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 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?
6. 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.
ARE YOU AT THE WET CHARCOAL STAGE OR THE GUNPOWDER STAGE?
(Most
haven’t a clue and must be told)
“It has been observed that “wet charcoal” stage seekers often believe that they are at the gunpowder stage, or beyond”
and
“That especially applies to ‘Religios’ and ‘Spiritual Giants’.”
--floyd
Questioner: “A man like you should set an example.”
Maharaj: “Are you ready to follow my example?”
and
“Readiness is ripeness. You do not see the real because your mind is not
ready for it.”
--Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
“The
readiness is all.”
--William Shakespeare
What words might a wise, objective witness use to describe humans? How about . . .
. . . confused?
. . . bewildered?
. . . puzzled?
. . . baffled?
. . . driven by startling levels of “learned ignorance, stupidity, and insanity?”
Based in what?
Based in the fact that in terms of that which they claim to most care about, they haven’t a clue as to what that truly involves.
Based on their past words and actions, humans most care about:
Their religion; their spiritual program; and the subsets of family and friends and their job.
Look at each of those:
FAMILY
The divorce rate varies from time to time and place to place but the typical divorce rate is 50%, going to as high as 60% at times. If family were truly cared about, would there be some much infidelity, financial irresponsibility, domestic violence, lack of commitment, lack of communication, constant arguing, unrealistic expectations, and relationship-ending substance abuse?
FRIENDS
If friends were truly important to humans, would there be so many differences in boundaries, so many romantic entanglements and betrayals, so much breaking of trust, so much selfishness, so many financial entanglements gone awry, so much spreading of secrets / of gossiping, so much dishonesty, and so many friendships brought to an end?
JOB
If one’s job was truly important, why would 55,000 workers lose their job each day in the U.S.? That’s over 20 million per year. If they really cared about their job, would there be so many who do not meet their job’s requirements?
But imagine the visceral reactions when persons read those three analyses.
So much for the subsets being important to humans. Next:
“Based on their past words and actions” focuses on this: What have the most people fought about? What has been at the root of most of the wars and deadly atrocities which have occurred over the last 3000 years or so? What beliefs have humans held that they are willing to die for?
The answer: religions and religious differences and power struggles (when religious beliefs and political agendas are combined). Of all of the causes of war, religion is in the top three along with economic gain and territorial gain.
One older piece of advice is this: When it comes to humans, if you want to know what really drives them, pay attention to what they do, not what they say.
So, for evidence of humankind being confused, bewildered, puzzled, baffled, and drive by startling levels of learned ignorance, stupidity and insanity, ask persons to explain in one sentence what their religion or their spiritual movement or their recovery program is about.
Only
a few years ago, 97% of the people on the planet claimed to have a religious
affiliation. Nowadays, that percentage has dropped to 85%. Of that 6.8 billion
who are now claiming a religious affiliation, ask them to state in one sentence what
their religion is really about.
For example, ask the 2.38 billion Christians what Christianity is truly about. The answers might be . . .
“It’s about following Jesus (seldom using his real name: Yeshu’a).”
“It’s about following the 10 commandments” (though those are from Jewish dogma, not Christian dogma which reports that - according to their “lord” - there are only two commandments).”
“It’s about going to the four corners of the earth and baptizing everyone in the name of Jesus the Christ” (so it’s about proselytizing).
“It about learning the right way to live.”
Etc., etc,, etc.
Billions have no idea what their religion is really about including . . .
the 2.38 billions Christians
and
the 1.907 billion Muslims
and
the 1.61 billion Hindus
and all of the others.
And the same goes for philosophies, ideologies, so-called “spiritual-based programs,” non-duality, etc.
As for non-duality, if so-called adherents or practitioners or students or “teachers” or gurus or guides of non-duality were asked to state in one sentence what non-duality is about, from my own experiences I can say that there would probably be even more diversity - and inaccuracies - in the answers given about non-duality than the total number of answers given by all in the groups mentioned above.
But what is non-duality truly about? More on that tomorrow.
To be continued.
Please enter into the silence of contemplation.
To watch the most recent talk and Q&A with Walter and his guests, 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 and why learning more is not the answer and why unlearning is the answer, click:
