MAHARAJ AND THE RELIGION VS. SCIENCE DEBATE

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.

MAHARAJ AND THE RELIGION VS. SCIENCE DEBATE 

"Science will someday advance to the point that it will confirm the validity of the non-dual teachings." 

--Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

Earlier, we saw, as Maharaj noted, that valid scientific evidence can be used to support the validity of the non-dual teachings / understandings, yet how many will ever truly grasp those teachings (un-teachings) / understandings? Few, according to the numbers shared yesterday, numbers which Maharaj used in his guesstimate of how many are realized. 

Study his numbers and you'll see that he said that at any given moment there are only a few thousand persons on the planet who will ever understand these teachings (un-teachings) / understandings. Take out a few thousand and what remains? 

About 7.6 billion persons who are far more attached to ignorance and to lies than to wisdom and facts. The ancient myths and superstitions from which the earliest pagan religions drew their beliefs have now evolved into the dogma and teachings of some 4,200 modern day religions with thousands of (sub-)sects and with many thousands of (sub-)denominations which now combine to make up one body of unnatural or supernatural or religious or spiritual belief systems and one body of "dogma-based knowledge" (a.k.a., "learned ignorance," to use Maharaj's term). 

That body makes up The Newest Cult of Ignorance which is being spread around the globe by the contagion which "non-dualists refer to as "the Ultimate Sickness." 

THE NEWEST CULT OF IGNORANCE: 

The Increase In False Beliefs With The Attacks On Science And Scientific Evidence 

The various "Ages of Darkness" and "Ages of Enlightenment" have been discussed on this site. Historically, "The Ignorance vs. The Understanding" pendulum has been swinging for as long as humans or human-like beings have walked the planet. 

In Texas, the current public school and textbook standards are subverting science and truth. (Slaves in the state-approved textbooks are depicted as something akin to "volunteer workers" who were given "a much better life on cotton plantations than they would have had in the jungles of Africa").

Science textbooks pretty much ignore the facts regarding evolution and are prompting religious creationism. Regarding the legislature's effort to further erode the line between religion and government, the Texas law allows public school teachers who have attachments to dogma to bring debunked and unconstitutional creationist arguments into their classrooms with legal protection, and the textbooks now include information which not only attacks evolution but also - in some communities - outlaws the teachings of evolution in public schools and endorses the teaching of creationist theories only. 

The growing "home school" population uses Christianity-based materials. One of the top sellers of such materials for home schooling advertises the following (even as they misspell the name of what they sell:

Homeschool [sic] Curriculum 

Homeschool [sic] curriculum, workbooks, living books, and resources for all styles and methods of homeschooling! Discover the homeschool [sic] curriculum that will best fit with your child and family to meet your educational goals. 

That most popular site with home schooling parents? "Christianbook.com." 

Another popular provider of home schooling materials advertise that they have 

Materials covering the entire span from "Preschool to Grade 12" 

along with 

"Video Lessons, and More!" 

informing parents that they can 

Inspire Learning and Teach Biblical Values with [sic] Comprehensive Christian Curriculum. 

One man whose parents kept him at home and "schooled" him there later because an advocate for ending all home school programs. He pointed out that 

"many parents suggest they are homeschooling [sic] because they are more concerned about the quality of education their children receive than about the religious teachings that are included."

He shared what he came to understand from his own experience: 

"For those of us Christians who were in homeschooling [sic] for the long haul, it wasn’t a question of whether or not we were 'religious' homeschoolers: [sic] it was a question of whether we were knee-deep, [sic] or just a little into the religious homeschooling movement.

"Try to cut out the 'movement' from my homeschooling experience, and quite frankly, there is nothing much left. [sic] Because no matter how many positive aspects of homeschooling I can create in my mind, all of them are infiltrated somehow with legalism and religion." 

Another man who went through home schooling also advocates against it and its curriculum: 

"The problem isn’t merely that the workbook authors force scripture into the lessons whether it belongs there or not. It’s that they teach incorrect information (like Creationism [sic]), omit some information altogether, and never get into the sort of depth you’d expect to find in any rigorous public school curriculum. The result is inevitably that students who use these resources 'graduate' with a much narrower understanding of core subjects. (I use 'understanding' loosely.) 

"One important example of these problems? The way homeschooling [sic] texts handle the civil rights movement. There is no mention of the KKK, Jim Crow, or lynchings. The word ‘racism’ never appears. This short description of what happened after the killing of Dr. King was this: 'Angry young blacks rioted, robbed, and burned buildings in several American cities. All of this was done in the name of a man who wished to be remembered as a man of peace.' That’s what homeschooled [sic] students are expected to take away from King’s death.

"And this is just one topic in one subject. This sort of thing happens throughout the curriculum. The students who have to rely on these books get a minimal education at best, leaving them unprepared to understand or deal with situations outside their bubble." 

Now, many charter schools are also blurring the line between religious and public education and the new administration is the U.S. would end public education as it is known and replace it with Christian-friendly charter schools.

Consider: 

Maharaj's recommendation was that science be studied long enough and deeply enough that persons can use scientific understandings to reach a full non-dual understanding, yet the more influential forces at work right now in many quarters include those persons who hate science because it challenges their blind faith and bogus beliefs and dogma-based ignorance. 

Rather than advance scientific awareness, their push is to spread with their anti-science stance the most "ultra-conservative," "highly religious," and "as far right belief systems" possible. 

The result: widespread dissemination of the symptoms of the Ultimate Sickness. 

One particularly disturbing fact to them challenges their belief - discussed yesterday - that the universe and the earth both came into existence at the same moment exactly 6,021 years ago. Set forth by science is the proof that the universe is 13.772 billion years (with a +/- margin of error of about 59 million years) and that the earth is at least 4.54 billion years old (with a +/- margin of error of about 50 million years). 

Paleoanthropologists from the University of Johannesburg have uncovered new information from their study of the Ballito Bay child fossils - first discovered in Durban, South Africa - which indicate modern humans are much older than initially thought. The paleoanthropologists report:

"Up until now the understanding of humans and evolution of Homo sapiens was always believed to have started at around 200,000 years ago, but based on these individuals we can now show that Homo sapiens split off possibly as far back as 350,000 years ago.] 

As noted, those estimates of the age of the universe and planet earth are considerably different from the Bible-based estimate that "the world" is only about 6000 years old. 

Religion also came up with such debates as, "Can several angels be in the same place at once?" and "How many angels can dance on the point of a needle." 

[The answer as for as dancing on the point of a needle is concerned?

As best I've been able to calculate by listening to religious beliefs over the years, it depends on the religious affiliation that the human / angel-to-be had prior to dying and becoming a half-human, half-bird, gauzy but invisible angel: 

For Catholics, the correct answer would seemingly have to be "two" and - while alive - one of the pair would have had to be a male and the other would have had to be a female because it is only be acceptable for people of the same sex to dance according to that religion. 

If Evangelical or Baptist, the correct answer would be "none." Why? Because it is only the Devil who approves of people putting their bodies against each other and gyrating rhythmically in order to be tempted to do something vile, like getting turned on and having sexual relations." (In the Evangelical / Southern Baptist Church in which I was raised, the joke we told was, "Why can't Baptists have sex standing up? The answer: Because someone might see us and think we're dancing.")

If Orthodox Jewish, the correct answer would also be "none because contact between men and women in public is forbidden." 

If a Muslim, Salafist or Wahhabi, the correct answer would also be "none" because dancing in general is deemed to be haram (forbidden); thus, their traditions also prohibit contact between men and women in public (especially those not married to each other, formerly known as "the Billy Graham rules" and known now nowadays as "The Mike Pence Rule" in the U.S.)

In these Muslim societies, men and women either dance separately or the men dance in large groups and the women can only watch because they are forbidden to dance.] 

The "Catch-22" around Maharaj's largely-ignored recommendation to use science is this: 

Science, as he noted, can assist with the removal of ignorance, but those trapped in ignorance hate science. Quite the conundrum, yes? 

Yet his recommendation notwithstanding, Maharaj also made clear that both science and spirituality have only a temporary place in your process of moving to realization, that is, to freedom from ignorance. 

Confucius said:

Thus Maharaj made clear that one cannot begin with finding truth or seeing truth or knowing truth. Indeed, he noted that one must begin by seeing the false: 

The Newest Cult Of Ignorance shares many common goals with the ancient cults of ignorance; 

Stamp out science 

Understand that scientists would have you accept beliefs which will cast you into the eternal fires of hell 

Promote questioning nothing 

Take pride in ignorance when the option is a liberal or progressive public school education or college education 

God is the Highest Authority, and those speaking for God and quoting God are the Highest Authorities on earth 

What you should do when charged with being ignorant is look to the first letters in that word 'ignorant' and . . . "i-g-n-o-r e those people and their assessment

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.