TODAY'S CONSIDERATIONS
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1. [See the offer in gold text
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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
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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
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
To continue with excerpts from the book entitled FREEDOM from BELIEFS (Believers, Non-Believers, and "No-Belief-ers") in the discussion of the way that "-ism's" are another source which generates a plethora of distortion-riddled beliefs:
The Lies vs. Truth Debate
Reactions to Maharaj's Pointers and To Some Offered Here, Part Two
You are invited to consider what this exchange with one visitor might reveal to you:
Visitor: "I see that most people resist having their ideas and concepts and beliefs being smashed to pieces."
F.: As have you in the past, yes? That is because WHO they think they are is also an idea . . . a concept . . . a belief, so the smashing of their ideas and concepts and beliefs is taken to be a smashing of themselves . . . taken to be a personal attack.
Also, because they have never been without beliefs since the early days of programming, they do not believe that there can be a belief-less teacher or a "No-Belief-er." As is the case with all non-realized persons, they form an opinion about an experience that they have never had, and then that opinion is also stored away as another belief.
Also, because they have never been without beliefs since the early days of programming, they do not believe that there can be a belief-less teacher or a "No-Belief-er." As is the case with all non-realized persons, they form an opinion about an experience that they have never had, and then that opinion is also stored away as another belief.
Visitor: "I want to cast aside all concepts, I'm ready! What do I do?"
F.: That statement is usually just another false belief that might manifest for a time but that never evolves into a permanent condition of freedom from beliefs, but on the chance that there might be some degree of sincerity and some degree of readiness, the suggestion is to begin by seeing the sources of your beliefs and concepts.
Some site regulars will recall one pointer shared on occasion illustrates how a variety of sources ingrain false beliefs in persons who then refuse to question any of those beliefs: a woman who had visited and shared in several exchanges decided that she was going to “fire me” because of certain pointers that challenged the validity of her conceptualized God.
She claimed, “Floyd, millions of people cannot be wrong.”
The response was something along the lines of, “You’re right. It is billions and trillions that have been wrong.”
She claimed, “Floyd, millions of people cannot be wrong.”
The response was something along the lines of, “You’re right. It is billions and trillions that have been wrong.”
So, find the source of your beliefs. What about the concepts that you take to be "yours" (though they are really “theirs”)? Where did you get those concepts?
Did you hear them repeated so often and so many times by so many parents, teachers, preachers, rabbis, imams, politicians, your culture's leaders - or by the members of some group - that you unconsciously gave credibility to their beliefs, based in nothing more than the overwhelming number of people you’ve heard perpetuating those concepts?
Maharaj's estimate of the small number of persons among the masses who will ever seek - and the smaller number of seekers who will ever realize - guarantees that you will
a. find that billions around the globe regularly repeat and affirm the unquestioned beliefs that are held dear by the masses and guarantees that you will
b. hear very few that come to realize that those widely-held beliefs are all false.
The next questions to the visitor included these:
1. "How many of your beliefs have you truly considered, objectively, as to their viability?"
2. "How many have you subjected to the close scrutiny of impartial inquiry?"
Among seekers, there are "the wet charcoal" types. Try as the teacher might, seekers of that type are never going to "catch fire" and burn away all of their distorted concepts and ideas and beliefs.
There is another type of seeker called, for the sake of discussion, "the dry charcoal" type. With considerable effort and study and contemplation, as more and more nonsense is seen to be nonsense, they might transition into the final “gunpowder” stage.
Once there, an awareness of the magnitude of the numbers of lies accepted as truth “by faith alone” can come into consciousness. Suddenly, analyzing each separate concept ends as the broader awareness explodes into consciousness and blows away all beliefs, marked by a quiet period of deeper-than-ever-before understanding.
Some few are more likely than others to be willing to challenge the "authorities" and to challenge the validity of the teachings imposed by authority figures, and - as the sages have long noted - personality is at the root. Among the nine basis personality types, 50% are Type Six Loyalists who will never question authority.
All personality types are all driven by fears and desires, and the desire of "The Loyalists" is to align with authority (and with "the-powers-that-be" on earth and with "a Power" or "Powers" from other worlds) in order to be taken care of both now and "forevermore";
thus, one-half of the persons on the planet will never even consider the invitation here to question their beliefs. The Type Four - which is the most likely to challenge authority, even early on - is the type most often interested in finding "the Authentic Self"; however, Type Fours only make up 1/2 of 1% of the planet's 7-billion-person population.
Maharaj was a Type Four, and this author displayed Type Four traits at a very early age. In the case of “floyd,” it was described this way in a piece written in 2007:
There was a nagging suspicion during those early years in “Sunday School” that the tales being told were nonsense. The same assessment applied to words being spoken from the pulpit; thus, the asking of questions - the questioning of "their" teachings - was automatic and included the following:
There was a talking snake?
There is a god that makes women suffer menstrual pain on a monthly basis because of the sin of the first woman?
A man was swallowed by a whale but survived for days inside the whale's stomach until it was disgorged?
People walked for forty years in a desert on a journey that others during that era completed in a little over a month?
They got water from rocks struck by a magic rod?
Food rained from the sky?
A virgin was impregnated miraculously by a spirit after being contacted by angel-emissaries from God and agreeing to the arrangement whereby sperm would be implanted without human contact?
The “Loving Father” killed everyone on the planet except for the members of one family?
He loves me but He will burn me in hell if I’m not good?
Then it was discovered that the tale told by Moses was stolen . . . that it had been around for 500 years as part of the dogma of an ancient pagan religion, complete with the magic rod and freed slaves and water from rocks and food from the sky.
It was seen that words "I AM THAT I AM," supposedly spoken by a burning bush, were plagiarized from a Far Eastern philosophy (and were reported without the clarifying semicolon to boot which appeared in the original form: "I AM THAT; I AM").
It was learned that Christianity was not the first religion founded on the basis of a virgin birth but was the 23rd. Seeking and researching led to the debunking of one magical tale after another. It was seen that the god of Abraham was a product of rolling all of the ancient pagan gods of creation and sustenance and destruction into "one god," resulting in an all-in-one "Creator-Sustainer-Destroyer" God.
[That opened the door for the wise to note that a god being marketed as a "Creator-Sustainer-Destroyer" is no different from a human playing the multiple, self-contradictory roles which will guarantee that such humans - and such a god - will be unstable, emotionally-intoxicated, unpredictable, fickled, inconsistent, mercurial, temperamental, unsettled, unsteady, volatile
and
obviously trapped in the Borderline Personality Disorder, in the Narcissistic Personality Disorder, in an Attachment Disorder, and in a Co-dependent Personality Disorder whereby both that kind of God and that kind of parent can be rendered happy and "pleased" or can be made angry and "displeased" by externals such as "their children."
(And being unstable, emotionally-intoxicated, unpredictable, fickled, inconsistent, mercurial, temperamental, unsettled, unsteady, volatile, borderline, narcissistic, detached, and co-dependent can explain how a god can supposedly love one but also be willing to burn for eternity one who is supposedly loved.)
And anyone who likes or defends or glorifies either that kind of parent or that kind of God is obviously being driven not only by the influences of the Stockholm Syndrome but also by high levels of insanity.]
[That opened the door for the wise to note that a god being marketed as a "Creator-Sustainer-Destroyer" is no different from a human playing the multiple, self-contradictory roles which will guarantee that such humans - and such a god - will be unstable, emotionally-intoxicated, unpredictable, fickled, inconsistent, mercurial, temperamental, unsettled, unsteady, volatile
and
obviously trapped in the Borderline Personality Disorder, in the Narcissistic Personality Disorder, in an Attachment Disorder, and in a Co-dependent Personality Disorder whereby both that kind of God and that kind of parent can be rendered happy and "pleased" or can be made angry and "displeased" by externals such as "their children."
(And being unstable, emotionally-intoxicated, unpredictable, fickled, inconsistent, mercurial, temperamental, unsettled, unsteady, volatile, borderline, narcissistic, detached, and co-dependent can explain how a god can supposedly love one but also be willing to burn for eternity one who is supposedly loved.)
And anyone who likes or defends or glorifies either that kind of parent or that kind of God is obviously being driven not only by the influences of the Stockholm Syndrome but also by high levels of insanity.]
Next, just as the religious tales were debunked, more seeking and finding revealed more and more bogus tales that had no factual foundation but were rooted in ancient myths and superstitions.
More and more began to be questioned, and more and more was found to be unsubstantiated. It was only after finding the non-duality teachings and after reading pointers and after taking them into contemplation (and after a vision came that clarified all of the pointers and revealed that the "path" has seven steps) that a “Eureka” moment happened.
The awakening came one evening - now some twenty-two years ago - when the following flashed into the consciousness that had undergone a long cleansing process: “I’ve been exposing a lie here, a mistaken belief there, a bogus tale here, a piece of fiction there, all of which is taken by the masses to be truth.”
But that evening, the first stirrings of a real awakening flashed into consciousness with the realization: “Oh my gosh! I’ve focused on the lies told by politicians ... the tall tales told by religious people over the last 5000 years . . . the nonsense spouted by those who claim to be 'on an even higher plane' because they are ‘spiritual, not just religious’.”
It was then seen that “The focus has been far too narrow . . . far too limited. Oh my gosh! It’s all nonsense. It’s all BS!”
Immediately, this flashed into the consciousness that was undergoing a continuing re-purification process: “OK, so now I see that it was all just so much fiction and fabrication. But if all of that was invention and falsehood, what is the truth?”
Immediately, this flashed into the consciousness that was undergoing a continuing re-purification process: “OK, so now I see that it was all just so much fiction and fabrication. But if all of that was invention and falsehood, what is the truth?”
As it turned out, all of the false beliefs had to be discarded as a prerequisite for moving farther along the seven-step "path" to full realization, to seeing truth, and to understanding the functioning of the totality.
The visitor mentioned earlier in this post was finally advised: if you are truly willing to cast aside all ideas and concepts and beliefs, then you must find where you got them and then see that they are all part and parcel of a planet-wide compilation of nonsense based in myths and superstitions and ignorance.
Next, you must understand that you cannot become free by “picking and choosing” from “their” collection of nonsense or by casting aside “some” or “most” concepts but continuing to cling to a few of “your” favorite beliefs.
You must also see that the manifestation will not go on long enough for you to investigate one idea or one concept or one belief at a time and discover that each lacks validity; instead, all ideas and concepts and beliefs must all be cast aside in one fell swoop if you would be free.
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.
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.