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.)
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ENTERING INTO "THE CHILD IGNORANCE STAGE" OR "THE CHILD NO-KNOWING STATE"
[Included are excerpts from the book entitled The Relative Results of Returning to "The Child Ignorance Stage" or "The Child No-Knowing State"]
The Relative Toll of Assuming Personalities / Personas As Actual Identities
When Maharaj was offering a seven-step path to follow, the first three steps were about being freed of belief in false identifications - including body identification, mind identification, and personality identification - by seeing the relative toll of accepting those false identities as real.
A. Those three steps address the fact that persons become separated from what can be called “Reality” for the sake of discussion.
The term "Reality" can refer to that which is permanent (as opposed to everything involving the temporary, relative existence) and that which, in actuality, is; the term can also refer to that which is authentic and that which can be seen if (a) the truth which can be known but cannot be expressed is understood and if (b) awareness manifests and allows for an understanding the functioning of the totality.
The term can deal with Pure Witnessing as opposed to relativistic subject-object witnessing; can deal with manifesting and unmanifesting; with beingness vs. non-beingness; with beginninglessness; with infinite cause; with the unicity; with the illusions of “creation” and “creators” and “Creators”; and with so much more.
B. The first three steps also address the fact that persons become separated from what can be called “reality” - that is, from the realities of - the relative existence.
It is that separation from “reality” which prevents persons from being able to differentiate between facts and distortions and which results in their being trapped in the throes of the Ultimate Sickness and suffering the consequences throughout the relative existence . . . throughout the entire manifestation of the key symptoms of that Sickness, symptoms which Maharaj identified as “ignorance, stupidity, and insanity.”
The fourth step on the path Maharaj offered dealt with the ignorance-free way and the insanity-free way and the more stable way that the relative existence could happen if the belief in any and all identities were to be cast aside.
All four of the first steps dealt with being free of the symptoms of the Ultimate Sickness and thereby bringing about a sane and stupidity-free manner of abiding for the remainder of the manifestation and the relative existence without constantly generating the disorder and pandemonium and turmoil and mess and madness which come with being dual-minded.
Thus, steps one through four of his original seven-step process were all about “things phenomenal,” about changing the relative existence.
The fifth, sixth, and seventh steps dealt with “things Noumenal,” about THAT and the “original nature”; about how consciousness manifests and how awareness can come via the realization process; about unmanifesting; about a so-called “Supreme Self,” “Infinite Self,” etc.; about (as mentioned earlier) beingness vs. non-beingness, beginninglessness, infinite cause, the unicity, and the illusions of “creation” and “creators” and “Creators.”
With Maharaj having abandoned all beliefs, including beliefs about karma and beliefs about births and rebirths and beliefs about “life after death,” he came to understand that
(a) all which is post-manifestation deals with nothingness
and that
(b)it is the relative existence which deals with what is taken to be “something” and which deals with - as the Advaitin Shakespeare said – “much ado about nothing.”
Understanding that there are no “multiple lives” and no "post-manifestation life" or "beingness," why in blue blazes would persons give even a second’s concern about what happens post-manifestation, much less be so naïve as to believe that they can - or should try to - effect what is going to happen after the taking of mahasamadhi?
Thus, he realized that steps 1-4 can impact the relative existence and bring about the changes which can end the misery and suffering of entrapment in the Ultimate Sickness without any need for the understanding which can come with steps 5-7.
It is, in fact, all the talk and concern and fears and desires about a fictional post-manifestation life of rewards or punishments that are really the “much ado about nothing.”
[The realizations which come with effectively transitioning steps 1-3 and then abiding in the fourth step manner can also reveal that the happenings throughout the relative existence are also “much ado about nothing” as well. Talk about a freedom-generating awareness!]
So, let’s further discuss Maharaj’s putting an end to advising seekers to complete the seven-step path and recommending that they complete only the four step path and saying: “You need not find the answer to 'Who [or what] am I?’ It is enough to know what you are not.”
It has been noted that if you only reach the fourth step of seven on the "path" from identification with the false "I" to abidance as the Absolute (that is, if you only reach "The Child Ignorance Stage" or "The Child No-Knowing State") and if you complete only about 60% of the seven steps on the "path," that will still be worthwhile, relatively speaking.
Earlier, some of the relative results of not reaching that step were catalogued, namely, the misery and suffering that come to a relative existence that is controlled by ego-defense mechanisms (which surface shortly after personalities or personas, roles, characters, actors, ego-states, false selves, guises, facades, and fronts are assumed).
That scenario assures that one's existence will be marked and marred with pretense, cover-up, deception, disguise, posing, impersonating, pretending, concealing, scheming, plotting and masquerading. To reach the fourth step is to be free of the assumption of all false identifications and ideas and concepts and beliefs that will otherwise result in being driven (usually subconsciously)
by egotism, narcissism, self-centeredness, selfishness, self-absorption, insensitivity and pathological behavior; by rationalization; by distortion; by showing off one's intelligence (a.k.a., "learned ignorance"); by denial; by a refusal to accept reality or facts; by exposing others to one's displaced anger and wrath;
by avoiding the facing of reality; by trying to cast onto others one's own personality defects; by regression and childish behavior; by repression and blocking out feelings; by trying to compensate for personality defects rather than addressing them and eliminating them; by manipulating and being overly-assertive and overly-aggressive; by upgrading and downgrading; by idealizing and later bashing; by being trapped in instability; and by being addicted to chaos.
While some ego-defense mechanisms might be employed as some others might not be used by any given person, the fact is this: when one has not reached the fourth step and is still assuming ego-states as identities, the practice of upgrading and downgrading (or idealizing and later bashing) will always be in evidence and will result in chaos and instability and distorted thinking.
Consider the example introduced earlier, the case where a religious or civic leader declares that a man is "A Husband" and that a woman is "A Wife." Consider how titling and entitlement reinforce in "the mind" a false sense of new identities and the belief that ego-states (that the new false "you's") can last "forever." Several shifts follow that eventually lead both to say, "We were such good friends before we married. What happened?"
What happened is this:
1. Persons play a series of roles when beginning to develop a new "relationship," a process which Maharaj referenced in a fashion similar to this continuum: stranger to acquaintance to friend to good friend to lover to fiancé / fiancée to spouse to super spouse to disappointed spouse to enemy to mortal enemy to divorcé / divorcée to one mourning to one feeling better to one claiming he / she is "ready to marry again" to meeting a stranger to dating and to a repetition of playing the roles listed above.
2. Self-delusion sets in. Consider the self-delusion involved with “titling”: in that entire process of the continuum above, being anointed a title and then stripped of a title, it could be said to each of the members of a married or married and then divorced couple, "You did not change, but 'you' certainly did."
3. At the point when a religious or civic leader assigns new identities by declaring that a man is "A Husband" and that a woman is "A Wife," a new "mindset" accompanies the assignment of those roles, namely, a sense of ownership. From this point forward, they will introduce each other not only according to their "title" but also according to their sense of possessing another human: "This is my husband" or "this is my wife."
4. Persons assume that anything they own should think the way they want it to think, talk the way they want it to talk, and behave the way they want it to behave; thus, another role manifests at some point following a ceremony of marriage, titling, and the implanting of an unconscious sense of ownership: "The Controller" or "The Control Freak."
The role that will follow that is "The Frustrated Controller" or "The Frustrated Control Freak" because no one will ever think and talk and behave in the exact fashion that another might want.
5. Furthermore, co-dependency is established. Neither the role of "The Husband" nor the role of "The Wife" can "be" unless there is someone willing to play the co-dependent, counterpart / role.
6. All that "The Husband" needs to "exist" in his own "mind" is that person willing to play "The Wife"; all that "The Wife" needs to "exist" in her own "mind" is that person willing to play "The Husband." All flows along quite swimmingly, for a spell.
7. Yet trouble soon raises it head at some point. That point has been explained thusly:
In a relationship or marriage, there will be a point at which images that had been taken to be reality will be seen to have been false images only, based in false conclusions and beliefs. At that point when such awareness occurs, the moment is pointed to with the expression, "The honeymoon is over."
That expression points to the first moment when the phony images which (a) were being displayed when dating and which (b) were maintained during the days (or months, or years) following the wedding are seen to have been nothing more than phony images. The-honeymoon-is-over-moment happens when the formerly-hidden personality defects and the dark mental liabilities finally surface from behind the facade that had been maintained.
8. There is also a convergence at that point with another belief, namely the belief that manifests every time an ego-state is assumed. Egotism will always be triggered and the practice of upgrading and downgrading will always follow.
At some point, "The Wife" will take herself to be "A Super Wife"; "The Husband" will take himself to be "A Super Husband." Whereas "The Husband" can believe that "the husband exists" as long as there is someone willing to play "The Wife," "The Super Husband" cannot "exist" unless he "has" a "Super Wife."
Similarly, "The Wife" can believe that "the wife exists" as long as there is someone willing to play "The Husband," but "The Super Wife" needs more - she needs a "Super Husband" to "exist." Anything less than that "super" counterpart is perceived to be a threat to one's very existence (that is, to the assumed and upgraded, but false, identity . . . of one's assigned-and-then-upgraded identity). Both defensive and offensive thoughts and words and behaviors will follow. Welcome to the fight.
9. Studies show that high percentages of all married men will have an extramarital affair - including either a physical affair or an emotional affair - at some point. At what point? At the point when the "mind" - using the ego-defense mechanism of egotism - upgrades one's role from "The Husband" to "The Super Husband" (who believes that he is not receiving what he desires or deserves or expects from "His Wife").
At that point, he downgrades her to "A Less Than Super Wife" and another ego-defense mechanism is triggered: justification.
Post "upgrading," he will believe that he is justified in seeking out what he desires and deserves but is not getting from his "Less Than Super Wife." Likewise, the "mind" of "The Wife" - using the ego-defense mechanism of egotism - will upgrade her role from "The Wife" to "The Super Wife" who is not receiving what she desires or deserves or expects from "Her Husband."
At that point, she downgrades him to "A Less Than Super Husband" and another ego-defense mechanism is triggered: justification.
In both cases, the upgrading of "self" and the downgrading of some "other" will trigger a sense of misery. Suffering will follow. Each member of the couple will confide to friends or relatives: "I think I made a mistake. I don't even know who he / she is. He / she is making me miserable. I have to do something."
Studies also show that a high percentage of all married women will have a physical or emotional extramarital affair at some point. At what point? At the point when one's "mind" - using the ego-defense mechanism of egotism - upgrades her role from "The Wife" to "The Super Wife" who is not receiving what she desires or deserves or expects from "Her Husband." At that point, she downgrades him to "A Less Than Super Husband" and another ego-defense mechanism is triggered with her: justification. An affair or a breakup is justified.
TITLES
“Titles” - celebrated when “acquired” and mourned when “lost” - are at the heart of happiness and unhappiness . . . at the root of elation and sorrow . . . at the core of mirth and misery . . . at the root of instability and chaos . . . at the core of initially idealizing and later diminishing . . . at the core of duality. Such are the results of the illusions of upgrading and downgrading.
Moreover, that all happens when one has not reached "The Child Ignorance Stage" or "The Child No-Knowing State" but is driven instead by the assumption of ego-states, by their hidden agendas, and by the ego-defense mechanisms that they use, and the setup for all of that to happen is the belief that one can become something, the belief that one can become better, the belief that one can become better than he / she once was (and can even become "super"), and the belief that one can become better than "another" or "others."
More on “Titles” tomorrow.
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 their god / their 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
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of the "Awakening Together" satsang session with Regina and Jacqueline referenced earlier, 18 MARCH 2018
or
You can click on the picture link which has now been added for video "Number Ten" in the upper right-hand column on this page.
If preferred, here's
the direct link to the AUDIO VERSION
of that session.
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