HOW SCIENCE AND THE NON-DUAL UNDERSTANDING CAN COMBINE TO ELIMINATE OR REDUCE STRESS, TENSION, WORRY AND ANXIETY

 

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[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."

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3. A newer 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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Robert Sapolsky’s “Scientific Laboratory”

on

The African Savannah

[NOTE: If you’re asking, “Floyd, why should visitor’s to your site give a damn about what is going on with apes on the African Savannah?” understand that the information gleamed from them does not differ at all from that of human primates in any place on the globe.

Primates are primates are primates, so all form hierarchies. The Savannah could as easily be the Middle East; or Ukraine and Russia; or Afghanistan; 

or the U.S. with its current cold war or its potential civil war (which is just a continuation of the Civil War in the 1860’s that never really ended); or any of the other 27 countries where wars are currently under way.]

Before moving to the discussion of what is generated by the widespread promotion and acceptance of hierarchies and belief in the concepts of “different-from-ment” and “better-than-ment,” please review some of the key points: 

If you do not find the actual cause of a sickness, then you will not find the actual cure. If you do not find out what your real problem is, you will not find the real solution for that problem. 

The most prevalent illness on the planet - the Ultimate Sickness - is passed down initially from parents or guardians and then by others in one’s society. It is not an illness based in too-little-exposure to dogma or in persons being “spiritually-unfit” or having a “spiritual malady.” It is a psychological, mind-based illness;

therefore, the Ultimate Sickness is transmitted via minds. One mind can be infected, then it can be transmitted to the minds of dozens or scores or hundreds, and the persons with those infected minds can eventually transmit the Sickness to millions and billions. Over the ages, it has been spread to trillions. 

Yet most are seeking a solution by way of religion or spirituality as a large majority of the people on the planet report an affiliation with one of the four largest religions, claiming that they are Christian, Muslim, Hindu, or Buddhist.

Another 22% report that they are affiliated with one of the other organized religions; thus, a high percentage still claim to be “religious” (though that number is falling). A large number report proudly, “I am not religious . . . I am spiritual.” 

[Religion’s primary hook which attracts most of its members is that the fact that it appeals to the near-100% who are addicted to power and control: “Have faith and worship and glorify our God - and be good, not bad - and you will have a source of power that’s always available to help you control things in life.

“Got a sick relative? Pray; have us activate the prayer chain so we have each and every member praying for the outcome you want; attend services daily and buy candles to light; etc., etc., etc. Moreover, you will have eternal life which is the goal of the consciousness that drives all persons, namely, continuity of body, mind and personhood.]

Twenty years ago, 99% of all persons on the planet were reporting that they are either “religious” or “spiritual.” That percentage is down, but still high.

Moreover, they believe that their dogma or spiritual beliefs are the cure for what ails “the world” and they believe that their religious faith or their “spiritual exercises” make them “better” as a result. 

Maharaj’s final estimate of how many are ever likely to realize was 1 in 10,000,000, meaning that more than 99.9% of the population would continue to suffer the Ultimate Sickness and would continue to exhibit the Sickness’s symptoms of “ignorance and stupidity and insanity.” 

But that was a guesstimate, so set that aside for a moment. The consideration then involves the fact that Maharaj said he depended on his “own experience only,” so the question regarding how widespread the Ultimate Sickness really is becomes this:

“Are you willing to try that approach with this subject and look objectively at the way that people all over the planet are behaving and then answer the two following questions honestly?” 

1. Does the preponderance of evidence support Maharaj’s estimate that most are suffering from the Ultimate Sickness’s symptoms of ignorance and insanity? 

2. Or, does the preponderance of the observable evidence in your view support the belief that most people all over the globe are exhibiting . . . 

wisdom and understanding and astuteness and prudence and intelligence and clear perspectives as well as sanity and lucidity and rationality and reason and logic? 

Would not any objective observation of what is going on all around the planet at this very moment have to lead to the conclusion that ignorance and insanity are prevalent, even dominant, all around the globe? 

So what is the answer? What is the cure? There are two options to consider, though the masses will only consider one: 

(A) Can the religion or the spirituality that the masses are trying to use to address what they call “the ills of ‘the world’” be the answer? 

or,    

(B) Might the cure be provided in many cases by way of what non-dualists call “the Ultimate Medicine”? 

If the proper Medicine to try to use to address the Ultimate Sickness were the religion and spirituality that the masses are currently using to try to address what they call “the ills of ‘the world’,” then 

(a) 99.9% would already be just fine mentally and emotionally and 

(b) only less than 1% of the people on the planet would be suffering from ignorance and / or insanity. But do you really believe that is the case? 

Over 99% of the people on the planet claim that their religion or their spirituality makes them “better,” but “better” than what, exactly? If both my pants legs are on fire and someone tosses water on one leg and extinguishes those flames, that’s “better,” but are things really “fine” for me at that point? 

Maharaj’s assessment certainly seems to have proved accurate: the Ultimate Sickness is manifested around the globe and only a fraction of 1% will ever realize and be free of its symptoms.

If dogma or spirituality were the Ultimate Medicine, then over 99% of the people on the planet would not be racked with ignorance or insanity. Almost all of humankind would be mentally well. Again, do you really believe that is the case? 

There is no one on the planet who has never engaged in body-mind-personality identification, so there is no one on the planet who had not thought that he or she was something or someone that she or he is not. That alone would qualify them as suffering from ignorance and / or insanity to one degree or another. 

One analyst suggested that 100% of the people on the planet suffer from the Addictive Personality Disorder, addicted to one degree or another to power; to control; to . . . 

alcohol; illegal drugs; legal drugs; money; work; sex; porn; shopping; video games; watching television; extreme politics; exercise; throwing up to reduce weight; nicotine; food; and even to chaos, etc., etc., etc., ad infinitum. 

The evidence seems to be that the efficacy and efficiency and effectiveness of religion or spirituality to address the mental problems of the globe’s population is nothing to brag about, though brag the masses do about their particular religion or their particular spiritual state and how they have been made “better.” 

It should be clear that what 99%+ of all people are doing to address the Ultimate Sickness is obviously not working, and that should show just as clearly that whatever the Ultimate Medicine does involve, it most certainly does not involve dogma or spiritual exercises. 

So what must be addressed? Not only dualistic thinking but also single-minded, obsessive thinking, both of which are based in false but highly-valued beliefs. And since thinking is dependent on the beliefs that are stored in the mind, then to reach the no-mind, zero-concept state as recommended by Maharaj, then all beliefs must be rejected. 

Next, this was offered earlier: 

Of all of the beliefs that are passed down to children, none generate more chaos and angst and disharmony than beliefs about “different-from-ment” and “better-than-ment” and the hierarchies which all primates form and blindly adhere to, all based in duality and all at the root of the problems now plaguing the relative existence of persons all around the globe. 

Couples establish hierarchies. Families establish hierarchies. Towns establish hierarchies. States establish hierarchies. Nations establish hierarchies. Students establish hierarchies. Teachers establish hierarchies. “Recovery” and “self-help groups” and “spiritual” groups establish hierarchies.

Religions establish hierarchies. Fire departments and police departments establish hierarchies. Navies and armies and marines and air forces establish hierarchies.

HOA's establish hierarchies. Capitalists establish hierarchies. Nations with clearly-defined class structures establish hierarchies. Occupations establish hierarchies. Businesses establish hierarchies. And troops of baboons establish hierarchies.

What can a troop of baboons on a savannah which generally accept their assigned places in a hierarchies reveal to “Advaitins” and “Nisargans” and “seekers of realization”? A great deal. 

Coming up: a discussion of the efficacy of the non-dual, Ultimate Medicine which Sapolsky’s research supports.

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.] 

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18 MARCH 2018

or

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If preferred, here's the direct link to the AUDIO VERSION. 

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