TODAY'S CONSIDERATIONS
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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"]
MORE ON UPGRADING / DOWNGRADING AND TITLES
Note how upgrading and downgrading manifest after accepting as real a persona or idea or belief or concept that is false:
1. Once there is the belief that “I am a person,” that identity can eventually be upgraded to “I am a husband / wife” or “I am an employee” or "I am a lover" or "I am a teacher" or "I am a religious person" or "I am a spiritual being." Then, egotism will further upgrade those ego-states and the belief will become “I am a super husband / super wife”
or “I am a wonderful employee” or "I am the most fabulous lover you will ever have" or "I am the best teacher in this entire school / university" or "I am a super religious person" or "I am a spiritual being . . . a spiritual giant, in fact." And those beliefs and ideas and concepts and opinions will be accepted and defended - often to the death - all evidence to the contrary be damned.
Other examples:
2. Buying into the belief in linear timelines, the belief that “This is a day” can be upgraded to “This is a holy day” or upgraded to the belief that “the Christmas holidays / "holy-days" (or Hanukkah or Ramadan) are the most special days of the year.” Conversely, a weather forecaster can downgrade the day and tell you that is is going to be "a very bad one."
3. Another illustration: “This is land that is owned” can be upgraded to “This is Holy Land given to us by God” (an upgraded idea / concept / belief that has resulted in thousands of years of war that continue to this day). The downgrade / converse is that "all other lands are not good enough for us . . . and are not part of 'the Holy Land' we are willing to fight for and to die for, if need be."
4. “This world is real” can be upgraded to “There is a better, heavenly world which awaits ‘good’ people” or downgraded to “There is a horrible world called ‘hell’ that awaits ‘bad’ people” or "There are a series of really crappy lives that await you."
5. "Power is real, so I can be a powerful person, and I can tap into the good, other-worldly Power I believe in and can then have even more power at my disposal; but there is also a bad, evil Power that is at work in the world and that bad Power makes people do bad things."
6. Physical appearance also gets caught up in the same upgrading and downgrading processes: "I am a person and I have been told that I am a beautiful person by so many people that it must be true, so I can also spot others who are very ugly persons."
Note how the belief that upgrades and downgrades are real and that assigned or assumed titles are real will cause the relative existence to be plagued by the instability of fluctuating between states of happiness and unhappiness, between states of elation and sorrow, between states of mirth and misery. Note too how being critical and judgmental and prone to believing in totally erroneous perceptions dominate those who upgrade and downgrade.
Consider the other effects of assigning titles: international wars are preceded by the assignment of titles to land masses; religious wars are preceded by titles being assumed by devotees; and “personal” conflicts happen after titles are assigned: “I pronounce you man and wife,” is often followed by . . .
. . . “You are my wife and should do what I expect”; or
. . . “I will not tolerate such behavior from my husband.”
In other instances, one might hear:
. . . "You are my employee and you will do what I tell you to do and you do it exactly like I tell you to”; or
. . . "I am the teacher and you are my student, and as long as I am in charge of this classroom, you will keep your mouth shut and do exactly what I tell you to do," ad infinitum.
Consider that all "The Teacher" needs to "exist" in her / his "mind" are "students," but once "The Teacher" mentally upgrades himself / herself to the status and rank of "The Super Teacher," then that teacher must have "Super Students" to support the assumed - and then upgraded - identity. Anything less will be taken as a threat, as a personal attack, as interfering with that "Super Teacher's" very "existence."
If this result of persona-assumption and persona-upgrading is not understood, then no one will ever understand why a teacher can go so ballistic and rip students apart verbally (that is, "downgrade" them) if the teacher catches one student passing a note to another rather than being thrilled and captivated by what the teacher takes to be a "super lesson" being presented by one truly "Super Teacher."
Thus, this pointer offered earlier: The entire notion that you have become better, that you have become something really "good" or super religious or super spiritual, that you have really become SOMETHING (and "something special"), differs not at all from the same kind of deception and self-deception which plagues the totally non-Realized masses and which triggers use of the same ego-defense mechanisms (such as egotism and arrogance) employed by anyone assuming an ego-state as an identity.
If the result of persona-assumption and persona-upgrading is not understood, then no one will ever understand why a lover or spouse who seemed so enamored with a partner one moment can turn and become so critical and cruel and vicious (that is, can "downgrade" the lover or spouse) the next moment.
In all cases, those who have upgraded a false image will be miserable because even if they receive the so-called "love" or "respect" or "admiration" that is desired as a result of being driven by the use of egotism and other ego-defense mechanisms which are always activated after the assumption of an ego-state as an identity, there will never be enough;
thus, it has noted that the assumption and subsequent upgrading of any ego-state will result in egotism and arrogance and narcissism
and that
completion of the entire "journey" to Full Realization does not result in egotism and arrogance and narcissism being replaced by (always-false) "humility" or (always-false) "modesty" for those are nothing more than the opposite extreme of the "egotistical vs. humble" duality.
Whether there is pride in being "the best pickpocket in town" or pride in being "the most religious member of the church or temple or mosque"
or
whether there is pride in being "someone who can always get what he / she wants from the opposite sex" or pride in being "the most spiritual person in the group"
in every case, pride and egotism and arrogance and narcissism will generate prideful and egotistical and arrogant and narcissistic thoughts; prideful and egotistical and arrogant and narcissistic words; and prideful and egotistical and arrogant and narcissistic-based actions.
Then, those prideful and egotistical and arrogant and narcissistic thoughts and words and deeds will always eventually generate relative misery, both for the prideful and egotistical and arrogant and narcissistic one as well as for those exposed to prideful and egotistical and arrogant and narcissistic persons.
In every case, the pride and egotism and arrogance and narcissism that manifest after the assumption and upgrading of ego-states will generate a false sense of separation, of different-from-ness, of better-than-ment, all of which will reinforce love of "self" and which will block any opportunity for Real Love to manifest and then understand why "Love is knowing that You Are Everything," much less for wisdom to manifest so one can understand "I am nothing."
Of course all assigning of titles is rooted in duality as they are thought to be “good” at one point but can have “bad” effects later. Consider that when a “district or institutional or corporate title” is awarded, “positive” thoughts, “positive” words, and “positive” ego-reinforcement will follow: “I have been promoted. Look at me! Spouse, look at what your mate has done!
”Daughters and sons, friends and relatives and co-workers and neighbors, look what I have accomplished! All praise and glory be to me!” If the title is eventually lost, “negative” thoughts, “negative” words, and “negative” humiliation follows. The downgrading of an illusion can be accompanied by quieter reactions than an upgrading, but downgradings are often accompanied by violent reactions as well.
Seekers are invited to list the times when being given a title made you happy but eventually made you unhappy when the title did not bring all that was expected or when the title was stripped from you. (For example: “I got the job! I am an employee! I am happy!” can become “This job is the job from hell! I am miserable!” or “They fired me—I am no longer employee.”
Or another example might be: “I am officially a spouse! I am overjoyed!” but that can become “This is the marriage from hell! I am miserable!” or “My spouse left me—I am no longer a spouse, so I'm in sorrow.”)
All illusory titles are always subjected to one of these two additional illusions: there will be either an upgrade or a downgrade or both. The upgrading of an illusion is initially accompanied by happiness, elation, and mirth.
The downgrading of an illusion is always accompanied by unhappiness, sorrow, or misery. And all along, it was only the false "you" (the not yet re-purified or unblocked consciousness) that believed it had been upgraded or believes that it was downgraded or believes that someone else deserves to be downgraded.
When the bogus title of “fiancé” / “fiancée” is upgraded to “husband” / “wife” by a man in a robe, then happiness, elation, and mirth will accompany the upgrade, initially. Next, complacency will eventually set in. When the bogus title of “husband” / “wife” is downgraded to divorcé / divorcée by a different man in a robe, then unhappiness, sorrow, or misery accompany the downgrade.
If you knew that your true state is the same as my true state, then you would not be bound by these relativistic illusions of upgrading and downgrading that are constantly being orchestrated by men in robes or by persons in executive suites.
You would neither be limited by titles nor feel “expanded” if titles come, nor could you feel “diminished” if titles go. You would be stable, abiding as the limitless, unchanging, stable Absolute and abiding as the child in a "No-Knowing State": aware of no titles; accepting no labels or identities or ego-states as actual identities; believing in no dreamed up concepts or ideas or beliefs.
You would be free, a result of first being fully aware of nothing . . . of the bliss and lightness of the nothingness. You would not allow men or women in business suits—or men with flowing robes or special gowns or pointy hats or shaved heads—to tell you what you are and what you are not.
You would also know how to explain “what you presently, temporarily are” in terms of a composite unity and in terms of energy-matter and you would know that they - and 99.99% among the masses - do not have even the slightest clue in regards to what they are and what they are not.
Moreover, they need not; it only matters that you understand. The light is available for you whereas most persons fear the light and prefer to scamper about in the darkness just like the creatures of the night in the hovels owned by greedy and uncaring slumlords.
Additionally, neither you nor I nor anyone else can or will change the world or change the 7.65 billion persons on the planet. More than two billion of them worship the one they mistakenly call “Jesus” and “the only perfect person to ever live,” but his message and his followers have had two thousand years to try to change the world and they have failed miserably for two thousand year.
Along with the Christians, the Hindus have had 5000 years, the Jews have had 4000 years, and the Muslims have had 1600 years to make “the world” a “good” place.
Combined, they currently include about 5.6 billion of the 7.65 billion on the planet. Add in those persons in other religions or spiritual movements and together they made up 97%+ of the population of the planet.
Their answer? “We need to convert everyone to accept our beliefs and teachings.” So the other 2.7% or so among the non-affiliated are making the difference and holding up the show? “No, the other billions who do not believe what we belief also need to give up their religion and convert to ours.” (The Jewish people have historically been the exception to that invitation.)
Yet having had trillions of members come and go and having had over 13,000 combined years to do their thing and make the world a better place, all of the empirical, observable evidence suggests that they have actually done the exact opposite.
So it is.
The advice here and in Maharaj’s loft is summed up in this ancient adage: “Physician, heal thyself.”
To that end, one might engage in a seven-step process of seeking some “Supreme Self” or some “eternal reward” and therefore spend the entire manifestation trapped in a supposedly “supernatural” state of religious or spiritual workaholism;
or one might follow a four-step path and find who you are not; give up all false identifications including the ones deemed to be “bad” as well as the one deemed to be “good” or “great” and thereafter be free to enjoy the remainder of one’s existence in an all-natural manner.
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
the direct link to the VIDEO VERSION
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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