OVERCOMING A KEY OBSTACLE TO REALIZATION: BEING PROGRAMMED TO BELIEVE IN A PERSONAL SELF AND A PERSONAL GOD, Part Two

An Advaita forum focusing on Realisation, enlightenment, non-duality, Real Love, peace, freedom, Your original nature, abiding naturally, the Oneness, the Noneness, and Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj.

Here, there is nothing that is believed, so there is no one here who wants you to believe anything, either. Here, the invitation is to be free of all that you have been programmed, conditioned, acculturated, and domesticated to believe so that you can be free, period.

FROM A SITE VISITOR: Floyd Henderson, have not forgotten to contact you - been spending some time viewing the DVD’s (The Seven Step Journey to Reality) for the second time. It is interesting waking up to the understanding and the direction you’ve pointed me in for the last eighteen months. The block of the belief in a [literal, personal] Higher Power has me in silence, struggling with thirteen years of prayers and beliefs and a [“special book.”] I do want to continue with you. I am looking at the personas that caused the insane behaviors and am understanding “The Helper” - very clear today [that I was] seeking to be loved and to fix the broken. I can see how this has blocked [me from knowing] my True Self. Thanks

F.: [Continued from yesterday]

Over the past few months, five different men who have "tried it all" in twelve-step groups are now looking to the teachings of non-duality to see if they might find what they now admit is “still missing.” [For those who love their program, so it is. There is no agenda here that anyone should join anything, so there is no agenda here that anyone should not join anything either.]

The five have come to realize that their lives have deteriorated either into (1) a “Night-of-the-Living-Dead”-kind-of-near-catatonic state where they are walking about in a god-trance;

or into (2) a nightmare of discontentment that is resulting from their own dishonest charade and that of their fellows; or into (3) the nightmare of continuing to live in a personality-trance after having supposedly replaced their former “bad” ego-states with their new and improved “good” roles.

One admitted that his wife said recently: “Now that I’ve seen both options, I think I could tolerate the former jerk more than this boring, arrogant saint that has shown up. It’s about time to move on.”

Thus, this discussion. Whether the one trapped in the belief of a personal self and a personal god is in a twelve-step group, involved in organized religion, or is a member of some other “spiritual program,” the pointer again is this:

the third step on the seven-step “path” from identification with the false self to understanding the Absolute is a step where religious and / or spiritual role-playing happens. The step cannot be skipped; however, the step must be transitioned if Full Realization is to happen.

To that end, the reference above to being “blocked by the belief in a [literal, personal] Higher Power” is a monumental realization by one programmed with the dogma of organized religion and then further programmed by the same dogma disguised as “spirituality.”

It suggests that there might finally be a readiness to move on and complete the entire “journey.” Meanwhile, for those still clinging to their “program” (that is, to their new programming) there are some messages in their literature that can point them toward the “path.”

[Most will never read those messages since the members of that fellowship are not unlike their religious counterparts who repeat—without having actually read it—what they are told is in their special book, so below are some of the often-ignored passages that try to point them toward the understanding of non-duality.]

1. Cast aside ideas, emotions and attitudes, a.k.a., beliefs. (How clear that invitation is to abide in a no-concept state, free of the effects of emotional intoxication which is rooted in the acceptance of ego-states as identities)

2. With few exceptions, our members find that they have tapped into an unsuspected inner resource which they presently identify with their own conception of a Power greater than themselves. (“Conception” and “Power” aside, their invitation was to tap into the inner guru rather than some conceptualized “outer power” and to understand eventually that the founders of that program did not see the "Higher Power" as a literal, personal entity)

3. The suggestion that their religious members talk of “God-consciousness” implies that their spiritual members are tuned in to the pure consciousness / True Self / inner resource / inner guru.

As with religions, religion-based step groups inspire service and helping others. If one is not dominated by the Type Two Helper / Savior / Rescuer personality when they enter, they will soon be conditioned to internalize that type.

As with religion and religion-based programs, the practice is always to increase the influence of personality rather than to be led to freedom from having one’s thoughts and words and deeds driven by the subconscious motivator(s) of personality.

Difficult for Personality Type Two Helpers / Servers / Saviors (who are driven to talk in order to try to impress, a part of their quest to be “loved” by many) is finding the ability to remain in the silence—much less enjoy it. If Two’s do begin to discard the traits of that type, they often move into the quiet and begin to seek the Authentic Self.

The Authentic Self is found not in groups but in the quiet after pointers from a Realized teacher have been received and are then taken alone into the silence for consideration. More on group-inspired personality adoption tomorrow. Please enter the silence of contemplation. (To be continued)

Now you can receive for $40 a downloadable computer file version of the same 7-hour satsang that seekers receive when they visit for the Advaita Retreat with Floyd. You will be guided through the seven steps from identification with the false "I" to the Absolute (and beyond).
For more information or to order, click:
DVD or Downloadable computer file versions of the Four-Day Advaita Retreat

SIX WAYS THAT SEEKERS HAVE REALIZED:

1. BY WATCHING the 4-Disk Video (DVD) Set, or the same retreat available as a downloadable file. Either will provide an entire seven-hour retreat / series of satsang sessions showing three seekers being guided through all seven steps by Floyd and can provide viewers with an “experiential,” step-by-step series of satsang meetings that will move the viewers from identification with the I to abidance as the Absolute and then to abidance as That Which Is beyond

Some seekers are already using the computer file version and the DVD sets for meetings in groups in homes, playing the retreat, pausing for discussion, etc.

To find out more or to purchase the DVD set or the downloadable computer file version of the retreat, click:
DVD or Downloadable computer file versions of the Four-Day Advaita Retreat

Option “A” is for the downloadable file version, Option “B” is used to order the DVD set for delivery inside the U.S., Option “C” for international orders.

For the download, Paypal will send me a notice that payment has been received and then I will send by e-mail the downloading instruction, password, etc.

[It is recommended that you watch the video with pen and paper in hand. Write whatever you need clarified. You'll see that there are constant reviews and you might find an answer later in the seven-hour presentation. Then, after you watch it all, there will be a common ground for discussion. Purchase of the DVD’s or the file will include the right to clarifications and answers to your specific questions via e-mail.]

2. BY READING these books in this exact order:
IT'S ALL BULLSHIT (And Why Knowing It Sets You Free)
SPIRITUAL SOBRIETY (Recovering What Religions Lost)
[Those two prepare the seeker to question it all]
THE MEDITATION GUIDES
[Provide a broad overview of the understanding]
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I DIE?
[Begins to free the seeker of body identification and the desire for body continuity]
THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS "PEACE OF MIND" (There Is Only Peace if You're Out of Your Mind)
[Shows the seeker how to be free of the subconscious motivators of the false content of the “mind”]
LIBERATION
[Shows the seeker how to be free of the subconscious motivators of personas]
THE ESSENCE OF THE TEACHINGS
[Provides the final preparation for the seeker to be directed along the “path”]
FROM THE I TO THE ABSOLUTE (A Seven-Step Journey to Reality)
[Directs the seeker along the “path”]
CONSCIOUSNESS/AWARENESS: The Nature of Reality Beyond Self-Realization (Peace Every Day When Abiding as The Absolute)
[Allows the seeker to understand the functioning of the totality, the manifestation, and what is involved with the un-manifestation]
FROM THE ABSOLUTE TO THE NOTHINGNESS
[Provides the seeker the wisdom to understand the Noneness as well as the Oneness]
Purchase an e-Book now and begin reading it in minutes (except with e-checks that can take 7-10 days). Trusting our clients as we do, all e-Books are provided to you in printable form.
SAVE IF YOU BUY ALL ELEVEN AT ONCE:
(You may order the books one at a time or you may use the following link to acquire the entire 11-e-Book set on sale for $99 if ordered at one time with the “Buy Now” button below. For this option, there will be no download links provided; once the near-instant notice of payment is received from PayPal, your e-Books will be sent to you as e-mail attachments. All are printable for your convenience.)

You may visit The Official Website of Floyd Henderson for information on each book.

3. BY ENROLLING in the Online Advaita Classes
For information, visit Information on the Advaita Classes on the Internet
To enroll visit Enroll in the Advaita Internet Course

4. BY ATTENDING an Advaitin retreat for satsang with floyd and being guided through all seven steps. For details of the retreats offered, please visit the retreat information site.

5. BY ARRANGING satsang by telephone in the U.S. or by Skype internationally:
Use the Contact link for details or for information on making arrangements for a session

6. BY ARRANGING for floyd to travel to your location and meet with you or your group. Use the contact link above to discuss details.

OVERCOMING A KEY OBSTACLE TO REALIZATION: BEING PROGRAMMED TO BELIEVE IN A PERSONAL SELF AND A PERSONAL GOD, Part One

An Advaita forum focusing on Realisation, enlightenment, non-duality, Real Love, peace, freedom, Your original nature, abiding naturally, the Oneness, the Noneness, and Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj.

Here, there is nothing that is believed, so there is no one here who wants you to believe anything, either. Here, the invitation is to be free of all that you have been programmed, conditioned, acculturated, and domesticated to believe so that you can be free, period.

FROM A SITE VISITOR: Floyd Henderson, have not forgotten to contact you - been spending some time viewing the DVD’s (The Seven Step Journey to Reality) for the second time. It is interesting waking up to the understanding and the direction you’ve pointed me in for the last eighteen months. The block of the belief in a [literal, personal] Higher Power has me in silence, struggling with thirteen years of prayers and beliefs and a [“special book.”] I do want to continue with you. I am looking at the personas that caused the insane behaviors and am understanding “The Helper” - very clear today [that I was] seeking to be loved and to fix the broken. I can see how this has blocked [me from knowing] my True Self. Thanks

F.: The delay is understood. Some report that a second and third and fourth viewing of the DVD’s each revealed additional understandings.

So, the fruit of the viewings—namely, additional levels of being awake and aware and conscious—seem to be happening. To continue to a condition of full ripeness, it must be understood that nothing about the Realization process is about anything being lost, taken from you, or lessening you, except the falsehoods that we were told were true.

[The multi-year attachment to a personal self, to a personal god, to a lifetime desire for power, and to a belief that a book has provided all of the answers that will ever be needed will generate fear and a sense of loss as the grip on all such concepts begins to loosen.]

What was actually lost, taken from you, and lessened you along the way was nothing you asked for but everything that happened in terms of programming and conditioning and personality formation that separated you from truth and that took away your chance for a simple, chaos-free existence.

It is no criticism to have that offered for your consideration and it is no insult for you to see that as well. As a result of the pervasiveness of programming, conditioning, acculturation and domestication, all persons are robbed of a chance for a simple life. Now, you can take back that which was stolen. The last months have been far too complicated for you, but then all of the pre-awakening years are far too complicated, are they not?

You are beginning to understand the pointer that "personality trumps God" as you see that personality was driving every thought and word and deed and as you see that your thoughts and words and deeds made no sense at all. The difference now: you are beginning to understand exactly what was driving all of that, unconsciously, and it was never, ever "your god."

No matter how much people claim to be doing in terms of spiritual exercises, in terms of meetings, in terms of sharing, in terms of helping, when their material possessions or one of their ego-states is threatened, religious and / or spiritual selves are shown to be pure fiction as rage comes forth instead.

Is rage "religious" and "spiritual" and "godly," or is it based in personality? Add a little tension, apply a little pressure, let some persona think it is being hurt, interfered with or threatened, and see if personality or god shows up. The hoax becomes clear. It looks like total hypocrisy, and on one level it is.

On another level, it can be seen to be rooted in self-delusion and community-delusion: "I am now such a spiritual person" and "You are such a shining example to us all" but that is about nothing more than additional false roles being played, and the play-acting will soon be seen to be a fraud.

The truth always outs, post-Realization, and lies are seen by the Realized for the talk-only that they are. Yet while performing in "The Theater of Lies," how assuredly real and unquestioningly authentic the actors believe their stage characters to be!

Interesting also is the witnessing of the way that persons—as was your case as well—are programmed with dogma, go forth and experience the fact that their dogma had no effect at all in preventing insane, destructive behavior;

fail to see that truth; and later find a program that claims to be “spiritual rather than religious,” but then ignore the fact that their meetings are exact replicas of the former religious worship services in which they were programmed to begin with:

** gather and socialize over coffee beforehand

** enter a special room and take a seat with others

** have an opening prayer

** listen to a message about god

** pass a basket and collect an offering halfway through

** and then close with the Christian “Lord’s Prayer”

Yet they proclaim that their deal is spiritual and not religious.

[Note: the religious or spiritual step is the third of seven steps to Realization. The step must be taken, but it is not the end of the "journey"; however, most will never advance beyond that point. So it is.]

The Ultimate Medicine required is de-programming, but nothing more than re-programming is offered by persons who are employing the same methods used earlier by organized religion to program people; and that is the same programming that had no effect at all in preventing chaos and misery, yet it is being bought into again.

And even as they do the same thing over and over—trying a new version of their original programming that had failed miserably—they talk in their sleep and report that insanity is doing the same thing over and over but expecting a different result…even as they are doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

Yet you now seem to be seeing this: that pattern did not work for you the first time and is not working for you the second time. Why? Because of the influence of subconscious motivators that will always trump god and will always trump any and all well-intentioned efforts to be godly;

seeing that in your self, you can now see more clearly what was driving a person you were involved with for a time and can be free of any emotional reactions around that case as well.

Certainly "floyd" was trapped in that same darkness for a period: the words that were believed to have been said by “An Ex” and the deeds that were thought to have been done by “An Ex”—as well as all of the hurt and anger and resentment associated with those misperceptions—dissolved in an instant when it was seen that there never was a person talking to "floyd" or doing anything to "floyd."

More levels of freedom may be coming as You see that nothing more than a blocked or contaminated speck of consciousness (which had been as wrongly programmed as you) was driving the words and deeds that for a time offended the false "you's" which on one hand are driven by personality to "rescue and save" but on the other hand are driven to "take charge and control."

Once there was no longer a belief that there had been a specific, personal WHO that had been doing the talking and doing (talking and doing which certain of your ego-states found offensive), "your" case was like "mine": there was no longer a WHO version of “floyd” to believe that there was a hurtful talker and an offensive do-er who could hurt or offend. No WHO here; no WHO there.

Meanwhile, such specks will continue to function as they function, but in the absence of a personal WHO to take offense, unassailable peace can manifest and can continue throughout the remainder of the manifestation.

What a stinking pile of garbage (called the “mind”) was flushed away when belief in those concepts and ideas about a personal self and personal others and a personal but unreliable god came to an end. What a wonderful stage was set for the final shift to freedom and peace and bliss.

And what a delightful end to misery and what a welcomed foundation for joy and bliss came with the Full Realization. Please enter the silence of contemplation. (To be continued)

Now you can receive for $40 a downloadable computer file version of the same 7-hour satsang that seekers receive when they visit for the Advaita Retreat with Floyd. You will be guided through the seven steps from identification with the false "I" to the Absolute (and beyond).
For more information or to order, click:
DVD or Downloadable computer file versions of the Four-Day Advaita Retreat

SIX WAYS THAT SEEKERS HAVE REALIZED:

1. BY WATCHING the 4-Disk Video (DVD) Set, or the same retreat available as a downloadable file. Either will provide an entire seven-hour retreat / series of satsang sessions showing three seekers being guided through all seven steps by Floyd and can provide viewers with an “experiential,” step-by-step series of satsang meetings that will move the viewers from identification with the I to abidance as the Absolute and then to abidance as That Which Is beyond

Some seekers are already using the computer file version and the DVD sets for meetings in groups in homes, playing the retreat, pausing for discussion, etc.

To find out more or to purchase the DVD set or the downloadable computer file version of the retreat, click:
DVD or Downloadable computer file versions of the Four-Day Advaita Retreat

Option “A” is for the downloadable file version, Option “B” is used to order the DVD set for delivery inside the U.S., Option “C” for international orders.

For the download, Paypal will send me a notice that payment has been received and then I will send by e-mail the downloading instruction, password, etc.

[It is recommended that you watch the video with pen and paper in hand. Write whatever you need clarified. You'll see that there are constant reviews and you might find an answer later in the seven-hour presentation. Then, after you watch it all, there will be a common ground for discussion. Purchase of the DVD’s or the file will include the right to clarifications and answers to your specific questions via e-mail.]

2. BY READING these books in this exact order:
IT'S ALL BULLSHIT (And Why Knowing It Sets You Free)
SPIRITUAL SOBRIETY (Recovering What Religions Lost)
[Those two prepare the seeker to question it all]
THE MEDITATION GUIDES
[Provide a broad overview of the understanding]
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I DIE?
[Begins to free the seeker of body identification and the desire for body continuity]
THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS "PEACE OF MIND" (There Is Only Peace if You're Out of Your Mind)
[Shows the seeker how to be free of the subconscious motivators of the false content of the “mind”]
LIBERATION
[Shows the seeker how to be free of the subconscious motivators of personas]
THE ESSENCE OF THE TEACHINGS
[Provides the final preparation for the seeker to be directed along the “path”]
FROM THE I TO THE ABSOLUTE (A Seven-Step Journey to Reality)
[Directs the seeker along the “path”]
CONSCIOUSNESS/AWARENESS: The Nature of Reality Beyond Self-Realization (Peace Every Day When Abiding as The Absolute)
[Allows the seeker to understand the functioning of the totality, the manifestation, and what is involved with the un-manifestation]
FROM THE ABSOLUTE TO THE NOTHINGNESS
[Provides the seeker the wisdom to understand the Noneness as well as the Oneness]
Purchase an e-Book now and begin reading it in minutes (except with e-checks that can take 7-10 days). Trusting our clients as we do, all e-Books are provided to you in printable form.
SAVE IF YOU BUY ALL ELEVEN AT ONCE:
(You may order the books one at a time or you may use the following link to acquire the entire 11-e-Book set on sale for $99 if ordered at one time with the “Buy Now” button below. For this option, there will be no download links provided; once the near-instant notice of payment is received from PayPal, your e-Books will be sent to you as e-mail attachments. All are printable for your convenience.)

You may visit The Official Website of Floyd Henderson for information on each book.

3. BY ENROLLING in the Online Advaita Classes
For information, visit Information on the Advaita Classes on the Internet
To enroll visit Enroll in the Advaita Internet Course

4. BY ATTENDING an Advaitin retreat for satsang with floyd and being guided through all seven steps. For details of the retreats offered, please visit the retreat information site.

5. BY ARRANGING satsang by telephone in the U.S. or by Skype internationally:
Use the Contact link for details or for information on making arrangements for a session

6. BY ARRANGING for floyd to travel to your location and meet with you or your group. Use the contact link above to discuss details.

LIVING IN THE MIRROR, Part Four, The Conclusion

An Advaita forum focusing on Realisation, enlightenment, non-duality, Real Love, peace, freedom, Your original nature, abiding naturally, the Oneness, the Noneness, and Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj.

Here, there is nothing that is believed, so there is no one here who wants you to believe anything, either. Here, the invitation is to be free of all that you have been programmed, conditioned, acculturated, and domesticated to believe so that you can be free, period.

FROM A SITE VISITOR: A friend mentioned that in a talk on personality you talked about where certain types live but he couldn’t remember it all. He said I’m a Type Three and have a huge ego and that on your list I’m the one who lives in the mirror. Do you have a copy of that I could read? Thanx, Jim

F.: One company where one of "floyd's" contracts involves “staff development”—testing personality types and showing each in private sessions the way that personality drives thoughts and words and deeds and contributes to a dysfunctional workplace—there is time set aside to observe.

In the fitness center provided for staff, those that tested as Type Threes—the ones most likely to be trapped in the Narcissist Personality Disorder—illustrate exactly what it is like to live in the mirror.

While witnessing them "pumping iron," it can be seen how focused they are on their images in the mirrors which cover all of the walls. They watch their muscles expand and ripple as the weight bars are raised and lowered;

certain facial expressions accompany their straining, and they admire their machismo-style looks with a glad heart; they face the mirrors in order to take in the reflection of the “total package” and unabashedly admire what they see…or what they think they are seeing.

They make no effort to cover up their self-admiration. The point is, this in not about Type Threes alone: it is about all among the non-Realized masses who take the image to be real and who have fixated at the first step of the seven-step “journey” from body identification to the Absolute.

Trapped in "The Goldilocks Syndrome," some will believe that the body in the mirror is too hard, and some will conclude that the body in the mirror is too soft. A few will think that the body has yet reached the perfect state but will, nevertheless, develop an egotism-based appreciation for its current condition;

others will think their bodies will never be good enough and will therefore suffer the relative misery of "low self-esteem"; but few will ever agree with Goldilocks that they have found something that is "just right."

Only extreme narcissists believe that to be the case, and when such narcissists meet, “The Dance of Physicality” begins as some use the body to attract the type of partners who will respond to image and looks alone and who will thus satisfy their corporeal desires;

some use the body during the dance as they try to attain either long-term financial security or short-term financial compensation; and some use the body as a means to treat psychological issues around control or esteem.

Certainly, pleasure can be (dare it be said, “should be”?) a most healthy happening during the relative existence, but it never happens among the non-Realized without a host of accompanying complications, extenuating circumstances, self-absorption, and the overriding obstacles of personality-and-mind-involved game-playing.

Thus pointers are offered regarding the body images that are reflected in the mirror or that are projected onto the screen of a theater. The invitation is to know that the images in mirrors are not the Real, that what is being reflected in the mirror or onto the screen is not the Real, and that what is being seen via a reflection is not the Real, either.

All is just part of a play in light, and that is the case with all things relative. Again, go into the bathroom at night, close the door, face the mirror, and turn off the lights. Without any light, there is only an imagining of the way things in the mirror look.

Yet that is the way the relative existence is for non-enlightened persons: they are only imagining—only dreaming, only walking about in a dream state. They see nothing, yet they think they can be certain that they are seeing something and that whatever they think they are seeing and perceiving is being seen and perceived accurately.

If the bathroom light is turned on in the scenario above, the non-Realized will believe that they are seeing something real or that they are, at the very least, seeing a reflection of what is real.

They are mistaken. They may as well see themselves in a photo and imagine that they are the photo. Do you see why all seeing and perceiving in the relative existence is nonsense when it is believed that what is being seen is exactly as it appears?

Nothing in the relative is as it appears, be it that which is reflected in a mirror, be it that which seemingly appears in the mirror, be it that which is projected onto the screen of the “mind,” or be it those who are living in the mirror. Please enter the silence of contemplation. (To be continued)

Now you can receive for $40 a downloadable computer file version of the same 7-hour satsang that seekers receive when they visit for the Advaita Retreat with Floyd. You will be guided through the seven steps from identification with the false "I" to the Absolute (and beyond).
For more information or to order, click:
DVD or Downloadable computer file versions of the Four-Day Advaita Retreat

SIX WAYS THAT SEEKERS HAVE REALIZED:

1. BY WATCHING the 4-Disk Video (DVD) Set, or the same retreat available as a downloadable file. Either will provide an entire seven-hour retreat / series of satsang sessions showing three seekers being guided through all seven steps by Floyd and can provide viewers with an “experiential,” step-by-step series of satsang meetings that will move the viewers from identification with the I to abidance as the Absolute and then to abidance as That Which Is beyond

Some seekers are already using the computer file version and the DVD sets for meetings in groups in homes, playing the retreat, pausing for discussion, etc.

To find out more or to purchase the DVD set or the downloadable computer file version of the retreat, click:
DVD or Downloadable computer file versions of the Four-Day Advaita Retreat

Option “A” is for the downloadable file version, Option “B” is used to order the DVD set for delivery inside the U.S., Option “C” for international orders.

For the download, Paypal will send me a notice that payment has been received and then I will send by e-mail the downloading instruction, password, etc.

[It is recommended that you watch the video with pen and paper in hand. Write whatever you need clarified. You'll see that there are constant reviews and you might find an answer later in the seven-hour presentation. Then, after you watch it all, there will be a common ground for discussion. Purchase of the DVD’s or the file will include the right to clarifications and answers to your specific questions via e-mail.]

2. BY READING these books in this exact order:
IT'S ALL BULLSHIT (And Why Knowing It Sets You Free)
SPIRITUAL SOBRIETY (Recovering What Religions Lost)
[Those two prepare the seeker to question it all]
THE MEDITATION GUIDES
[Provide a broad overview of the understanding]
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I DIE?
[Begins to free the seeker of body identification and the desire for body continuity]
THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS "PEACE OF MIND" (There Is Only Peace if You're Out of Your Mind)
[Shows the seeker how to be free of the subconscious motivators of the false content of the “mind”]
LIBERATION
[Shows the seeker how to be free of the subconscious motivators of personas]
THE ESSENCE OF THE TEACHINGS
[Provides the final preparation for the seeker to be directed along the “path”]
FROM THE I TO THE ABSOLUTE (A Seven-Step Journey to Reality)
[Directs the seeker along the “path”]
CONSCIOUSNESS/AWARENESS: The Nature of Reality Beyond Self-Realization (Peace Every Day When Abiding as The Absolute)
[Allows the seeker to understand the functioning of the totality, the manifestation, and what is involved with the un-manifestation]
FROM THE ABSOLUTE TO THE NOTHINGNESS
[Provides the seeker the wisdom to understand the Noneness as well as the Oneness]
Purchase an e-Book now and begin reading it in minutes (except with e-checks that can take 7-10 days). Trusting our clients as we do, all e-Books are provided to you in printable form.
SAVE IF YOU BUY ALL ELEVEN AT ONCE:
(You may order the books one at a time or you may use the following link to acquire the entire 11-e-Book set on sale for $99 if ordered at one time with the “Buy Now” button below. For this option, there will be no download links provided; once the near-instant notice of payment is received from PayPal, your e-Books will be sent to you as e-mail attachments. All are printable for your convenience.)

You may visit The Official Website of Floyd Henderson for information on each book.

3. BY ENROLLING in the Online Advaita Classes
For information, visit Information on the Advaita Classes on the Internet
To enroll visit Enroll in the Advaita Internet Course

4. BY ATTENDING an Advaitin retreat for satsang with floyd and being guided through all seven steps. For details of the retreats offered, please visit the retreat information site.

5. BY ARRANGING satsang by telephone in the U.S. or by Skype internationally:
Use the Contact link for details or for information on making arrangements for a session

6. BY ARRANGING for floyd to travel to your location and meet with you or your group. Use the contact link above to discuss details.

LIVING IN THE MIRROR, Part Three

An Advaita forum focusing on Realisation, enlightenment, non-duality, Real Love, peace, freedom, Your original nature, abiding naturally, the Oneness, the Noneness, and Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj.

Here, there is nothing that is believed, so there is no one here who wants you to believe anything, either. Here, the invitation is to be free of all that you have been programmed, conditioned, acculturated, and domesticated to believe so that you can be free, period.

FROM A SITE VISITOR: A friend mentioned that in a talk on personality you talked about where certain types live but he couldn’t remember it all. He said I’m a Type Three and have a huge ego and that on your list I’m the one who lives in the mirror. Do you have a copy of that I could read? Thanx, Jim

F.: It has been noted here many times that there are none who are as asleep as those who are dreaming that they are awake. Maharaj spoke of those who think they are standing in the light of the noonday sun but are only barely in the dim light of the dawn.

The example used here for those familiar with U.S. geography is that most in Los Angeles will never try to reach New York, but even those who try will usually be deceived, believing that they have reached their destination when they have really only gone as far as St. Louis.

So what does that have to do with the mirror? Most adult persons (the non-Realized who are adult in age) will look into the mirror and know that what they are seeing is an image, but they will continue to believe falsely that what is being reflected in the mirror is real.

Most will never grasp that neither the image, nor what they think they are seeing an image of, is real. The image disappears when the body moves away from the mirror, but that which appeared as an image in the mirror will also disappear as well. By contrast, what is real is eternal.

Eventually, the elemental body that is being reflected will return to the universal pool of elements. While that pool has been forever (and, thus, was not created), it cannot be destroyed either. Yet the elemental body formed by a temporary gathering of elements will not last.

So, to Realize is to understand that what is Real is eternal; thereafter, it can then be understood that (1) what is being reflected in the mirror will not last anymore than the image will last and that (2) what is being reflected via consciousness is not the real either.

The images being projected on the screen of a theater are not real...are just a play in light. That is the case with all things relative.

Once the above is understood, it is realized that there is no continuity, so there should be no dread of continuous punishment either. (Furthermore, since there is neither continuous punishment nor continuous reward, those killing in order to gain a host of prurient prizes for eternity can abandon your murderous ways.)

Note, also, that the image in the mirror has changed on a daily basis because the temporary grouping of elements has changed on a daily basis. Thus, the pointer from Maharaj offered earlier: “Memory creates the illusion of continuity” and “In the great mirror of consciousness, images arise and disappear and only memory gives them continuity.”

To understand that (a) there are only images and that (b) the mirror of consciousness is as deceiving as the mirrors on your walls and that (c) there is no continuity is to end the misperception that there is any validity to either the image or to that which is being reflected.

It is to understand that the temporary manifestation of that which You temporarily Are is what is allowing the witnessing of the false nature of the image as well as the witnessing of the fact that whatever is casting an image is as false as the image itself.

However, the mirror that has been a tool of deception can be an instrument for realizing the truth. In an exchange with Louise (who will be posting from January 19-22) the way that the mirror can be used either as a tool for deception or as a tool that often facilitates Realization was discussed:

Louise: I am reminded of that spontaneous self-enquiry in my early 30’s – gazing at the reflection in the mirror for hours and asking “Who Am I?” Always, I guess, there is this intuitive sense that the image is not the True Identity. Such impassioned “work”. Today, I am more drawn to the deer, which would not even react or register when incidentally viewing an image of itself in a pool when drinking.

F.: Exactly. The mirror can become a tool for movement along the path when there is a pause - an occasion when all comes to a halt and, during that moment of pause, one can really look honestly into the mirror and a new awareness can come, such as: “Wait – That's not me. Who the heck is that? And if that's not who I am, then who in the heck am I?”

Have you allowed the mirror to provide that instance of self-inquiry? If not, then the suggestion is to…

...leave your computer

...go into another room

...look

...ask

...and then understand. Understand that many seekers have been moved farther along the “path” via that simple happening.

If the mirror is to play any role at all in your home, let it be the role that can lead to truth rather than to the continued reinforcement of the lie. The invitation is to stop living in the mirror and to let “death” happen via the mirror.

If you must ask, “Let what die?” then You are not yet unblocked to the required degree for Full Realization to happen. Continue to question. Continue to seek. Continue to look. Continue to ask. Continue to pause and to consider. Please enter the silence of contemplation. (To be continued)

Now you can receive for $40 a downloadable computer file version of the same 7-hour satsang that seekers receive when they visit for the Advaita Retreat with Floyd. You will be guided through the seven steps from identification with the false "I" to the Absolute (and beyond).
For more information or to order, click:
DVD or Downloadable computer file versions of the Four-Day Advaita Retreat

SIX WAYS THAT SEEKERS HAVE REALIZED:

1. BY WATCHING the 4-Disk Video (DVD) Set, or the same retreat available as a downloadable file. Either will provide an entire seven-hour retreat / series of satsang sessions showing three seekers being guided through all seven steps by Floyd and can provide viewers with an “experiential,” step-by-step series of satsang meetings that will move the viewers from identification with the I to abidance as the Absolute and then to abidance as That Which Is beyond

Some seekers are already using the computer file version and the DVD sets for meetings in groups in homes, playing the retreat, pausing for discussion, etc.

To find out more or to purchase the DVD set or the downloadable computer file version of the retreat, click:
DVD or Downloadable computer file versions of the Four-Day Advaita Retreat

Option “A” is for the downloadable file version, Option “B” is used to order the DVD set for delivery inside the U.S., Option “C” for international orders.

For the download, Paypal will send me a notice that payment has been received and then I will send by e-mail the downloading instruction, password, etc.

[It is recommended that you watch the video with pen and paper in hand. Write whatever you need clarified. You'll see that there are constant reviews and you might find an answer later in the seven-hour presentation. Then, after you watch it all, there will be a common ground for discussion. Purchase of the DVD’s or the file will include the right to clarifications and answers to your specific questions via e-mail.]

2. BY READING these books in this exact order:
IT'S ALL BULLSHIT (And Why Knowing It Sets You Free)
SPIRITUAL SOBRIETY (Recovering What Religions Lost)
[Those two prepare the seeker to question it all]
THE MEDITATION GUIDES
[Provide a broad overview of the understanding]
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I DIE?
[Begins to free the seeker of body identification and the desire for body continuity]
THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS "PEACE OF MIND" (There Is Only Peace if You're Out of Your Mind)
[Shows the seeker how to be free of the subconscious motivators of the false content of the “mind”]
LIBERATION
[Shows the seeker how to be free of the subconscious motivators of personas]
THE ESSENCE OF THE TEACHINGS
[Provides the final preparation for the seeker to be directed along the “path”]
FROM THE I TO THE ABSOLUTE (A Seven-Step Journey to Reality)
[Directs the seeker along the “path”]
CONSCIOUSNESS/AWARENESS: The Nature of Reality Beyond Self-Realization (Peace Every Day When Abiding as The Absolute)
[Allows the seeker to understand the functioning of the totality, the manifestation, and what is involved with the un-manifestation]
FROM THE ABSOLUTE TO THE NOTHINGNESS
[Provides the seeker the wisdom to understand the Noneness as well as the Oneness]
Purchase an e-Book now and begin reading it in minutes (except with e-checks that can take 7-10 days). Trusting our clients as we do, all e-Books are provided to you in printable form.
SAVE IF YOU BUY ALL ELEVEN AT ONCE:
(You may order the books one at a time or you may use the following link to acquire the entire 11-e-Book set on sale for $99 if ordered at one time with the “Buy Now” button below. For this option, there will be no download links provided; once the near-instant notice of payment is received from PayPal, your e-Books will be sent to you as e-mail attachments. All are printable for your convenience.)

You may visit The Official Website of Floyd Henderson for information on each book.

3. BY ENROLLING in the Online Advaita Classes
For information, visit Information on the Advaita Classes on the Internet
To enroll visit Enroll in the Advaita Internet Course

4. BY ATTENDING an Advaitin retreat for satsang with floyd and being guided through all seven steps. For details of the retreats offered, please visit the retreat information site.

5. BY ARRANGING satsang by telephone in the U.S. or by Skype internationally:
Use the Contact link for details or for information on making arrangements for a session

6. BY ARRANGING for floyd to travel to your location and meet with you or your group. Use the contact link above to discuss details.