ANNOUNCEMENTS
[Walter Driscoll asked to interview me in order to preserve on video some of the latest modifications and evolutions in the versions of the message offered here since 1989. He would label the discussion, "Unlearning with Floyd Henderson."
Please note: For those who have a problem hearing what is being shared, the video offers a fairly accurate set of closed captions which some listeners might want to activate.
The interview is available for viewing by clicking on video "NUMBER THIRTEEN" in the column to the right.]
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.
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CAUSATION and RELATIVE EVENTS AND BEHAVIORS:
“Evil?” or “Ignorance, Stupidity, and Insanity”?
A REVIEW OF THE KEY POINTERS REGARDING THE DUALISTIC BELIEF IN “GOOD” VS. “EVIL”
(continued)
“Little else blocks the understanding of cause / causes as much as the ‘good’ vs. ‘evil’ beliefs which are rooted in dogma and politics.”
--Floyd Henderson
“It’s like these guys take pride in being ignorant.”
--Barack Obama
“The cause of all is . . . all.”
--Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
The Historical Proof of the Connection Between (1) Religion, (2) the False Concept Of “Good” vs. “Evil,” and (3) the Still Popular, Commonplace, Erroneous Assignment of Cause to Either “Good” or “Evil” Forces in People
I attended college in the 1960’s with a woman who was obsessed with tracing her family history, seeking “important” or “famous” people whom she might be related to in order to give her some sense of “status” or “fame” as well.
I was asked about her behavior back then and speculated that her obsession was based in narcissism and egotism.
Now, age 74, she's still at it, tracing her family's ancestry in search of something from past centuries which will massage her ego / egotism.
I have crossed paths with others in the intervening years - many of whom were adopted or who had no clue about who their parents were - who were tracing their family history in order to uncover any history of recurring illnesses which they wanted to be aware of and on guard about should any signs of those familial diseases might occur. Made sense.
Then there
are others with egotism-based motives who admit that they “want to feel better about
themselves” and find some ancestors who might give “make them feel better about
their DNA.” Makes no sense (unless false personality identifications are understood).
Recently, an acquaintance shared with me the experience of a rather famous U.S. actor who spent considerable time, energy, and money tracing “his roots.”
He has become rather vocal during recent years about his mental health issues and “the trauma that he suffered from his abusive mother, including anxiety and depression and what he called a “mental health breakdown” that sent him into an institution for therapy.
Here, it is made clear that neither religion nor spirituality can heal mental health issues and that professional therapy or counseling has been seen to have served well some with such issues.
I was told that he credits therapy as being “a lifesaver” and that he uses the Twelve Step line that he “is not religious but is spiritual” (although some accounts report that he is an “Evangelical Christian”).
As far as the interest here, his story reinforces a pointer from yesterday: look to the parents of the mass shooters for what may well be the primary driver or influence.
The actor has looked at his parents and how they - especially his mother - contributed to his mental health issues, trauma, etc.
He opens up especially about the trauma he suffered from his abusive, alcoholic mother and the three weeks he spent inside that mental health facility. His mom was diagnosed not only with the Alcoholic Personality Disorder but also with the Borderline Personality Disorder and with the Narcissistic Personality Disorder.
He claims nowadays he loves her and his father and his stepfather unconditionally and suggests that we should all “accept people as they are,” a practice which he claims has allowed him “to forgive and to love his abusers.” (Shades of “Acceptance is the key” and “Love what is?”]
Back to parental influence: When a 14 to18 year old participates in a mass shooting, the reactions usually begin with the labeling of that person as being “evil”; then, the psychological analyses follow, along with accounts of the shooter’s online history of making threats and sharing evidence of serious levels of anger, rage, and insanity.
In the case of the actor, I was told that when he began studying his family’s history, he looked first at his father’s side of ancestry for ten generations and found the men to be good Christians descended from their Puritan ancestors as far back as the later 1690’s.
His book and book tour talks focus on his mother as the cause of his early trauma which seemed to give his father a pass of sorts because he was religious and because the mother was the problem.
Evidently, that “absentee, religious father” who was not as much to blame set him on a path to believe that God played a key role in his journey as he dealt with the effects of trauma.
When he set out to find out more about the history of his family, he studied the father’s lineage first. That seemingly did not prove as affirming as he’d hoped. Then he turned to looking into his mom’s ancestry and found records regarding ten generations on the female side.
He spoke with many ancestry experts along the way, but one walked on eggshells as she told him the fact that his grandmother 10 times removed had lived in the NE U.S. which was controlled by religious Puritans. In the late 1690’s, the record she showed the actor indicated that the 10 times removed grandmother had been charged in the late 1690's with practicing witchcraft.
He was shocked. What the heck was that about?
The expert: “Well, the government at that time in most towns was a theocracy, run by puritanical men who believed that life on earth is dominated by a struggle between God and a very real devil, Satan.”
“Moreover, anything that happened which the people back then did not like (and did not understand the real cause / causes of) was assigned to Satan’s influence. And who were his partners in crime on earth? Why, witches, of course.”
His reaction: “Oh my God. That was insane!” and “Oh my God. That was crazy!”
What did he miss? He never woke up to the fact that the prayers to a God which he claimed help to heal him and his present worship of and dependence on that God is the God that is central to the “good” vs. “evil” nonsense which nearly cost his 10 times removed grandmother her life at the hands of puritan leaders.
Here begins the historical proof of the connection between (1) religion, (2) the false concept of “good” vs. “evil,” and (3) the still popular, commonplace, erroneous assignment of cause to either “good” or “evil” forces in people.
He was shocked. The ancestry-tracing expert referred him to another expert who had more documents regarding his ancestor’s being charged with practicing witchcraft and records regarding the subsequent trial.
Indeed, “Oh my God. That was insane!” and “Oh my God. That was crazy!” are at the historical roots of the connection between religion and the false concept of “good” vs. “evil.”
A really popular picture has been circulating for years among evangelicals and other right-wing, ultra-conservative Christians to illustrate a core belief among those people regarding the on-going battle on earth that the puritans began teaching in the 1600’s in the U.S.:
The actor, when told it was an act of courage that his grandfather 10 times removed showed great courage by standing up for his wife since many who did so were executed along with the wives charged with being witches.
His take: the actor said that he “was proud to find that he had such courage in his DNA.” Whatever.
The wise can see the more significant pointer to the discovery:
Religious fanaticism has perpetuated the myth that the actions which persons do not approve of are caused by “Satan-inspired evil.”
In England, before relocating to “the American colonies,” the same puritans had previously tried to close down the theaters in London, claiming they were “an evil influence.” Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre had to relocate that venue across the Thames River outside the city limits in order to continue to offer his plays to the public.
It was
in the dead of night in 1599 that Shakespeare’s theatre company dismantled their playhouse
in London and moved the materials across the icy waters of the Thames to Southwark and reassemble it there in order to escape the harassment they were receiving from the Puritans in London.
Today, the same types of fanatics are once again attacking media as being a corrupting influence, even as they attack the formal education being offered in non-Christian colleges and universities and even as they attack a fellow offering some of the same non-dual pointers which Yeshu’a (“Jesus”) offered while labeling that fellow “A New Age Agent of Satan.”
[Give “My EX” an “A” for creativity of language usage but an “F” in her “Logic and Reason course.” Ha.]
And those early puritanical and illogical and unreasonable leaders provided the actual roots of the “good” vs. “evil” nonsense which is even today is a dominate component of the belief systems of millions and billions here and all around the planet.
Meanwhile, that “New Age Agent of Satan” label is a true badge of courage, though it’s not in my DNA. Ha.
To be continued.
Please enter into the silence of contemplation.
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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");
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“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)”
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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."
teachings which become a part of the Papal Magisterium.
