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. Also, by clicking on NUMBER FOURTEEN,” visitors can also see the introductory discussion on non-duality on Walter’s non-duality site and then a Q and A session which followed.]
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.
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LESSONS IN NON-DUALITY from TRAVELS IN SOUTH AFRICA: BABOON AND HUMAN COMMONALITIES
Humans and baboons are close evolutionary relatives with an average genetic similarity of 94%, so consider:
On the analogies section of many standardized tests, a student might be asked to determine which item does not belong in a particular grouping, such as:
1. a plate of fried shrimp
3. a plate of clams
4. a growling bear
Choose #4 and your chance of earning a scholarship is still alive.
At the Two Oceans Restaurant at Cape Point, South Africa, the choices came down to these four:
1. The entrance to the Two Oceans Restaurant
2. The inside section of the Two Oceans Restaurant
3. The outdoor section of the Two Oceans Restaurant
4. An alpha male baboon menacingly and threateningly exposing his canine teeth and hissing as he sat at our dinner table
If you chose #4 in that set as the one that does not belong, you would be
correct, but the fact remains that (a) all four were there and that (b) “floyd”
did not need to buy a ticket for an African Safari to have as much - and even
more - adventure with African wild life than could ever be desired.
Prior to the arrival at our table of an alpha male who came to the restaurant
with other terrestrial primates from his troop, the view could not have been
lovelier: a fog hung low over the water between the mountainside restaurant
serving us brunch in its outdoor section which is dedicated to alfresco dining
and the blue mountains that were jutting out into the water in the distance.
Yet the meal could most assuredly had transpired in a lovelier fashion were it
not for the troop of baboons that found their way out of the trees below and
onto the canopy of the restaurant above.
And as fate would have it, it was the alpha male of the troop that found his
way to the part of the canopy that was directly over our table. With one
movement that happened so quickly that the human eye could not follow it in its
entirely, the alpha male leaned down, grabbed the metal rod supporting the
canopy, swung across a six-foot span, and landed squarely on our table.
By the time it reached into the bread basket, it was only a couple of feet
away. My efforts to try to encourage it to abandon its thieving ways were met
with a show of canine teeth that measured over two feet in length. (Okay, make
that two inches in length, but the initial perception is being shared above).
In the U.S., speed limit signs are routinely ignored, but the recommendation
here is that the warning signs that greet visitors to Cape Point, South Africa
might warrant your vigilant attention should you ever visit the area:
“BABOONS
ARE DANGEROUS AND ARE ATTRACTED BY FOOD”
While most of the restaurant employees try to move away the members of the troop by using sprays or poking rods, the fact is that it is most unnatural for the baboons to be there in the first place. The point for non-dualists: as is so often the case, contact and interaction with certain humans can lead to abandonment of abiding naturally and can result in living in a most unnatural manner instead.
(An entertaining and informative book on the subject that was enjoyed while in
South Africa is “A Primate’s Memoir” by Robert Sapolsky. Sapolsky studied the
ways that the degenerating mental and physical health of baboons dealing with persons
parallels the psychic disintegration that is presently manifesting among the
human species on such a widespread basis.)
So as far as the non-dualist is concerned? Note some of the lessons from South
Africa regarding some baboons and most humans as both are presently living
unnaturally rather than naturally:
1. In too many cases now, some baboons in South Africa are not abiding in their
natural place. Is the same not true of persons around the globe? How many even
have the slightest clue about what their original, natural state really is?
2. Baboons form hierarchies that support differences and separation among
members of the troops. Same with persons in their groups or societies or
professions or cultures or relationships.
3. Baboons display a variety of personality traits, some being controlling and
aggressive and abusive, some being docile. Some - including the alpha males -
strut about with tail held high as if the master of the troop. They are, and
life is not easy when living under the auspices of one playing the role of “The
Master.” Both females and males shy away or “walk on eggshells” when he is
around, and the same happens with persons who accept the roles of “The
Dominator” vs. “The Dominated.”
4. Among baboons, low hierarchy individuals suffer from the most elevated
levels of physical and psychological stress, triggering high blood pressure,
suppression of their immune system, and high levels of stress hormones such as
cortisol. Ditto humans in many cases.
5. Many baboons are unable to differentiate between a real menace and a neutral
factor or perceived threat. Exactly the same happens with persons living under
the influence of personality and / or those whose hypothalamus is
under-functioning because of nutritional deficiencies.
6. Violence is often a way of life in baboon troops, and baboons often have a
powerful tendency towards aggression and violence. Battles are sometimes fought
when underlings attack the leader in an effort to overthrow the alpha male. On
other occasions, fighting occurs among males that are seeking to breed with a
female in estrus. No comment required
to see the comparison with “persons.”
7. Those baboons engaging in less violence have been shown by researchers (who
dart the baboons and test them in field labs) to suffer less stress and better
health overall. The message for humans?
8. Baboons have been shown to be able to make decisions, and field scientists
have determined that some baboons’ decisions are based in emotions while others
are based in rationality. The non-realized think and talk and behave in an emotion-driven
manner while the realized base decisions in rationality.
(The I-Amness being quite real for now, despair not if the overlaying of
Reality on the relative nevertheless allows strong feelings to manifest. Watch
them rise and fall without believing that some ego-state is being threatened
and thereby generating emotional intoxication; move back to the Original Nature
without judging yourself (or your level of fictionalized Self-ness.)
9. Field researchers have determined that baboons can manifest friendship and
envy as well as downright evil behavior that can be as wicked as that of the
most sociopathic persons. Welcome to the world of human control freaks as well
who would dominate your relative existence; who will sit at your table
(literally or figuratively) though uninvited;
who will take your food; who would steal your liberty; who would take your
freedom if you allow; who will control you if you do not set relative
boundaries; who will force you to listen to their baboon-like screeching and
yelling and shouting; and who will insert themselves into your private space.
10. Baboons find it extremely difficult to control themselves and postpone
reward. [The alpha male that swung its way down from the overhead canopy and
took a seat on our table was not about to wait until we left and then scavenge
for remains; instead, he behaved exactly as immature persons do - persons who
want what they want when they want it, consequences be damned.]
11. Even when baboons have been observed to pause long enough to think about
their actions, they more often act in an uninhibited and unwary manner. Ditto
non-realized persons.
12. Baboons also engage in politics, just as is the case with persons.
13. As with persons, baboons form hierarchies and establish their place by
power, size, weight, muscle mass, aggressiveness, and the ability to form
alliances when needed in order to maintain power.
14. Also like humans, they will stab each other in the back, attacking an
unwary opponent from behind when it is distracted. Personality also plays a
role in determining the place on the hierarchical “ladder” that one can attain in
a troop or in a human culture.
15. Baboons, like many humans, see some among them as being more attractive
than others. As with some humans, no attention is paid by baboons to anything “internal”;
ultimately, only externals are considered when choosing partners for pairing
and mating. With baboons, it works out just fine; with humans, not so much sometimes.
So it is, if the limbic brain or a fear-based “need” alone is allowed to
determine choices.
When baboons interact with humans that inspire them to stop living naturally
and to live unnaturally, the baboons become more aggressive, more demanding,
and more invasive.
Baboons have personalities, as do the non-realized, and both develop
personality disorders. Both can develop high blood pressure and their organs
suffer as a result of excessive stress. Their anger levels go up and the
effectiveness of their immune systems goes down.
The troops that live in that special place - which has historically been their
natural habitat - thrive; those that live unnaturally die an early death after
living a very angry and stressful life. For persons, there is also a natural
option that can allow them to avoid the same, stressful fate and to thrive
instead.
For the sake of discussion, it can be referred to as “your original state.” If
you visit what Grandmother called “The Medicine Place,” and if you stand still
for half an hour and hear frogs croak or listen to birds sing or take in the
beauty of nature, you will sense that original “place” of peace that awaits
you.
Then only might you be at peace; then only might you sit quietly in peace,
whether alone or with one you love / Love. Rather than shouting at each other
or tearing down bridges or building a distance between “two,” you might sense
the beauty that surrounds you; you might sense that which is truly natural; and
you might feel the Oneness that is available if you allow Reality to be
overlaid on the relative.
Stress levels will fall, blood pressure will be slowed, your immune system will
improve, and you will stop playing the wearisome games that are played when in
the maya . . . in the relative play. Seeking will end, and only if all seeking
ends can peace begin. What are you seeking? Do you really need that? If you
find what you are seeking, will it bring freedom or dependence? What will be
the end result? Do you see why all seeking must be abandoned?
There is much to be understood from the baboons in Africa. The baboons living
naturally - in their original state - can model a manner of abidance that would
also be most healthy for humans; the ones living unnaturally can model very
clearly the path that humans might well abandoned.
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:
