Wednesday, April 14, 2021

The Pure, Universal Consciousness, Pure Awareness, and a "Proper Perspective"

Table of Contents

Today's Considerations
Recent Posts and Archives
Tools for Realization
Author's eBooks
Author's Paperback Books
Free eBooks

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 available in two anthologies through Barnes and Noble, Amazon, and over 40,000+ booksellers around the globe including in the Americas, Germany, India, Italy, Poland, Russia, China, Spain, Brazil and South Korea. 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.

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.

7. You may click here to visit Floyd's bookstore
which offers both digital books and paperback books which deal with non-duality, non-duality-based fictional adventures, recovery, financial sanity, financial planning, and more.

The Pure, Universal Consciousness, Pure Awareness, and a

"Proper Perspective"

Maharaj constantly emphasized the non-duality-based understandings of “not-different-from and “not two.” 

Consider this piece of syllogistic reasoning:

A. If seekers come to understand that the concept of “different-from” is totally bogus, then they cannot be programmed or conditioned or acculturated or domesticated or brainwashed or indoctrinated to believe in “different-from-ment’s” otherwise constant companion concept of “better-than.”

and 

B. if humans do not believe in the false concept of “better-than,” then all of the conflict which is generated by that ego and egotism-based concept - which includes almost all conflict - cannot happen.

Therefore,

C. when conflict is avoided from the very beginning, then . . . well . . . you understand the rest.

While regularly discouraging a belief in “different-from,” Maharaj did endorse "different" in one case, namely, in developing new perspectives which are different from the ones currently held.

I wrote an entire book dedicated to that topic

 

So today you are invited to consider the pointers regarding the usually-daunting task of abandoning past and present perspectives and developing an all-new way of seeing things which allows for accurate witnessing which is possible when perceiving from the from the perspective of the pure, universal consciousness after realizing and reaching a state of pure awareness.

To begin, the following definitions are submitted for your consideration:

Perspective: "In art, the drawing of solid objects on a two-dimensional surface so as (a) to present them in a three-dimensional manner in order to reveal all of the aspects of what is being viewed in order to provide an accurate depiction of what those objects are really like; and, (b) to provide an accurate impression of their height, width, depth, and position in relation to each other when viewed from a particular point."

[For those that understand the actual reason that some “realized teachers” offer pointers, they also understand they the definition above explains not only the work of a competent artist but also the work of a “competent non-dual teacher.”]

A proper perspective: "A clear and accurate view."

A proper perspective: "An accurate attitude toward something"; or, "an accurate way of regarding something."

A proper perspective: "A precise and correct and truthful view or perception."

A proper perspective: "Witnessing and observing clearly and precisely and accurately." 

[In non-duality: the term “the True Self” points not to “A Pure (or Accurately-Seeing) Witness” but to “Pure, Accurate Witnessing,” period.]

One’s “perspective” refers to "the way that one sees something and the way that one perceives it"; however, perspective comes in two varieties: (1) a clear perspective, seeing things as they are; or, (2) a distorted perspective, which involves seeing things not as they are but misperceiving the way they are.

[Consider: What became one of the major news events of 2015 was the killing of 129 people in Paris during a "terrorist attack," labeled by the French president at the time as "an act of war" and by media around the globe as "France's worst case of murder since World War II (when 567,600 humans were killed in France)." 

In 2015, billions of humans around the globe allowed that despicable act (relatively speaking, of course) to cast them into the depths of emotional intoxication and fear. 

As ignorant and insane as that act was, over 700 people are killed in France . . . every year. Killing 129 people at once is perceived to justify making that one of the major news events of 2015. The coverage of the killing of 700 in that country every year? Not so much. Perspective?

In the U.S., 2,977 people were murdered on 9 / 11. That was - and remains - the most-covered news event in U.S. history. Yet in the U.S., over 14,000 people are murdered . . . every year. The coverage of the killing of over 14,000 in the U.S. every year vs. those killed on 9/ 11? Not so much. Perspective?

Also in the U.S., some 1,240 are killed annually by the police (although the actual numbers are likely higher since the federal government does not require police to report the number of people they kill). One of every 1000 blacks will also likely be killed annually. While the killings are finally getting more coverage in the news, actual change seems remote.

However, for "a proper perspective," consider: in the U.S. 480,000 people die annually from smoking tobacco, even as members of Congress over the years have taken billions of dollars from tobacco company lobbyists to look the other way and refuse to take action to address that killer. The coverage of tobacco killing 480,000 in the U.S. every year? Not so much. Perspective?

So, in November of 2015, citizens around the globe were once again in a panic and the politicians were riding that wave of emotional intoxication and promoted hysteria and tapped into the fears of the electorate for those politicians' own self-serving interests. 

Meanwhile, persons in the U.S. focusing on their fear of being killed by terrorists - then or now - ignore the fact that the chances are practically nil that they will be killed by some unknown person - some "foreign terrorist" - and are far more likely that they will be killed by a relative or a friend or a neighbor. The coverage of that fact? Not so much. Perspective?

If one were to have a clear perspective as a result of focusing on facts rather than imaginings, then they would not sleep with one eye open looking to the southern border for infiltrators but would keep one eye open focusing on the person that they are sleeping with each night. 

That's a statistical fact because 59% of all women killed annually in the U.S. are killed by a "Lover" or "Spouse." (The women are catching up though: 41% of all men killed annually are now being killed by a "Lover" or "Spouse.") 

As for coverage of the fact that one is far more likely to be murdered during an argument or a breakup by "a spouse" or "a friend" rather than by "an unknown enemy"? Not so much. Perspective? 

How far removed persons are from reality when trapped in a hypervigilant lookout for terrorists while actually "sleeping with the enemy" instead.

Meanwhile, the alternate suggestion here is this: Lock your doors, turn off the lights at night, and then consider sleeping soundly with both eyes closed rather than with one eye open looking for dangerous persons. Perspective.

When my daughter raised the issue with me in 2015 after the attacks in Paris, I suggested that "everyone should stop looking over a shoulder for a terrorist who might be following them and, instead, look up and watch out for an elephant falling out of the 20th story of a building and crushing them, the latter being far more likely a possibility." 

Was that "a proper perspective"? Yes. I shared that she and I both understand the unicity and therefore care, but caring and empathizing can happen without triggering a 24 / 7 state of fear and reaction and over-reaction. Calm the hell down; that is, put things in a clear and proper perspective.]

Faulty perspective: "Seeing the real and thinking it is false, or seeing the false and thinking it is real; seeing or hearing truth but thinking it is false, or seeing and hearing the false but believing that it is true." That is, perceiving a rope to be a harmful snake while perceiving a snake to be a harmless rope.

In other words, clear perceptions are the freedom-providing domain of the wise while distorted perceptions govern every waking moment (and, often, every sleeping moment as well) for those trapped in ignorance and fear-generating distortion, assuring that those driven by ignorance and insanity shall be imprisoned in the nightmarish existence which comes with attachment to all of the nonsense which has been stored away in their minds.  

The wise realize at some point that everything which they were taught by way of programming and conditioning and domestication and acculturation and brainwashing and indoctrination is completely ignorant and / or insane; thus, Maharaj said, "Realisation is but the opposite of ignorance.”

Seeing things in a distorted fashion, while believing one’s view is not distorted at all, is the epitome of ignorance.

Clear perspective involves the ability to see things exactly as they truly are rather than seeing everything in a distorted fashion.

Clear perspective is seeing things without distortion and with proper perception and putting all in a proper perspective.

Why did Maharaj discuss distortion and misperceiving and misperceptions and unclear perspectives in such detail, all of those rooted in - and emanating from - the mind? 

Why in the end did he stop offering dogma-based pointers about “God” (which he said is just another concept that people made up to get what they want or to avoid what they fear)? 

Why did he eventually start telling people to “give up spirituality” and to “simply abide naturally”? Because he came to see that the problems of humanity are rooted in the mind and that the mind is the root of all misperceiving and distortion.

Why do those who have been programmed and conditioned and domesticated and acculturated and brainwashed and indoctrinated need so desperately to be rid of the mind, that is, need to discard all of the content of the mind which is made up of false ideas and bogus concepts and distorted notions and misperceptions (all of which can be summarized with the term “one’s beliefs” which is also a misperception since there is no such thing as “your beliefs" because there are only “their” beliefs which have been adopted as one’s own without any questioning or study or objective consideration at all")? 

Why discard all of the content of the mind? The reason should have been made clear in the last series. 

Today, why discard all of the content of the mind? Because the wise understand that the problems of humans are rooted in the mind.

John Milton said that "The mind . . . in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven" 

and

the poet Richard Lovelace said that “Stone walls do not a prison make, nor iron bars a cage” and that prisons and cages are made by the mind (with each belief being one of the bars of each person’s “personal jail and hell”)

and, again,

Maharaj said: "Realisation is but the opposite of ignorance.” That is exactly how he defined what so many are seeking without knowing what should actually be sought: "Realisation is but the opposite of ignorance.” The converse is, “Realisation is freedom from ignorance.”

What he did not say in his later teachings is that realisation is but the opposite of not being religious enough; 

what he did not say in the end is that realisation is but the opposite of not being spiritual enough; 

what he did not say in the end is that realisation is but the opposite of not being intelligent and knowledgeable enough;

and

what he did not say in the end is that realisation is but the opposite of not seeing yourself as something “Supreme” or as “God.”

Moreover, all along, he dropped clues about what the eventual focus of his teaching would be when he addressed the mind-rooted problems of humankind regarding distortion and misperceiving and bogus perceptions and beliefs.

Maharaj explained the problem of humanity this way: “You give reality to concepts, while concepts are distortions of reality.”

He suggested that seekers: “Learn to look without imagination . . . to listen without distortion. That is all.”

He noted: “You omit the element of pure cognition, of awareness free from all personal distortions”

and he said that

“All self-concern [concern with false self identities] is a symptom of mental distortion which disappears as soon as one is in the normal state.”

He recommended that the solution is this: “Concern yourself with your mind. Remove its distortions and impurities.”

Next, consider the implications of this exchange:

Questioner: “Surely, perception is not imagination!”

Maharaj: “What else? Perception is recognition, is it not? Something entirely unfamiliar can be sensed but cannot be perceived. Perception involves memory.”

Q: “Granted, but memory does not make it illusion.”

M: “Perception, imagination, expectation, anticipation, illusion - all are based on memory. There are hardly any border lines between them. They just merge into each other. All are responses of memory.”

His invitation: “Realise that every mode of perception is subjective, that what is seen or heard, touched or smelt, felt or thought, expected or imagined, is in the mind and not in reality, and you will experience peace and freedom from fear.” Perspective. And a very different perspective at that.

Thus, in the end, the focus of Maharaj’s message was on the psychological roots of the Ultimate Sickness, so he taught that (1) realization can provide a means by which freedom can come and that (2) freedom comes only after having been freed from the concepts, ideas, notions, perceptions, etc. (a.k.a., “beliefs”) which are stored in the mind.

To be continued.

Please enter the silence of contemplation.


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:
Buy Now
 
 [NOTE: The four most recent posts are below. You may access all of the postsin 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 VERSIONS OF SOME OF HENDERSON'S NON-DUALITY BOOKS ARE AVAILABLE.

If you prefer PAPERBACK copies

of some of Henderson’s non-duality books,

10 of his books are available in PRINT FORM
(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."


Order a PAPERBACK copy of The Advanced Seekers' Series&
from BARNES AND NOBLE by clicking here
or (sometimes less efficiently nowadays in terms of paperback delivery)


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 BARNES AND NOBLE by clicking here
or (sometimes less efficiently nowadays in terms of paperback delivery)
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:




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. 

You may click
here 
to visit Floyd's bookstore 
which offers both digital and paperback books.

Recent Posts and Archives

Tools Used by Other Seekers of Realization

WATCHING an Advaita Vedanta Retreat: Watch a Downloadable computer file version of the Four-Day Advaita Retreat (Downloadable on PC only, not Apple.)

ENROLLING in the Online Advaita Classes For information, visit Information on the Advaita Classes on the Internet To enroll visit Enroll in the Advaita Internet Course

ATTENDING an Advaitin retreat with Floyd and being guided through all seven steps. For details of the retreats offered, please visit the retreat information site.

ARRANGING a one-hour session via Skype or telephone with Floyd. (Skype is a free service.) Click the button to pay and you will be contacted to arrange a date and time for the call.

Five Free eBooks

Compliments of Andy Gugar, Jr.,
the following eBooks are available without charge for you or for friends:

I.
"GOOD vs. EVIL?" or "IGNORANCE, STUPIDITY, and INSANITY?"

The content of this eBook deals with one of the most common but erroneous beliefs that the non-Realized masses cling to and which they will fight about (and even kill over), namely, that there is a planet-wide duel going on between “the forces of good and evil” in the universe.

Either (1) the ancient view is spot on: that the "ills of the planet" are rooted in evil people, in people not being religious enough or spiritual enough, and are caused solely by bad morality; or, (2) the "ills of the planet" are rooted in ignorance, stupidity and insanity and "being good" or "being moral" does not put an end to ignorance, does not eliminate stupidity, and does not treat insanity in any way.

II.
"THE VISION"

Comments regarding the free eBook entitled “THE VISION”:

“My thanks to you and Andy.” – Andrew “Mac” McMaster

“Thanks so much for the book! And, by the way, it is brilliant and the most effective pointing that you have done. It has served to help clear the remaining blockages.” – Stan Cross

“Greatly appreciate having “THE VISION” added to my Henderson resource library that is situated on the right side of my bed for easy access! Eternally grateful for what was received and what was given.” – Robert Rigby

“‘THE VISION’ is such a well-written, condensed version of the Nisarga Yoga approach to understanding and enjoying Reality that I feel it can serve as a must-read ‘meditation guide’ for all earnest seekers.” – Andy Gugar, Jr.

III.
"Sapolsky, Maharaj, and the Non-Dual Teachings"

Dr. Robert Maurice Sapolsky is an American neuroendocrinologist; a professor of biology, neuroscience, and neurosurgery at Stanford University; a researcher; an author; and a Research Associate at the National Museums of Kenya.

There is much that a non-dualist or Advaitin or Nisargan can relate to by comparing and contrasting what Sapolsky reveals about the way certain troops of baboons live in Africa with the way that humans abide all around the globe.

This 152-page eBook catalogues the common, non-dual message shared by Sapolsky and Maharaj and reveals the ways that Sapolsky’s scientific research supports the non-dual pointers offered by Maharaj.

IV.
Seeking

In “PART ONE” it will be seen that most persons on the planet are not seeking, and most will never seek, but for those who are seeking, most will face several obstacles:

In “PART TWO” of this book, it will be seen why many criticized Maharaj for “changing his message in his later talks.” It will be seen that the changes were not about changing the message per se as much as about changing his methodology as he experimented with one version of the Ultimate Medicine after another in order to try to find an effective means for addressing the Ultimate Sickness.

He tried a religious version of the Medicine, a Spiritual version of the Medicine, and finally settled on a version which addressed to Sickness at its core . . . at the mental and emotional level.

V.
"THE MOST DANGEROUS BELIEF OF ALL"

“Dangerous” is a term that can only apply during the relative existence, but of those who do commit suicide, for example, how many shoot themselves in the foot over and over until they “bleed out”? None. They shoot themselves in the head. Why? In order to try to stop the noise - to try to stop the chatter of a thousand monkeys – to stop the noisy mind which is the area that stores the ideas, notions, concepts, mind-stuff, etc. which drives them into the depths of insanity.

And what are those ideas, notions, concepts, etc. called, collectively? "Their beliefs." The irony? They are not their beliefs at all. They are the beliefs of “others” that were set in place via programming, conditioning, etc. and which persons then think are their own.

And what are those beliefs rooted in, and what reinforces those beliefs and convinces persons that they are sacred and worth fighting over and even sometimes worth dying for? Blind faith.

This 337-page eBook discusses those issues in detail.

To read any or all of the free eBooks, please double-click the "FREEBIES" link at the top of this page