Archive for the ‘Non duality’ Category

Road Trip & Practice

Friday, July 30th, 2010

just diary notes here, about travelling and how it forces us to confront the present arising state, much more so than in the safety of regular living

20/7

“There must be someway out of here said the joker to the thief” ~Bob Dylan

A thick fog has descended on me in relation to Beloved Adi Da and Practice. I have seen this happen many times (almost inevitably) when travelling. It forces me to contemplate arising “reality”, motel rooms, roadhouse meals, hotel lobbies, confined spaces, endless driving and all the objects that flash by. The only conscious moment then becomes “this” and slowly this arising life event, right in your face, the so called “here and now” starts to show signs of the Guru.

Did you read about my find in the Cairns bookshop? here, to others may be dismissed perhaps, but in my present “available” state it was like finding a dream object (and photographing it for proof) in so called “reality” gob-smacked and mind-blown perhaps but very happy

21/7

“There was nowhere to go but everywhere, so just keep on rolling under the stars.”
~Jack Kerouac

Travelling puts us in a raw state, more open perhaps to the spontaneous nature of arising events. However there is a bleakness to objects in themselves, if you look “too” closely at them, in a sense the non-theists and hardline Buddhists are more correct, there is no sign of “God” obvious in objects, Bhagavan says they are “Klick Klack” mere patterns and patterning. When you are cramped up in car hurtling down a wet highway with tropical rain thumping the windscreen and in a “truck sandwich” (stuck between 2 high-speed trucks) at night, this may become a little more obvious than in the safety of ordinary living.

In this position the brain is starting to turn to mush from the fatigue of driving for hours on end, I turn on my mp3 player, and choose to listen to old tapes “Invisible Man” and “The 4 Dharmas”, grateful, truly grateful to have this option, because the non-theists and hardline Buddhists are only partly correct, the Spiritual Master reveals the Absolute and Real Divine Condition, knowable under even the difficulties of any moment.

22/7

“Live, travel, adventure, bless, and don’t be sorry.”
— Jack Kerouac

I often think that a traveler(or wanderer) is more akin to a renunciate than any other conventional choice. I am now beginning to “meditate” on arising conditions almost constantly, what I mean by this is that the incessant flow of arising events has forced me to just start observing the present state, a lot of things can be said about this. One obvious thing is that we don’t normally notice much of what actually arises, we are very filtered in our outlook, I believe Bhagavan says somewhere that the brain filters a lot out of our perception for many good reasons.

When you are thrust into an environment you can’t control or have little choice, the sense of confinement can be really painful, early mornings I have begun to demand the “right” to meditate in peace. I clamber through the dark room in some stinky hotel, and find my pitch black corner, I put my little Murti Image in place, shine my torch to see His Form and then sit in the solid blackness and feel my navel center drop open, no dilemma, no problem. I remember sitting early morning in “Mindless Company” (a temple on Naitauba Island) in the inky darkness and feeling the exact same sensation.

23/7

“The whole yard could be full of Avatars for all I know!”— Adi Da (in jest)

Listening to old tapes via mp3 of Adi Da Samraj (The 4 Dharmas & Invisible Man) it occurred to me that the Great Avatars- Jesus, Gautama, Krishna apart from the immense religions formed around them, represent a partial “story” because they did not and do not represent the the full and complete Divinely Enlightened condition to modern man. Another way of looking at it, is the Avatar must be a current Incarnation, as Adi Da says they are only “One Being”; it clearly could not be otherwise. So the Avatar represents the highest Realization of man (or beyond man) and an even more radical way of viewing this is that the Avatar must be always a current incarnation or incarnation in present consciousness itself. A past Avatar, is an historical fixture, an unknowable quantity in present time. The Great Ones of the Past must currently appear in present consciousness and they cannot because they must always remain unknowable (completely) because they are in the past

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Zero Point Education

Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010

My experiments in testing Adi Da’s Word in the reality of everyday life has led me on many adventures and will continue to do so.

As my taste for Adi Da Samraj’s mature Word–examples:The Aletheon & Not Two Is Peace comes to fruition (at times not without great internal resistance), something of a breakthrough is emerging in my understanding of all this.

Adi Da once said we become priests in our own dissolution (paraphrasing); we become interested participants in dissolving the “ego” or “self” at root (or where it first arises). Remarkably this is not a call to the extreme of Divine Enlightenment or the full 7th Stage of Life Realization through The Reality Way of Adidam, but a non-sectarian call to ordinary men and women to educate themselves in the pragmatic possibility of living from a new perspective, that is “egolessly”.This Adi Da calls “Zero Point Education” or considering the root of egoity via His Teaching Word and by this means allowing it to reveal the Truth inherent to all.

The concept of “egoless” living, seems to imply many things. My own experimental approach, in which I test everything in my own body mind (which is what Adi Da suggests all devotees do) finds it is a “stripping down” of self-importance and self-centeredness, it has a peculiar effect in that the mind also becomes still or less chronic, I would say ‘no-self’ equals ‘no-mind’.Thinking still goes on but it may be more directed rather than random compulsive & chronic.

Adi Da’s Art compliments DaPlastique
Some concepts that arise; the unmirrored life: It is as if I carry a mirror with me at all times, in that mirror I is always seen, that mirror creates a chronic sense of self, this reflected self is mind and all the imagery of self. It is complete nonsense, fiction and fundamental suffering, a sort of madness.The life without egoity is thus unmirrored without reflection, or as little as necessary to function fully in life.

Adi Da explains all this in precise detail over and over, that is why we study the texts as a “meditative” means, available to anyone with the capacity or willing to develop the capacity.

I find by tendency no interest whatsoever in concepts such as “no self” or becoming “egoless”, it sounds way too rarefied and beyond my capacity;  yet I now find my interest is growing there, because Zero Point Education is very potent, very interesting, very effective, can be proven, it “works”

Further Reading : Not Two Is Peace

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The unimportance of “self”

Thursday, January 28th, 2010

Even to state that the self is unimportant is heresy to modern man and a dreadful insult to many, it’s a slap in the face and nothing will empty a room faster than even hinting in that direction.

Adi Da has a term for this modern overwhelming self-aggrandising world orientation  he calls it bluntly, ego-culture. Plus He always puts the word self, in inverted commas as “self”, reflecting its fictional nature.This is not a popular message. The real reason it is not a popular message is that fundamentally we all cling to self for “dear life”. Self is all we have, after all. To criticise our most precious part is down right depressing for most people. We already have to jump through many hoops to get our meagre selves noticed, the last thing we want is any threat to the little we have, it’s a terrible offense.

There is very much a feeling that the self should be praised, lauded and treated gently as a “poor thing” badly treated by the universe and thus in need of comfort, consolation and only “good reports” about itself, a patient in a clinic in some respects.

What is not noticed or taught by convention is the inherent suffering and delusion which is fully integral to the action that creates “self’. That is the reason we would value such a message as Adi Da’s.

The truth is the the self is not great, in most cases it is extremely small and hardly touches anyone or anything. There are greater lives which do touch a lot of people and make immense changes that effect others and there are always smaller lives than our own, which we can call to mind when the self image might be fraying at the edges.

In The Aletheon, there is a chapter - I Am The Not “Other”- which really struck a chord for me, in it Adi Da as the World Friend of all humanity describes His function  as compassionate Critic of the egoity of humanity and why that function should be cherished, protected, championed and absolutely appreciated.

“My intolerance for the egoic “status quo” must never be hidden or forgotten “  Adi Da - from : I Am The Not “Other”

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Experiment in egolessness

Monday, January 4th, 2010

Walking on the beach, inspired by the prospect of no “me”, this is not any silly self aggrandising presumptuousness, but rather Adi Da’s calling to ordinary men and women, read “Not Two Is Peace” it’s clear, live as no self, “just  part of the landscape”, only. The body mind is just a pattern, no need to inflate it (or deflate it) It’s just a strange coinciding with this rather ordinary form. He said you could have just as easily woken up as a pair of shoes on the lawn, what mirth in that.

Look closely at the beach image, can you see a self in it? where is the ego there? it’s just egoless pattern, landscape, same as the rest of us.

“The fiction of separateness- and the denial of the universal characteristic  of prior unity- is a mind based illusion.”  Adi Da Samraj

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Early Books & Later Work a Schism?(1)

Monday, August 24th, 2009

(B.M) – A lot of readers and friends of Adi Da felt there is a real schism between the early works & writing and audio’s of Adi Da especially starting in the 1990’s, it seems to me that when he started to use phrases like “Only-By-Me-Revealed-Way” and an apparent claim to exclusive Avatar-hood and the massive use of “Me” in text, he lost his audience to a large degree, at least many who followed him through the changes of his remarkable life would have struggled mightily with all this. I often read and play media from early years and feel this is the Master whom I can relate to, and will always relate  to. His world view was one of him being an “Adept” or “Siddha” in an infinite lineage of other True Adepts and Siddhas appearing forever in the past and future. This was to me and many, a beautiful, cohesive cosmology and world view which made perfect sense in the light of the great tradition of religion and spirituality

(Response) Could write a lot about the demanding language, but from my point of view the constant “Me” ism and “Only-By-Me-Revealed-Way” style phrases is an ego prickling device, it is part of the necessary demand put on the serious reader to go passed “me” or “self”. This language also gives the reader a great opportunity for self understanding, in that here is the constant reflection of the action of self, or self-contraction, back to consciousness. As the egoic self in its ordinary enjoyment and reading capacity we just want to be entertained, gather information or whatever, but we are given the opportunity to do sadhana , just by reading these sacred texts. Yes its tough, demanding, hard work at times this is exactly how Adi Da Samraj wants it to be, then its as if we crack the code and briefly feel what he means by all of this.

Ultimately the ” Me” he champions so relentlessly, the “Reality” he pounds us with so harrowingly, when ego is fully dead, vanished, is our state, our Realization.In other words the ” Me” that is so offensive to “you” as that tiny ego being is the only “One” that is. In “The Boundless Self Confession” there is a chapter titled ” I am alone in My House” – you would understand the “My House” to be the “Divine Domain” used extensively in earlier works, therefore you could say there is only one being here called “Me” but it is not “me” now or ever, “me” is the one that prevents ” Reality” from currently being the case, thus you are forced to stand outside of “me” in order to enjoy “Reality” or “Me” ( our ultimate post egoic condition) That is why Adi Da also uses the phrase “Realize Me” you can’t Realize something (one) who is not already your ultimate condition.

So you start getting a lot more sympathy for this formerly troublesome “ Me” language, its coded, a seemingly endless “prickle” to the conventional self, yet for those that persist yielding a great and awesome Intuition.

Having said that, there is also the constant falling back into the conventional viewpoint and thus again a constant resistance emerging when ever the texts are read, recited or listened to, I don’t think there is any alternative to this engagement.

The other point you raise about Avatarhood  and the only 7th stage Realizer, seems to me to be something arrived at spontaneously by Adi Da, I don’t think there is any doubt that He assumed there were other 7th stage Realizers and over the years spoke of certain individuals and sometimes a whole tradition of such Realizers (Great Siddhas) but upon great testing he appeared to come to the certain knowledge that this is not the case, so no matter how much we would like it to be so, how symmetrical it could be, and even painful this may be to accept, according to Adi Da these concepts and possibilities fell short of “Reality” or how things actually are, but of course it would be far better for Adidam as a believable missionary offering if it had turned out otherwise (in my opinion) or again pehaps this is just a “santa claus” type of illusion.

Posted in Adept, Adi Da, Adi Da Samraj, Adidam, Ego Death, Enlightenment, Guru, Non duality | 2 Comments »

Neo-Advaita Nonduality and Modern No Practice Teachings

Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009

There is plenty of critical view on the phenomenon of neo-advaita or philosophical enlightenment wherein mental propositions, independent of any need for preparation or practice, are taken as the means to enlightenment, awakening, liberation, moksha however it is perceived. A hedge of mind-dharma is constructed around proponents and then defended via  mental constructs, this is further strengthened by forming a group dynamic based on the same reinforcements of  enlightenment ideology.

A teacher will set him or herself up, as a “realizer” in some shape or form, then attempt to transmit their realization to others by some means of argument, it can be very creative, often with good motive apparently, and most often with no conscious harm intended. The teacher may then allow students to do likewise build their own hedge and propagate the same delusion.

It does tend to suggest a deeper flaw-a sort of house of cards mentality peculiar to modern western spirituality in general. This also includes many who are critical of neo-advaita as such, but still remain within its wider framework

Who owns “nonduality” ? Do a google search and it will show a small, very influential group of personalities associated with websites and books. By “owns”, I mean it in the sense of being a limiting center of influence and directing viewpoints to “specific” possibilities, you have “specific” teachers, teachings and books, rated, ranked and recommended to seekers.

Is there any value to such things ? Yes there is–the knowledge of humanity’s inherent freedom should be freely communicated via education of some form, to all who are interested.

It should also be taught that no one “owns” non-duality, it is the inherent condition of all, this is primary knowledge.

Causal influences via the Internet in particular allow “enlightened egos” to exploit others, since they are “selling water by the river”, in this case.

Give it the Talking School Test :

“‘Talking’ school” is a phrase used by Avatar Adi Da to refer to those in any tradition of sacred life whose approach is characterized by talking, thinking, reading, and philosophical analysis and debate, or even meditative enquiry or reflection, without a concomitant and foundation discipline of body, emotion, mind, and breath. He contrasts the “talking” school with the “practicing” school approach—“practicing” schools involving those who are committed to the ordeal of real ego-transcending discipline, under the guidance of a true Guru.

Further Reading :

Adi Da on J. Krishnamurti from an early magazine “Krishnamurti is himself an essentially honorable and serious man. He is attractive, even fascinating, by virtue of a certain intellectual purity and a superiority founded in a profound sense of separate, subjective, and personal freedom”

What is the conscious process

“It is because of the absence of profound practice of supportive disciplines involving total psycho-physical submission into the Life-Current that the Way of the conscious process gets reduced to a kind of “talking school” obsession with “consciousness.” Many people read and even write books and give lectures about the primacy and freedom of consciousness, as if they could, merely by analyzing consciousness out from the mass of thinking, knowing, and experiencing, achieve the incomparable State of “Jnana,” Enlightenment, or Transcendental Realization. But all such talk is the mediocre chat of the waking mind. In order to Realize the Transcendental Truth that Is Consciousness, the entire process of attention must be liberated from functional bondage to the states and functions and emotions and thoughts and relations of the egoic or self-contracted body-mind”- Adi Da Samraj

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Why Adi Da’s Writing is necessarily demanding

Wednesday, June 10th, 2009

Adi Da’s most demanding texts will yield the greatest reward if they are approached in the right manner, they are necessarily demanding because something in that effort that must be made to absorb their meaning puts the reader in a different asana (or position) from the conventional mind.

A sentence or word may need to be looked at and felt into over and over until its meaning is revealed. Everything in a sentence every word, every comma, every underlining, all inverted commas, all capitalization have specific and exact meaning, very literal, very often idiomatic or particular to Adi Da’s expression of a word.

Concentrated reading of these texts is a simple form of meditation as has been practiced in all traditions . Even after many years of such practice it can still require a great deal of present conscious awareness and persistence, various egoic states arise and dissolve, so there is sadhana and purification there, anyone with sensitivity can observe this.

Adi Da always wrote from the most profound position, so they are always sacred texts in that sense, they are never quick reads if the essence of them is to be distilled. The post 2000 texts in particular which focus on “Reality” ( earlier works used terms such as “Real God’, ” Radiant Transcendental Being” etc) are very powerful and have the potential to move the reader directly into the shape or form of what is being pointed to over and over- that is Reality.

Another remarkable feature, one of many, is the “Reality” being expressed in these texts has 2 qualities embodied in Adi Da Samraj himself, “The What” — of the Impersonal Reality, and “The Who” –of the Divine Person as Reality.

So there is real enjoyment, real sustenance in that reading if it is approached and persisted in passed the point of resistance. One may then find a vast resource of wisdom to be immersed in. Even a life times worth of reading.

Useful : Adidam Glossary

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Radical Non Duality subsumes “self”

Monday, May 11th, 2009

Sanskrit DaPost Ruchiradam Event; The Reality Way of Adidam emerges as completely uncompromising to “I”, no room for, or allowance of cries of “what about me” ?

No little “self” surfing in the Great Self here. No breaking it to “you” gently, no slow, stage by stage evolution into the Great One.

Plainly put– no separate “self” exists, never did, never will, always was fiction.

There are no egos in Reality Itself — none. It is not that Adidam is a Way in which you overcome egoity by a process of “wearing it down” — as if emptying water from a boat with a bucket, such that you eventually succeed in getting all of the water out of the boat.

There is no water in the boat. There is no ego in the body-mind. There is no ego in Reality Itself. The ego does not, in Reality, exist. There is no separate entity — and the preliminary “Perfect Knowledge” practice points to the non-existence of the presumed-to-be-separate self.

Adi Da Samraj

This is where Adidam (practice) post 2000 begins, it does not end there, it merely begins there.

It ends in absolute translation into unbroken light, Only Love Bliss itself, no forms or difference at all.

There need be no evolution of self, since “self” is literally (not metaphorically) fiction, does not exist.

Even many friends and readers of Adi Da Samraj have not yet had a chance to absorb this, He pulled the rug from under all of us. All that is necessary is a touch of equanimity, a little discipline, a serious approach, quite within the capacity of anyone, then Reality (both the who and the what of) itself does the rest.

The Atheleon Volumes spells it out.
What is relevant now:

  • The Preliminary Perfect Knowledge Practice
  • Study of post 2000 texts
  • Darshan & Recognition Responsive Practice
  • Practice Retreats on Empowered Sanctuaries
  • Company of devotees involved in the above

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