TODAY'S CONSIDERATIONS
6. Or, you may purchase a Floyd Henderson Shopify Gift Card here for someone and offer recommendations for the books in Floyd's store which might be of assistance to them.
THE EVOLUTION OF MAHARAJ’S MESSAGE:
From dogma to spirituality to psychology
"Science will someday advance to the point that it will confirm the validity of the non-dual teachings."
--Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
This has also been offered here in past writings:
When presented via the nisarga yoga approach, Advaita is neither a religion nor a philosophy; instead, it is science.
Again, Maharaj tried a Hindu / non-dual version of the Ultimate Medicine and abandoned its use because it showed no long-term success; he tried a spirituality / non-dual version of the Ultimate Medicine and abandoned its use because it also showed no long-term success;
eventually, he settled into a scientific approach to be used when offering a treatment plan for the Ultimate Sickness, specifically, using the sciences of the mind, including the science of psychology and the science of human behavior.
Also, from early on, he had also used the science of de-programming (which can be used to end ignorant and insane allegiances not only to dualistic belief systems but also to those trapped in cults and cult-like groups including those which are religious, spiritual, political, economic, conspiratorial, or social groups which use belief systems for the purpose of creating and maintaining loyalty and entrapment with a cult).
In what fashion can science be used to bring about freedom from such influence and entrapment?
When some philosophies and almost all religions are put to the test, much of what they teach must be rejected as a result of there being far too much contradictory empirical data. It is the direct path, nisarga yoga approach which invites questioning but . . .
. . . which accepts factual evidence over religious dogma, scriptures, and the words of any person
and
. . . which allows scientific proofs to take precedence over philosophical theories or ancient myths repeated as real
and
. . . which teaches that—just as there are archetypal, internal messages that are rooted in the totality of all human experience and that have been shown scientifically to have been transmitted genetically over the span of millions of years—so there are inner awarenesses of that which is infinite and permanent as opposed to that which is transient.
This was offered years ago:
Maharaj said that someday his teachings would be explained in terms of the science involved and that would expand the numbers of those with the Understanding of his teachings because those with a scientific (or more concrete than abstract) mindset could know the Absolute. Of course science has never been necessary for “The Understanding” since all that one need to know is within, but science today does reaffirm the veracity of Maharaj’s words.
Nisarga yoga makes clear that bodies are merely converted plant food; that reproduction is an act of friction rather than an act controlled by divine intervention; and that when dust returns to dust, no re-formation of that same dust as the same person can possibly happen.
Nisarga yoga makes clear that persons programmed by dogma will think in magical ways which prevent them from understanding the mechanics of normal and natural happenings. While they speak of “god’s unexplainable mysteries,” the “Realized Nisargan” can easily explain via investigation and facts the particulars of natural happenings which are erroneously said to be “supernatural happenings” by those trapped in learned ignorance.
Nisarga yoga makes clear that there is nothing that is magical as opposed to routine; that there is nothing that is miraculous as opposed to what can be explained via concrete, scientific facts either proved or provable; and that there is nothing that is caused supernaturally as opposed to the natural processes of causation.
Now, the comparisons / contrasts will continue:
20.
Religion requires its followers to exercise blind faith as opposed to reason and reason.
Some philosophies at times have claimed that a combination of religion and philosophy are required for understanding and that in many cases neither alone can offer a complete explanation of truth.
Science (as is the case with Nisarga yoga) advocates the use of questioning and the use of logic and reason and finding fact over using blind faith in the pursuit of truth.
21.
Religion thrives on emotional intoxication.
Philosophy, in some cases, engenders emotional intoxication, but less than religions.
Science (as is the case with Nisarga yoga) discourages emotional intoxication though feelings (different from emotions) are seen as natural.
22.
Religion encourages the use of scriptures to define truth, though their scriptures were usually written thousands of years ago—usually by men . . . and specifically by men who were ignorant and / or superstitious and who were generally repeating tales which they had heard that had been circulated by pagans.
(For example, the four so-called “gospels” in the New Testament not surprisingly offer four very different, conflicting accounts of the crucifixion and what words were said and what actions occurred during that act. Why?
Because the writers - originally anonymous until the names “Matthew,” “Mark,” “Luke” and “John” were added in the 2nd century – were written up to 110 years after the event and were not written by so much as a single eyewitness.
Such “very different, conflicting accounts” are frequent through the so-called “Holy” Bible. In the Old Testament, the book of “Genesis” offers to totally different versions of “the Creation of the earth” story. How many notice that? Few, but then how could they have noticed since fewer than 1% have actually read their “holy” book and have relied on a preacher / priest / whatever to tell them what is in the book.)
To continue:
Philosophy uses writing of philosophers as a starting point of discussions, yet little deemed to be “supernatural” is assigned to the writers or writings. As Cline noted, “Nietzsche wasn’t born of a virgin, no angels appeared to announce the conception of Sartre, and Hume didn’t make the lame walk again.”
Science refutes the possibility of virginal vs. vaginal births as well as “miracles” (a term applied by those trapped in magical thinking who do not understand true cause).
23.
Religion is ironic at its core, rooted in the self-contradictory concept of “absolute dualities,” trying to define specifically what is good or bad, right or wrong, moral or immoral, okay and not okay, ad infinitum.
Philosophy sometimes encourages belief in dualities.
24.
Religion, and its leaders, require that their beliefs be accepted without question.
Philosophy usually encourages questioning.
Science (as is the case with Nisarga yoga) always questions until facts emerge. Only then is there no question.
25.
Religion usually teaches that there is a “Timeless Being” that is the source of life. For three of the religions on planet earth, they all see that “Timeless Being” to be “the God of Abraham.”
(So three religions whose members believe that they are all too different to worship together - even though they shared a common founder and common God - have spent centuries fighting each other and trying to kill off each other. Wouldn’t Maharaj’s “ignorance, stupidity, and insanity” observation apply to them all?)
Science (as is the case with Nisarga yoga) shows that there is timeless being or beingness which is the source of consciousness and what is called “life.”
To be continued.
Please enter into the silence of contemplation.
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:
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.
If you prefer PAPERBACK copies
(collected in two anthologies).
Links for ordering are below with
BARNES and NOBLE presently providing better service
than AMAZON
when it come to fulfilling orders for
paperback and hardcover books
as opposed to delivering digital books.
[NOTE: Wherever you live, you can search for the books below by title with booksellers in your country. With 40,000+ retailers distributing my paperback books, you may order from U.S. stores or you may find someone nearer to you.]
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."
from BARNES AND NOBLE by clicking here
or (sometimes less efficiently nowadays in terms of paperback delivery)
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
(1) You may purchase
a Floyd Henderson Shopify Gift Card here
for someone and offer recommendations for the books in Floyd's store which might be of assistance to them.
Or,
(2) 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:
THE EXPLANATION
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"
and
"Heaven and earth shall fade away."
and
"Heaven and hell are not geographic places
"There is no hell."
