TODAY'S CONSIDERATIONS
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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.)
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THE MISUNDERSTANDINGS ABOUT BLISS
Of the
definitions of bliss that were cited earlier, the ones that are most aligned
with the Direct Path, nisarga yoga are “amiability or compatibility with
nature” and “harmoniousness.”
Being at harmony with nature during the relative can bring happiness and peace,
but being compatible (or more accurately, "at one") with your
original, true nature is the way that bliss can happen at times during the manifestation.
The bliss myth is the belief among some seekers that they can find some means
by which all of the fluctuations of the relative existence can be transcended
by undertaking enough “spiritual work” or engaging in enough “spiritual
exercises” that they can identify with the consciousness only and expect an
eventual replacement of the ebbs and flows of the relative with a condition
that involves “constant, rapturous joy.”
Yet it is the manifested consciousness that not only makes possible such
fluctuations but also guarantees such movement and constant ebbs and flows.
Moreover, to expect is to desire, and to desire is to be disappointed. So what
could reasonably be “anticipated” in terms of “bliss” without setting oneself
up for disappointment?
One visitor remarked, after hearing the pointers offer earlier that he "was
not engaged at all in a fruitless search for some earthly ‘Eldorado’ or earthly
‘Utopia’ or earthly ‘Shangri-La’ or earthly ‘Paradise Regained’."
Then, his subsequent comments revealed that he is seeking a personal “Eldorado”
or personal “Utopia” or personal “Shangri-La” or personal
“Paradise Regained.”
Of that goal, Maharaj said, “Don't say that you are an individual; just stay
in the beingness. The whole problem is the sense of being a separate entity.
Once that subsides, that is true bliss.”
To work toward the “creation” of a perfect existence that is characterized by a
constant feeling of ecstasy will be as fruitless and futile and frustrating as
the efforts of others to create a perfect relative “world.”
Moreover, to
want a continuous sense of ecstasy is to guarantee that one will never be
“compatible with nature” and that one will be disappointed and unhappy instead.
In nature, ecstasy comes as an occasional “break” from a typically non-ecstatic
existence. Ecstatic happenings can only be known dualistically . . . when they
occur as a diversion in contrast to the more typical stretches of non-ecstatic
happenings.
To experience ecstasy constantly would not only be incompatible with nature but
would automatically and ironically bring to an end any sense of ecstasy. Why?
Because its
continuity would end the dualistic component that separates it from the
non-ecstatic (which is a required counterpart that would allow the ecstatic to
be definable by being distinguishable from the non-ecstatic).
One might as well claim he/she wants to be physically awake constantly and
never physically asleep at all. It is a total impossibility, and so is
"constant ecstasy."
It is just one
more example of the many impossible dreams that "the mind" can
generate. And WHO would be experiencing such ecstasy if it could exist
in the continuous manner desired? Of that, Maharaj taught:
“Sat-chit-ananda” (being-consciousness-bliss) “will, in due course,
become the Paramatman” (the so-called Supreme Self, which is merely a term
used as a thorn “along the way.”) He continued: “Satchitananda”
(a.k.a., Satchidananda) “is ‘I Amness’ and is itself a state of bliss, a
state of love.”
Then he further clarified: “But it is an experiential state, so long as
consciousness is there, and consciousness is there so long as the body is
available - it is a time-bound state. You must transcend the sat-chit-ananda
state.”
Look to nature and see "compatibility with nature" as displayed by
the model frequently offered as an example here—the deer. The deer roaming
about in the yard last night were assuredly being; within those spaces
the consciousness was assuredly manifest; and their simply being
(without any notion of “being this” or “being that”) would be, by Maharaj’s
definition, bliss.
Why would that not be “enough” for humans? To want bliss to be more than that
is to reject de-accumulation, which is required for abidance to happen as one’s
true nature. Therein lies the opportunity for another understanding in regards
to bliss, namely, being compatible not only with relative nature but with the
true, original nature as well. There is the essence of overlaying Reality upon reality, on the relative.
Being mindless, the deer need not “transcend.” Such is not the case with humans-cum-minds.
Recall two pointers offered by Maharaj: “The mind is a cheat” and “You
must transcend the sat-chit-ananda state.”
To be happy now and at peace now, belief in the content of the “mind” must go
and attachment to the beingness and consciousness and notions about “relative
bliss” must go.
WHO (what non-realized person / persona) thinks that beingness would not
be “enough”? WHO is seeking more of the type of bliss that supposedly
involves “continuous, rapturous joy”?
WHO thinks that nature could sustain such
an experience? WHO thinks there is someone personal who could
experience that…or anything else?
Consider the key pointer in this exchange where the original, natural state is
discussed in opposition to nature as associated with the relative:
Questioner: Is a “Self”-realized person always in a state of bliss?
Maharaj: One
who has transcended the body idea does not need the ananda (bliss). When you
didn't have experience of the body, you were in that blissful state.
Again, the nothingness-bliss link. So WHO wants bliss? WHO has
not transcended body identification? WHO does not see that the very
wanting of bliss—or anything else—is rooted in the fear/desire components of
personality?
Furthermore, WHO does not see that personality can never feel
"fulfilled" since it is an illusion. And WHO does not see that
wanting / desiring anything—including bliss—automatically eliminates any
possibility for bliss to manifest?
Understand that and you will understand what Maharaj meant when he said, "Desirelessness
is the highest form of bliss." The two deer resting in my front yard yesterday
had watched me carefully as I completed a sprinkler repair. Once they saw I
meant them no harm, they relaxed.
The deer
grazing in the yard last night wanted nothing. Eating was merely
happening spontaneously and mindlessly as the innate hunger drive guided their
activities. Too, there was no evidence at all that they were
"unhappy" or had a belief that they were "lacking"
something.
They were foraging
for food, not for bliss. They were foraging for food, not for the reinforcement
of any false identities. They were foraging for food, not for anything to be accumulated
on a long-term basis to enhance an image. They were foraging for something natural, not for something supposedly supernatural or unnatural or spiritual or religious or metaphysical or paranormal or celestial or spectral.
To be
continued.
Please enter
into the silence of contemplation.
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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
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.
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