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.
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.
A POSITION OF NEUTRALITY
The man who wrote the best-selling book on treating addiction had an affection for Eastern and non-dual writings. He found that some Eastern sages recommended to seekers that they adopt a position of neutrality in order to maintain a state of contentment.
First in the East and then later in the West, many misunderstood the non-dual pointer regarding a position of neutrality.
During the lead-up to the U.S. War of Independence from Great Britain's rule, only 1/3 of the population initially supported that war effort; 1/3 were outright opposed; and 1/3 were "undecided."
[The undecided are the dominant types among all personality styles. Fifty percent of the planet's population are Types Sixes, and they are the ones who usually cannot decide.]
Other forms of the "position of neutrality" have manifested over the years: George Washington in 1793 issued a Neutrality Proclamation much like that which the Swiss have long supposedly followed.
During WWII, Charles Lindbergh did not issue a strong anti-all-war message, but he did issue a strong message opposing war with Germany after the Nazis welcomed his many visits to Germany during the early days of Nazis control. The Nazis even presented him with a medal known as "the Service Cross of the German Eagle." Why?
His anti-Semite beliefs made Lindbergh a favorite among the Nazis. His "America First" and his "avoid war with Germany" messages became more and more frequent as he blamed what he called the British "race" and the "Jewish race" for trying to force the U.S. into war.
In 1966, an LSD advocate used this catchphrase: "Turn on, tune in, drop out." (The author of the addiction treatment book mentioned earlier spoke to large audiences of followers but few know that for eleven of those years of speaking, he was addicted to LSD and under the influence when speaking.)
So "a position of neutrality" cannot be etched in stone and taken literally and unequivocally in all cases. I've dealt with people who refuse to work and who bum off friends and spouses and family for money. Laziness and avoidance can sometimes be mistaken for "neutrality."
The non-dual approach is to realize and then abide "AS IF," aware that what's happening on planet earth usually involves what the non-dualist writer Shakespeare called "much ado about nothing." That does not suggest that the post-realization existence should be free of taking action of any kind.
Maharaj was asked by a visitor to the loft the following: "If you step outside and see a man being beaten by other men, would you intervene?" He explained that what the realized will do in any given situation cannot be predicted because the realized abide in a spontaneous fashion. Some might recall a similar circumstance during my childhood which I shared.
On the street where I lived, there were two gangs always fighting for control. If one saw either gang approaching on one side of the street, children and adults both usually crossed to other side.
After a police shootout four doors down from our house, the Meredith gang was ended and the Morgan gang four doors up from our house in the opposite direction took control.
One particular day when I was about 10 years old, I heard shouting outside and looked to see the Morgan gang gathered on the wooden bridge that was built across the large drainage ditch next to our house.
Road work on the street had left pieces of concrete 12" to 16" in width piled on the side of the street. I saw gang members walk over to the pile, pick up pieces of concrete, and take then back to their gang leader Morgan who was in his mid-20's. Each time as a member handed him a piece of concrete, he raised the stone in two hands about his head, slammed it down into the ditch, and then I heard his gang cheer loudly.
I walked to the side of the ditch to see what was happening. Below them was a large turtle. Its back was about the same size as the stones. By the time I arrived, its back was crushed and that exposed its insides which were showing blood and gray tissue matter.
Spontaneously, I ran onto the bridge and grabbed Morgan's jeans and tried to pull him back while yelling, "Stop it!" He looked around and back-handed me and knocked me down onto the bridge. As I began working my way back to my feet, I saw him take another piece of concrete and raise it about his head.
In that position, facing away from me, his legs spread wide, I move back, took two steps forward to build momentum, and then kicked him as hard as I could right between his legs. He dropped the stone from above his head and it struck his shoulder on the way down. As for me, I had already turned and had begun running as if the wind were pushing me along.
I was a speedster at the time and, getting a jump start on them (and with their leader limping along) I was able to escape. I may have well signed my own death warrant that day. Did I pause to think about what I was doing? No. It was a spontaneous act driven by the sense of empathy which Grandmother had modeled for me.
I circled the neighborhood until I could get to the back door of my house and went inside. Fear paralyzed me. For a change, I wanted my dad to return from work. When he did, I told him what I had done. He shook his head in disbelief. Then, he went into his bedroom, came out with his pistol, checked that it was fully loaded, and shoved it behind his belt and into his pants.
This man was a hardened welder who had fought and killed on the island of Okinawa during WWII. He was not one to back down from a fight.
Then, Dad went to several of the neighbors, gathered up some support, and walked down to the Morgan house. He banged on the door and the head of the Morgan gang came out. I heard some words and missed some, but the gist was that he would make sure I did not give Morgan any more trouble but that if Morgan retaliated against me, he would face the wrath of the my dad and a big portion of the neighbors who were sick of Morgan and his cronies.
I went home and once inside, dad asked, "What the hell were you thinking, boy?!" I replied, "I guess I wasn't thinking at all." He told me I better never interact with anyone in that gang ever again. As luck would have, a few days later, a large number of police cars approached the Morgan house from both directions and officers poured out and surrounded the house.
Rather than risk another shootout like he had seen at the Meredith house, Morgan allowed the police to enter and handcuff him. When he was led out to a paddy wagon, the last I ever saw of Morgan was his stepping inside and being driven away. The gang dissolved, and I had - most likely literally - dodged a bullet.
On the other hand, abiding spontaneously among the fully realized might not look just like that. No foolish actions would likely be taken, but as Maharaj said, "when one realizes, you will revert to your natural state, spontaneously and effortlessly." Then, realized, one abides in that fashion throughout the remainder of the relative existence.
So looking at all the possibilities, the confusion in the East and now the West is understandable that many misunderstand the non-dual pointer around "neutrality."
When a 20-year relationship ended, a seeker asked, somewhat sardonically: "So are you following the pointer that you must love her in spite of any abuse she hurled your way?"
The reply: "There is no such pointer in the Nisargan version of non-duality. No, I am following the eastern pointer regarding a position of neutrality: I do not have to love my abuser and I do not have to hate my abuser. I'm totally neutral. If any effects of 'trauma' from a relative experience remain, those shall be addressed and then I move on, spontaneously and effortlessly."
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:
