Advaita Vedanta: NEEDLESS WORK, COUNTER-PRODUCTIVE ACCEPTANCE and THE CURSE OF HABITS

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NEEDLESS WORK, COUNTER-PRODUCTIVE ACCEPTANCE and THE CURSE OF HABITS

Early on, Maharaj - at the behest of his guru - used one of the four popular methods for teaching non-duality, specifically, the Direct Path Method. He would also make clear from fairly early on that the Direct Path Method alone was not sufficient and that the Nisarga Yoga understanding should be included.

Eventually, after first abandoning any significant use of Hindi dogma and abandoning the spirituality-based teachings, he came to see that none of those teachings were resulting in an effective version of the Ultimate Medicine.

It was at that point that he switched to a focus on the curse of the human mind and began pointing out that teaching more was not required and that un-learning (discarding all of the content of the warped human mind) was the key.

Why understand the methods of teaching non-duality which are being offered? In order to understand what any given teacher is up to and to determine if that is for you . . . or not.

Moreover, understanding the history of the teaching methods might help some understand that they are not interested in any of those and then they might be interested in Maharaj’s final approach which involved no teaching but focused on un-teaching and un-learning and mind purging instead.

An Overview of the Methods of Teaching Non-Duality

[Note: Here, no longer is any method used to teach because the focus is on un-teaching and un-learning. For those still seeking to learn more, some edification about the methods you can expect to see include the following.]

Before any discussion of teaching methods and the different types of yoga, let it be noted that for seekers who claim that they have found a method that “works” for them, know that there will be no effort here to persuade anyone to abandon whatever course they are following.

These considerations are for those who do not know that there are many methods of teaching non-duality; that one method might “work” for one seeker but not for another; and that one's “journey” might be enhanced more by one method than another. The same applies to the various types of yoga.

Next, if one would complete a journey, a few pre-journey decisions are required. The first is, what mode of transportation is to be used? With the non-duality journey, there are five modes of travel:

1. A fictional, luxury cruiser that is a very expensive ride but takes you nowhere. You cannot reach any destination via that mode. [Pseudo-Advaita]

2. The next mode of travel to consider is a slow-moving train. Some have reached the destination on this very old mode of travel, but the trip is long and requires much study of works written in an ancient language that is not familiar to most, so travel by this mode requires learning a new language before you can ever begin the trip. [Traditional Method where some teachers require a knowledge of Sanskrit]

3. The third possibility is to take the journey in a 1970's hippie van. In that van, there will be much flowery talk and the sharing of dreamy concepts and magical teachings, but the van will never really take you anywhere. You'll sit and listen to lofty talks and deeply philosophical discussions, but when you leave the van, you will find that you have completed none of the journey to full realization. [Neo-Vedanta]

4. The fourth mode of transportation is a flight simulator that seemingly flies you along at a supersonic rate. Everything in the simulator happens in an instant, and when you step out and find that you have not completed your journey at all, you are told you were already where you wanted to go anyway. [Neo-Advaita]

5. The fifth means of traveling the journey is by foot. That might seem inconvenient, but the “path” on this “journey” is either four or seven steps long and follows the most direct route.

The “journey” to full realization which seekers are seeking to complete should not be a long and arduous route, but there are certain steps that must be taken. [The Direct Path Method]

There are four primary methods for teaching Advaita Vedanta (or five if you were to count “Pseudo-Advaita” which is a totally corrupted version of the teachings which have nothing to do with non-duality and which are being used - usually by those whom Maharaj referred to as “the big name teachers” - as a means for accumulating huge sums of money from unwary and trusting seekers).

First, understand that there will be no attempt here to suggest that one method is “better than” another. It is the task of each seeker to seek until he / she finds that which they are seeking. If realization does not happen via one method, the invitation is to move on and find a different teacher who uses a different method.

Visitors to this site can read below the descriptions of the four methods and draw their own conclusions about the effectiveness (or lack thereof) of the various methodologies.

Furthermore, it should be asked, “Have some persons over the years modified the methods to suit their own personal agendas or desires?”

Evidence suggests that is the case; however, variances also happen because one teacher might be of one lineage that has historically used one method while the next teacher is of a lineage that follows a different method.

Ego can inspire persons to brag about lineage, so it is rarely mentioned here. Some, however, choose a teacher that is of a certain lineage in order to find a teacher who follows the method used by predecessors in that lineage, so for those seekers only it will be mentioned that the lineage followed here is the Navnath sampradAya.

If you’ve never heard of that, don’t look it up. It is meaningless except to those who are seeking one style of teaching over another and are already aware of lineages; otherwise, the recommendation is ignore lineages.

Maharaj was of a certain lineage and followed his guru’s dictates and recommendation for a time; later, he sculpted his own teaching style and used highly-modified methods.

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

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of the "Awakening Together" satsang session with Regina and Jacqueline referenced earlier,

18 MARCH 2018

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.

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