Depth of Surrender
In considering a different article, I realized there was a way to describe layers to the process of surrender. Similar to the process of consciousness unfolding to itself, there is 2 intertwined processes. One is …
On Appearances
The world is an appearance, Maya. Some would say it’s an illusion. Or it’s the divine play, Lila. Or it never happened in the first place. Or it’s the flow of divine nectar. These are …
On Samadhi
Samadhi is a Sanskrit term from the Vedic tradition that describes pure consciousness or pure being. Turiya (the fourth) or transcendental consciousness are other terms used. Samadhi comes from the roots: sama = evenness and …
The Value of Practices
I’ve written a few times on the value of a practice. Like this from Rumi. Or a discussion of Grace vs Practice for awakening. Recently, I was reading a commentary on the Bhagavad Gita 8:9 …
Death of a Yogi
Recently I was reading a commentary on Chapter 8 of the Bhagavad Gita (Song of God). The chapter is called The Yoga of the Imperishable Absolute. One topic was the nature of death for a …
True Wealth
I recently read that the ancient Africans measured wealth by how much you could afford to give away. When we step beyond what we need into a little elbow room, we can reach sufficiency. However, …
Healthy Discrimination
It is very common to have an initial infatuation with a new teaching (relationship, etc), then come to see the warts. We’re all human. At that point, we have a choice. We can toss the …
Permanent Awakening
I’ve spoken before about some of the variations around the initial spiritual awakening of Self Realization. For some, there can be experiences as if a shift has happened but no actual shift. A taste as …
Styles of Enlightenment
As readers of this blog know, I explore various ways of looking at how enlightenment or spiritual awakening is lived. Here, I don’t mean how the changes are experienced but rather the styles of embodying …
Skipping Stages
Working on the Stages book, I added a section on people who seem to skip stages. Here is part of that, edited for context. Sometimes people can seem to skip past some of the stages. …
The Cause – Apparent vs Actual
Recently, I listened to a talk on jyotish (Vedic astrology). They spoke of the way Jain’s view karma. Jainism is an Indian faith based on non-violence and transmigration of souls in an eternal universe. While …
Self Validation
Our sense of being separate arises historically with a loss of a sense of the divine. We respond in fear by grasping at what is still known. This grasping creates a sense of separate identity …