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.)
4. Some prefer paperback books even if they have to wait a day or so to receive it and have to pay more for a printed book and its shipment. Now, 10 paperback books by Henderson are in print and are available through Amazon. See the end of this post in red text for details.
5. Would you like to have us send to someone as a gift from you a copy of any ebook in our inventory? See the offer in purple text at the end of this post.
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"]
Today’s post is moving closer to our central topic,
“HOW TO (AND WHAT TO) REALIZE”
It Is Energy-Matter That Is Real
For the considerations today, let’s accept some “flexibility” and accept the use of two terms to point to things phenomenal and things noumenal, (and note that “noumenal” is only used here in the sense of that which is not phenomenal rather than in any sense of something that is supposedly “Special” or “Supreme”).
Some define "noumenal" variously as:
in the philosophy of Immanuel Kant, the thing-in-itself (das Ding an sich) as opposed to what Kant called “the phenomenon”;
a posited object or event as it appears in itself independent of perception by the senses;
the object, itself inaccessible to experience, to which a phenomenon is referred for the basis or cause of its sense content;
or
in metaphysics, a posited object or event that exists independently of human sense and / or perception, generally used when contrasted with, or in relation to, the term phenomenon which refers to anything that can be apprehended by or is an object of the senses.
Some refer to “relative stuff” as “this” and to “non-relative stuff” as “THAT.”
Today, we’ll use “real” to refer to that which is temporary and included in the body of things phenomenal and “Real” to refer to that which is permanent and included in the body of things noumenal.
The inability to see clearly "reality" (today meaning “the way relative things really are”) is as prevalent as the inability to see clearly "Reality" (today meaning “the way non-relative things really are").
That inability is as prevalent among many persons on "the path" or who think they have arrived at the path's end and now understand all.
The truth implied by the summative statement of non-duality (“I AM THAT; I AM”) is that "reality" and "Reality" are presently one. Later, the AM-ness of any given form or space will end, but what is "Real" will be forever.
Maharaj said: “To see reality is as simple as to see one's face in a mirror. Only the mirror must be clear and true.”
See, an unclear and untrue perspective will block the clear and true seeing of the clarity and truth offered via that non-dual summative statement.
the invitation is to see reality (that is, all of the truth involved with one’s own reality, with one’s own present but temporary existence) and to see Reality (the capital “R” used not to suggest a higher level of importance but to distinguish that / THAT from what is presently temporarily manifested).
THE “BRICK” AS AN EXAMPLE
To illustrate, a brick is "real," but it is a temporary manifestation / form / space. Per The Second Law of Thermodynamics, whatever comes together will eventually come part (including a brick, a human body, a relationship, a universe, etc.).
By contrast, that which is "Real" is permanent (including matter / energy, one form of energy being “conscious-energy”) and that which is "Real" will last forever, having no time-bound beginning, middle, or end.
As is the case with a so-called “clay pot” which can be formed but which is still clay and only takes on the appearance of what persons call “a pot,” so too can a brick be formed; however, nothing can be “created.”
A brick exists only in the sense that it is human actions which result in it having taken its temporary form, just as with a house made of bricks, just as with a baby, just as with any and every identity that is assigned or assumed.
For those who claim that “nothing is real,” the invitation is to step back fifteen steps from a brick wall, bend over, aim the top of your head at the wall, begin running as fast as you can, and crash head first into the wall. After you come to, let me know if you still believe the wall is not real and that, in fact, nothing is real. I suspect you might attain a different perspective.
The actual understanding is that a brick is real but that it is not what it appears to be to the masses, a fact that can seen by looking at it through an electron microscope and seeing the invisible-to-the-naked-eye-swirling-mass of subatomic particles which are really what the brick is.
Any "Reality vs. reality" distinction (any THAT vs. AM-ness distinction) is only a matter of perceiving or misperceiving, of understanding or not understanding.
Thus, there is that which is "Real." What is not "Real" or “real” is what persons look at and take to be something other than what it is.
For example, to look at a composite unity and say, "That is my spouse," "That is my guru," "That is my sponsor," "That is a loser," etc. is to misperceive and not understand what one is actually seeing.
The mass of energy at the "core" of the brick can neither be created nor destroyed. That which cannot be created or destroyed is the part that is absolutely, permanently Real as opposed to the outer appearance of any temporary-manifested brick which is misperceived via the naked eye perspective of humans.
The brick can represent reality (the present AM-ness) but the energy-matter is Reality (the THAT-ness). The brick is temporary; the energy-matter is permanent.
The brick can also represent those who are looking at an image but thinking they are seeing reality though they have no clue at all about the true state of "their marriages," the true state of "their children," the true state of "their own emotional instability," the true existence of "their own misery," and no clue at all about "reality" as well as "Reality."
The warped perspectives at play around the relative existence mirror the warped perspectives at play around that which is beyond the relative existence and which is also misperceived, inspiring such identity assumptions as “I AM THAT only" and "I am a Supreme Self” and “I am at one with God” or “I am God.”
To focus only on something deemed to be "Special" and to focus alone on that which is "beyond-the-relative existence" both result in being dissociated from the relative existence;
moreover, being dissociated from the relative existence is more evidence of mental illness – of the Ultimate Sickness – even as one proclaims his or her "Ultimate Self-ness."
So much for "nothing is real" or "Nothing Is Real."
Again, what is not real and what is not "Real" are ALL of the dreamed up concepts about "self" and "Self" and what "the Self" Is and What "the Self" while having no clue about the not-Self and the not-self.
Once more, it is energy-matter that is Real
For some seekers, an understanding of the aspects of Consciousness / Awareness (as discussed in the book by that same name) has played a part in their finally grasping the central pointer of this series. To reiterate:
That which you are is what you are, is all that you have ever been, and is all that you can or shall ever be. The example offered earlier was that quantities of H20 might - at varying temperatures - assume what appears to be various forms or shapes: snowflakes, raindrops, ice, etc.
Similarly, quantities of a particular form of energy - called "awareness" for the sake of discussion - can manifest as "consciousness" in various spaces or forms and can then seem not only to assume a form that is different from other forms but can also seem to assume a variety of forms or shapes of its own while manifested. In Reality, none of those supposedly varied appearances are actually "different from."
There is either
a. awareness-energy (which unmanifested is not capable of being aware of anything); or there is
b. awareness-energy manifested as consciousness (which is capable of being conscious-of); or there is
c. conscious-energy that has been exposed to programming, conditioning, domestication, and acculturation and which is blocked from perceiving accurately, which is conscious of duality, which witnesses in a Subject-Object fashion, and which witnesses erroneously; or there is
d. conscious-energy that - as a result of the realization process - can witness accurately the unicity and can be totally conscious-of (to the degree that consciousness can know and witness the consciousness) and can be aware-of (to the degree that pure awareness can witness the pure awareness); or there is
e. the unmanifested conscious-energy which was eventually released - in the case of humans - from the body-cum-consciousness in which it was temporarily manifested and which re-enters the omnipresent, universal pool of energy (which is called the Absolute for the sake of discussion) and can then (also for the sake of discussion) be referred to once again as "awareness" that is not aware of anything when in its original state of being "awareness without aware-of-ness."
If it is understood that, during the temporary periods of manifestation, there is nothing more at play with "humans" than
1. the formation of a space when elements combine and assume the shape of a plant food body and there is
2. air (oxygen) circulating through that temporary plant food body and there is
3. the temporarily-manifested conscious-energy therein,
if that is truly understood to be all that is play, then the salient questions are:
"Which of those can become something other than what they are?"
"Can oxygen become something other than oxygen?"
"Can elements become something other than elements?"
"Can energy become something other than energy?"
"Which of these - oxygen, elements, or energy - can become 'better' or 'worse' or 'upgraded' or 'downgraded'?"
"Which of these - oxygen, elements, or energy - can become 'religious' or 'spiritual' or 'improved' as a result of adding concepts and beliefs?"
"Can elements really transition from being 'a child' to being 'a teen' to being 'an adult' when the fact is that plants (or animals that ate plants) are being consumed continuously because the elements forming the space have no continuity at all and because that which the form is comprised of is constantly being replaced and constantly generating a different form (which, as one example, can be illustrated by the fact that humans are constantly shedding skin which is being completely replaced every 28 days)?" And the same is happening constantly throughout the organism.
Again, to understand the above is to realize:
A. That which you are is what you are, is all that you have ever been, and is all that you can or shall ever be;
and is to realize that
B. you cannot become spiritual, you cannot become better, and you cannot become anything other than what you “real”ly are temporarily and what you really are . . . in Reality.
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.
PAPERBACK COPIES OF SOME OF THE BOOKS OFFERED HERE
If you prefer PAPERBACK copies
of some of Henderson’s non-duality books,
10 of his books in PRINT FORM are available through AMAZON.
(That is, ten books are collected in two anthologies
for sale on AMAZON.)
For NON-DUALITY AUDIENCES
The Advanced Seekers' Series (344 pages) is an anthology of four books that share Advaita-based, non-duality pointers that can guide seekers to abide as their original nature. Included in the anthology are
"From the I to the Absolute (A Seven-Step Journey to Reality");
"Consciousness / Awareness: The Nature of Reality Beyond SELF-Realization (Peace Every Day When Abiding As the Absolute)";
"From the Absolute to the Nothingness";
and
"The Final Understanding."
Order a PAPERBACK copy of The Advanced Seekers' Series from AMAZON by clicking here
Also for NON-DUALITY AUDIENCES
This anthology (438 pages) contains the six books that make up what has been called The Blissful Abidance Series for those seeking to live blissfully and happily for the remainder of the manifestation, including,
“What BLISS is and what BLISS is not”;
“There’s No Such Thing As Peace of Mind (There’s Only Peace If You’re ‘Out of Your Mind’)”;
“Liberation (Attaining Freedom from Personality via Realization)”;
“Freedom from Shifting Between States of Happiness and Unhappiness”;
“Why You Must Be Empty If You Would Be Full”;
and
“When REALITY Is Overlaid on the RELATIVE.”
Order a PAPERBACK copy of The Blissful Abidance Series from Amazon by clicking here
SEND A GIFT BOOK TO SOMEONE
To make an arrangement for us to send in your name as a gift from you any of our books to someone you choose:
(a) Visit www.floydhenderson.com.
(b) Purchase the ebook you’d like to send.
(c) Contact us using the email below, tell us which ebook you just purchased, and provide the name and email address of the person you want to send the ebook to. (They will never be contacted again or solicited for any reason.)
Send your information to:
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.
