great identity" to replace "not-as-good or even bad identities."
Again, the psychological understanding of this mental phenomenon does not preempt the discarding of all false identities and false selves.
When such misperceptions and distortions manifest, not as what is taken to be “the understanding” but which manifest as a result of being driven by non-neurotypical thinking because of misunderstanding, then whatever “benefit” one might think he or she has attained will prove to be a major liability in terms of transitioning throughout the remainder of the manifestation of consciousness and the remainder of the relative existence.
[Not that the Neurotypical Syndrome is to be “preferred” either, for it, too, is a serious mental disorder affecting many nowadays. Symptoms include inflated ego, mob formation, and a readiness and willingness to follow unquestioningly the suggestions which come from those trapped in the symptoms of the Ultimate Sickness which Maharaj identified as “ignorance, stupidity, and insanity.”]
To be continued.
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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.
