Monday, May 31, 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"

“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.

  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