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“There is no such thing as mind. There are ideas . . . .” and “Abandon the wrong ideas, for they are false and obstruct your vision . . . .” and “The death of the mind is the birth of wisdom” and “To know that you are a prisoner of your mind - that you live in an imaginary world of your own creation - is the dawn of wisdom” and “I have no mind . . . .”
--Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
Consciousness is rooted in the Absolute. The brain is rooted in the elements. The "mind" is rooted in wrong programming and faulty conditioning and perverted domestication and xenophobia-based acculturation and warped indoctrination and distorted brainwashing as well as learned ignorance and lies and concepts and ideas and superstitions and falsehoods (a.k.a., “beliefs”).
---Floyd Henderson
“Realization is nothing more than a process which results in a person being freed from believing in all learned ignorance.”
--Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
"A dual-minded person is unstable in all ways."
--Yeshu'a
“Hey Doc, don’t remove the entire colon. Just remove the polyps.”
To review some pointers offered fairly recently regarding the brain / mind conundrum which seekers of realization must comprehended if they are to find that which they week:
Some are aware that cancerous growths thrived in my colon for six months longer than they should have because of the incompetence of the physicians I dealt with who constantly misdiagnosed what was happening.
Once a competent doctor took up the case, I did not have to say, “Hey Doc, don’t remove the entire colon. Just remove the polyps.” And that’s the way the treatment went.
The same is recommended by any wise guide that understands the the problem with humanity centers in the mind. so the mind parts of the brain need to be purged rather than removing the entire brain.
Understand the approach of the one offering treatment for
the Ultimate Sickness: a surgeon that removes malignant cancers from a body
neither hates the cancer nor the person with the cancer, but that physician is
enthusiastically dedicated to removing the internal source of a patient’s
sickness. The same applies to those that offer the Ultimate Medicine that
treats the Ultimate Sickness.
Focus on the historical and evolutionary roots of the Sickness (which is now
centered in “the mind”). Recall that the brain is rooted in the elements, the
consciousness is rooted in the Absolute, and the mind is rooted in programming,
conditioning, etc.
But to truly understand what happened to humanity which now guarantees that almost all humans will “contract” the Ultimate Sickness and will suffer from the misery that accompanies it, understand the brain and the brain-changes that occurred over the millennia:
There came fairly recently in terms of human development an evolutionary shift from a brain that was about one cup in size to one that became about 3.5 cups in size.
There was originally the cerebellum (a part of the brain that is much
older than the cerebrum which developed later). The cerebellum deals with regulation
and coordination of movement; posture; balance; and natural functions.
That was the whole deal with humans at one point. The literal growth in size of
the brain paved the way for the development of the cerebrum (which is now about
85% of the brain.) The frontal lobe of the cerebrum deals with reasoning. The
temporal lobe deals with perceptions / misperceptions; speech; and
memory-and-information-retrieval.
Nowadays, the cerebellum makes up only about 10% of the brain (but still
contains nearly 50% of the neurons). So the cerebellum dealt with mere being,
and with efficient movement that facilitated survival of the species.
The cerebrum developed and now deals with doingness and “mind
stuff,” the result of which is that the average human now has about 70,000
thoughts per day (also known here as “the chatter of a thousand monkeys in the
head”). The result is that people even if alone are nevertheless in group
therapy all day long.
Consider a parallel: a woman shared that her doctors removed a tumor from her
body that weighed 3.3 pounds. That tumor developed as a result of abnormal cell
growth.
The same happened over thousands of years with the human
brain that swelled to 3.5 times its original size as brain cells grew in
number, and originally the results were beneficial as far as survival of the
species goes. Now, the enlarged brain is more like a detrimental tumor. What
happened?
As the human body “evolved” / “de-volved” via mutating, the results were not
optimal for survival. The ancestors of humans had outer shells (think “lobster”
or “crayfish”), but that outer shell has been replaced by an inner shell (the
ribcage) to protect sensitive organs;
as noted earlier though, the largest, most vulnerable
organ (the skin) developed outside the shell. Not a beneficial change as far as
survival is concerned.
Add gene mutations to the mix along with the fact that faster and more
ferocious predators were stalking slower humans that were less adept at
functioning as “killing machines” - as were some of their hungry neighbors on
the planet - and all sorts of disadvantageous, detrimental effects resulted for
the human species.
Then, there came a turning point: the pre-human / human brain developed in size
and ability just in the nick of time, so to speak, as far as human survival was
concerned. The expanded brain size brought with it the ability to store and
retrieve memories and the ability to develop and expand intelligence.
Before that brain-change, pre-humans and humans were on the defensive, running
and hiding at times from hundreds or thousands of animals that were higher on
the food chain, that could run faster and fight better.
The brain’s storage and retrieval abilities, combined with intelligence, allowed for the survival of the species even as mutation trends were leaving the human species in a most vulnerable position.
Intelligence allowed humans to develop weapons and
fighting techniques that in turn allowed them to compensate for the areas where
they were physically deficient when compared to the bodily skills of those
forms that would feed on them. But what else did intelligence bring?
Not just a means to survive, but a drive for survival that brought with it not
only slyness, sneakiness, and shrewdness but also previously unknown levels of
mercilessness and callousness, all rooted in pure self-centeredness.
The weapons that came about that could be used as “equalizers” gave humans an ability to kill that they had not known before . . . an ability that was highly efficient and that would soon even inspire bloodlust among some.
A sense of duality was reinforced, and the newer parts of
the brain generated an “us vs. them” mentality which is rooted in duality and
which reached new heights and which began to thrive as never before.
The former defensive posture of humans shifted more and more to an offensive
posture. For any who look to the evidence in history that uncovers humankind’s
underbelly, they will see clearly that, paralleling the development of
intelligence, there was the development of an unbelievable capacity for
aggression, hostility, sadism, malice, meanness, brutality, and viciousness.
That newer human capacity can be traced to the
development of the brain which allowed not only for intelligence but also for
the development of an often-sociopathic current or undercurrent as well.
Humanity had gained an “upper hand” in the struggle with other forms and
eventually with other humans, and - as the sages have noted - it should come as
no surprise any more when humans with power abuse their power. That is what
happened.
That stage of brain alteration marked the beginning of
the primal form of human pathology. Savagery of a barbaric intensity became a
central and inherent part of human nature at that point. Humans became the best
“killing machines” on the planet.
They became - and in far too many quarters remain - the most dangerous marauder
and slaughterer and executioner and eradicator and slayer on the planet.
Intelligence has now provided the wherewithal by which humanity has stockpiled
enough weapons to eradicate human and animal life on the planet fifty times
over.
Some at this point say, “But Floyd, your deal, like
Maharaj’s deal, is to eradicate ignorance and what Maharaj called ‘stupidity
verging on insanity,’ so why disparage our intelligence?” Do not confuse
intelligence with wisdom. Do not mistake intelligence as the antidote for
ignorance.
But consider the effects of the expanded brain: like the pet pit bull that
seemed always to be willing to protect its human master from attack and harm,
only to turn on that human and attack later on, the same happened with the
brain as it evolved.
Consider this example involving a couple of early cave dwellers: with an
expanded brain, Thorax was able to store into “memory” the details of an event
that happened one day when he and his pal Abrik were out hunting.
Abrik walked off the edge of the cliff and created quite
the splat at the base of the hill he fell from. When Thorax or his offspring
later approached the edge of a cliff, his evolved brain allowed him to retrieve
from memory - to recall - the fate of Abrik and then stop some distance away
from the edge.
Yet the brain that was humankind’s friend at one point now has a part called “the
mind” that has turned like a pit bull on humanity, so now the brain of Bill the
alcoholic can say at 8 A.M., “Oh my gosh. I feel terrible. For as long as I
live, I will never again drink as much as I drank last night.”
But by 5 P.M., after a day’s stress and anxiety and fear have accumulated
because Bill has no coping skills, “the self-defeating, self-destructive mind”
begins talking and exerts a greater influence than the “self-constructive”
brain which provided a sane and sound message at 8 A.M.
At 5 P.M., the mind part says, “You know you don’t want to go home sober and
try to deal with all of the issues of your unhealthy relationship there, so one
drink wouldn’t hurt. It will help.”
So when Bill is invited to stop off for a drink with his co-workers, his mind
persuades him to agree. One drink leads to two, two to three, etc., and Bill
arrives home as drunk as he was the night before. The harmful part of the brain
that is “the mind” now holds greater sway over thoughts and words and actions
that the helpful parts of the brain.
Thus, when seekers suggest that they are accumulating knowledge in order to realize
and to be at peace, or that they believe they can use their intelligence to
realize and be at peace, is it now clear why a realized Nisargan points out
that it is their learned ignorance and their egotistical pride in their
intelligence that will be what blocks them from ever being at peace and from
ever being peaceful?
Again, do not conclude that the opposite of ignorance is intelligence. Some of
the most intelligent people that have come this way are often the most
ignorant, blind, and illogical of all.
Thus, the antidote for the Ultimate Sickness is not intelligence. To that end,
is it any wonder that Maharaj recommended becoming “mindless” and reaching a
state of “zero concepts”?
To be continued.
Please enter into the silence of contemplation.
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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.
