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 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.)
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.
5. Would you like to have us send to someone as a gift from you a copy of any ebook in our inventory? See the offer in purple text at the end of this post.
6. Or, you may purchase a Floyd Henderson Shopify Gift Card here for someone and offer recommendations for the books in Floyd's store which might be of assistance to them.
7. You may click here to visit Floyd's bookstore which offers both digital books and paperback books which deal with non-duality, non-duality-based fictional adventures, recovery, and financial budgeting.
BEING MADE CRAZY, CRAZY, STAYING CRAZY or
AWARE OF CRAZINESS AND SEEKING SANITY
“Insanity is universal. Sanity is rare. Yet there is hope because the moment we perceive our insanity, we are on the way to sanity.”
--Sri Nisargadatta
Maharaj
“This is the function of the Guru - to make us see the madness of our daily living.”
--Sri Nisargadatta
Maharaj
“Be empty of all mental content, of all imagination and effort, and the very absence of obstacles will cause reality [and Reality] to rush in.”
--Sri Nisargadatta
Maharaj
A. ORIGINALLY SANE
B. GOING CRAZY
C. GOING . . . GOING . . .
D.
GONE
To Those Who Criticized / Criticize Maharaj for Turning His Back on Religion and Spirituality
To review:
The Ultimate Sickness is a Mental Sickness.
The task of the non-dual guide is to find an effective form of the Ultimate Medicine to treat the Sickness.
To those who criticized / criticize Maharaj for turning his back on religion and spirituality, be reminded that the first version of the Ultimate Medicine he tried with seekers involved religion.
When Westerners began coming to visit him in the loft, they were interested in only hearing a spiritual message, and he acquiesced, trying to use a spirituality-based version of the Ultimate Medicine.
Originally, Maharaj gave religion and spirituality the first chance to address the ills of the planet and the planet-wide manifestation of the Ultimate Sickness and the need for an effective Ultimate Medicine.
When he saw that neither the religious nor the spiritual version of the Ultimate Medicine was effective, he paused; searched for a clearer understanding of the Sickness; and saw that the Sickness was a mental Sickness, not a too-little-dogma sickness and not a spiritual malady.
With that understanding, he went back into his “lab” - the satsang sessions in his loft - and began conducting clinical trials . . . doing research, collecting data and evidence, then developing a totally new version of the Ultimate Medicine which focused on the primary root of humankind’s problems which he came to understand are centered in the mind.
The third and final version of the Ultimate Medicine was more effective than the two other religion and spirituality-centered treatments, though he came to see that none of the three versions were likely to cure more than a small percentage among the non-realized masses.
I smile when I see that nothing has changed when a guide alters his tack. Maharaj and I both gave religion the first shot to address the problems of humankind; religion has failed; we both gave spirituality a shot, and that failed.
Had either of those worked, we would never have sought a third version of the Ultimate Medicine. But Hinduism has had 5000 years (or 8000 years by some counts) to find a way to straighten out the insanity and cruelty on the planet. It has failed, miserably.
Judaism has been given nearly 4000 years to do the same, and failed. Christianity has been given over 2000 years and has failed. Islam has been given around 1400 years, and has failed.
Yet try to find a more effective treatment for the Sickness that continuing with the same old-same old failed Medicine and the mob gather pitchforks and torches and then head to their favorite social media site to begin attacking a guide that dared to offered a message that did not reinforce the belief systems of early followers.
What was said about Maharaj then is now being repeated, just as happens with some of the highly-skilled naturopathic physicians who have done so much to assist me over the years.
Here are a few of the criticisms of Maharaj from the book SRI NISARGADATTA MAHARAJ AND HIS EVOLUTION:
“The later books of Maharaj do not enjoy the same clarity as 'I Am That’. It seems that he himself got complicated or rather evolved himself or declined maybe as happens to many teachers.”
“Maharaj taught an extreme form of narcissism in which ‘I’ am everything.”
“At first when he was still listening to his guru he was telling the truth, like he did in ‘I AM THAT.’ In his other talks, his ego made him start telling things he dreamed up on his own that were not true.”
“He deteriorated from one of the great spiritual men of all times to one of the least spiritual people of all times.”
For 5000 to 8000 years since religions were organized and codified and since their dogma has been compiled in “special holy or spiritual texts,” they have failed. Spiritual movements have been given thousands of years to get the job done, and they have failed.
Is it not some kind of insanity to keep trying what has failed for thousands of years while now expecting it to suddenly succeed?
And what have religious / spiritual leaders inspired among their congregants / followers if someone looks at their track record of unmitigated failure and gives up on them?
For thousands of years, those who did not march to the beat of the drums of religious or spiritual leaders have been stigmatized, negatively stereotyped, and marginalized; have been criticized, tried and imprisoned; have had their property confiscated;
have been forced to wear scarlet letters to identify their most offensive sin; have been burned at the stake; have been beaten and tortured;
have been drowned in dunking stools; have been executed on crosses; have been impaled on metal screws or rods inserted into their bodies or been victims of other versions of sexual violence; have been beheaded; have been killed on crosses; etc., etc., etc.
In the U.S., the state of Maryland has a history of oppression against non-believers. The Maryland Act Concerning Religion of 1649 (paradoxically a.k.a. The “Toleration” Act) wrote that anyone who denies the main tenets of Christianity “shall be punished with death and confiscation or forfeiture of all his or her lands.”
Six other U.S. states ban atheists from holding public office under their current state constitutions.
Also in the U.S., religions and their members often receive special tax treatment and breaks from the government.
Since 1913, the federal government has exempted churches and other religious organizations from federal taxation. Members who pay a tithe - giving money to religious organizations - can deduct those monetary gifts from their tax bill.
Over 70 countries criminalize blasphemy, which can include atheism. Harsh punishments, including death sentences, can be given to someone for blasphemy in a number of countries. There are 10 countries where apostasy (the abandonment or renunciation of religious beliefs) is a death sentence.
There are countries where it is illegal to be an atheist with 13 countries legalizing the death sentence for such a crime. What’s more, Saudi Arabia has a royal decree that brands all atheists as terrorists. “Off with their heads on Fridays in Deera Square, central Riyadh.”
Yet for all the breaks given, religions and spiritual movements have failed miserably.
But when Maharaj saw that . . .
in spite of all of the dedication to and belief in religious dogma and . . .
in spite of all of the dedication to and belief in spiritual beliefs and . . .
after the efforts by non-dual guides to use either religion or spirituality as a treatment for the Ultimate Sickness without success . . .
when he tried another method, then it was said:
“The later books of Maharaj do not enjoy the same clarity as 'I Am That’. It seems that he himself got complicated or rather evolved himself or declined maybe as happens to many teachers.”
and
“At first when he was still listening to his guru he was telling the truth, like he did in ‘I AM THAT.’ In his other talks, his ego made him start telling things he dreamed up on his own that were not true.”
and that
“He deteriorated from one of the great spiritual men of all times to one of the least spiritual people of all times.”
And those critics did not have the slightest clue at all regarding why the changes he made occurred; nor do their modern-day counterparts.
How dare they take snake oil off the market!
How dare they no longer allow the use of leeches to bleed people!
How dare they no longer allow the use of arsenic and mercury in our medicines!
Ah, so it is.
To be continued.
Please enter into the silence of contemplation.
A talk and Q&A session on Walter Driscoll's non-dual site provided an opportunity to see some totally artificial ego-states fighting for their (imagined) lives.
To watch that talk and Q&A, click:
Walter Driscoll and Floyd Henderson
To watch the interview when Walter and Floyd discussed the fact that the Ultimate Sickness is a mental / mind sickness
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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.
