TODAY'S CONSIDERATIONS
ANNOUNCEMENTS
1. [See the offer in gold text 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]
2. 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 green text after today's post for the full meaning and implications of that.
3. 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." (See the details in the blue text after this post.)
The point in this series is that the non-dual message has long been widespread but has seldom been understood either then or now.
To continue with . . .
NON-DUAL POINTERS IN THE WRITINGS OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
QUOTATIONS #3 and #4
“O what a goodly outside falsehood hath.”
and
“All that glitters is not gold.”
Shakespeare often addressed in his plays the lie of “appearance” vs. the truth of reality. He warned against accepting the “outside” as an indicator of what the “inside” was like. The lie—the “falsehood”—is always based in an outer appearance, in an outer power, in an outer resource. In fact, he saw that the "outside" (the physical body) and the "inside" (the supposed "mind") were both lies.
The trophy wife—not unlike the trophy—might glitter on the “outside,” but what (via closer inspection) does one discover is on the inside . . . within the trophy? Likewise, the dominant male—often believed to be a great catch before the acquiring—can prove to be something quite different after the acquiring.
How many persons have you thought to be one way in the early going, only to find later on that they were quite different from the image being shown? How many have thought you to be one way in the early going, only to find later on that you were quite different from the image being shown?
A man named Bill Wilson wrote, "It is being constantly revealed, as mankind studies the material world, that outward appearances are not inward reality at all." Just as what appears to be a steel beam to the naked eye can be seen to be something quite different when observed via an electron microscope, so it is with persons, so it is with trees, so it is with cars, so it is with everything observable: nothing is as it appears.
Everything is something quite different from its appearance. The Realized are aware that everything is only one thing, so all the varied appearances have to be illusions. Do you take the multiplicity to be real? Do you believe that appearances have anything to do with truth?
Do you think everything that glitters is gold, or have you come to understand that whatever glitters is only fool’s gold? Do you know what That is which is the unicity beyond the seeming multiplicity? Are you consistently able to see past the “goodly outside” and past the glitter and see the reality instead, or are you still being fooled on occasion? If so, how often are you being fooled by “others,” and how often are you just fooling yourself?
QUOTATION #5
“One touch of nature makes the whole world kin.”
Revisit these two questions: (1) Do you take the multiplicity to be real? (2) Do you know what That is which is the unicity beyond the seeming multiplicity?
How is it that the “one touch of nature” can make “the whole” kin? Because that most basic ingredient in nature that makes all manifestation possible is but One. The whole is One. All is One. Understand how everything on this planet evolved from only one single atom (and how this entire universe evolved from one single atom) and you’ll begin to grasp the understanding of the Functioning of the Totality.
Even “kin” goes too far because of its implication of duality, as if this thing or person is “kin” to that thing or person. There is no “relationship,” ever, since all is One. Nothing is “relating.” All just is, and all is just One. So why do persons always eventually end up feeling “torn” or feeling as if they are being “shattered into a million pieces”?
(A) Because they have been programmed that way, to believe that they are many things and because
(B) everything they think they are—even role assumed as an identity—has multiple agendas and perceived needs and demanding expectations and unmet demands and
(C) because every one of those roles has dozens of requirements and needs and
(D) because each has a "voice" that constantly "talks" to you about all its needs. That means that persons are constantly exposed to the sounds of hundreds and hundreds of internal voices and the pressures of hundreds and hundreds of perceived needs being generated by each false role.
That leads persons to give credibility to all those voices and thus feel shattered into many pieces. The insanity is that persons believe that dozens and dozens of roles can actually define who they really are. They believe that multiple personas can equal one true identity. They believe that multiplicity can equal unicity.
Persons are taught to believe that they are many things instead of one thing. They are told that they are a baby, a child, a pre-teen, a teen, an adult, a senior, a spouse, a homeowner, an employee or an employer, an acquaintance, a friend, a helper, a lover, a husband, a wife, an enemy, a mortal enemy, a bill payer,
a Jew or Christian or Advaitin or Mormon or Muslim (ad infinitum), a spiritual giant, a good religious person, an invalid, an alcoholic, an addict, a leader, a farmer, a car owner, a provider, a citizen, a devotee, a Realized person, a teacher, a good person, a guru, a bad person, a jnani, a knower, a seeker, the knowledgeable one,
the answer man, the savior, a prostitute, a saint, a gift from god, a special one, a guide, a father, a mother, an aunt, a cousin, a sister, a brother, an American, a Frenchman, an Afghan, an Iranian, a Syrian, a North Korean, etc., etc., etc.
And it is the erroneous belief that all of those assumed identities can actually define who you really are that also generates a sense of separation as well as egotism and hatred. Those, in turn, provide the platform from which all fighting and war is launched.
The understanding of that “one touch of nature” eradicates all misperceptions of separation and duality. It is that one touch of nature, a touch that never amounts to anything more than an act of friction, that allows nature to function the way nature functions in its totality.
Whether that act of friction happens between two humans, two bird, two snakes, two gnats, or any of the pairings that can pair, fertilization happens and that one touch allows conscious-energy to manifest. All is That (and is nothing more), and that touch has been happening repeatedly and will continue to happen repeatedly.
Only the variance in vibrational patterns accounts for the “appearance” which That seems to take. Only the variance in the pulsation of the manifested conscious-energy allows subjects to perceive objects as being different when they are in fact all the same. Do you understand that one touch? Do you understand that the whole really is . . . whole?
QUOTATIONS #6 and #7
“Life is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing”
and
“It’s all much ado about nothing.”
[First, understand that the poet was not calling persons "idiots." Why? Because he knew that there are no "persons" and that the term was merely another label used to point at the blocked consciousness that cannot know Truth and that will accept and repeat falsehoods instead. Too, when you read in upcoming passages that Krishna spoke of "fools," he too knew that there are no persons . . . that there are those specks of consciousness that have been blocked, that have been fooled.]
It has been noticed that persons have reacted most to discussions of three subjects more than any other: One is their religious and / or spiritual personas which they take to be so sacred that they think even mention of those false identities should be avoided.
The second is a discussion of the arrogance that accompanies all of their egotism-supported ego-states. The third is any talk which reveals how they meet Krishna’s definition of being “fools.” Now, add to that Shakespeare's definition of behaving as an "idiot." If “you” feel offended by any pointers offered in the postings over the next few days, the suggestion is that you find WHO thinks she/he is being attacked, find the falsity of that persona, and then move on . . . or not.]
One seeker asked: (1) Do you think everything that glitters is gold, or have you come to understand that whatever glitters is only fool’s gold? and (2) Are you still being fooled on occasion? If so, how often are you being fooled by “others,” and how often are you just fooling yourself? As you conduct your day-to-day activities, do you cross paths with some people whom you take to be fools?
“Do you cross paths with some persons whom you take to be idiots? Do you find yourself using the phrase, "Look at that idiot!" more and more? Only persons—the non-Realized—can be fooled. Only persons—the non-Realized—can behave as idiots. How did Krishna define "a fool”? How did Shakespeare define "an idiot”?
Krishna said, “Those alone who understand that I, the Absolute, am beyond the states of being and non-being realize my true nature, and all others are fools.” So Krishna suggested that fools can be known by these facts:
1. Fools - those fooled - do not understand that states-of-being (of believing that they are being “this” or being “that” and playing roles and accepting them as a true identity) are false.
2. Fools do not know that, post-manifestation, there is no beingness or even non-beingness. There is no false self that will be; nor is there any Self that will be, so there is not any Infinite Self or Supreme Self that will be, either. Nothing with an identity or shape or defined space will be. No selfness (or Selfness) exists. Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj made clear that, ultimately, he had no identity at all.
Only That which is beyond both beingness and non-beingness shall remain. All that there will be is the unmanifested energy in the universal pool, and those who do not understand that truth are fools (that is, they are persons who have been fooled by taking the dreamed up beliefs of other humans as gospel. One famous social critic said, "There is no belief that has been dreamed up by men that is worth believing").
Reviewing Shakespeare’s quote above, one can see he suggests that "idiots" - those who have been fooled - can be known by these facts:
1. They tell tales about “life” and they believe that “life” is real and is exactly as they perceive it.
2. They are full of sound and fury (because egotism—which is generated by taking ego-states to be true identities—always loves the sound of being heard and because the frustration of ego-states’ unlimited fears, unmet desires and unreasonable expectations always generates fury in persons.
Hell hath no fury like any egomaniac assuming an ego-state and imagining that it is being scorned or not being shown due "honor").
3. They do not know that it all signifies nothing (that is, that “it don’t mean a thing” and that only fools make mountains out of molehills and then live in the darkness of the valleys they create).
To be sane is to be in touch with reality. To be sane is to not be a fool. To be sane is to not think or act like an idiot. To be sane is to know what is real and what is not. This “life” is not the real. What persons call “life” is nothing more than a chain of perceptions made by uninformed observers, and no two observers will perceive it the same way.
Thus, that which is supposedly observed is not real at all but is illusion instead. When you “die,” the world ends. When you "die," I "die." Why? Because “anyone” you think you know is only a perception in your “mind,” an image you have formed that is not real.
When you “die,” the image of me, or all others, ends. Thus, the world as you perceive it is an image that is unique to you. No other person perceives the world exactly as you do, so it is an image. "The world" is never anything more than a view that varies from one person to the next.
There is no “one” who is “in the world.” The world is in you, in your “mind.” When you die, the image ends. All is subject to relative interpretation and distorted perception, so it cannot be real. To not know that makes persons foolish and drives them to behave in idiotic ways.
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"
--Yeshu'a (Jesus)
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.
[That said, would that the popes who have shown the courage to reject a core concept of their dogma - namely, "hell" - would find the additional courage required to question the very existence of their institution in light of the centuries-long cover-up of their history of raping children and in light of the mental and emotional and psychological scarring of billions of their members past and present.
And that need for courage also applies as questions need to be asked about why so many other sky cults are still being supported and allowed to continue to exist as well. When certain types of programming and conditioning have been shown to blind the masses, they should end. Will they? Not likely. Why?
Because what the masses think and say and do is most influenced by the international crime families which hold sway over the masses as criminals conduct their planet-wide operations. What are the major international crime families and which are the most influential and have the largest memberships?
The Mafia / La Cosa Nostra; the Catholic Church (with it 1.2 billion followers) whose Vatican Bank worked for decades with the Mafia while laundering mob earnings (for a 15% all-profit charge by the Bank); Protestant and Evangelical Churches (with over 1.2 billion followers) like the one I was raised in where the youth director molested and sexually assaulted young girls; big business which has long created environments in which people have been abused; powerful political bodies like the U.S. Congress, etc., etc., etc.)
With all of those crime families, neither the followers nor the leadership ever voluntarily step down or shut down their criminal activities. Be they gangs, organized crime families, religions, big business, politicians, etc., they all want control and they all want power and they all want money, and nothing internal will interfere with the driving forces at play.
The masses must demand that all those in charge must step down and their groups and institutions must shut down, and there's the real problem because the continuation of their crimes are enabled not as much by the people running such crime organizations as they are enabled by the masses of people who - wanting some perceived "payoff" - remain involved with them and give them money and support them and aid and abet the continued existence of those criminal enterprises and thus facilitate the ability of church criminals and political criminals and other types of criminals to continue to commit their crimes.]
Here's
the direct link to the VIDEO VERSION
of the "Awakening Together" satsang session with Regina and Jacqueline referenced earlier, 18 MARCH 2018
https://youtu.be/k24ro24uMbo
If preferred, here's
the direct link to the AUDIO VERSION
of that session.
https://awakening-together.org/awakening-together-satsang-with-floyd-henderson/
