MAHARAJ: “There’s No Such Thing As Peace of Mind” (Especially When a Mind is Packed Full of False Personality Identifications) Part Ten

Today's Considerations

It was recently noted that Maharaj said many times that “this is all so simple.” Sometimes he said that when discussing “realization”; sometimes, when discussing “enlightenment”; and sometimes, when discussing “liberation.” Earlier, the actual and simple meaning of “enlightenment,” and the actual and simple meaning of “liberation,” were both discussed.

Today, the actual and simple meaning of “realization” will be discussed, and - again - there is another term (just as is the case with the terms “enlightenment” and “liberation”) which, far too often, comes with connotations and nuances which suggest that “realization” should be viewed as something that is lofty and soaring and grand and exalted and noble.

First, to clear up the widespread confusion about what “the non-dual teachings are about and what they are not about,” it is necessary to offer an explanation of another relevant term, namely, “the non-dual teachings.” As explained in previous posts, no one can honestly write a book and say accurately: “Here are the non-dual teachings.” Why?

The “non-dual teachings” have evolved / devolved into something that is as misunderstood as the elephant in the story of "The Blind Men and an Elephant" and as varied as their descriptions of that elephant.

In that story, several blind men are touching an elephant in order to learn what an elephant is like. Because each man touches a different part, and because each man only touches one part rather than all of the parts, then the conclusions that they draw about what an elephant is like are all in error. They learn when they share their finding that they are in complete disagreement, and their disagreements actually generate conflict and even violence. The same applies to "non-duality" nowadays.

The impact on "the non-dual message which is being passed along" is comparable to what happens in the children’s game called “Telephone” in which all of the children at a party or in a classroom are lined up in a straight line and a word or phrase is whispered into the ear of the first child in the line, after which each child whispers to the next child what is thought to have been heard. For example, the adult might whisper to the first child, "banana."

Each child will then whisper what they think was heard until the child at the other end of the line receives the given word or phrase. Now, suppose the second person thought the word heard was "bandana" instead of "banana"; then, the next might have thought the word heard was "Band Anna" and so on. By the end, when the last child shares what was heard, it is usually far different from the word whispered in the beginning. So it is with non-duality or any other set of teachings, be they academic, political, religious, spiritual, philosophical, etc.

The same kinds of misunderstandings happen in all cases, whether they involve what Krishna supposedly said and meant, or whether they involve what Christ supposedly said and meant, or whether they involve what one of those labeled by Maharaj as “The Big Name Teachers” said or are presently saying.

Additionally, as with politicians who distort facts in order to advance their own personal agendas, the same has happened with the non-dual teachings.

Moreover, some teachers over the years have change the version of the message being offered because of additional understandings or clarifications which have come. That happened with Maharaj and it happened here. In some such cases, the non-dual teachings can be shown to be a viable organism which is growing and maturing and changing, such as the case with the English language which is forever adding some new words while discarding other words which have become archaic.

Some believe that the non-dual teachings should be like Latin, a dead or static language which is no longer undergoing any changes or additions or subtractions and which should only be presented in the way that the first person presented the teachings (as if the first one to try to teach something had a monopoly on the only right way - and on the very best way - to teach something).

The honest teachers will admit it when their versions of any teachings changed as their understanding evolved. Maharaj in his later talks advised seekers to “Stop reading I AM THAT and listen to my later talks.” Same here. Were Maharaj to have explained early on his understanding of what “realization” involves and then explained later on his understanding of what “realization” involves, the two would be quite different.

Furthermore, there are five basic methods of teaching non-duality which use totally different approaches and which offer totally different messages. Combine those five methods with the additional use of one type of yoga or another and the potential number of permutations in regards to “the non-dual teachings” can combine to reach an astronomically-large total.

Maharaj's message shifted from one that involved a Hindu / non-dual combination of the Ultimate Medicine to a spiritual / non-dual combination of the Ultimate Medicine to a psychology-based version of the Ultimate Medicine.

Among the Big Name Teachers nowadays, the recipe used to bake up their message includes one ounce of non-dual pointers all blended together with a pound of not-at-all-non-dual pointers and then topped off with a heavy sprinkling of flowery phrases intended to incite emotional intoxication and to guarantee mass appeal by the inclusion of relative, self-centered, popular concepts such as:

Finding the 10 Secrets for Success

and

Advancing Your Spirit

and having

Power Now

and having an

Ageless Body, Timeless Mind

and attaining

The Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire

and knowing

The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success: A Practical Guide to the Fulfillment of Your Dreams

and finding out

How to Know God

and

Loving What Is (including being abused or raped or having your child murdered)

To see what is selling millions of books and what is making billions of dollars for those putting out their concept-laden and popular versions of the non-dual teachings is to see why Maharaj advised seekers to "stay away from Big Name Teachers.”

With that explanation about why there is no consistency to the teachings nowadays, let it be said that what is offered here is rooted mainly in the Direct Path Teaching Method which is combined with the Nisarga Yoga and with an understanding which has evolved and has shifted over the years since 1989 when non-dual talks were first being offered.

Full disclosure involves the admission that much of the present understanding came about in the late 1990's by way of “The Vision” which came while resting in the quiet and subsequently entering into a theta level of consciousness. After that, the approach used here underwent a shift in perspective regarding what “realization” does and does not involve. It was seen that Maharaj’s later talks made so more sense than his earlier talks and it was seen that “realization” does not involve anything that is lofty and soaring and grand and exalted and noble.

[Yes, those words might characterize the view of realization as shared early on in Maharaj’s loft and during the early satsang sessions and writings which were shared here as well. The view changed later on in both cases. Instead, “realization” came to be understood - both there and here - to be a process which involves realizing that the problems of humanity are rooted in the nonsense stored in the human mind; involves realizing that the nonsense in the human mind was put there by persons passing along from one generation to the next – in the style of “The Telephone Game” or in the style of “the blind men touching an elephant” – the nonsense that is presently deeded to be "conventional wisdom” (though there is no such thing); and involves realizing that the call is not for billions to replace their false, relative identities with some other lofty and soaring and grand and exalted and noble “Identity.”]

So, for the next few days, some of the realizations which came via that vision will be shared (without any suggestion that these realizations are "the only 'right' non-dual realizations” and without any claim that these understandings provide "the only 'proper' non-dual perspective"). Here are some of the realizations which came:

The vision made clear that there are seven degrees of separation from Reality that come about during the initial "coming in process" (that is, during the process of manifesting-and-being-programmed-conditioned, etc.) and that, therefore, there are seven specific steps during the "reversing" - the "going back" - process which must each be undertaken in a specific order if one is to shift from body identification to "Full Realization." 

[That having been said, Maharaj did promote the Self-Inquiry process early on but said later that “it is enough to know who you are not.”]

That understanding, in turn, made clear that - as Maharaj often said - attaining Realization really is a fairly simple process. Once "the Absolute" and "Realization" have been stripped of all of the conceptualized and exalted and illustrious and elevating and glorifying acclaim that has been attached to them over the centuries, then the simple process of manifesting and unmanifesting as illustrated in the vision can be seen and understood. There is nothing special about the manifestation, and the vision makes most clear that there is nothing special about unmanifesting. 

The vision made clear that if - at the third step - seekers do not stop playing any and all false roles (specifically including their false religious and spiritual roles which are played at that step), then they will never move beyond the third of seven steps and they will never Realize; in fact, when stuck at the third of seven steps, they will obviously never even reach the halfway point to Realization. 

(That, in turn, made clear Maharaj's point that there are those who are standing in the dim light of dawn but are imagining that they have completed the full journey and are now being bathed in the bright light of the noonday sun.)

The vision made clear that nothing is born and that nothing dies and that all that is happening is a cycling of the energy-matter that has always existed. 

The vision made clear that, because energy-matter can neither be created nor destroyed, there is no creator and there is no destroyer.

The vision made clear that, since there is nothing created or destroyed, it is a fact that there is no "Creator" and no "Destroyer" and, thus most certainly, no need during the relative for a Sustainer. 

The vision made clear that manifesting and unmanifesting happen spontaneously and that neither involves any meaning or purpose at all. 

The vision made clear that there should be as little focusing on - and being concerned about - one's unmanifesting as there is about one's next breath. 

The vision made clear that there is no "one" to benefit from being religious, spiritual, virtuous, or "good" and that it is an understanding of the Oneness and Love that leads the Realized away from any desire to harm anyone. 

 

To be continued.

Please enter the silence of contemplation.

[NOTE: The four most recent posts follow. You may access all of the posts in this series and in the previous series and several thousand other posts as well by clicking on the links in the "Recent Posts and Archives" section.]

MAHARAJ: “There’s No Such Thing As Peace of Mind” (Especially When a Mind is Packed Full of False Personality Identifications) Part Nine

Today's Considerations

Earlier, it was noted that Maharaj said many times that that “this is all so simple.” Sometimes he said that when discussing “realization”; sometimes, when discussing “enlightenment”; sometimes, when discussing “liberation.” Yesterday, the actual and simple meaning of “liberation” as far as the non-dual message is concerned was discussed. Today, the actual and simple meaning of “enlightenment” will be discussed.

There is another term which, far too often, comes with connotations and nuances which suggest that “enlightenment” should be viewed as something that is lofty and soaring and grand and exalted and noble. So has anyone recently ever (1) walked with someone to a doorway leading into a dark room at night where nothing inside can be seen at all; (2) then flipped a switch which turns on a light that allows them to see everything in the room, and (3) then said with haughty pride, “So, now we can both see what we could not see before! Indeed, I have just accomplished something that is lofty and soaring and grand and exalted and noble! Are you not impressed with me?!!”

Some persons become so emotionally-intoxicated around the fact that they now see something which was right before their very eyes all along - but which they had not seen before - that they brag about it in groups; that they walk into supposedly spiritual or holy places with a newly-adopted swagger; or they even burst out in song and sing about it:

I “was blind, but now I see!!” followed by "It’s a miracle!! It’s a friggin’ miracle!! Praise be!! Praise me!!”

And damn anyone who rains on their parade by pointing out: “If you were truly blind but are now sighted, that might indeed be a miracle, but you weren’t blind. 

You just had your eyes closed, so 

to have not been able to see because you had your eyes closed and 

to now proclaim that you were blind and then 

to open your eyes and now claim that it is a miracle because you can see and 

to believe that all of that is evidence of a wondrous, phenomenal (or Noumenal) marvel which surely involves some kind of supernatural intervention on your behalf, well, all of that is total nonsense.

The actual fact is this: none of that is evidence of a miracle at all. It is evidence of ignorance, at best, and may even be evidence of full-blown insanity."

It would be no different from someone saying this:

“I guess I was about fourteen when I first put my finger in a light socket and got knocked across the room onto my butt and took what seemed like forever to recover. Once I was feeling better and returned home, I couldn’t resist, so I put my finger in the same light socket again, was knocked across the room onto my butt again, and took what seemed like forever to recover, again.

“And that was my pattern until I was forty-two years old: time and time again, I stuck my finger in the same socket and suffering the same consequences over and over. Then one day, I met a group of people who told me, “You know, that’s crazy. If you were to stop being crazy, you would not stick your finger in that socket ever again and you would not get knocked onto your butt ever again.

“And I said, ‘Damnation! Why didn’t I think of that?!’ And today, I stand before you, a man whose miracle has come. I have gone one year without sticking my finger in a light socket. It is a miracle indeed” to which those in the room with him stood and applauded, nodding their heads in agreement and applauding him for not doing something so ignorant and so stupid and so insane.

A “miracle?” Or “just waking up enough to look and to see what was right before his eyes all along, to wake up enough to stop avoiding looking at the truth that was right before his eyes all along?” Is it a miracle or an accomplishment if one can suddenly see what could not be seen in a dark room as a result of simply turning on the light in order to be able to see?

Earlier on this site, a tale shared by a man was passed along to site visitors. He admitted that he had been just that ignorant and insane. He said that for thirty years he had abused alcohol on a daily basis, had suffered the consequences on a daily basis, and had pulled others into his relative existence and they had suffered the consequences of dealing with him as well; then, he said, he joined a group, stopped drinking for a year, and went to a celebration of that “accomplishment” which had been organized by others in the group.

Years later when talking with me, he had come to see via the humility which came via the non-dual understanding that behaving sanely and naturally and in a non-destructive way and in a non-delusional way was not an “accomplishment”; that trillions of life-forms on planet earth have done that for millions of years; and that trillions of life-forms on planet earth are all doing the same, exact thing right now: namely, all are abiding normally and naturally and not unnaturally and not supernaturally (a.k.a, religiously or spiritually), with the exception of most humans.

Then he said that the most insane part of what happened after that one-year celebration of sobriety was this: he flashed on the fact that for a year he was still doing crazy things, things that were just as crazy as what he had done when under the influence. He said he came to see that he had really bought into the notion that his drinking had caused his insanity rather than the other way around. So he erroneously equated “not drunk” with being “not crazy.”

He said that he quickly ignored the "flash," and as a result it took years more of suffering and misery to inspire him to look outside the box which he had been put into and seek an effective means by which he could truly be restored to sanity. The means he found involved a holistic approach, not a single-treatment process, he said.

Then he began laughing and told me this:

“That night after the party celebrating a year of sobriety – which I see now was only physical sobriety without any element of mental sobriety or emotional sobriety and certainly without any element of spiritual sobriety because I had become 'a spiritual giant' as you call it – I decided to drop in on my grandmother. I had made her life hell for years, using her, manipulating her, ‘borrowing’ money from her that I never intended to repay and which I never did repay. It hit me that if I would go to her and tell her what I had accomplished and tell her that I was sorry (though still not arranging to return the money taken from her), then she might be so impressed that she would give me a nice cash gift in honor of my 365 days of sobriety.

“I knocked on her door and when she saw it was me, a sour look crossed her face. I wasn’t sure she was going to let me in, but she turned and walked away and I followed her into her living room. She asked, in what I thought to be a far-too-hostile tone, ‘What do you want?’ I said, ‘I don’t want anything grandmother except to tell you about a miracle that has happened. I just came from a party where my friends and I celebrated the fact that I have gone an entire year without getting drunk even once.’ I then leaned back, smiling, proud, awaiting her congratulatory comments - and maybe a monetary reward also - after hearing my good news. Instead, she inched forward to the edge of her chair, leaned forward, and - with narrowed eyes and clinched teeth and a pinched look all across her face - she said, “And I have gone eighty-eight years without getting drunk even once. Now get the hell out of here and don’t come back!’”

He paused, looked down at his hands, and then said, “I guess that was as angry as I’d been in a year. Today, I see how easily she finally saw though me and my shenanigans and how justified she was to react the way she did. I see now how insane I remained for years while thinking I had actually been restored to sanity by merely not drinking.”

I asked: “So you now understand that the only thing worse than being the way you were drunk was being that same way not drunk?”

He: “Indeed.”

I: “And do you see that the craziest thing you did was not done when drunk but was done when not yet drunk, namely, being driven while not drunk to have another drink and trigger the whole scenario all over again?”

He: “Indeed. I listened to a guy for years who started everything he had to say by first giving an obsessive-compulsive accounting of what he deemed to be an accomplishment. He’d say, ‘By the grace of God, I have been sober for 17 years, 3 months, and 21 days.’ Then the next day he would say, ‘By the grace of God, I have been sober for 17 years, 3 months, and 22 days.’ The next day he would say, ‘By the grace of God, I have been sober for 17 years, 3 months, and 23 days.’ While I reported to the people there that I was finally in a place of perfect peace, accepting all without reacting, I was obviously far from that state because I finally said one day after hearing that fellow brag again about the longevity of his sobriety, ‘I think we’d be far more interested if you starting logging the number of days that you’ve not been obnoxious and not been insane, and at this point you better start with ‘zero’ if you are really going to be honest and thorough.' I finally figured out that, whether drinking or not, almost all of us were still insane and still obnoxious and still far from being at peace."

Enlightenment is not something that is lofty and soaring and grand and exalted and noble, any more than it is lofty and soaring and grand and exalted and noble to turn on a light switch in order to be able to see what otherwise cannot be seen in the darkness. It is not an accomplishment to wake up while having a nightmare and to see that you were only dreaming.

Nor is it an accomplishment to walk into a dimly-lit shed and to think at first that a coiled rope is a snake but then, after opening the door farther to allow more light in, to see that the supposed snake is just a rope. It might be more of an accomplishment if one becomes able to see that deadly snakes which were being mistaken for harmless ropes are indeed snakes, kinda like seeing that a wolf in sheep’s clothing is not a sheep at all. Relatively speaking, that might be far more advantageous, would it not? 

Yet having one's false beliefs in that regard pointed out to them is seldom welcomed, either. As noted in the past, "The truth might eventually set you free, but it's probably just going to piss you off at first."

For example, last week, I stopped by the cleaners to pick up some shirts that had been laundered. Ahead of me in line was a woman who looked around when I entered and smiled a friendly smile. The woman behind the counter was in the middle of a tirade, cursing her present spouse and concluding that “All men are totally rotten.” The woman in line ahead of me turned, her face flushed red, made eye contact with me, and showed that she was embarrassed for me. I signaled with a shake of my head that it was of no concern. The customer replied gently, “Well, I don’t think that all of them are rotten are they?” The reply: “Humph! My experience shows that they all are.”

Then the cashier looked around the customer’s shoulder at me and said, “Oops." The reply from me: “Well, you may be right. We may all be rotten, but there is one other possibility: it might be that some women end up with one rotten man after another because those women have a broken picker.”

The woman ahead of me took her clothes from the hanging rod next to the counter, turned, smiled, and winked at me on the way out of the store. As for the clerk when I approached the counter and handed her my claim check? A stare. Anger. Total silence. Followed by my being checked out in record time in a totally quiet manner, which happens to be just the way I like it.

She was not enlightened by hearing her truth. She did not see the part she had played in the way that her life had been unfolding. The "broken picker" suggestion did not turn on any lights. She remained trapped in the darkness between her ears. So it is. So it is for her. So it is for most.

Yet those who do open their eyes and finally see truth and finally see that the lies that they have believed all along really were nothing more than a bunch of lies . . . well those may have a chance to abide naturally and sanely and wisely. But even if that is the case, they still have not "accomplished" anything that could rightfully be deemed to be lofty and soaring and grand and exalted and noble.

To wake up in the morning is not an accomplishment. It is natural. To abide sanely and wisely is not an accomplishment. It is just natural. It works for the deer, it works for the birds, and it works for the fish. It would also work for humans were they willing and able and ready, but note: neither the deer nor the birds not the fish expect to be congratulated for doing what it is merely normal and natural to do.

Moreover, the masses are not blind. Instead, the consciousness has been blocked and does not allow clear seeing to happen, does not allow persons to be able to differentiate the true from the false. In non-dual terms, “flipping the switch to turn on the light so one can see” really refers to the simple process of removing the blockages of ignorance and insanity which were set in place in the mind via ignorant and insane programming and conditioning and domestication and acculturation and brainwashing and indoctrination and which now preempt any chance of seeing clearly.

Today, even at 11 AM, it is still very dark here because there is some fogginess and because there are widespread cloud formations which are combining to block out the light of the sun. When the fog and clouds clear away later today – as the forecast suggests will happen – then the light will shine and all will be seen more clearly. There’s no miracle involved. It is simply a matter of enough light coming through to see. That has nothing to do with "an accomplishment."

Also, trash in this area is collected on Mondays and Thursdays, so all of the garbage has been set out this morning in order for it to be picked up and hauled off. The refuse that had accumulated in the house since last Thursday has been discarded. The inner environment here has been cleaned out, so it will be far healthier. It would be insane to allow the accumulated garbage to remain and to make a mess of the relative existence inside this house.

The same is true for all humans and their "house." Housing the consciousness is an elemental plant food body. To allow the garbage which has accumulated to remain inside that space - specifically, in the part of the brain called "the mind" - would be insane. Yet getting rid of the garbage would not be a lofty or soaring or grand or exalted or noble accomplishment. It would just the sane thing to do.

 

To be continued.

Please enter the silence of contemplation.

[NOTE: The four most recent posts follow. You may access all of the posts in this series and in the previous series and several thousand other posts as well by clicking on the links in the "Recent Posts and Archives" section.]

MAHARAJ: “There’s No Such Thing As Peace of Mind” (Especially When a Mind is Packed Full of False Personality Identifications) Part Eight

Today's Considerations

Yesterday, reference was made to the real meaning of the term “liberation” as far as the non-dual message is concerned. From the book entitled LIBERATION

  

in CHAPTER ONE (“Being Trapped in Personality vs. Being Realized and Free”) the following is shared:

Personality assumption is (1) that which generates the false belief that personas are real; and (2) that which allows things to be taken personally.

A "persona" is an assumed social role or a character played by an actor, the term having been derived from the Latin word for “mask” or “character.” Personas are all of the false identities which persons think define “who they are.” In fact, they define everything that one is not.

“Taking anything personally” can only happen when a person assumes a false identity and when that totally false identity then takes offense at the words or actions of another. When do personas most take offense? When an assumed identity assumes that it is being hurt, interfered with, or threatened. What conclusion can be drawn from knowing that?

All instances of feeling hurt, interfered with, threatened, fearful, desirous, or miserable originate from assuming false identities and then wanting to defend or protect those false identities; therefore, to be free of feeling hurt, interfered with, threatened, fearful, desirous, miserable, or defensive requires being free of the belief that personas are real and being totally free of entrapment in personalities and their hidden agendas.

Thousands of personas are assumed by persons: husband, lover, homeowner, employee, employer, wife, son, ad infinitum; however, as a result of genetics and environment and other factors, all persons develop one dominate persona while assuming scores of others. Often, that dominant persona is overlaid onto (or combined with) all other assumed roles.

Only nine basic personality types exist, and since persons become most driven by their primary type and most separated from reality by that type and most absorbed in “self” via that type, then the “journey” to liberation can begin with an effort to be rid of the influence of the dominate personality type. Then the secondary types and personas might be abandoned more easily until, in the end, all are forfeited and discarded.

Why Understand Personality Types?

All personality types have hidden agendas. Subconsciously, they determine every thought and every word and every action taken by those who assume false personality identifications. Nothing has a greater influence over every person’s life. Nothing will lead to more chaos and instability because personality identifications are a key part of the content of the mind which is the ultimate source of humankind’s problems. Yet only a small percentage will ever be aware of those facts, and fewer still will ever take the steps necessary to be liberated from the dominance of personality.

Dictating Behavior

Of course each individual is “unique,” but unless people understand the way that personality type dictates behavior, then they will never fully understand why they do the things they do and why they feel the way they feel. Nor can they understand why others do the things they do and why they feel the way they feel—which can be quite different from person to person—depending on personality type. Nor can they ever break free of unconscious influences.

Personality Formation

Early in life, personality begins to form and is used as one of the many subconscious coping strategy tools as children try to navigate through a confusing and disturbing environment in which learned ignorance and insanity - of one degree or another - are passed along to another generation in a long chain of such “passings along.” Often, by the age of six, a child’s primary type (which will drive that person through her or his entire relative existence) is formed, and the other nine types will begin to show up in varying degrees as well. The goal of developing personalities and of using false identities and of playing roles is to try to feel safe and to cope with unhealthy family situations and circumstances (and soon-to-be-imposed unhealthy cultural situations and circumstances) by developing personality-based strategies. 

(Consider: All children with normal brain function figure out that they need to "fake it," to act in a way that parents want them to act in order to avoid punishment and / or to get rewards. Early on children learn that being phony and covering up the way they "really are" is the best way to avoid punishment or get a reward. What in most cases will be a life-long, often subconscious, tendency towards phoniness and deceit and deception and fakery and lying is set early on, and few will ever break free of that pattern. Instead, most will expand that tendency and will not just deceive their parents and other authorities but will eventually practice self-deceit and self-deception and lying to themselves. And none of that is chosen consciously by the child or by that child when it reaches an adult age. It was all taught and learned by way of ignorant and insane programming and conditioning and domestication and acculturation. Unconscious and sleepwalking and sleep-talking and ignorant and crazy parents teach their children to do crazy things and then shout: "Why did you do such a crazy thing?!")

Personality’s Power over Behavior and Feelings

People of the same primary personality type have the same basic motivations, the same basic liabilities and assets, and the same basic view of the world in some fundamentally similar ways. It’s almost “textbook” the way that persons so consistently and unknowingly and subconsciously demonstrate the exact traits of their primary type. It is amazing to see how infrequently people choose to do the things they do and how often they are subconsciously predisposed to certain behavioral patterns. (When you add programming, conditioning, acculturation, etc. along with the effects of trauma to the mix, “free will” and “choice” become reduced to the level of theory.)

The Benefits of Knowing and Understanding Your Type

This understanding can provide release, if not comfort, in knowing that millions of people who share your personality type try to use the same coping strategy as you and have done exactly what you did when faced with the same circumstances. But by understanding personality, millions have also been able to say, “Oh my gosh! So that’s why I do what I do!” and then they have a chance to become free of the overwhelming influence of personality which has unconsciously driven them. At some level, “That’s totally insane” can give way to “That’s perfectly understandable, all things considered.” Blame and guilt and anger directed at self can end and a shift toward sanity can begin.

In CHAPTER FOURTEEN of LIBERATION (entitled“The Relative Effects of Personality: How Personality Always [A] Generates Fear and Desire and [B] Prevents Sustained Happiness”) the following is offered:

All persons (being mentally and emotionally unhealthy as a result of non-Realization) can exhibit traits of any or all of the nine personality types. To understand the effects of personality identification can makes clear why persons suffer from the Multiple Personality Disorder and why their relative existence is marked by instability, chaos, and an inability to sustain any degree of true happiness.

It has been shown that identification with the body-mind-personality triad (leaving most persons forever trapped in their dualistic beliefs as a result of personality assignment or assumption and as a result of programming, conditioning, etc.) will result in persons / personas experiencing the fear of being “corrupt” or “evil” or “defective”; the fear of not being loved; the fear of being worthless; the fear of having no identity; the fear of being overwhelmed by “reality”;

the fear associated with the dependence of seeking external support and guidance from others; the fear of being trapped; the fear of being deprived or in pain; the fear of being harmed or violated or controlled by others; the fear of loss and a constant sense of separation; and the fear that their perceived needs will not being met. All of those will be experienced by "the non-Realized" who are trapped in their identification with personality.

Too, all persons trapped in personality identification will be frustrated by their unfulfilled desires . . . desires rooted in their wanting to be free of their fears. Trapped as they are in their false identity and duality - and driven by their fears, as all personas are - then all persons at one time or another can have the desire to be seen as being “good”; can have a desire to be “loved”; can have a desire to prove how valuable they are; can desire to understand Who / What They Truly Are; can desire to prove that they are competent and knowledgeable;

can desire external support and can thereby become dependent on others for guidance and sustenance; can desire a level of freedom that they will never find without Realization; can desire to gain control of others; and will desire freedom from the sense of emptiness and misery that results from (1) desiring continuity of the physical body, (2) desiring “peace of mind” when the “mind” is actually the source of their lack of peace, and (3) desiring that their personality and assumed roles can last eternally.

The reasoning behind the non-dual suggestion that personality identification should be abandoned should now be obvious. The Original Understanding preempted the assumption of personas, roles, labels, concepts, dogma, and – yes - even any rationale for offering teachings. The influence of personality in regards to the manifesting of perceived fears, unmet desires, and forestalled happiness should be clear.

 
To be continued.

Please enter the silence of contemplation.

[NOTE: The four most recent posts follow. You may access all of the posts in this series and in the previous series and several thousand other posts as well by clicking on the links in the "Recent Posts and Archives" section.]