Family Charges
Recently Adyashanti, the Zen based teacher, appeared on Oprah around his book, Falling into Grace. A little more advanced than Eckhart’s approach. One of the interesting details when touching on the pain body was how …
Category: Philosophy
The Four Levels of Speech
The Four Levels of Speech are a fundamental detail that underlies the Vedic perspective. It is the nature of how the world comes to be. 4 distinct levels of speech: Para – absolute, Self, totality …
Security of Person
One of the deep changes that arises with awakening is a profound sense of security. While we’ve typically experienced the rest of our life as somewhat fraught and difficult, when we discover our true nature …
Myths of Enlightenment
While there are many reasons to seek enlightenment, there are also a boatload of myths about it. Some are even perpetuated by teachers. I will become enlightened Nope. It is not the me that gets …
Male and Female Paths
Funny how ideas sneak up on you. How the grander picture often emerges in increments. For example, I’ve long known of higher states of consciousness. More recently, I’ve shown a more complete model, like this: …
The Energy Bodies (Koshas)
I first began talking about the energy bodies here in 2009. When I came back to the topic in more detail about a year ago, a definition error crept in I should have caught. Firstly, …
Seer, Sage, or Shanti
There’s a pernicious idea people often have that the awake are supposed to teach. That enlightenment somehow gives you a teaching mission. I’ve seen a number of such people start teaching, then fade away. Or …
The Dalai Lama on the Meaning of Life
Today I saw an article on Slate about the Dalai Lama’s visit to New Mexico in April, 1991. Near the end of the article, a waitress asks him “What is the meaning of life?” “In …
Our Universe
In several of the worlds philosophies, the universe exists in grand arcs of time. The Great Year, the Ages of Greece, the Yugas of India, the astrological Ages… astronomically marked cycles of light and dark …
The Gunas in Awakening
Firstly, it’s useful to note what the gunas are. In Indian philosophy, all of the created world is said to arise from the interplay of 3 primary “forces” or qualities of Prakriti, nature. Elementally, these …
Belief or Experience by example
When you explore spiritual subjects, it’s useful to be alert to where the person is coming from. Do they seem to be speaking from belief or experience? If from experience, what stage do they seem …
Stages of Development in Consciousness
aka higher states of consciousness or stages thereof One of the most popular articles on this blog over the years has been on states of consciousness. First as an outline of the 7 states of …