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"]
The Relative Freedom of Reaching the Fourth of Seven Steps, Part “C”
(What to realize about focusing on “things noumenal” vs. “things relative”)
What was called “my journey” began with . . .
being immersed not only in a giant tank of water by an evangelical preacher but being immersed in all of the indoctrination, brainwashing, etc. which those in that fanatically-religious congregation all had down to a dark art form;
being exposed to the non-dual understanding which my Cherokee grandmother shared from her cabin in the quiet East Texas piney woods while modeling an existence marked by calm and peace during with I cherished during the four months or so I spent with her each year;
returning to the chaos of the city and the go-do-zoom mentality of an ultra-right-wing church which held services four times per week;
reaching an age when I could leave that environment only to enter into another insane realm in which I engaged in excessive seeking in a go-do-zoom fashion, looking into the non-duality which had been introduced by Grandmother along with all sorts of religions and spiritual movements and philosophies and ideologies;
then finally settling into a singular focus on a unique version of non-duality that made sense and which – for the first time ever – laid out an approach whereby I was not being taught anything and not hearing demands (as had happened in every other venue) that I believe exactly what everyone else in those various religions, movements, philosophies, and ideologies believed;
and being invited to surrender completely and allow myself to be un-taught and to be led to un-learn all of the nonsense and BS which I had been taught for decades.
That rare approach made the Direct Path Method combined with the nisarga yoga totally distinctive and unique and finally set the stage for realization, (which Maharaj explained merely involves being freed from the burden of all learned ignorance).
That, in turn, set the stage for an end to the belief in all of the “bad” labels which had been applied throughout my existence as well as an end to the belief in all of the “good” labels which I had assumed or been assigned (including “The Super Religious One” and the last two to go, namely, “The Spiritual Giant,” and “The Super Seeker”).
Yet that only happened with the return to the "The Child Ignorance Stage" or "the Child No-Knowing State."
To return to that stage or state is to be free of the roots of all relative misery and suffering and wasted energy and preoccupation and going and doing and zooming. Those roots include: constantly searching for something that seems to be missing; constantly using ego-defense mechanisms to defend false identities / ego-states;
constantly suffering from the debilitating effects of personality disorders; making life into a second job by constantly engaging in all sorts of "metaphysical exercises" and supposedly "religious and / or spiritual work" and going to services and meetings and studying constantly and working on "self"-improvement and being engaged in the neither natural nor sane to believe that one will be made better if one and the supernatural rather than enjoying the bliss of abiding naturally;
working constantly to become better, to become something other than what one thinks he or she has been, to be something more than - or something in addition to - what one is; and working to be something other than that which one has always been, is, and shall forever be (though none among the non-realized have a clue what that refers to).
Most who come this way say, "I just want to be happy" or "All I want for my children is that they be happy." They are asked, "When were you last happy, in a totally unconditional manner?" Eventually, the discussion leads them back to "the Child No-Knowing State." At that point, happiness happened as long as the basics of food and (dry) clothing and shelter had been met.
At that stage, unconditional happiness happened because at that stage there was no wasted energy, no preoccupations, no being driven to go-do-zoom. There was no nagging sense that something is missing, so there was no constant drive to search for something; there was no use of ego-defense mechanisms to defend false identities / ego-states; there was no suffering from the debilitating effects of personality disorders;
there was no making a job out of merely living; there was no engagement in "metaphysical exercises" and supposedly "religious and / or spiritual work"; there was no going to services and meetings and studying constantly and working on "self"-improvement;
there was no longer a belief that one will be made better if one abides supernaturally rather than enjoying the bliss of abiding naturally; there was no working constantly to become better, to become something else; and there was no working to be something more than - or something in addition to - what I authentically was.
No wonder that short period of time is the only time that most on the planet will ever enjoy unconditional happiness.
TO REVIEW THAT WHICH ONE MUST BE RID OF IN ORDER TO RETURN TO "THE CHILD NO-KNOWING STAGE" AND THEN EXPERIENCE ONCE AGAIN UNCONDITIONAL HAPPINESS, NAMELY:
ALL IDEAS, CONCEPTS, BELIEFS AND PERSONALITY IDENTIFICATIONS
Some ask why so much attention is paid to personality by non-dualists and why the personality enneagram is taught by this author. A simple understanding of the results of being driven by the unconscious and hidden motivators rooted in personality should make clear the answer.
Personality is not innate. It develops in response to (1) the abnormal and unnatural influences of the dysfunctionalism that children are exposed to and try to "adjust" to in their families of origin; and, later, to (2) the influences of ignorance-disseminating institutions and cultural "-ism's" and the effects of exposure to a plethora of the entities in all cultures which reinforce the abnormal and unnatural (to which dysfunctional families of non-Realized persons expose children).
That which is rooted in a response to the abnormal and unnatural (and which involves no alternative options for making any independent choices or choosing an alternative environment) will also be abnormal and unnatural. And that is what personality is: abnormal and unnatural. What is innate in all humans is an inner sense of what is real and authentic which becomes blocked from consciousness because of ignorant programming, conditioning, etc.
Because personality develops early on, a sense of self (and, eventually, selves) blocks the awareness of the essence, of authenticity, of the unicity. As noted earlier, there is initially a sense of Oneness, though it is not The Sense of Oneness: it happens for the first two years of a child's existence when it identifies with the mother and has no notions about "two-ness" or "duality," assuming that mother-child is "not two" but is "one" instead.
Around the age of two, the child has "discovered" its hands and feet and, eventually, its own body that is separate from the body of the mom. At that point, another source of a false sense of separation and different-from-ment develops, setting the stage for the child to "find its own identity."
Over the next years, the child will be assigned many false identities (will be assigned many false personas / personalities) and will eventually begin to assume many more false identities (false personas / personalities) on its own.
[Note: "persona" (Lt.) = "mask," "character," "guise," "role," "facade," "front."]
Each personality that develops or is assumed separates the child even farther from that initial sense of Self. Eventually, personality will block all awareness of Self as more and more false selves are believed (erroneously) to define "who one is."
If non-dual pointers are to lead to a "re-realization" (to a "re-membering") of the real, then persons must first eliminate that which blocks the "path" and blocks the awareness of that innate sense of Self, namely, "a sense of self and selves" . . . a sense that personality / personalities are real . . . a sense that personas are of some benefit rather than one of the forces that generate chaos (and / or desires to control) throughout the relative existence.
Per the Direct Path Method offered here, the final personality-purging-process happens after completion of the third of seven steps on the "journey" from the false "I" or "I's" to realization of truth, of the essence, of the Oneness.
It is there that all false identities must and can be eliminated - including the roles of "The Religious One," "The Spiritual Giant," "The Knower," "The Supreme," and even "The Seeker" itself.
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.