Why is really Who
To a debate on philosophy vs spirituality… To me the bigger question is who wants to know. As the old texts note, we’re usually driven by desire for pleasure and aversion to pain. But when …
Category: Principles
On Soma
Soma or Amrita is a subject I’ve noted here a number of times. On a discussion elsewhere on refinement, the topic came up and I was asked to describe it. I thought the comments were …
Defining Consciousness
A discussion on a definition of consciousness came up in another forum. The author was surprised to discover that at a Nonduality conference, most couldn’t or were unwilling to define consciousness. They could say profound …
The Three Stages of Brahman
There are a lot of three’s in this process of awakening. There is the observer, the process of observation and the observed. There is the purification, the refinement and the embodiment. There is the 3 …
What is Refinement?
I’ve talked here about refined perception, soma and various effects of refinement. But a recent discussion revealed I’d not talked about refinement itself for a bit. It’s quite common in some circles to speak of …
Beyond Good and Bad
Most of us carry around large loads of energetic debris, also known as karma. Karma means action, in this case what physics might call potential energy. Only this energy is “loaded”. It has an agenda. …
Dignity
In another forum, the subject of dignity came up. One person attributed it to the ego, saying it was something we’d lose with awakening. However, if we consider dignity in the sense of self respect, …
The World is a Perspective
How we experience the world is directly related to where we’re experiencing it from. This is true of both our perceptual vantage point – say a balcony in Manhattan or a pond in Stanley Park …
Truth
One of the curious things about the human mind is it’s seeking to be right. But seeing the world in black and whites of right and wrong automatically pits one against others, even against oneself. …
Breath as Awareness
Our breath is called the flow of life in various traditions, using terms like prana or chi. This prana is an effect of the flow of Shakti, the feminine principle. Before there is anything, there …
The Key Unlocks the Door
Veda is a Sanskrit word meaning knowledge. But it’s also a reference to the encoded intelligence that is deep within the roots of consciousness underlying all creations. These blocks of intelligence are progressively experienced by …
The Void
One of the ways people describe spiritual experiences sometimes, even as a quality of awakening, is with words like the void, the emptiness or boundless space or cosmos. They may associate this with “source” but …