Part Nine: THE ULTIMATE SICKNESS CENTERS NOT IN TOO LITTLE DOGMA AND NOT IN A SPIRITUAL MALADY AND NOT IN A FAILURE TO BE “A SUPREME SELF” OR “GOD” BUT CENTERS IN THE MIND

Today's Considerations

More than ten years ago, in one of the earliest entries on this site, it was explained that the focal point of all of the postings that were to come would ultimately deal with what was called “Applied Advaita.” That meant that the site was going to offer frequent and repeated invitations to consider whether a sane and sound and practical result of the Realization process would (a) allow seekers to assume the role of “Spiritual Giants” and / or (b) assume a mental, escapist stance in some Noumenal realm 

or would instead 

(c) afford seekers an opportunity to be as in touch with the I AM as with an understanding of THAT and (d) afford seekers an opportunity to function sanely and soundly and practically throughout the remainder of the manifestation.

The invitation was nothing like what Maharaj would have offered during his guru-bhakti phase; or during his religious / non-dual phase; or during his spiritual / non-dual / Self-Inquiry phase. But it aligned exactly with the message offered in his later talks, the message offered after he told seekers to “stop reading 'I AM THAT” and to “give up spirituality” and to “just abide naturally.”

The attempt here from the very beginning was to make clear that the approach here was not going to be anything close to what most had been hearing about non-duality. The attempt was to invite seekers to accept Maharaj’s invitation to “go back,” to “follow the path back from whence you came, but in reverse order” so that seekers could come to understand the ways of the Original State prior to manifestation; to understand how the manifestation of conscious-energy happens; to understand how the consciousness becomes totally blocked; and to understand how to remove the blockages once and for all so that clear seeing can happen and so that freedom from learned ignorance and freedom from insanity can happen.

The attempt was made to make clear that (1) the “goal” was not to undertake the “journey” back along a “path” with specifically-defined steps to the Absolute in order to (2) stay there 

but was instead

(3) to then complete the next leg of the so-called "journey" by “coming back in via the same steps as before” but without accepting along "the way back in" any of the nonsense which is forced upon persons via programming and conditioning and acculturation and domestication and brainwashing and indoctrination.

The attempt was made to make clear that the process does not end with “being ‘there’” but should continue by taking the new-found freedom from ignorance and insanity and by overlaying that on the relative existence so that the remainder of the manifestation will no longer be marked and marred by the symptoms of the Ultimate Sickness (identified by Maharaj as “ignorance, stupidity and insanity”).

In other words, the attempt was to make clear that the deal as offered here was not going to be about (a) finding a one-way ticket to Foo Foo Land and thereby escaping the oftentimes-unpleasant and sometimes-downright-miserable “realities” of the relative existence but was going to be more about (b) grasping Reality and then overlaying that on reality . . . on the relative existence. That is, understanding “THAT” even as the AM-ness continues; understanding Reality and reality both; and understanding how the masses have a totally-distorted view of reality and have no awareness of Reality and cannot, therefore, enjoy any of the balance pointed to in the summative statement of non-duality: “I AM THAT; I AM.”

(Not just “I AM THAT?” No. Both “I AM THAT" and "I AM” (at least for now). And why is NOW all that matters? Because there will be no “one” to know or understand or enjoy anything post-manifestation.

Maharaj; “You were not born even once, so you most assuredly cannot be ‘born again’.”

Thus the suggestion offered ten years plus two months ago and the suggestion offered now remain unchanged: grasp the understanding and then “apply” it to one’s relative existence (even in the absence of any belief in “an applier”). The original invitation – and the continuing invitation – is to reach a state where it can be seen clearly that even as the AM-ness is and continues to be for a period, an understanding can be attained which will lead to being awake and aware and conscious; to being sane and reasonable and logical; and, maybe above all, to being practical.  

So consider the span of Maharaj’s “teaching career” and the changes that came to his message as his understanding evolved, shifting his pointers away from their earlier religious / non-dual content; beyond their spiritual / non-dual content; beyond the suggestion that Self-Inquiry was a requirement; and to being focused on the mind-root of the Ultimate Sickness and thereafter understanding what is truly required in order to be free of the symptoms of ignorance and insanity.

Was Maharaj’s message forever impractical? Or was it always sometimes impractical at its core? Or were the ultimate, most relevant pointers those which he arrived at in the end when his message became staunchly and solidly and steadfastly and unwaveringly and unshakably practical? Consider:

“practical”: of or concerned with something employable or functional rather than with theory and ideas; referring to what is real rather than what is possible or imagined; to what proves to be reasonable and employable; to what proves to be appropriate or suitable for actual employment throughout one’s existence.

“impractical”: not adaptable for employment; not functional; not sensible or realistic; not effectively applicable in terms of realistic matters; idealistic; romanticized; naïve; not viable.

See? "Applied Advaita" is functional NOW. The understanding is only employable NOW. It is relevant only NOW during the relative existence because nothing will be relevant post-manifestation. Whatever happens post-manifestation will "take care of itself," so to speak, meaning it will all happen naturally and automatically without any "one" present to know or do or even be. 

In nature, among all living things (except humans), abidance is managed by the brain, and what any normal and healthy and undamaged brain comes up with is going to be practical. In the case of humans, the majority of that which the brain would normally manage in a sound and sane and practical manner is not happening nowadays. The brain's natural and normal influence is being superseded by that which is stored in a part of the brain called the mind, and the mind’s influence leads humans to be unsound, insane, and impractical.

And even those living things which do not even have a brain (some of which have a set of nerve bundles called “ganglia,” for example) the unblocked conscious-energy is yet manifested in those spaces and the unblocked consciousness always leads to what would be practical.

Even single-cell, no-brain entities function far more sanely and reasonably and practically than almost all humans. Damnation.

It is the blocked consciousness – blocked by the nonsense set in place in minds by way of programming and conditioning and domestication and accumulation and brainwashing and indoctrination and the learning of ignorance – which blocks any chance for most humans to function in a sane and sound and practical manner.

Even the actions of a brainless amoeba make more sense than the actions of most humans. Double damnation.

So the deal – that is, this “path” or “journey” or “process” - is about being restored to sanity, about returning to being “normal”:

Maharaj: "Prior to taking this form, you were formless; spontaneously the form came, and when the form came there was a natural longing to return to the formless state. When you want to return to the formless, desireless state, then only you come here. The consciousness has to know the consciousness. When it realizes itself, then only do you return to normal."

It does not take a chock full mind for humans to function sanely and soundly and reasonably and practically; in fact, a chock full mind will prevent that mode of functioning. Nor does it take great intelligence for humans to function sanely and soundly and reasonably and practically, the most intelligent humans often exhibiting the most insane and unsound and unreasonable and impractical thoughts and words and actions of all.

What it does take is freedom from the mind. When the content of the mind is discarded, the stage is set for wisdom to come, wisdom which can only become operative when there no longer remain any of the impediments which had blocked the consciousness from seeing clearly. Once all blockages ("beliefs") are discarded, then the way is cleared for wisdom to manifest, wisdom which will then allow a brain (which started out normal but was made abnormal) to “return to being normal.”

 
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.]

Part Eight: THE ULTIMATE SICKNESS CENTERS NOT IN TOO LITTLE DOGMA AND NOT IN A SPIRITUAL MALADY AND NOT IN A FAILURE TO BE “A SUPREME SELF” OR “GOD” BUT CENTERS IN THE MIND

Today's Considerations

First today, you are invited to consider a few pointers. The first is from the book, “From the I to the Absolute (A Seven Step Journey to Reality)” in which this is shared:

1. “It has been found that one must either find a 'working philosophy' (that is, understanding) or be doomed to adopt 'their' ideology instead, and my experience shows that nothing is more destructive than buying into 'their' ideology." 

And what do philosophies and ideologies and dogma and spirituality all have in common?

2. They have all accumulated a huge body of knowledge (which Maharaj called “learned ignorance”), and that body of knowledge is an accumulation of concepts, ideas, attitudes, viewpoints, values, designs, schemes, impressions, perspectives, perceptions, opinions, and notions.

3. All of those collectively can be reduced to a single term: “a person’s beliefs.”

4. If the mind goes, then peace comes, and if peace comes, then going and doing and zooming and racing about can also go.

5. If there would be peace, there must first be an elimination of all of the content of the mind. Maharaj: “There is no such thing as peace of mind.” And here: There is only peace if you’re out of your mind.

While most respond, “There is no way to get rid of the mind,” they fail to understand that the process is really quite simple. Consider:

a. because the mind is the part of brain where persons have stored all knowledge (“learned ignorance”) and their accumulation of concepts, ideas, attitudes, viewpoints, values, designs, schemes, impressions, perspectives, perceptions, opinions, and notions

and

b. because all of those are the basis of every persons’ belief systems

then

c. to be free of the mind, one need not identify and eliminate each and every one of the hundreds of thousands upon thousands of accumulated concepts, ideas, attitudes, viewpoints, values, designs, schemes, impressions, perspectives, perceptions, opinions, and notions one at a time

but can, instead, take a shortcut and simply

 d. give up every belief.

Believe nothing. Reach, as Maharaj recommended, a state of “zero concepts."

Over the years, there have been charges that "Floyd is an atheist”; or an “agnostic at best and a total non-believer at worst"; or that I am functioning as “a new age agent of Satan.”

To report that one is an atheist - that one does not believe in any god or gods or goddesses - is still the expression of a belief. Hence, this book was offered to clarify what a truly belief-free existence can look like:

The “Realized” that have finally been freed of the mind completely are abiding in a manner in which there is not a single belief in any concept; in which there is not a single belief in any idea; in which there are no attitudes being held; in which there are no viewpoints being held; in which there is no belief in any differentiating values regarding “sin or virtue” or “right or wrong” (or any other dualities for that matter); in which there are no designs; in which there are no schemes; in which there are no impressions; and in which there are no notions.

That means that the "Realized" cannot accurately be pointed to with the term “believer,” and it means that the "Realized" cannot accurately be pointed to with the term “non-believer.” The closest to anything accurate that can be stated - for the sake of discussion only -  is that one abiding in that condition is a “no-belief-er.” 

It has been noted here regularly that there is no one here that believes anything, so there is certainly no one here that wants you to believe anything. (And were you to be totally objective and honest, you would see that you have never in your entire life ever dealt even once with anyone else that feels that way. Everyone you know believes whatever they believe passionately, and everyone you know wants you to believe exactly what they believe. In fact, they all want you to think the way they think, talk the way they talk, and behave the way they behave. And if you do not do so, they judge and sometimes punishment your failure to do so. That started with your parents or guardians and is continuing right up to this instant. How has that worked for you, overall?)

So many claim that - more than anything else - they want freedom; yet they do not know what they want freedom from. (People in the U.S. brag about their right to freedom of speech. Hardly any of them ever consider the rights of others who would prefer they try practicing freedom from speech every now and then.)

Freedom begins with freedom from beliefs, so freedom can only come in the wake of freedom from beliefs. From the “Beliefs” book:

“The ‘mind’ has been filled with fiction; with beliefs that are based not at all in fact; with beliefs that have never been questioned; and with beliefs that have been accepted with no evidence at all but have been accepted on ‘blind faith’ alone. Among the masses, the contents of the ‘mind’ are now held in such esteem that people are willing to fight for those beliefs or - in some cases - even willing to die in a fight over those beliefs.” (Moreover, the number of those with a willingness to kill over their beliefs has long been high, but the number has now grown astronomically all around the globe.)

Also from that same book:

“How has the ‘mind’ evolved from (1) its original purpose of storing survival-related, retrievable data to (2) its present state of storing distorting, deluding, misleading, fooling, peace-robbing, harmony-destroying, happiness-blocking beliefs which amount to nothing but nonsense? The ‘mind’ is a part of the brain where information can be stored and retrieved, originally used as a ‘constructive’ tool for survival; now, it is a destructive force that drives nonsensical behaviors that are based in nonsensical thoughts generated by the ‘mind.’ What types of information are stored there? Ideas, concepts, etc. (that is, 'beliefs'), beliefs that were set in place by programming and conditioning and domestication and acculturation.

“The content of the ‘mind’ is all one big illusion because it is an area now used for storing an entire network of belief systems that are generated from the dreamed up ‘-ism's’ that are valued by cultures and societies but that are based in non-facts rather than facts. It is the area of the brain that accepts beliefs such as ‘I am this’ and ‘I am that,’ and the false personas that are mistakenly believed to identify who you are will subconsciously drive thoughts and words and deeds, removing all ability to choose and resulting in the non-Realized masses being driven by agendas that are stored in the fictitious ‘mind’."

Have you looked externally to find what is creating your problems or humankind’s problems? That is what the mind and ego-states and egotism would have you do. The source of any of humankind's problems cannot be found externally. Have you looked to a god for the cause of all, or wondered why that god allows bad things to happen? Have you looked to “the world” in general and concluded that things are just not fair?

Reference was made earlier to a woman who had been so joyous over the news that she was finally pregnant but who was subsequently suffering from the misery of learning she had miscarried. As we talked, questions were raised about god. Questions were raised about why “bad things happen to people who are trying to do the right thing and live the right way.” Of that and everything else dealing with the problems and pain and misery and suffering experienced by humankind, Maharaj explained it this way:

“'I am' is an ever-present fact, while 'I am created' is an idea. Neither God nor the universe have come to tell you that they have created you. The mind, obsessed by the idea of causality, invents creation and then wonders 'who is the creator?' The mind itself is the creator."

I responded to that woman: “I have what might prove to you to be a few bits of excellent news: your miscarriage was not about a god who allowed your miscarriage to happen. It is not about whether 'this world' is fair to some and unfair to others. And that is the first bit of excellent news because if there were a god, you could not change or control ‘Him.' And if the world you perceive is real and is unfair you cannot change or control that. The second bit of excellent news is this: your miscarriage had nothing to do with a god and nothing to do with 'an unfair world'; instead, it simply and entirely has everything to do with science only . . . with biological facts and happenings only. Let the clarity of that reality guide your next steps.”

That is happening. Miscarriage has been researched. A partnership has been established with a different doctor, with a top-ranked OB-GYN with a national reputation who specializes in "difficult pregnancies." She has worked with people who have needed the additional understanding and guidance which she provides, and she has assisted thousands of couples as they move through the process successfully.

See? Facts. The “realities” of the ways in which the totality functions. No mind stuff involved.  

Want peace? Want freedom? Then give up the beliefs which have formed your mind, a mind which is always uncontrollable and which is always bent on generating misery and which will guarantee that you will have neither peace nor freedom as long as you are being driven blindly by what you take to be “your beliefs” which, by the way, are not really "your beliefs" at all. 

They are really just “their beliefs” which you have blindly accepted, allowing them to pile up year after year after year without any questioning at all. If you have not reached that "zero concepts" state recommended by Maharaj, are you willing to consider that your time to start questioning it all might well be long overdue?

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.]

Part Seven: THE ULTIMATE SICKNESS CENTERS NOT IN TOO LITTLE DOGMA AND NOT IN A SPIRITUAL MALADY AND NOT IN A FAILURE TO BE “A SUPREME SELF” OR “GOD” BUT CENTERS IN THE MIND

Today's Considerations

To emphasize: though Maharaj finally saw that nothing religious can lead to “Realization,” "Realization" at its simplest level being about developing an ability to see that a lie is a lie, about being able to differentiate between what is true and what is false, and therefore about being restored to sanity. "Full Realization" really means that all learned ignorance will have been discarded along with all which has been accumulated via programming, conditioning, domestication, acculturation, brainwashing and indoctrination. That said, Maharaj was not "anti-religion." Same here. He merely saw that being an expert of dogma was not eliminating the symptoms of the Ultimate Sickness.

Later, when he suggested that spirituality should also be abandoned, it was not because he was “anti-spirituality.” Same here. And when, after years of encouraging seekers to engage in Self-Inquiry, he said, “You do not have to find the answer to ‘Who Am I?’ It is enough to know who you are not,” even then he was not “Anti-Self-Inquiry.” Same here.

The seven steps on “the path” as offered here are the same he used without ever have enumerated them. The movement along the path looks like this:

 

Note that the first three steps deal with moving beyond body and mind and personality identification, but at the third step there is often a continuation of religious roles as identities or an assumption of spiritual roles as identities which are played for a time.

If the path were truly transversed directly, then that "side-trip" might not be eliminated but it would be transitioned post haste.

Here is where the confusion comes and here is why some became frustrated with or angry with Maharaj and rejected his method immediately; or why some ignored him or scorned him as his methodology evolved; and – as still happens here now as well – why many said that "his was a totally bogus and senseless set of teachings and that he understood nothing at all and that he knew nothing at all about 'the real teachings'” as he abandoned one method after another which proved to be ineffective.

Why do pointers seem to be accepted as spot on by some seekers when those same pointers are labeled totally off the mark by others? Because there are many non-dual methodologies, often combined with this or that yoga, with which most seekers are totally unfamiliar. Most only know the one method or yoga to which they have been exposed.

There are five basic methods of teaching non-duality:

TEACHING METHOD: Traditional Advaita
Paraphrasing Dennis Waite: This is the method regarded as the one defined by Shankara in his discussion of the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, and the Brahma Suttras around the 8th century AD. This approach is defined by those scriptures which some claim are the source of truth.

TEACHING METHOD: Neo-Vedanta
Paraphrasing Dennis Waite: The term Neo-Vedanta refers primarily to the method used by Vivekananda and his followers. Some critics consider this method a “watered down” version of Traditional Advaita, a result of the fact that Vivekananda and his followers have tried to make the teachings more suitable to Western tastes where concepts and ego-states have dominated persons for millennia. [NOTE: Neo-Vedanta teachers typically employ seemingly sublime or exalted or emotion-inspiring statements that encourage followers to adopt more concepts and identities instead of encouraging seekers to forfeit all concepts and identities. Some examples include such advise as: dream on an idea and be full of it and you’ll succeed; believe in yourself; make yourself strong; find god and gain power; use thoughts to create a new reality; engage in the noble goal of seeking knowledge; you are responsible for what you are; acquire power; and seek love. Such concepts are in direct opposition to the teachings presented via the Direct Path, Nisarga Yoga approach. f.h.]

TEACHING METHOD: Neo-Advaita
Paraphrasing Dennis Waite: The teachers who use this method see no need for study, questioning or inquiring into anything. Recognizing only the reality, and knowing that there is no seeker, they conclude that there is nothing to seek and nothing to teach. Often, the result is that even the most diligent seekers who try to attain the understanding with Neo-Advaita teachers can become very confused. Neo-Advaitins suggest that no path is required since there is no “one” to follow the “path.” [NOTE: That same understanding, which is attained by some who follow the “Direct Path Method” to its end, is assumed by Neo-Advaita teachers to be a given from the very beginning. f.h.] Some who adhere to this method reject the name “Neo-Advaita” outright.

TEACHING METHOD: Pseudo-Advaita

This category includes the hundreds of other methods used by those whom Maharaj termed “Big Name Teachers” who claim to be offering non-dual pointers when they are not. Maharaj advised seekers to stay away from any of the hugely “popular” and famous teachers who seek out public venues and thousands or millions of followers. (And what a key term “followers” is. Anyone following a teacher or guru or famous author or famous speakers cannot follow what should be heeded ultimately, namely, that which is revealed via the inner resource or the inner guru. Here, the finger of unblocked consciousness points toward the light without any claim that "I Am the Light.")

TEACHING METHOD: Direct Path

This method is illustrated in the chart above and was used for decades by Maharaj and was exclusively used here for a period as well. It involves taking specific steps along the path which are actually the same steps by which the consciousness manifested and by which it became so blocked that it has resulted in the masses identifying with their elemental plant food body only. It does not try to “give” seekers anything since Direct Path teachers know that, ultimately, there is no seeker and that there is no “one” to “gain” and that there is nothing to be gained; conversely, the Direct Path teachers know that too much has been given to seekers already (namely, all of the false dogma and concepts and ideas and notions and perceptions and misperceptions – a.k.a., “beliefs” - which now block seekers from seeing either reality or “Reality”). It can involve the teaching and learning of “spiritual principles” and can involve Self-Inquiry. It would eventually be abandoned by Maharaj and abandoned here as well as the Nisarga Yoga became the ultimate focus, encouraging seekers to take the steps required to be restored to sanity and then to abide naturally for the remainder of the manifestation.

Yet consider how long it took to settle into that understanding, both by Maharaj there as well as “Floyd” here. In the case of Maharaj, his evolution covered more than a forty-year span. Only after trying many methodologies and versions of the Ultimate Medicine did he finally settle into offering a purely Nisargan message. Sure, he spoke of it early on and through the decades, but it was decades before he finally focused on it singularly. Same here.

How long did the evolution take for his understanding to ripen fully? That depends on when one marks the beginning of his"teaching career." In 1935 he offered a series of observations of certain spiritual books, and those talks were well-received by many who took themselves to be “devout Hindus” and / or “spiritual persons.”

If that marks the beginning of his “teaching days,” then the period ran just shy of a half century.

Some suggest the teachings really began after his “Forest Dweller / Renunciant” period when he returned to Bombay in 1938 and began sharing with the people who visited with him regularly in his shop. About the same time, he added a small mezzanine loft to the high-ceiling flat where he lived in order to practice - privately - meditation / samadhi, the singing of bhajans, the practicing of devotion as well as guru-bhakti, and the reading of Hindu scriptures that dealt to one degree or another with non-duality. (Note that none of that had anything at all to do with Nisarga Yoga or Nisargan abidance.)

Around 1941, he began to come into close and regular contact with K.A. Sabnis (a.k.a., Sri Bhainath Maharaj) and his seeking became driven by such high levels of OCD that he was often out with Bhainath in all sorts of weather until many hours past midnight. His health took a toll, exacerbated (beginning in 1941 and continuing for the next seven years) by the events surrounding World War Two and the subsequent war for India’s independence.  

By 1951, he finally agreed to initiate seekers who came his way. Using that date, his teaching career can be said to have lasted nearly thirty years.

Over the next fifteen years, more seekers of a Hindu bent found their way into the loft-type area that Maharaj has originally built as a private “getaway” where he could complete in solitude his own “religious and spiritual exercises.” One may mark 1966 as the date when the loft was being used several times a day for reading and singing, etc., but visitors were coming earlier on an informal, "unofficial" basis. Use that date, though, and the truly intensive portion of his teaching career spanned fifteen years.

Take whatever time frame you want, Maharaj’s evolution can still be seen to have spanned some forty-plus years as he shared pointers and discussed dogma; and then discussed spirituality and Self-Inquiry; and then finally abandoned all of those and began focusing on the mind as the root of the Ultimate Sickness.

So the evolutionary nature of his process should be clear. Even after he took the name “Nisargadatta,” his focus was not solely on the Nisargan Yoga message. The name pointed to “nisarga” which means “naturally” (which is about living or abiding in a natural manner) and “datta” (which is about “one’s manner of dwelling in the natural state”). In other literal interpretations, “nisarga” can means “without parts” and points toward one’s Original Nature and to overlaying the Absolute / Awareness / THAT mode on the relative existence (hence, “I AM THAT; I AM”). See? Equal billing for both.

And that’s the key. The chart above illustrates the way that the process calls for a movement away from identifying with the body only to "Realizing" and being restored to sanity (meaning, “Realizing” all the lies which were taken to be truth; “Realizing” truth; "Realizing" every element of ignorance and insanity involved when the hidden agendas of the mind / personalities combination drives and controls and determines one’s every thought and word and action; “Realizing” how every belief stored in the mind is rooted in ignorance and insanity; and “Realizing” how to abide naturally for the remainder of the manifestation).

The real problem of humanity is all about the truly-deformed conjoining or consolidation of the mind-personality, a melding or connecting which compounds humankind’s problems and misery and suffering to a near-incalculable degree.

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.]

Part Six: THE ULTIMATE SICKNESS CENTERS NOT IN TOO LITTLE DOGMA AND NOT IN A SPIRITUAL MALADY AND NOT IN A FAILURE TO BE “A SUPREME SELF” OR “GOD” BUT CENTERS IN THE MIND

Today's Considerations

Maharaj said that, "Someday, science shall advance to the point that it will prove the truth of the non-dual teachings.” Remember, too, that a review of the transitions he underwent show that he was also a scientist of sorts, experimenting with various forms of the Ultimate Medicine, witnessing objectively, setting aside what he saw was not working effectively, and trying another method which might work.

Early on, his family exposed him to only a light dose of Hinduism (they were even meat-eaters, God forbid, I mean, gods and goddesses forbid); therefore, he was not as attached to religion as many in India were. That and his Personality Type Four’s propensity for rebellion and tendency to march to beat of a different drummer may have set the stage for his openness to the non-dual message.

Yet his guru ordered that he was to use a religion / non-dual compound version of the Ultimate Medicine. Turns out that the earliest visitors to the loft were “guinea pigs” in his religious / non-dual laboratory.

He would eventually set that combination aside and try a spiritual / non-dual compound version of the Ultimate Medicine with a heavy dose of Self-Inquiry as well.

The results of any of those versions of the Medicine, obviously, did not impress him.

Thereafter he began to focus almost entirely on the psychological roots of the Ultimate Sickness. Early on, in talks transcribed in the book I AM THAT, he spoke of the use of the mind to move beyond the mind. Eventually, he made clear that the mind must go entirely by reaching a state of “zero concepts.” Later, he even stopped offering those mind-related pointers and, in fact, told seekers to “stop reading I AM THAT altogether and to listen to my current (later) talks.”

What had he witnessed that eventually led him to set aside the use of any degree of religion or spirituality or Self-Inquiry and to focus on the mental aspects of the Sickness? He came to understand that the use of religion and spiritual and Self-Inquiry methods do not end all identification but only inspire the adoption of supposedly "new and improved" and “really good” and “better” and even “the best” identities / Identify.

See? It always comes back not to having too little dogma; not to having a spiritual malady or sick spirit; and not to a failure to know the "Supreme Self" or to believe that You Are God. It always comes back to the debilitating condition which the handicapping "conjoined twins" of mind and personality lead to.

Consider how personality drives persons to become attached to religion and / or to transition into spirituality when they feel that their spirituality makes them different from and better than those who are religious only.

The results of research conducted by Steven Reiss, a professor of psychology and psychiatry at Ohio State University, revealed sixteen basic human psychological (perceived) needs which motivate people to seek meaning or answers through religion and to become attached to their religion or spirituality.

He found that “people are not drawn to religion just because of a fear of death or any other single reason. He said that each of the sixteen basic desires outlined in his book influence the psychological appeal of religious behavior. The desires his research uncovered include . . .

power

independence

curiosity

acceptance

order

saving

honor

idealism

social contact

family

status

vengeance

romance

eating

physical exercise

and

tranquility.

Reiss found that the religious people in the study all expressed a strong desire for interdependence. (Related to that, other studies have also found a strong desire for dependency and co-dependency.) Those who were not religious, however, showed a stronger sense of self-reliance and independence.

Yesterday, the invitation was to seek truth and awareness by understanding which specific ego-states are driving thoughts and words and actions which, in turn, cause persons to cling to their belief in mirages, to “Powers” or “A Power,” and to dogma and spiritual exercises and Self-Inquiry. Those WHO’s are the personalities / personas which rob persons of the ability to choose and which set them up to be driven blindly by their subconscious influencers and controllers which were set in place by programming and conditioning and domestication and acculturation and indoctrination and brainwashing.

Are you aware enough of the nine basic personality types (the nine basic WHO’s), and are you aware enough of the hidden agendas of those nine types (nine types by the way which you, and all persons, exhibit to one degree or another) in order to be able to understand that those WHO's are driving every thought that is thought and every word that is spoken and every action that is taken?

Those sixteen needs which drive almost all persons (97% on the planet) to remain unquestioningly loyal to one religion or another (which almost always they did not choose but which their parents imposed upon them) do not all manifest equally in every person. They especially manifest differently in persons according to the agendas of the specific personalities which have a higher-than-usual-influence (the degrees of which can be measured exactly by the personality inventory used here).

Therefore, the desires of specific personality types align with the various desires which hook people to religion or which inspire some to advance into the supposedly “higher levels of consciousness” which they think they can attain (or have attained) via spirituality. So what are the sixteen controlling factors?

Power is especially desired by Personality Type Eight Controllers / Bosses.

Independence is especially desired by Personality Type Four Rebels.

Curiosity is especially desired by Personality Type Five Knowledge-Gatherers / Knowers who want to know it all (as well as by Type One Perfectionists who love to know it all in order to reform other and make others over in their own image. See ISIS; see Catholics and Jehovah Witnesses and members of many sects and religions who claim that they are "the only ones who will go to heaven"; etc.)

Acceptance is especially valued by Personality Type Twos who want to be loved by many.

Order is especially desired by Personality Type One Perfectionists (who are especially anal-retentive).

Saving is especially desired by Personality Type Sixes who are usually anxious, fearful, worried, and insecure and by Type Twos who play the roles of Rescuers and Saviors.

Honor is especially desired by Personality Type One Perfectionists.

Idealism is especially valued by Personality Type One Perfectionists.  

Social contacts are especially valued by Personality Type Sixes who want to form dependent and co-dependent relationship which can provide a sense of security and met their needs or perceived needs.

Family is especially valued by Personality Type Sixes (who need external support to feel secure) and Type Twos (who feel that families can be a built-in source of the love they did not receive from their fathers during childhood).

Status is especially desired by Personality Type Three Performers / Narcissists.

Vengeance is especially desired by Personality Type Eight Controllers / Bosses / Sociopaths / Psychopaths.

Romance is especially desired by Personality Type Fours.

Eating (with other believers) which is especially desired by Personality Type Nines and Sevens (Nines often being food addicts and Sevens often being addicts . . . to food, alcohol, drugs, sex, shopping, whatever).

Physical exercise is especially valued by Personality Type Three Body-Conscious, Body-Identified Narcissists

and

Tranquility is especially desired by Personality Type Nines who prefer to avoid anything that might upset them.

Are you seeing what Maharaj saw, that it really is all about the mind / personality tandem? Persons want to be at peace and free of anxiety and stress. Anxiety and stress and unhappiness are generated by mental anguish. And what causes mental anguish?

Emotional intoxication. And what drives emotional intoxication? The agendas of personalities, of personas. Feelings are about sensitivity and warmth and caring and understanding and empathizing. The “Realized” feel, but only those trapped in ego-states / false identities / personas / personalities / role playing will emote.

Maharaj was asked, “Do you really care about those of us who come your way?” The answer: “More than you’ll ever know.” Had the question been, "Do you become emotional about those who come your way?" then the answer would have been, “Never.”

Emotions and emotional intoxication are messengers, signaling to you that there is something that is amiss with your psyche, big time.

So what is the solution? Many think . . . “More dogma.” Many think . . . “Being more spiritual.” Many think . . . “Knowing the Supreme Self.”

But all of those have a hidden, mind-and-personality-rooted agenda which drives persons to cling to their attachments, which inspire persons to be obsessive and compulsive about the content of their belief systems; and which take away any and all ability to make conscious choices because persons are always driven by unconscious influences.

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.]