SOME OBSERVATIONS FROM JERRY KATZ

[First a follow-up on the proselytizing series. One, at least, begins to awaken:
From K.E.: Ouch! You are totally correct on the subject of proselytizing. I do it all the time and always always get burned. I read about all the great ideas in the world and totally get them wrong when I try to explain them to others. I am utterly totally trapped in my ego and cannot get out. I do not have the money or the resources to buy any books or tapes or travel to anyplace. Any suggestions? K.E.

F.: So, K.E., you've taken "Step A," which precedes "Step One" of the seven-step journey to Reality: admitting that you're trapped in ego, that what you are currently doing in not working, and that (in your case) you're proselytizing without having even learned the Teachings yourself/YourSelf. That places you in the ranks of "the rare ones" who are able to see and to admit that much. You mentioned before that you have a job. If you can't afford the price of a book such as FROM THE I TO THE ABSOLUTE, then save up and buy THE FINANCIAL SET from the website in order to restore financial sanity first. It seems that creating a budget and living within your means might be a more immediate priority than Realization, though all of that is linked, relatively speaking. Regards on "the journey."] Now, on to observations by Jerry Katz.

F.: Those who study Advaita for any time at all typically come across the name of Jerry M. Katz. Jerry maintains a highly popular non-duality website and authored the book ONE: Essential Writings on Nonduality. Recently, a regular visitor to this Advaita blog found and forwarded some words that Jerry wrote regarding the novel which happens to be the featured sale item on this site this week. Though his comments were not solicited, they are appreciated on a relative level. The complete posting he made will be repeated here, including the excerpt from the novel that he chose to share with visitors to his site:

Jerry Katz: “I think we may be seeing the emergence of the first literary nonduality novel. Not of all times, but the first one fed by the teaching of nonduality as set forth in the last ten years. That kind of fiction is going to be different from any other kind of nonduality fiction. Here are a couple of tastes. Excerpt from a nonduality novel: The Board of Directors of Wars, by Floyd Henderson.”

[NOTE: Dustin LindenSmith included the same excerpt on his site and offered these comments to his readers in regards to the same passage in another unsolicited review:
Dustin LindenSmith: “My old friend Jerry (Katz) has never been a fan of fiction that tries to be nondual. Too often, it's written by people who may have nondual insight, but who are terrible writers of fiction. The two don't have to be mutually exclusive, but anyone whom he'd read that had tried to meld the two had been unsuccessful. Until now, maybe. In "Issue #2800" of "The Nondual Highlights," Jerry provides an excerpt from a novel by Floyd Henderson called The Board of Directors of Wars. It's a passage of dialogue, but the portion I'm including just has one character making a little speech to another. When taken out of context like I've just done, the passage sounds a bit like the proverbial discourse between a spiritual teacher and a student. I think this speech is quite good.]

Thanks are extended to Jerry for the words in his review and to Dustin for his take on the passage. Here's the excerpt from THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF WARS which Jerry and Dustin shared with their site visitors:

“You seem at peace in the middle of this chaos. I want that peace,” Brett almost demanded.

“Brett, you’ve been shown the answer all your life. It was there for you to see in every play, in every movie, in every mystery you’ve ever read. Shakespeare borrowed the dramatic technique from the Greeks,” Kirk began. “Today, it’s the basis of all mystery and suspense stories, and it’s also the basis of realization.”

“I’m lost,” Brett confessed.

“Well look at every drama you’ve ever seen. The main character, who represents you and me and everyone, runs around like a chicken with its head cut off. He is confused and in the dark. Those who are in a position to sit back and witness the drama objectively can see that he’s just an actor on the stage and that none of the drama is real. But for entertainment’s sake, he and the witnesses can pretend it’s real. Both, in fact, can get so absorbed in the role that they take it to be the real for a time.

“But even amidst all of the drama, a time comes, that moment in the play when even the actor finds out the truth. It is called the peripetia in drama—that moment in the play or the movie when the lead actor finds out that everything he thought to be true is really false; when he sees that he was being misled at every turn; when those he thought he could trust the most, and who thought they were telling him the truth, were also wrong.

“It’s the moment of freedom that comes when one finds out that everything he ever thought or believed or held sacred (or thought worth fighting for) was a lie. The freedom comes when he gives up all of the concepts he bought into, drops his head in relief and amazement, shakes his head back and forth, wonders for a moment at how he had bought into all their crap, smiles at how easily he was duped, watches how all of the rest of the play unfolds automatically until its end, and leaves the stage after saying to himself, ‘Well, sonofabitch. I’ll be damned.’ And then he laughs. He laughs at it all. And then he’s done with it, once and for all.”

Now, you are invited to consider the pointers in the passage from that book that Jerry and Dustin quoted. Next, if time allows, pick up pen and paper and go back to the beginning of the excerpt and write a note about every point offered that you can relate to if you study objectively the way each pointer can be applied to your relative experiences. List what applies to you. Then, list what applies to You. Please enter into the silence of contemplation.
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NOISY PROSELYTIZING vs. A SILENT VIGIL, Part Two

F.: When one intends to “change or re-educate” those persons who believe that they are profiting and gaining from contact with a god, that person is far from having actually Realized. When others spend time at their workplace, trying to “engage others in some interesting discussion of these teachings,” they are far removed from having actually Realized.

To be unaware of the fact that others do not want to hear what you’re saying while claiming that you are fully aware is…self-contradictory. WHO wants to discuss something with persons who don’t want to discuss that? What ego-state is driving that behavior? The teachings do not generate a sense of separation if genuinely sought, but when offered without being sought, such separation is the relative effect. Typically, persons must run the course of all other options before they are ready for the Advaita Teachings. To try to offer the Teachings in advance of their having experienced all of the failures, inadequacies, hypocrisies, shortcomings and self-contradictions of all of their personal or religious or ideological or spiritual doings is futile and counter-productive.

For those who do not want to read what is offered on this site, they simply do not click on the url ever again. Furthermore, for those whose path is crossed during the course of a day, they do not hear Advaita discussed. No one hears anything about Advaita unless they ask about Advaita. The teachings are (by tradition and by practice among the truly Realized) offered only to those who seek out the teachings and only in places where seekers find the offerings, not where unsolicited offerings are cast upon them. WHO thinks he needs to be heard? WHO is driven to talk about Advaita to those not seeking information about Advaita?

If, during the course of a day, you are trying to share, offer, or force what you think you know about Advaita (or about anything else) onto persons, co-workers, associates, etc., then there’s evidence of one or more ego-states and evidence that Realization has not happened. Each of the three who complained that their efforts are not being well-received by others are really expressing a surprise that others are not saying, “Oh my gosh! I find you fascinating. You are truly a deep thinker and wise philosopher, and at such a young age! Amazing. Please, tell me more. I must know all that you know. I shall sit at your feet and relish the nectar of your knowledge.”

The fact is, those engaged in such conduct are trying to give away something that they don’t really have in the first place. To those, this pointer is offered: consider Realizing Fully first, and after that, practice the silent vigil rather than the noisy pontification. What does that mean?

Some define a “vigil” as “a watch or observation” or “residing in a state of witnessing” or “the process of waiting and watching.” The Realized Advaitin teacher resides for the most part in a silent vigil that is not unlike that practiced by a wolf (or to use an Advaitin analogy, the tiger). The days of the Realized are usually passed most often in a witnessing mode. Should a question arrive during that period of waiting and watching, then a response can happen; otherwise, the silent vigil continues, uninterrupted.

Post-Realization, a shift was observed by some persons, some of whom then asked such questions as, "What are you doing differently?" or "What has happened to you that has made you so much more peaceful?" If Full Realization happens, you may be approached...or not; otherwise, you'll stay quiet.

If talking must happen in the process of meeting basic survival needs, talking can happen, but it happens without personal motive. If teaching happens, it happens…or not. If writing happens, it happens…or not. If some come for the sharings, they come. If none come for the sharings, none come. If some visit this site, they visit. If none visit this site, none visit. So it is.

A few minutes per morning are passed here with certain of the teachings being posted (primarily as entertainment, as part of this “dance”) and then nothing more happens in regards to Advaita unless e-mails or calls are received and answered. Satsanga is offered only when requested and/or arranged by seekers.

Each who sent an e-mail about "the problems being encountered during the effort to share" was reminded of this: in order to be awakened, persons have to be shaken. Understand that most do not want to be shaken, and unless they have asked you to shake them and wake them, then the Masters have modeled this: live in an AS IF fashion and leave people alone.

That is the suggestion being offered here as well. If you would Realize Fully, then focus on the Teachings, not on trying to spread the Teachings where the Teachings are not being sought. Please enter the silence of contemplation. (To be continued)
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NOISY PROSELYTIZING vs. A SILENT VIGIL, Part One

F.: Three e-mails have arrived in the last few weeks from young men who are having "problems at work" or "problems in personal relationships" that are stemming from their "well-meaning" efforts to share whatever degree of the Advaita Teachings they think they understand. They don't know why people aren't "at least willing to talk about" the philosophy. Pseudo-Realization will drive a newly-assumed ego-state such as "The Advaitin" or "The Realized One" to try to give something to others that they do not want.

Please note that when the process of re-purifying the corrupted consciousness begins to happen, one of two events usually follow: (1) persons in the process of Realizing become very quiet and pass even more time in solitude and careful consideration in order to allow the process to mature into Full Realization; or (2) some who suddenly perceive how they have been fooled become driven by ego to move about and tell others in face-to-face discussions/altercations about how much they have also been fools. The latter brings the process to a full stop rather than to Full Realization.

It should be understood that not only the Advaita tradition but also the absence of arrogance both preempt public proselytizing by the Realized. As pointed out to all three in e-mailed responses, though Christ shared the Advaita teachings publicly on some occasions, (a) even his own closest followers never “got it” and (b) he was killed within a matter of years of initiating those public discussions of the Advaita Teachings.

The fact is, it is only arrogance and egotism which inspire persons to approach others without invitation and to try to share the teachings of their religion or philosophy or ideology. The truly Realized do not offer that which has not been solicited. To do so reveals an agenda, and agendas are always the product of ego-states. Post-Realization, sometimes the consciousness speaks, but sometimes it doesn't; sometimes teaching happens, but sometimes it never happens; but in no case are the Advaita teachings shared with persons who have not sought them.

These postings have never once been e-mailed like spam in an unsolicited fashion to people not seeking an understanding. Realized Advaitins do not recruit, do not seek to build memberships, and do not seek followers. The postings on this site can only find their way into a home if someone intentionally clicks on, for example, 1 of the 331,000 listings that show up when a person googles “advaita vedanta.”

While some who have stumbled across this site have been interested in nothing more than spreading their dogma or encouraging others to believe exactly what they believe, for the most part seekers of something beyond traditional dogma and fringe ideologies arrive at this page. Some energy must be expended in searching by those who “get here,” and since no advertising space is purchased in an effort to attract visitors, it is those who are seeking and searching that are dealt with via this site as opposed to any being sought out or searched for.

The words shared by that space called “Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj” (specifically those words shared nearer the end of his teaching days rather than those at the beginning in I AM THAT) advanced the Realization process for this space called “floyd.” You may rest assured that “he” did not seek “me” out. It took several decades of searching before the words spoken by that speck of consciousness were found.

Maharaj shared until the final days of the manifestation from a confined, tiny loft in a most humble dwelling in Bombay/Mumbai. He turned down offers in the millions to build an ashram. The teachings via that space were sought by others, but he sought nothing and no one. He simply made the teachings available should anyone be interested. Two sessions per day that never lasted more than ninety minutes were offered for those who found their way to that remote spot on the globe, but he never went outside that loft to share except by invitation. And even then, what he shared was geared to the level of the audience he found in the various towns or villages that he did visit on those rare occasions.

During the course of any of “floyd’s” typical days, no contact is ever initiated and no unsolicited sharing of these teachings ever happen. One man who emigrated from Bulgaria is employed in the grill in this community. For five years, some “socializing” has happened while waiting for a meal to be prepared or while enjoying an iced tea at a lakeside table, but in that entire five-year period, he has never once heard the word “advaita” or anything else that is even remotely related to the teachings. No one in this community has a clue about what is being typed onto a computer screen by "a neighbor called floyd" or about what is being discussed behind closed doors when seekers visit.

To those who have gone into organizations and tried to share some of the teachings posted here, it is suggested that you stay silent until you have Realized Fully. Then, once that happens, your current efforts to impose the teachings or to try to share what you have learned even when not invited to do so will automatically and spontaneously end, once and for all. Please enter the silence of contemplation. (To be continued)
THE FEATURED ITEM FOR THIS WEEK’S SALE IS THE NEWEST RELEASE: There’s No Such Thing As Peace of Mind (There Is Only Peace if You’re Out of Your Mind). Regular price after July 8th will be $14.99 + S&H. 15% off through July 8th = $12.74 + S&H)

Click FOR INFORMATION ON THE BOOK

Click TO ORDER THE BOOK

(Click “Book Order” at the top of the website. On the book order page, provide billing and shipping information and then indicate in the “Special Message” box that you are ordering the PEACE OF MIND book.)
FOR INFORMATION ON THE GUIDE FOR TAKING THE SEVEN-STEP JOURNEY TO REALITY

Click FROM THE I TO THE ABSOLUTE (A Seven-Step Journey to Reality)