SHIFTS IN CONSCIOUSNESS, SHIFTS IN DEEDS, Part Four

FROM A SITE VISITOR: Do you think that the realized should be able to tolerate any kind of environment or any kind of people? It sounds like you are saying that. I’ve been reading your writings for several months and lately, there are people I spent a lot of time with before but now I’m not spending time with them at all. I’m not realized, but even if I were, I feel certain that there are some people I just wouldn’t want to be around. Art

F.: Some like Art talk of moving away from some people he “wouldn’t want to be around.” Others stay with people they don’t really want to be around because they are trapped in roles which they have assumed and which they want to continue playing. All roles require a co-dependent counterpart. That dependency displaces freedom, and a lack of freedom displaces happiness. The Advaita Teachings have made clear for centuries that peace and happiness cannot co-exist with false identities and role-playing.

The pointer has been offered that many persons stay around those they don’t really want to be around because of hidden agendas, attachments, laziness, fears, desires, or a sense of entitlement. Case in point was “A,” discussed yesterday, who occasionally wants her husband to die but stays with him for the money and the lifestyle. She even mentions occasionally that she “does loves him…on some level” to minimize the sense that she is really just selling herself.

Are you seeing, Art, that the solution to all these relative existence “relationship problems” lies neither in (a) trying to run away from or in (b) trying to seek out and use? [Solutions are discussed in detail in CASTING LIGHT ON THE DARK SIDE OF RELATIONSHIPS.]

Today’s post will cover the pointer that [attachments and agendas] can generate acceptance of misery if in denial:

Case “B”:
Regarding, acceptance of misery if in denial
A woman recently complained about “being powerless” to a counselor who shares Advaita pointers during some of her psychotherapy sessions. The woman is frustrated that she "feels powerless" because she doesn’t have the money to provide “the lifestyle that she has always dreamed of.”

The counselor suggested, “You are using the word ‘powerless’ with a negative connotation and the self-fulfilling prophesy is preventing you from moving forth and caring for yourself. To move away from that belief, give me a statement that has a positive connotation and that would be the exact opposite of ‘I am powerless’.”

After extended thinking, the woman answered: “I am being taken care of.” The counselor, stunned for a moment, finally asked, “Did it not occur to you to see that you can ‘empower’ yourself, relatively speaking, if you acquire some salable skill and find employment, meet your own needs, pay your own bills, and become independent?

“I mean, didn’t at least some notion such as, ‘I can become empowered and take care of myself’ not come into consciousness?” The women did not speak, but the look she gave to the counselor spoke volumes, namely, “How are you supposed to help me if you’re going to come up with things that crazy?”

Again, here is a case in which a person is not realizing that a hidden agenda (“to be taken care of”) is leaving her trapped in a relative state of being dependent and needy, in search of someone to take care of her, not finding that person, and therefore suffering misery of a level that drove her to seek counseling. Her denial is that (1) she’s too lazy to get a job and that (2) her real belief is that she is entitled to have some other human take care of her.

As is the case with all who have not Realized, their thoughts and words evidence the degree to which the consciousness has been distorted and the degree to which persons are imprisoned by their desires and fears.

What deeds/actions generally follow such thinking as exhibited in Case “B”? With the “mind”-set currently being exhibited, the most likely scenario will be the forming of an attachment to one who can take care of her, the playing out of a hidden agenda, and eventual entrapment in a self-serving “relationship.” That has been her previous pattern and may well continue to be her pattern for the entire manifestation.

The only freedom that can happen during the manifestation of the consciousness comes when one is freed of thoughts by eliminating belief in the content of the “mind”; when one is freed of the need to speak words constantly…to talk and talk and talk; and in the absence of being driven to go and do and zoom as a result of sleepwalking through the relative existence and being driven by distorted thoughts and warped beliefs.

Again, the post-Realization existence is marked by an absence of the “chatter of a thousand monkeys” that is generated from the “mind” of the non-Realized. It is marked by a movement toward the silence; it is marked by happenings that only happen spontaneously and automatically as a result of being awake, aware, and conscious and as a result of not being driven by hidden agendas or attachments or fears or desires.

Were Case “B” to Realize, she would understand that (1) whatever gives you pleasure will eventually give you pain and that (2) whatever gives you the most pleasure will eventually give you the most pain. (Consider that pointer in terms of your own failed relations, in regards to anything used in excess, or in regards to habits that eventually backfired on you.)

Were “B” to Realize, she would be willing to settle for less rather than seek for more, and she would find a means by which her relative needs for food and clothing and shelter could be met independently rather than by subjecting herself to the entrapment by living in a state of dependence on another.

In "Part Six" of this series, Case “C” will provide an example of the third pointer in this series. In Case “C,” visitors will see a man who has distorted his desire to gain power and his desire to have someone meet his financial and sexual needs into what he terms “love.” Please enter the silence of contemplation. (To be continued)
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SHIFTS IN CONSCIOUSNESS, SHIFTS IN DEEDS, Part Three

FROM A SITE VISITOR: Do you think that the realized should be able to tolerate any kind of environment or any kind of people? It sounds like you are saying that. I’ve been reading your writings for several months and lately, there are people I spent a lot of time with before but now I’m not spending time with them at all. I’m not realized, but even if I were, I feel certain that there are some people I just wouldn’t want to be around. Art

F.: Site visitor Ginny wrote to share her take so far on this topic: “Well, this is what it's all about. A draw toward...that usually ends up in a practical way not to aloneness but to All-one.” That is also as near an accurate pointer toward “love” as can be stated. But yesterday, a pointer was offered in regards to how many erroneously use the word “love” to justify their ego-state-generated actions. This pointer was offered:

Their attachments and agendas result in forms of bondage that can generate a “tolerance” for pain if the source has an air of familiarity; can generate acceptance of misery if in denial; and can generate a tendency to distort a desire to gain power or a desire to have someone meet their financial or sexual needs into what they term “love.”

(PLS. NOTE: Once again, if the movement away from anyone is inspired by arrogance, judging, or ego-based righteous indignation that leads to such beliefs as “you’re not good enough for me,” then that movement has nothing to do with the movement among the Realized toward peace, quiet, and an ego-less existence. It has everything to do with egoism.)

Recall that the non-Realized are driven along the thought-word-deed continuum to think unceasingly during the waking hours, to talk unceasingly, and to go and do and zoom through each day. By contrast, the Realized are (a) freed of the “mind” that generates thoughts, (b) practice an economy of words if they must speak, and (c) understand that there is no do-er.

Among the Realized, living happens in a natural fashion, not unlike the example set by the frequently-referenced deer that lives spontaneously—eating plant food, arranging for shelter of a minimalist character, engaging in sex for pleasure and breeding, and developing no “attachments or agendas that result in forms of bondage” of the mental or emotional type. The non-Realized live in an opposite fashion and thus suffer from a sense of bondage (whether they recognize their bondage or deny their bondage).

Consider three examples (including Case "A" today) which were revealed in sessions conducted during the last two months and that show how thoughts generated by the distorted consciousness result in distorted thoughts expressed via words and that drive deeds / actions that are distorted and unnatural as well:

Case “A”
Regarding, a tolerance for pain if the source has an air of familiarity.

The non-Realized are much like the child mentioned in an earlier post in August 2007:

Such is the way it is among persons who normalize the insane-like behaviors of their parents: they will also believe in a parent-based god and then normalize in their “minds” the insane-like behavior of that god which is an (imaginary) extension of their parents. Thus, relationships with parents and “relationships with god” are never as perceived but are typically driven by irrational beliefs and absurd concepts that result in a series of abnormal psychological responses. That is why it required the strength of three social workers to pry a child away from the mother that had used cigarettes to burn the child over the entire length of its body.

That child’s attachment led it to cling to its abuser, to that familiar source of pain, rather than to leave and escape the pain. The Stockholm Syndrome has been discussed earlier as well, and many persons function under the auspices of that disorder, thinking that they “love” their abuser.

Why? Childhood abuse can give adult-aged abuse that flavor of being “familiar.” Too, the “repetition compulsion” drives persons to repeat the same “familiar” scenarios over and over, no matter how unnatural or painful those scenarios might have been…and might now be.

“Case A” reveals the thinking of a woman who describes her misery as being “comfortable,” who uses words to describe her miserable existence as being "comfortable," and who is then driven to act as if she is comfortable. She is a woman whose alcoholic husband (like her alcoholic father) is out seven nights a week, comes home and passes out, and offers nothing more than economic support. She does not see their separate bedrooms as a metaphor for their “marriage.”

She admitted that there have been times when she wanted him to die, yet she claims that she “likes it that she can spend her days shopping,” that she “likes the fact that she has available all the money a woman could want or need,” and that she “loves the fact that she doesn’t have to get a job and work.”

When she was asked if she realized that she was trapped in the bondage of her laziness and her sense of entitlement and that her relative existence was a series of one shallow and miserable happening after another, she bristled at the question and claimed that she was “very comfortable” with her lifestyle and resented the suggestion that she doesn’t love her husband (the one she wanted to die).

Are you understanding the pointer, Art, that the non-Realized do not move toward peace and quiet and a natural, minimalist existence if they have “attachments and agendas”? Are you seeing that those attachments and agendas can “result in forms of bondage that can generate a ‘tolerance’ for pain if the source has an air of familiarity”?

Are you seeing the insanity and misery that is generated by attachment to “relative people and places and things"? Are you seeing the bondage that results from ignorance of the Noumenon? Please enter the silence of contemplation. (To be continued)
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SHIFTS IN CONSCIOUSNESS, SHIFTS IN DEEDS, Part Two

FROM A SITE VISITOR: Do you think that the realized should be able to tolerate any kind of environment or any kind of people? It sounds like you are saying that. I’ve been reading your writings for several months and lately, there are people I spent a lot of time with before but now I’m not spending time with them at all. I’m not realized, but even if I were, I feel certain that there are some people I just wouldn’t want to be around. Art

F.: It was noted yesterday that “the forest dweller stage” need not happen literally, yet the stage must be entered into in some fashion in order to transition through the entire consciousness re-purification process. Some form of retreat for contemplation and consideration must happen. The requirements of that stage can be met among some seekers by readings that clarify the teachings; by attending an Advaita retreat or seminar or series of satsang sessions; or by receiving pointers and then engaging in meditation in the originally-intended fashion.

(PLS. NOTE: The original purpose of meditation was not to move into and out of a samadhi state or into and out of different levels of consciousness. The original intent was to be removed from the “maddening crowd” in order to enter the silence so that one could more effectively take a teacher’s pointers into consideration and thereby understand the teachings.

That forest dweller type of “removal from the masses” is required, but it does not require that one abandon employment or other relative existence tasks. The original intent of meditation, instead of being used to try to reach a “no-consciousness state,” called for a highly-focused concentration upon the content and meaning of pointers.

Since the intent is to provide an opportunity to focus on pointers that guide seekers to Realization, then post-Realization the tool is no longer used. Should the Realized seem to be engaged in any Advaita-related happenings post-Realization, it is for the sake of entertainment only.)

Remember also, Art, this fact as you consider the people you “want to be around, or not” during the relative existence: any pointers dealing with “relative living” suggest that it should happen in a natural fashion, and sometimes it is natural to take the action to move toward a place where peculiar, external effects cannot exert an influence.

Consider: long before scientists confirmed the existence of Neptune, they predicted that it existed and they predicted where it was located in relation to other bodies in the outer band of this galaxy. How?

Long before they saw Neptune, they saw effects being exerted on other nearby planets or bodies, causing them to behave in a peculiar fashion. Similarly, persons can exert effects on nearby persons, effects that result in peculiar fashions of living. The non-Realized are like soybeans in that they take on the flavor of whatever they are next to. That does not happen with the Realized, but as noted yesterday, the Realized gravitate toward the silence and solitude anyway.

You may be seeing that some persons in your physical vicinity are exerting a peculiar effect. The effect that Realization might have on that occurrence is irrelevant since you are not realized at this point. Realized, neither “tolerance” nor “a lack of tolerance” will be an issue.

Unlike the bodies being affected in a peculiar way by Nepture, which cannot choose to move to a different location, the Realized can move toward other places and other things as the Advaita Teachings provide freedom from attachments that had formerly paralyzed them and/or held them hostage.

In contrast, the “pecularity” of non-Realized persons with attachments is that that they would prefer company in prison rather than being alone and free. Therefore, while you ask about moving away from some types of persons that you are no longer comfortable with, many persons will stay with those very types.

Their attachments and agendas result in forms of bondage that can generate a “tolerance” for pain if the source has an air of familiarity; that can generate acceptance of misery if in denial; and that can generate a tendency to distort into what they call "love" that which is really a desire to gain power or a desire to have someone meet their financial or sexual needs. So it is. Tomorrow, examples of all three will be discussed. Please enter the silence of contemplation.(To be continued)

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SHIFTS IN CONSCIOUSNESS, SHIFTS IN DEEDS, Part One

FROM A SITE VISITOR: Do you think that the realized should be able to tolerate any kind of environment or any kind of people? It sounds like you are saying that. I’ve been reading your writings for several months and lately, there are people I spent a lot of time with before but now I’m not spending time with them at all. I’m not realized, but even if I were, I feel certain that there are some people I just wouldn’t want to be around. Art

F.: Hello, Art. What you describe is typical when the consciousness re-purification process begins to happen. Since non-Realized persons function along a thought-word-deed continuum, it seems logical that when the content of the programmed and conditioned “mind” is allowed to fade away, then all those thoughts that it had generated will fade away. Then, the use of words will be diminished. Thus, deeds / actions cannot remain the same.

Few would question whether or not my teacher was Realized, yet he threw out many people who entered the loft where he offered satsanga (especially those showing up in garb that indicated they had added new personas while thinking they were free of all personas). He also sent packing those who only showed up to show off; thus, even Realized, there were "certain people that he didn't want to be around," but that was based in the fact that they were not ready or were not truly seeking.

Those types are sent on their way on this site as well, inspiring some to think that “floyd is all about tough love” or “floyd doesn’t even know what love is.” Those who prefer emotionally-intoxicated teachers and an emotionally-charged “life” can find both, and often do.

The fact is that the readiness is all, and a Realized teacher will determine before offering a pointer to any given seeker (a) which step the seeker is on or (b) whether or not the seeker is even ready to begin a “journey.” To begin the “journey” before the readiness has manifested can set the seeker back for years or can prevent Realization from happening at all.

That having been said, understand that among the Realized, there is no question of “tolerating” or not; however, there is an aspect to the movement along the “path” to Realization which can physically remove the body from the “company of others.” That stage has been called “the forest dweller stage” by some teachers in India or among the indigenous peoples of the “Americas.” (Maharaj tried that for a time until he was informed that he need not isolate in the wilderness but should return to Bombay, should teach, and should live naturally.)

That stage happened with this speck for a 25-month period, and it happens with many specks, yet it is certainly not a requirement. Another element of the “journey” and its outcomes is that the Realized automatically gravitate toward the silence, and even if employment continues in workplaces, there are often quiet locations that can be found. If not, one can be quiet wherever one is and not contribute to the noise. That will never be the case among those trapped in ego-states and egotism. Why?

Because the ego is infatuated with noise. Examples include the look-at-me driver of the car who forces all within several blocks to listen to his music; the non-Realized who gather regularly in buildings with loud organ music and loud choirs and who sing loudly and recite and chant words in unison; or those who attend meetings where their self-absorption can be massaged by having a captive audience to listen to their thought-generated, egotism-inspired words.

As for the Realized “being able to tolerate,” or not, notice that the movement only appears to be away from the noisy, the egotistical and the arrogant. The modified deeds/actions are not as much about intolerance or moving away from anything. The movement in actually toward something, namely a movement toward the silence, toward environs that are ego-state free, and toward places that are egotism-free because of the absence of persons who are assuming ego-states and using arrogance as an ego-defense mechanism.

Are your current deeds inspired by your own arrogance, judging others and deciding they aren’t worthy of your company? Or is the movement you reference simply happening spontaneously as You move toward the silence…toward an ego-less environment…toward humility? See the difference? Please enter into the silence of contemplation. (To be continued)
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