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.
NEEDLESS WORK and COUNTER-PRODUCTIVE ACCEPTANCE and THE CURSE OF HABITS
Why "Advertise" a Method or a Yoga?
In Shakespeare's London when the theaters moved across the Thames from London proper to Southwark in order to escape harassment by puritanical magistrates, flagpoles were erected atop the theater turrets for purposes of advertising:
if
people in the city saw a white flag flying atop a playhouse, they knew that a
comedy was playing there; if they saw a black flag flying, they knew that a
tragedy was playing.
In Bombay (Mumbai) in the days of Maharaj, he also "advertised" what
was "being shown" in the loft. How? The "Nisarga" in
"Nisargadatta" was also like a modern-day movie poster,
"Nisarga" meaning "natural" and making clear that the
Nisarga, Natural Yoga was being offered in the loft. Infatuated with any other
yoga? Then probably best not to come in.
Here, a disclaimer is offered to any that consider seeking in the venue of this
author: "For those who have developed a preference for any non-Nisargan
yoga or who prefer Traditional Advaita Vedanta, Neo-Advaita, Neo-Vedanta, or
Pseudo Advaita: here you will only find the use of the Direct Path Method along
with the Nisarga (Natural) Yoga."
To disclose that the Natural Yoga is used is to disclose that there is no
"goal" other than to
1. remove the ignorance that inspires attachment to religious or spiritual or
philosophical concepts and exercises and accoutrements and to
2. bring to an end all thoughts and words and deeds that support unnatural /
supernatural living, giving way to
3. living in an all-natural fashion.
The "later Maharaj" or "Pure Maharaj," therefore, offered
less and less tolerance for those "hanging out" at the third of seven
steps to full realization. Yes, the religious or spiritual or philosophical
roles have to be played for a time, but the longer Maharaj taught, the less
tolerant he was of those fixating at a place on the "path" that is
not even the halfway point of the "journey."
Thus, he spoke of their "kindergarten spirituality." He noted that
"there are so many who take the dawn for the noon, a momentary experience
for full realisation . . . . "
For all the spiritual and religious and
philosophical talk in I AM THAT, his later talks contained less and
less of the earlier "spirituality" and "beating around the bush"; thus, he
said to two visitors, "Forget spirituality."
He encouraged seekers to follow "their normal inclinations," that is,
to follow their natural tendencies, to abandon all of their spiritual work and
just abide naturally - not unnaturally and not supernaturally (i.e., neither
"religiously" nor "spiritually" nor
"philosophically").
He
told visitors, "Do your normal duties" and "just give up
spirituality." And thus the pointer that his message did evolve and even
change over the decades to the degree that he became more and more direct,
wasting less time with "foundational and preparatory pointers" that
would
(a) tolerate for a time the assumption of seekers' "new and improved and
good" religious or spiritual or philosophical personas and that would
sometimes gently guide seekers beyond their obsession with the religious or
spiritual or philosophical step and instead
admonishing them, in a far more direct manner than earlier, to
(b) be free of all that drives them to live unnaturally and to
(c) abandon their efforts to live supernaturally and to
(d) get on with the process of merely living naturally.
He admitted later on that he, too, had been bogged down at the third step where religious and spiritual roles are
assumed and played and he made clear that he was trying to spare seekers from
the years or decades of being similarly bogged down. He said:
“I got involved
in spirituality, in the business of spirituality, [but] finally I lost that
love of the ‘Self’ also. I have no more love for the ‘Self’.”
He said that “When the birth is disproved, the great noble meaning of spirituality and the meaning of this world—everything—is disproved.”
When
a visitor said, "The scriptures say that we have our karma and our sins
and that is why we are here," Maharaj answered: "That is for the
ignorant masses. For one who has realized . . . , these stories are of no
use."
Again, recall that he said, “I have no faith in anything which has ever been told,
not even what has been told by the Vedas. Only my own experience.” A seeker
once asked this question:
"So beyond all that talk of the varied phases of
'the Absolute' or 'Brahman,' the question is, 'Once that 'Cosmic Self' is
found, what is one to do with it'?" Again, one should be reminded of the
dog chasing a car: once it catches up with the car, what is it to do with it?
If seekers love their religious or spiritual or philosophical role-playing,
then "early Maharaj" is more likely to appeal to them, but religious
or spiritual or philosophical pointers will only trap seekers at a point that
is not even halfway to full realization while deluding them into believing that
they have realized fully.
If seekers would actually realize fully, then all religious or spiritual or philosophical concepts and beliefs and ideas and teachings must eventually be abandoned, and the sooner the better for those who would be totally free of delusions and distortions and ignorance and who would abide in the freedom and peace and ease and simplicity and relaxation of Nisarga, natural living.
So, there are three ways in which the relative existence can happen: unnaturally, supernaturally, or naturally (meaning, in a "Nisarga" fashion).
To fail to seek is to live unnaturally. To seek Realization via only the Traditional Method, the Neo-Advaita Method, the Neo-Vedanta Method, the Direct Path Method (or one of the spin-offs of those four) is to be left in a position where one tries to live supernaturally . . . becoming a "Spiritual Giant" or something "Supreme."
Only if the Nisarga Yoga (the "Natural Yoga") is also offered can living naturally and spontaneously happen. When that is the case, all religious and / or spiritual work finally ends, all seeking finally ends, and ordinary, normal, effortless, relaxed living begins.
All “journeys” undertaken by seekers have goals—save one. For some, the goal is “salvation” or “eternal bliss” in some version of heaven or the completion of one level of development on what is believed to be one “journey” of many that must be completed.
All - save one - involve the assumption of new personas, being better, gaining power, enjoying rewards now and forevermore, finding a way to live a religious life or a spiritual life, or living in some similar supernatural fashion.
And while all such “journeys” can at certain junctures involve the above, this author invites seekers to move beyond personality and the assumption of religious roles and spiritual roles. Here, persons are invited to consider: is it possible that no matter how certain you are that you have reached the end of the “path,” is it possible that you have not even reached the midway point?
Is it possible that Maharaj’s pointer may have been accurate when he said, “There are so many who take the dawn for the noon, a momentary experience for full realisation, and destroy even the little they gain by excess of pride”?
Are you proud of how spiritual you are? If it is understood that the assumption of any ego-state triggers the use of egotism and other ego-defense mechanisms, then can it not also be understood that the assumption of a spiritual ego-state will always result in spiritual arrogance?
Yes, the “path” from identification with the false “I” to the Absolute has steps involving religion or spirituality or the supernatural; however, those all inspire the assumption of roles; they all require doingness; and they all have goals which fixate persons in the goal-seeker stage and in a seeker mode that will prevent the reaching of full realization and understanding the Noneness as well as the Oneness.
The question offered for consideration, therefore, is this:
WHO - what persona, what personality type - thinks that he / she is now "better" for having become religious or spiritual? WHO believes that she / he is "made better" - or even made "better than" - because living is happening in a supernatural fashion?
WHO is being led - often subconsciously - to believe that life is made better when one knells, rises, and knells some more? Rings a bell? Puts a bowl on a pillow and strikes it with a special stick? Wears a special robe or cross? Commits suicide while killing members of other religions?
Hums and chants or shouts and screams? Asks favors of some external power? Arbitrarily follows holy diets rather than the food plan indicated for one's body type? Waves arms in the air? Rolls on the floor?
Speaks in unknown tongues? Cries as a result of being emotionally intoxicated? Sings praises. Faints. Gives away possessions or money. Is struck on the forehead and then swoons? Fights with others who have different beliefs? Allows religious or spiritual leaders to dictate what should or should not be eaten?
Allows "religious men" to determine how many children you have? Questions nothing and believes all they hear with unwavering "faith"? And works, works, works at living—especially at living in the “right” way or in a “better way”?
Of all the “paths” that have been dreamed up by persons over the ages, it is the Direct Path Method - presented in conjunction with the Nisarga, Natural Yoga - that has clear-cut steps to be completed in a specific order but has no goals in the end; that eliminates the assumption of personas; that makes no promises about being “better than” someday;
that offers no superpower or super beings to be at your disposal; that does not promise that you will become a Supreme Being; that does not claim you are superior now; and that invites persons to take religious or spiritual or supernatural steps not as an end but as a means to realize fully and thereafter to abide naturally rather than unnaturally or supernaturally.
Of all of the types of yoga available for study or guidance, the least popular is likely the Nisarga Yoga. Of all the types of yoga, this is the one that invites seekers to engage in whatever exercises they deem necessary but to eventually move beyond all of the effort and work and toil involved in assuming and maintaining their spiritual roles and to abide in a totally natural fashion.
Consider all the work that goes into blocking the consciousness enough for it to believe that such identities as these are real: “The Religious One”; “The Spiritual One” or “The Spiritual Giant”; “The Good Catholic”; “The Good Baptist”; “The Good Presbyterian”; “The Good Anglican”; The Good Pentecostal”;
“The Good Episcopalian”; “The Good Cultist”; “The Good Evangelical”; “The Good Muslim”; “The Good Shiite”; “The Good Sunni”; “The Good Jew”; “The Good Hindu”; “The Good Taoist”; “The Good Advaitin”; “The Good Vedantin”; “The Native American Spiritualist,” ad infinitum.
Consider all of the work and sacrifice and energy and effort that goes into maintaining those images, and consider the levels of nonsense that persons must believe in order to play all of those roles and engage in all of the phoniness that accompanies role-playing.
You are invited to consider as well, "Is it possible that the remainder of the manifestation could unfold with considerably more freedom if it were to happen spontaneously and naturally rather than in a planned, prescribed, and artificially-'supernatural' manner?"
To be continued.
Please enter into the silence of contemplation.
THE NEWEST OFFER:
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."
teachings which become a part of the Papal Magisterium.
