IT'S TIME TO TRY "A DIFFERENT ROUTE": REALIZING WITHOUT DOGMA, WITHOUT CONTINUOUS SPIRITUAL PRACTICES, AND WITHOUT A PREOCCUPATION WITH “THE NATURE OF REALITY AND THINGS NOUMENAL”

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THE RATIONALE FOR CONCLUDING THAT "IT'S TIME TO TRY 'A DIFFERENT ROUTE' WHEN SEEKING A SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEMS OF HUMANITY BECAUSE THE ACTUAL RESULTS OF FOLLOWING THE MOST POPULAR ROUTE FOR 5000+ YEARS HAVE PROVED INEFFECTIVE"
[Continued]

Back during the days when I was still trapped in the role of "The Super Religious One," a man asked about a line in the fictional tale about an Adam and an Eve and a God.

It seems after Adam and Eve had sinned, for the first time ever they covered their genitalia when God paid a visit. The point of the writer? Humanity for the first time was experiencing shame, specifically, "the shame which comes after having offended God." So the writer would have all believe.

At that point, God supposedly asked: "WHO told you that you were naked?" 

Of course having always been a game-player and having always exhibited a mean streak (being a Jewish-conceived version of God who was already capable of drowning every person on earth save the members of one family) he was being sly, sneaky, tricky and devious. Per that story, God knew what they had done and wanted them to admit it.

Though the story is total nonsense, it does echo a question that will be asked here momentarily. First, this:

I received a letter from a woman who has finally seen her insanity in all its depth, and much depth it does have, and was reaching out for help (though she has no clue what real, effective help would look like); thus, she went with the old standby: "I want to feel God and peace in my life." 

Consider: If you went to a physician with a complaint about the sharpest pain in the abdominal area that you've ever experienced and she or he diagnosed you and reported that your pain was the result of a large gallstone which has become stuck in a tiny duct, would you say,

"Well actually I'm sure it's something else that's wrong. I believe that I just have a constipation malady, so the treatment I want from you is for you to shove an air hose inside me from the top and then blow out whatever is causing my bowels to lock. And I will consider no other diagnosis or treatment plan so don't try to change my mind." 

You'd be shown the exit, tout de suite, and that is what I had to do with the woman. She was not ready for the actual treatment plan which is far different from what she thinks can heal her mental illness. Is she already so far gone that the non-dual understanding could not treat that condition?

That did not seem to be the case, yet the statement that "I want to feel God and peace in my life" made clear that the readiness was not there to even consider a potential solution which is so far "outside the box" which she's been put into via programming, conditioning, etc. 

The first instinct was to ask, "WHO told you that 'feeling God' is the proper treatment for a serious mental condition?" 

Like the person visiting the physician above who wanted to tell the doctor what treatment is required to stop her pain - though actually it would do nothing to stop her pain - the woman who wrote to me wanted to do the same, saying basically: 

"I am in misery and suffering and I know that it's being caused by the psychically-unhealthy state of my mind, so the way I want you to treat my mental illness is by getting me closer to God." 

I also knew the answer in her case to the "WHO told you that 'feeling God' is the proper treatment for a serious mental condition?" 

After a couple of decades of programming in a step program, she has been convinced that body and mind issues are - indirectly - just spiritual issues. She has been told repeatedly that both body sicknesses and mind sicknesses are really spiritual sicknesses and that if she'll just heal her spirit, then her body and mind will follow suit. 

Yet if one admits to being mentally ill, is it not also insane to trust that you - being mental ill - could even remotely know what the proper treatment for that condition is? 

Only a few million on the planet are, at any moment, like her and involved with a step program; meanwhile, the 7,081,000,000 person on the planet who report a religious affiliation are being told the same thing in the venues they visit. 

It is clear that a plant food body is never what it appears to be to the non-realized but that, presently, it is real to the extent that elements are real, air is real, and conscious-energy are real. 

Similarly, it should be clear that the parts of the brain where information is stored and retrieved - called a "mind" - is an actual part of an elemental brain (notwithstanding the fact that the information now being stored therein is nonsense for the most part). 

It should also be clear that after trillions of surgeries have been performed in which every section of elemental plant food bodies have been cut open and in which all sections of the inside of the bodies have been exposed for clear viewing, not one physician has ever reported seeing something not shown to students in medical school and something identifiable as "a soul " or "a spirit." 

Those are made up concepts, dreamed up by delusional or manipulative humans, and nothing just made up or dreamed up can ever treat a body illness or a mind illness. 

If even a modicum of scientific facts are looked at objectively, then the resultant clarity could allow all to understand that body problems call for body solutions and mind problems call for mind solutions and that nothing dreamed up or made up or totally fanciful or imaginary or can ever help address either of those problems. 

Reach that understanding and then it might become clear why "the actual results of trying for 5000+ years to use noumenal methods to treat phenomenal problems have proved to be totally ineffective."

To continue, but first to review:

The discussion at this point in the series is now focusing on "The Most Influential Obstacles Of All" which have come via dreamed up myths and superstitions and via "religious" and / or "spiritual" sources, including religious and / or spiritual thoughts, ideas, concepts, notions, views, theories, inklings, perceptions, a.k.a., "beliefs."

The focus is also on this pointer: 

Of the relatively few who do seek, almost all of them will seek in religious and / or spiritual venues, few understanding that realization can come without dogma, without continuous spiritual practices, and without an exclusive preoccupation with "the nature of reality and things noumenal."

Why is that significant? Recall the man who approached me after a talk and said, "I was abused as a child by a priest. I've done years of work to try to get beyond that, but where I am today is, I still cringe when people start talking religion to me. So my question is, have you found a way to guide people to realization and freedom without their having to buy into the dogma you talk about?"

That question made clear that I had not even reached the "kindergarten level of spirituality" which Maharaj condemned, much less the understandings beyond that which awaited. It was that question which would send me along a "different route" and would eventually lead me to the entirely different version of the Ultimate Medicine which is offered now which allows for realizing without being fanatical about dogma and without engaging incessantly in spiritual practices and without a never-ending preoccupation with things noumenal rather than relaxing and taking it easy and then abiding naturally and then dancing lightly throughout the remainder of the manifestation.

REALIZING WITHOUT DOGMA, WITHOUT CONTINUOUS SPIRITUAL PRACTICES, AND WITHOUT A PREOCCUPATION WITH “THE NATURE OF REALITY AND THINGS NOUMENAL”

My, my, how persons (especially those who have assumed a “really good” or “Supreme” Persona or Identity) can totally ignore or can even become riled up by some of Maharaj words while remaining attached to other of his words if they reinforce their beliefs about their “Selfness.”

Some, for example, became aggravated when he said: “You need not know what you are. Enough to know what you are not. What ‘You Are’, you will never know, for every discovery reveals new dimensions to conquer.”

How dare he short-circuit their “Self-Inquiry Process" and their “Pride-Engendering 'Self''-Discovery”!

When he suggested early on that "the Self is consciousness" (a pointer he would not offer later on) understand that conscious is but energy. Generally speaking, everything in this universe is energy-matter. Consciousness is actually conscious-energy. Want to know what you can point to accurately with the word “Self”? Energy. Merely energy, and energy does not come in a “Supreme” form. It is just energy. Yet "energy" does so much less for ego and "The Ego" and the egotism supporting it than identities such as "The Self" or "The Supreme Self."

Thus, he said: “Your true being is entirely unselfconscious, completely free from all self-identification with whatever it may be - gross, subtle or transcendental.” And that "trueness" would have to apply equally to un-Self-conscious and to no Self-Identification as well, would it not?

Can you find hundreds of comments by him to hundreds of seekers which suggest otherwise? Sure. It depended on when he was talking (early on or later when more clarity would come) and depended also on the level of the seeker to whom he was speaking. But his message changed totally over the decades, as did his focus, as he shifted from one or another form of the Ultimate Medicine and from the use of one yoga after another:

On some level, the evolution might be outlined in this way, though Maharaj never followed one type of yoga consistently until he finally settled into what might be called an "all-nisarga" approach:

FROM . . .

guru-bhakti and bhakti

TO

bhakti and jnana (and mention of "atma")

TO

jnana and nisargan

TO 

Nisargan

If you understand those shifts / changes / evolutions, then you might grasp these relevant pointers as well:

“Self-Inquiry” and Jnana Yoga go hand-in-hand, so his Jnana Yoga phase generated talk about “Self-Inquiry.”

By contrast, “self-inquiry” and the nisarga yoga go hand-in-hand.

Thus, the farther he moved away from guru-bhakti and bhakti and jnana yoga – and the closer he moved toward a pure Nisargan yoga message - the more he focused on "self"-inquiry; and the more he focused on “self"-inquiry, the farther he moved away from guru-bhakti and bhakti and jnana yoga and "love of Self" and "Self"-Inquiry.

That is why (once realized) he did not give a tinker’s damn about self or anything to do with false selves, and it is why – after his teachings evolved completely – he didn’t give a rat’s patoo about “Self” or about anything to do with “Self” or about a false Self or about an assumed Self or about an identified Self (or about a “Self with an Identity”). How, then, could he any longer care about “Self-Inquiry” either, once he reached the point where he proclaimed that he had "even lost the love of Self"? He could not.

Once abidance happens as one’s Original Nature - and is thus devoid of both self-ness and Self-ness and devoid of any identity or identities or “An Identity” or “A Special Identity” or “A Supreme Identity” - then only can true identity-less-ness (and “Identity-Less-Ness") be reached.

By way of the invitation here, or by Maharaj’s example as he shifted his focus away from the jnana yoga / “Self-Inquiry” approach and away from offering a spirituality-based version of the Ultimate Medicine to a psychology-based version, one can complete a thorough “self"-inquiry and be free of all identification and concepts and beliefs. [That approach only involves four of the seven steps offered here in the past and the seven steps which Maharaj referenced - without enumeration - during his teaching days.]

Otherwise, one can complete here – as was the case with Maharaj in the early going during his jnana yoga phase - a “Self"-Inquiry [which will involve all seven of the seven steps offered here, all of which Maharaj pointed to in his talks]; be prepared, however, for the same outcome whether using Maharaj’s method or the approach used here because the results will be exactly the same. Be prepared to discover this at the end:

Maharaj: “What ‘You Are’, you will never know, for every discovery reveals new dimensions to conquer.” The closest thing to an “identity” that will be found at the end of the seven step “path” is . . . "a form of energy" or an understanding of one’s no-identity and No-Identity Original Nature when awareness was but was not aware of and when awareness might offer the opportunity for awareness to manifest as consciousness which - in the early going - was not conscious-of.

Conscious-of-ness came only after (1) programming, conditioning, domestication, acculturation, brainwashing and indoctrination and after (2) the manifestation of a belief in dualistic concepts which allow for “A” to believe that it is conscious of a “B” (and a “C” and a “D,” etc., near-infinitum).

While “Self-Inquiry” will require so much more time and energy and preoccupation, and while it will lead to being distracted from the AM-ness and will lead to putting the joys of the relative existence on hold, either “self-inquiry” or “Self-Inquiry” will do just fine for seekers if the non-dual, no-identity, No-Identity, no-concept understanding is reached in the end. Yet why did Maharaj eventually begin recommending the more direct and the shorter "find who you are not journey"? 

Because he came to understand that . . .

(a) humankind’s problems do not exist because so few people ever find the answer to “Who Am I, Really?” and because

(b) humankind’s problems do not exist because most people will never hear and understand such terms as “the Supreme Self” or “Brahman” or “the Self Beyond” or “Atman” or “Realization”; and because

(c) humankind’s problems do actually exist because of the failure to understand what they are not, namely, all of the personas which have been assigned or assumed (including the really “good ones” and “special ones,” as in “b” above).

And that is why Maharaj said, “You need not know what you are. Enough to know what you are not. What ‘You Are’, you will never know, for every discovery reveals new dimensions to conquer.”

So why did Maharaj even discuss steps 5-7 for years? Why are they offered here at times? Because they do provide a means by which “Your Original Nature” can be understood, allowing for "conscious abidance as THAT Nature" if you would enjoy sanity and peace now.

Yet even if one never understands THAT Nature, if they do understand all that they are not, they will abide in a manner which will be far more similar to THAT Nature once they have been freed of all identifications (because THAT Nature had no identifications, either). See. This really can be far simpler than most make it.

Promised earlier: an explanation of the three legs of the “journey” for those that might be interested in the rest of the story or the rest of the “path” that Maharaj discussed during the early phases of his teaching.

AN OVERVIEW

LEG ONE: The “coming in phase” where the consciousness manifests and is soon blocked off from seeing reality and Reality because of programming, conditioning, domestication, acculturation, brainwashing, and indoctrination. Eventually, the consciousness identifies with the false “I” and becomes limited to body-mind-personality identification. During this leg, seven steps are involved in the blocking of the consciousness and the development of a “mind” that is filled with nonsense and learned ignorance.

LEG TWO: The second phase –“the journey” to realization – involves (as Maharaj explained) "going back, in reverse, to the source from which You came," eliminating (via taking the seven steps in reverse) the blocking of the consciousness and the development of a “mind” which was filled with nonsense and learned ignorance.

LEG THREE: This is the post-realization "coming in" again leg, but this time it happens without the consciousness falling prey to any programming, conditioning, domestication, acculturation, brainwashing, and indoctrination. In this phase, there is an overlaying of Reality on reality, so to speak, and the remainder of the relative existence then happens spontaneously and naturally without any of the debilitating effects of the Ultimate Sickness, especially the symptoms that Maharaj identified as “ignorance, stupidity, and insanity.” Instead, wisdom and sanity prevail.

Note: It really IS about "coming in" again rather than about “staying out there” and claiming to be THAT only (ignoring the I AM part of the summative statement of non-duality: “I AM THAT, I AM”) and “staying out there” in Foo Foo Land and wanting to claim a “higher-plane-status" of Pure Reality and THAT-ness while actually being motivated by a “really-supreme-and-wonderful-personality-based” desire to escape from, and dissociate from, “reality “ (a.k.a., the IS-ness).

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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