MAHARAJ AND THE RELIGION VS. SCIENCE DEBATE and THE LIES VS. TRUTH DEBATE

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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MAHARAJ AND THE RELIGION VS. SCIENCE DEBATE
and
THE LIES VS. TRUTH DEBATE

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

--Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj 

and 

“The idea that you know what is true is dangerous, for it keeps you imprisoned in the mind.” 

--Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj 

and 

Here, there is nothing that is believed, so there is no one here who wants you to believe anything, either. Here, the invitation is to be free of all that you have been programmed, conditioned, acculturated, domesticated, indoctrinated, and brainwashed to believe so that you can be free, period. --Floyd Henderson

The Lies vs. Truth Debate

Additional Pointers Regarding the "Mind" As An Obstacle to Being Able to Consistently Differentiate Between Lies and Truth

Efforts to quiet the mind or to ignore thoughts cannot succeed with any consistency. Only when Full Realization strikes, only when the "Oh my gosh!" moment happens - only then does the "mind" dissolve. 

Why? Because the "mind" is merely a conglomeration of distorted ideas and bogus concepts and false beliefs which - most unwisely - are proudly-held, which are given undeserved value and significance, and which are egotistically-defended.

Once enlightenment happens - paving the way for full realization, that is, (per Maharaj) for full freedom from the belief in any and all learned ignorance - then ideas and concepts and beliefs are seen to be distorted, bogus and false; 

pride is seen to have been nothing more than false pride; the false is no longer assigned value and significance; and once liberation from personality happens after the third of four (or seven steps on the "path," depending on the "route" you've traveling) there are no ego-states; thus, there is no egotism and, therefore, there is nothing to be egotistically-defended. Yet with the prevalence of ego-states being assumed as real identities and the prevalence of egotism which is used to defend those false identities, the chance of the masses ever accepting that "there is nothing to be egotistically-defended" is practically nil.

[In fact, of all the "-ism's" which perpetuate lies and block the seeing of truth, egot-ism might well be one of the most blinding of all. 

When a counselor was drawing near to the conclusion that the challenges in the relationship were probably never going to be overcome, she posed this question to "The EX":

"If you were asked - just for the sake of discussion - to arbitrarily assign a percentage ratio of the cause of the problems in your marriage over the years, how would you break down the percentage of cause between the two of you?"

The reply after much consideration and looking up toward the ceiling of the room and then finding her belief about the percentage, she said, "I'd say, 5% has been my fault and 95% has been his fault."

The therapist, having already witnessed the high levels of the Perfectionistic Personality Disorder that were present, said to "The EX": "You don't really believe that, do you? If you were being completely honest with me, you would admit that you actually believe that all of the problems have been 100% his fault."

Angry, lips compressed, eyes pinched and alternately focusing with hatred between the counselor and me, she said, "Actually, hell yeah! It's all been 100% his fault." And with that, she stood and walked out of the office.

The counselor said, "In 25 years of working with couples, I've seen plenty who felt that way, but I've never seen anyone admit it so blatantly."

The "-ism" of "ego -ism" usually plays a role to one degree or another in every human conflict nowadays, whether the conflict involves spouses, work associates, traffic rage, city battles, state battles, international battles, religious battles, race-based conflicts . . . whatever.]

Prior to the consciousness having reached that state of enlightenment, liberation, and realization, what to consider meanwhile? It is true that, if you are instructed to "avoid thinking about an elephant," the only thing that you can think of is an elephant. 

Similarly, peace and freedom will not manifest simply by inviting persons to "question all beliefs, see that all beliefs are false, see that a false sense of separation - along with the subsequent misery and suffering - are rooted in your beliefs, and then abandon all beliefs." 

There is a multi-step process that must be followed exactly in order to be free of an ever-churning, peace-robbing "mind," so, what is the answer to at least continuing to move toward freedom from beliefs when persons think their beliefs are so dear? 

The answer is not to try to be rid of disturbing, always-belief-based thoughts. One answer is to ask when a thought is interrupting the peace, “WHO is thinking that thought?” (That is, what ego-state is feeling so threatened or hurt or interfered with that the false identity can inspire the "mind" in which that false self resides to begin an endless flurry of belief-based thought-activity?) 

Only by relinquishing belief in the false identities that inspire thoughts can the thoughts come to an end. Only by abandoning the "this" and "that" in such beliefs as "I am this" (role) or "I am that" (role) will the peace and quiet of only the "I Am" ever happen. 

Thus, the pointers offered earlier for consideration included Lennon and Oko identifying a key source of humankind's problems . . . 

"This-ism, that-ism, is-m, is-m, is-m" 

and with Maharaj advising: 

". . . Stop imagining yourself to be 'this' or 'that.' Just be." 

Next . . . . 

"Neti-Neti": The Non-Dual Pointer to Identity-Less-Ness 

The "mind" is the instrument that supports personality via belief-based thoughts, and those thoughts are the instruments that will forever prevent "peace of mind"; in fact - as has been noted - there is no such thing as "peace of mind." There is only peace if freed of the "mind." There can only be peace if you are "out of your mind." 

Consciousness is rooted in the Absolute. The brain is rooted in the elements. The "mind" is rooted in wrong programming and faulty conditioning and perverted domestication and xenophobia-based acculturation along with all of the "-ism"-generated lies and along with all of the concepts and ideas and superstitions and falsehoods and beliefs that are supported and spread by your culture's "-ism's." 

If trapped in personality / personalities / personas, then one is in a play, playing a role, and believing that the role and the play are both real. Why would one believe such nonsense? Because "the mind" is the playwright, the author of every scene. 

When Maharaj said, "You are not in the world, the world is in you," what did he mean? He meant, "You are not in the world," that is, there is no "you" that is real (that is, "as perceived") or in any world. "The world is in you" means that the world is in your "mind" - merely a misperception, a conceptualization - and is nothing more than a figment of programming-and-conditioning-induced imaginings. 

Everything that is said here is to be used to get rid of another false belief until all ideas and emotional intoxication and beliefs are gone and nothing remains but the unstated understanding. Only then can the constant churning and re-churning of the false beliefs of the corrupted "mind" finally cease. 

Freed of beliefs, functioning happens naturally and spontaneously as the inner resource, rather than the content of the "mind" - becomes the "guiding" light . . . the "guiding force." What is that inner resource, that inner guru? It is the vestige of pure consciousness that remains, deeply buried beneath the waste called “the mind,” and that manifests in full awareness post-realization. 

What will be the prevailing circumstances among the non-realized who have not abandoned all of the "not-you's" as identities and whose functioning is not happening under the auspices of the inner resource? 

The "mind” will continue to obscure the consciousness in all of those cases because the "mind" is so marred with its false beliefs and all of its so-called "knowledge" (that is, its accumulation of learned ignorance), that it will continue to leave such persons insane to one degree or another. Why? 

What else other than "insane" could describe the condition of one who does not recognize "himself" / "herself"? What else other than "insane" could describe the condition of one who does not even know who / what he or she is? What else other than "insane" could describe the condition of one who unquestioningly believes falsehoods? 

What else other than "insane" could describe the condition of one who accepts, on blind faith alone, myth-and-superstition-based beliefs as "the truth"? What else other than "insane" could describe the condition of one who is convinced that he or she is fully awake though actually asleep, trapped in the dream of the planet? 

What else other than "insane" could describe the condition of one who believes that - after those elements which took the form of a plant food body but which eventually return to the universal pool of elements - that some "form" of those elements will remain forever and will "have" the same "mind" and "memories" and personality and identities (roles) and family and spouse, also forever? 

Because no personal body (or "subtle version" thereof) can remain forever, how can a "mind" or any of the beliefs contained therein remain forever? They cannot, and the wise will see how ideal that belief-free, mind-free condition would be. 

Moreover, the truly wise realize as well that, if being free of the beliefs that cause the "mind" to churn away incessantly and that cause a constant disruption of the peace throughout the relative existence would be ideal "later" (post-manifestation), then the truly wise will also realize that it would also be ideal to be free of those peace-robbing factors right now. 

The Ultimate Medicine offered by way of non-duality pointers can treat those suffering from the Ultimate Sickness that has left them out of touch with reality / Reality. The wise that are moving along the "path" to realization see at some point that, through no choice of their own, they have been out of touch with reality / Reality and they see that such a condition in itself is insane. 

Again, to be in touch with reality / Reality is sane, and in order to be sane, you must be out of your mind. 

For their suffering to end, persons must understand the functioning of the totality; must see that all suffering is rooted in the assumption of ego-states as false identities; must realize that they have no “mind” but instead are being driven by the “minds” of others (which they now think is their own "mind"); 

must be aware of the fact that a “mind” is nothing more than the storehouse of all the cultures' lies and beliefs and ideas and concepts that must be cast aside in order to end misperceptions and misunderstandings and the subsequent misery and suffering; and must see not only the limitations of doingness but the timelessness and limitless nature of beingness . . . and non-beingness as well. 

In this relative existence, nothing is going on but a breeziness of play, but persons are caught up in a tornado of work, in a storm of seriousness, and in a tempest of drama. 

So-called “life” in this sphere of consciousness is just a process of functioning, and while the “mind” of a person will dream up notions about separation or differentiation, none exists. 

The unicity-based process just keeps on happening in cycles, but nothing is being cycled except elements and air and energy. Nothing is being "preserved" or "saved" so it can "live forever." What remains forever is energy-matter, and the sane and wise understand both that and THAT. 

A belief or a concept, a religion or a philosophy, a state or a nation, a hero or a villain . . . all are just part of an unhappy process of distortion-driven-functioning if the consciousness is blocked from seeing Truth and reality / Reality. All of those labels above are just dreamed up names, and all such dreamed up names (dreamed up by that accumulation of corruptions called "the mind") generate a false sense of reality and block any sense of Reality as well. 

The "journey" aims to put you fully in touch with reality to put You fully in touch with You. Again, to be out of touch with reality is to be insane. This process is about being truly restored to sanity. 

This "journey" is about getting in touch with reality in order to be free of the bondage of the illusions and falsehoods and bogus beliefs stored in a "mind" that has been exposed to years of enculturation, and it is at the fourth of the seven steps on the "path" that all beliefs finally fall away and the accelerated movement to true freedom happens. 

[A man who came here for a retreat years ago said that when relatives gathered at his house for visits during holidays (visits which he described as always being "far-too-long"), the rule which he laid out from the very beginning of each gathering was "There shall be no discussion of politics or religion."

He said that he knew that visits would be calmer and more peaceful if those two topics were avoided, but he had not understood originally that the peace which had always been interrupted when either of those two topics was discussed was interrupted because of their dualistic nature. 

He said after he began reading my books and posts that it became clear that, in his experience, nothing was more divisive than political beliefs and religious beliefs because they were so widespread and totally dualistic to the core.] 

To fixate at the third step (where religious and / or spiritual roles are assumed and played for a time) is to be forever trapped in believing false beliefs. And that is insane. The invitation is to complete the entire "journey" and then enjoy the remainder of the manifestation in a manner that is marked by total freedom. 

Maharaj said that those trapped at that third step on "the path" will also be trapped forever in their kindergarten-level dogma and / or kindergarten-level spirituality and will, therefore, never be free of having their every thought and word and deed controlled by the agendas of their false, illusory personality identifications.

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.]

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or

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If preferred, here's

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of that session.