A Philosophy of Consciousness
Recently, I ran into the below talk by Swami Sarvapriyananda of Vedanta NY on the philosophy of consciousness found in Eastern thought. He reviews the major unsolved problems in modern Western philosophy and how most …
Category: Ego
The Evolving I
First, let’s define some terms and their source. Atman: the cosmic Self, pure consciousness. Awareness of our impersonal existence (Isness). When consciousness becomes self-aware, it does so both globally and at every point. Generally, atman …
Handling Mud
Spiritual practices raise our light but also move the shadows, exposing mud. When we see muddy situations coming up in our experience, we have a few choices. 1) allow the mud to arise to be …
When It’s Time
Nature works hard to fulfill all our desires. That may sound like a goofy and idealistic statement, but let’s explore. First, what do I mean by nature? Within universal consciousness, there are three aspects: the …
Moha, Delusion
It’s struck me how much of my old karma is directly related to past choices, often a decision to avoid something. And how so many people, even with conscious choice, will choose the dark side. …
Point Values
In many articles, I’ve talked about “head, heart, gut“, the way Adyashanti described the three core identifications. I ended up talking about them as the 3 am-egos. Head is the self-concept and mental identification with …
Prana and Intellect
In the Kosha model, the emotional body is called the prana or life-force body. This is where prana is fully embodied. However, we shouldn’t take this to mean it’s the sole realm of prana. Like …
The Laundromat
I’ve spoken a great deal about healing and purification over the years. When we first take up a spiritual or healing practice, we gradually realize how we resist and contract and we learn to release. …
Individuals in Wholeness
On The Nature of Our Times, I commented that “Oh yes, each area has its own laws of nature. That leads to unique expressions of culture, language, etc. This is akin to the very awake …
This and That
The Upanishad use words like “this” and “that” to describe aspects of reality. For example: Puurmam adah puurnam idam puurnaat puurnam udachyate puurnasya puurnam aadaaya puurnam evaavashishyate That is full, this is full. From fullness, …
Layers of Perspective
The average person expects their view of the world to be accurate and reliable, even if they have doubts about certain aspects. We need a stable view so we can function in the world. Yet …
Attachment
They define attachment as a bond or connection. Attachments functions on several levels. We have physical, emotional, conceptual, and structural attachments. Many attachments are beneficial, such as a child to its family. They’re a normal …