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
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Now, 10 paperback books by Henderson are in print and are available
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HOW TO (AND WHAT TO) REALIZE
Why "Advertise" a Method or a Yoga?
Some have asked, "Why advertise or endorse a particular method or yoga?"
Advertising came into being very soon after the first human had something to offer to other humans.
In Shakespeare's London when the theaters moved across the Thames from London proper to Southwark in order to escape harassment by puritanical magistrates, flagpoles were erected atop the theater turrets for purposes of advertising: if people in the city saw a white flag flying atop a playhouse, they knew that a comedy was playing there; if they saw a black flag flying, they knew that a tragedy was playing.
In Bombay (Mumbai) in the days of Maharaj, he also "advertised" what was "being shown" in the loft. How? The "Nisarga" in "Nisargadatta" was also like a modern-day movie poster, "Nisarga" meaning "natural" and making clear that the Nisarga, Natural Yoga was being offered in the loft. Infatuated with any other yoga? Then probably best not to come in.
At its best, advertising of an honest variety discusses needs; provides an accurate cataloguing of an offering’s advantages and disadvantages and problem solutions; includes truthful comparisons / contrasts with other similar offerings which allow those seeking to be able to make wise product choices based in valid pro-con considerations; and makes available the facts required to make a precise costs / benefits analyses.
At its worst, advertising and marketing and self-marketing offer illusions, false impressions, deceptions, trickery, sensations, fantasies, tricks, bit-and-switch, and an extensive addition of accompanying lies, deceits, falsehoods and false images, and the most absurd fabrications which only the most foolish and gullible accept as truth.
It matters not if what is being offered is . . .
a new car, groceries, a new refrigerator and washer and dryer, a house by a certain builder, an irrigation system for the lawn, an AC or heating system repair, the latest version of an iPhone, other high tech equipment, ad infinitum
or if what is being offered is . . .
a politician offering herself or himself to solve all of your problems and all of your nation’s problems and all of the rest of the problems happening all over the globe while claiming to be the only one who can do so;
a proposal to form a business partnership,
a proposal to becomes mates for life or a proposal to marry and become spouses, a set of beliefs or creeds or doctrines presented as a system of dogma including a plan to save your soul, end a chain of reincarnations, etc., etc., etc.,
a spirituality-based solution for all of your problems,
an ideology,
a philosophy,
a plan to save a nation by eliminating everyone of a different skin color, of a different religion (or a different sect or denomination), or anyone else considered to be an “other,”
or
a plan for realization or enlightenment or liberation.
Too often, what is being offered in all of those cases is "a wolf in sheep's clothing," a false image, a mirage, all hidden behind a pretty mask.
In the case of realization or enlightenment or liberation, there is just as much disinformation and confusion and ignorance and distortion and, yes, even lying as with any of the other items on the list above.
[How to spot frauds or those offering a message that is not one that points toward truth? One technique is this:
If the messenger is popular among the masses, Maharaj made clear, then the message cannot be pointing toward truth at all because the masses do not want the truth. They want whatever makes them feel good or whatever gets them emotionally-intoxicated during a presentation. They welcome being fooled, not being awakened to the realities of their current mental state.]
As a specific example, consider:
Someone can be told in a 12-step program that “acceptance is the answer to all my problems today,” can then modify and present that as one’s own supposedly-unique message, can offer people a new version of that message which says, “Love what is,” and can then offer that message in several formats and become a multi-millionaire.
A woman who had been raped and who subsequently became a follower of that messenger for years came here when she realized she needed to be de-programmed. She told me the message she was given was, “Love what is. Invite your rapist to your home and serve him a meal.”
This is the same messenger who talked about Nazi's taking babies from Jewish mothers and throwing the babies into a firepit near the end of WWII. Of that, this messenger said,
“If Someone (God, 'what is '), pulls my baby from me - if that's what it takes, I'm there. Take the baby. Tear my baby from me. Throw it in the fire . . . . “ and “My discomfort is my war with God.”
The woman who had been raped later came here for a retreat after reading one of the pointers from my writing which said: “Humans do not need a ‘program’ where they will be re-programmed; instead, they need to be totally de-programmed,” and “un-taught” so that they can “un-learn” all of the nonsense and learned ignorance which they have been programmed to believe.
The woman who came here confessed that it took her far too long to see that the effect of buying into that messenger’s message was that she “became a doormat,” lost any chance to develop an ability to make sane and sound choices, lost her ability to stand up to abusers, and formed the habit of simply accepting all of the abuse that some people heaped upon her in her vulnerable state.
Yet that messenger claims that part of her approach is “non-dual.” Talk about bait-and-switch. Talk about “deceptions and deceits and the most absurd fabrications which only the most foolish and gullible accept as truth.”
So much for attaching oneself to the type that Maharaj warned seekers to stay the hell away from, namely, those among the group he called “The Big Name Teachers.”
Here, a disclaimer is offered to any that consider seeking in the venue of this author:
"For those who have developed a preference for any non-Nisargan yoga or who prefer Traditional Advaita Vedanta, Neo-Advaita, Neo-Vedanta, or Pseudo Advaita: here you will only find the use of the Direct Path Method of teaching along with pointers based in the Nisarga (Natural) Yoga."
[Conversations over the years with both novice seekers and with so-called "seasoned seekers" who claim that "they understand a lot" (and with some who claim to have "understood it all") actually haven't the slightest clue about which of the basic methods is being used by the guru or the Big Name Teacher they are following, if - indeed - any actual method is being used by their guru or teacher at all.
Moreover, die-hard, long-time Maharaj fans have admitted that - until they read a few of the books or series offered here - they also had not been conscious of the particulars of his "evolution" and the changes in his message over the years.
Of course the ones who did note his shift away from the use of Hindu dogma were his first critics and the Westerners who noted his shift away from spirituality were a second, much-larger. much-more vocal wave of detractors.]
To disclose that the Natural Yoga is used is to disclose right up front to any and all seekers that there is no "goal" here other than to
1. remove the ignorance which inspires attachment to religious or spiritual or philosophical or ideological concepts and exercises and accoutrements
and to
2. bring to an end all thoughts and words and deeds which support unnatural / supernatural living,
giving way to
3. living in an all-natural fashion.
The "later Maharaj" or the “Maharaj That Tapped into the Pure, Unadulterated Universal Consciousness," therefore, offered less and less tolerance for those "hanging out" at the third step to realization where they were playing the role of "The Spiritual Giant" and / or "The Super Religious One."
Yes, for most, the religious or spiritual or philosophical roles have to be played for a time, it seems, but the longer Maharaj taught, the less tolerant he was of those fixating at a place on the "path" that is not even the halfway point of the "journey."
Thus, he spoke of their "kindergarten spirituality."
He noted that "there are so many who take the dawn for the noon, a momentary experience for full realisation . . . . "
For all the spiritual and religious and philosophical talk in I AM THAT, his later talks contained less and less of the earlier "spirituality" and "beating around the bush"; thus, he said to two visitors,
"Forget spirituality."
He encouraged seekers to follow "their normal inclinations," that is, to follow their natural tendencies, to abandon all of their spiritual work and just abide naturally - not unnaturally and not supernaturally (i.e., neither "religiously" nor "spiritually" nor "philosophically").
He told visitors, "Do your normal duties"
and
"just give up spirituality."
And thus the pointer that his message did evolve and even changed over the decades to the degree that he became more and more direct, wasting less time with "foundational and preparatory pointers" that would
(a) tolerate for a time the assumption of seekers' "new and improved and good" religious or spiritual or philosophical personas and that would sometimes gently guide seekers beyond their obsession with the religious or spiritual or philosophical step
and instead
admonishing them, in a far more direct manner than earlier, to
(b) be free of all that drives them to live unnaturally and to
(c) abandon their efforts to live supernaturally
and to
(d) get on with the process of merely living naturally.
He admitted later on that he, too, had been bogged down at the third step and he made clear that he was trying to spare seekers from the years or decades of being similarly bogged down.
He said: "I got involved in spirituality, in the business of spirituality, [but] finally I lost that love of the Self also. I have no more love for the Self."
He said that “When the birth is disproved, the great noble meaning of spirituality and the meaning of this world—everything—is disproved.”
When a visitor said, "The scriptures say that we have our karma and our sins and that is why we are here," Maharaj answered:
"That is for the ignorant masses. One who has realized the Self-Knowledge 'I Am,' for him these stories are of no use."
Later, he would endorse only the seeking of "self-knowledge" ("false-self"-knowledge) which allows seekers to "find all that they are not," saying to them, "that is enough."
Talk about truth in advertising.
Again, recall that he said, “I have no faith in anything which has ever been told, not even what has been told by the Vedas. Only my own experience.”
Yet experience is useless if one is dissociated from the inner guru / inner resource or is trapped in extreme levels of ignorance or is suffering extreme levels of insanity.
For those, the non-dual teachings are not the starting point. Finding competent professional care may be the starting point for them. Then, if their mental and emotional issues are adequately addressed, the non-dual message can provide the final levels of freedom.
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.
