TODAY'S CONSIDERATIONS
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The Pure, Universal Consciousness,
Pure Awareness,
and a
"Proper Perspective"
“I talk to you from the perspective of the universal consciousness.”
---Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
There is a woman who has been long attached to the teachings of Eastern religions and philosophies and who has claimed for years that (1) her deeds during her present reincarnation have been good enough that she has built up an excess of good karma and that (2) she is convinced that she will "finally escape the cycles of reincarnation." How, according to her? Through a positive balance in her karmic account combined with her long-time practice of devotional theism.
Now the objects of that devotion have changed over the years (sometimes being totally devoted to Shiva, at other times to Devi, and at other times to Vishnu, (the protector god which she says also incarnated as Rama and Krishna).
Other beliefs expressed by her over the years have included, at one point, the assertion that she will be "escaping the reincarnation cycles and functioning forever as a liberated soul savoring the company of the Supreme Being”;
have included considerable talk about “nirvana”; have included talk about "being reunited with Brahman completely”; and, at still other times, she has spoken of "Moksha" and about her “released or liberated soul destined to exist on many different planes.”
The only consistencies over the last three decades have been her practicing absolute abstinence and her strict adherence to “a holy and proper and pure dietary regimen.”
Those two consistences - when combined with (a) her life-consuming spiritual work which she claims has led to a positive karmic balance in her karma account and with (b) her being fully realized and enlightened - supposedly insure now that - in her opinion - she is guaranteed to be "on track to escape any more reincarnations."
Yet in a conversation, she complained vehemently about friends who are not treating her properly; about a few people who deserve to be killed because they are so evil (or at least really aggravating her); and about one black U.S. politician in particular.
She became quite disturbed when the name of that politician was mentioned but confessed that she had voted for him in 2008 but did not vote for him when he ran for a second term, explaining, “I drank the Kool-Aid once, but I'll be damned if I'm going to drink it again.”
The observation offered: "Well of course. The only way one could drink the Kool-Aid again after one drinks it the first time and then dies would be to be reincarnated and then drink it again and die again; but since you're on track to avoid another reincarnation, then there's no chance at all for you to drink it again" (stated with an accompanying big smile).
The look she gave said: "What the heck are you talking about? Are you totally insane?!"
But her words: “What the hell are you smiling about when there is nothing the least bit funny about the way he has led the nation down a road to disaster?!”
The reply: “Just trying to figure out the link between devotional theism and nirvana and moksha and an everlasting, high-plane afterlife on one hand and the emotionalism and anger generated by the mention of a politician’s name on the other hand.”
[The response to that is best not repeated here.]
What was not said was this:
Actually, you have been drinking the Kool-Aid for thirty years, and so have all of the billions of persons on the planet just like you who are suffering from entrapment in the delusions and distortions of the warped perspectives which have been systemically passed down to all.
Some drink the Kool-Aid of misery-invoking relationships which they enter into and stay in for the sake of a “better lifestyle”; some drink the Kool-Aid of religion; some drink the Kool-Aid of spirituality; some drink the Kool-Aid of the convoluted concepts / beliefs about what should be done “now” in order to guarantee the satisfaction of a desired outcome “later and for eternity";
and some drink the Kool-Aid served up by “The Big Three Relative Powerhouses of Money and Control: Big Religion, Big Business, and Big Government” (which have worked in tandem for millennia in order to rule the masses and control what they think and say and believe and what they do with their resources).
Yet try to tell the woman above that it is not another cycle of reincarnation which she had avoided but is, instead, all of the potential joys and pleasures which can only be enjoyed now but which she had avoided for the sake of maintaining her supposedly-high level of spirituality.
To the contrary, if one moves off any of the thousands of "paths" being followed by the masses and takes the fork that leads to a "path" which asks no one to learn more and read more and become an expert of the content of supposedly holy texts, then those on that "path" might eventually be able to give up their seeking and spiritual workaholism and then, finally, truly relax.
It is the non-dual / Nisargan "path" which invites seekers to un-learn all of the nonsense which has been passed down by one generation after another, nonsense which can only lead to nonsensical thoughts and nonsensical words and nonsensical actions. If the Natural "path" is followed to its end, then liberation can manifest now, (which is the only opportunity for it to do so).
Post-mahasamadhi, there is no one to be blessed with pleasure or bliss or rewards, and post-mahasamadhi, there is no one who can be subjected to eternal punishment and misery. Maharaj made clear to some audiences that there has never been a birth so there can never be a re-birth.
So what other, different perspectives can be offered for consideration?
From the eBook A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE:
Additional Perspectives Which Came During The Movement Along The Direct "Path" To Realization
Should you follow the process here to its end, then you will understand each step of the "way in," that is, each of the steps included in the movement from the Absolute to body identification; then you will understand why the way to "realization" (that is, to being freed of learned ignorance and being restored to sanity) happens only when each of those steps is taken again but in reverse order.
Only from the conditioned mind of an assumed "self" can self-importance come. When the last "who" disappears, the understanding of THAT appears. The question is not, "Who am I?" The question is, "What am I?"
[Eventually, it became clear to Maharaj and it became clear here that even "What
am I?" is not the key question; instead, the key question for "seekers of realization" to find the answer to is, "What am I not?"]
If it's entropy and chaos and change that one finds unacceptable, then find the only thing that is fixed, immutable, ineradicable, constant, and invariable.
As for "invariable" vs. "variable," nothing moves as rapidly, and distorts as frequently, as a mind packed chock full of nonsense. All which persons perceive to be variable is misperception, merely fiction imagined via the "variable mind."
You and I - merely energy / matter - are prior to beingness, prior to consciousness, and even prior to non-beingness.
The energy / matter that I (a composite unity) really am and that you (a composite unity) really are has been forever; for now, however, that energy / matter just happens to be in movement with other waves and particles of energy during this present, temporary cycling into manifestation.
This "floyd" or the "you" is nothing more than the result a cosmic accident, an accident that was facilitated along the way by an act of friction. Thus, it must be asked, "Wherefore pride in any dreamed up who-ness, much less in any dreamed up WHO-ness?"
Egotism - along with programming, conditioning, etc. - block acceptance of the fact that neither I nor you is anything special now as well as acceptance of the fact that neither I nor you will ever be anything special (much less Special) later.
No individual or personal being (of any kind) exists pre-manifestation or post-manifestation. That includes no True Self, no Supreme Self, no Infinite Self, no Supreme Being, and no other kind of self / Self / being / Being / or beingness (other than being the impersonal and Impersonal energy / matter which always has been).
[So much for prior-to-manifestation "sacred contracts," huh?]
Moreover, nothing remains post-mahasamadhi which can prefer either an extension of the manifestation or an end to the manifestation. Understand that if freed of learned ignorance and imposed insanity, then one can function from a position of neutrality now, hindered neither by unmet desires nor dreamed up fears.
Then, enjoyment can certainly happen even though nothing is desired; moreover, nothing is feared since there is nothing to register fear.
The universal, unblocked consciousness functions from a position of neutrality and could allow persons who are trapped in seeking the applause of the village to understand that - with that mindset - they must also be prepared to accept the scorn of the town as well. What chaos such dualities foster and maintain in the human "mind."
No “good” label is being sought and no “bad” label is being avoided.
Here, all is neutral, and all persons can reach that position of neutrality via full realization (a.k.a., “freedom from ignorance and full restoration to sanity”). If in neutral, one can coast along for a while rather than race about constantly at breakneck speeds.
Understanding the unicity reveals that a pile of ashes, a pile of dust, "me," "you," a dog, a tree, a piano, and a plant are no different. All of those “seemingly different things” are one thing.
Supposed differences (perceived by the human eye and misunderstood as a result of warped “minds” with their warped perspectives) are the result of varying vibrational frequencies only.
Humanity’s post-programming propensity for misperceiving everything makes persons believe that differences are real rather than grasping the truth of the unity beyond the wrongly-perceived multiplicity.
Abidance as the consciousness guarantees that duality will never be forfeited completely.
Only the Awareness can facilitate an understanding of “One” without believing in any “one.” Consciousness can reveal the "not two." Awareness can reveal "the absolute not two."
If one stays alert to the reality of "not two-ness," then for the sake of discussion that one might take consciousness to be the essence of beingness, the re-purified consciousness to be the essence of beingness and non-beingness, and awareness to be the essence of the "Reality" beyond both.
In the no-concept, non-dual "Reality," there is no "one thing as opposed to some other thing."
The Advaitin understands that the term "I AM THAT; I AM" can be stated and understood without any sense of implied duality at all. So can the term "Consciousness / Awareness."
What persons call "love" is the most magnificent experience of all; it is also the most horrendous experience of all. With such duality, how can that possibly be taken to be "preferred," much less "the real"?
As for feeling or emotion, if love happens as a feeling, take the ride if you choose to and watch / witness the feelings rise and fall; if love happens as an emotion—that is, if it is being "experienced" by a person trapped in an ego-state—prepare for war.
If there is no "do-er," and if there is no identity that is real, then there is no "lover" either. If there is no lover, then find WHO thinks she / he is experiencing anything.
Persons desiring to know what love is (what "Real Love" is) might benefit more (relatively speaking, of course) if they were first able to understand what "Real Love" is not.
Egotism inspires the belief that there’s a vast multiplicity arranged in a hierarchy and that the egotistical one is at the pinnacle.
Humility is knowing that we’re nothing, no-thing.
Real Love is knowing that we are everything.
Can you, from the position of “As If Living” which follows full realization, feel and share "Unconditional Love"? Not only can you, but you will. In fact, once again, no choice will be involved. It will just happen . . . spontaneously and unequivocally.
The Advaita poet William Shakespeare wrote: “The heavens themselves, the planets, and this centre observe degree, priority, and place. Insisture, course, proportion, season, form, office, and custom, in all line of order.”
Sane, order can prevail; insane, there can only be disorder and chaos, and they will not manifest in proportion or seasonally but will manifest consistently.
The Nisarga Yoga approach offers a direct route to the understanding which, in turn, results in a natural way of AS IF living (that is, a natural way of functioning). That means living / functioning spontaneously for the remainder of the manifestation, knowing that "the world" is illusory but living as if any of "all this" matters.
Consider: employment can happen even without the assumption of an "employee" persona. Similarly, "espousing" can happen without the assumption of a role, "parenting" can happen without assuming a role, etc.
To be continued.
Please enter into the silence of contemplation.
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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."
