Is enlightenment just a memory?

The most heretical thing I have entertained about arriving at spiritual realization is that it's a memory. Nothing can be more controversial

Why don't spiritual teachers have day jobs?

ShantiMayi said "I don't have any job skills other than spiritual teaching. If I couldn't find support from my students and disciples, I would have to stand in a bread line!"

How can you tell someone is spiritually awakened?

There are several things that we can ask of a person who claims enlightenment or spiritual awakening, things that they must experience:

The Final Duality and Dual Reality my new websites

About the Final Duality in attaining unitive awareness: www.finalduality.org and the relationship of relative and absolute reality www.dualreality.org.

Can non-spiritual people awaken?

I have to laugh at the use of the word "non-spiritual" but here is the story:

A seeker asks "how do I understand the I Am"?

It brought an interesting thread in a Nisargadatta study group on Facebook, some nihilism, some pointers on what to think or where to study.

Where does the mind meet the heart?

Where do love and wisdom meet? Is it SPIRITUAL AWAKENING: The Final Duality, the Intersection of the Heart and Mind (my new book?).

One year anniversary - the end of inquiry!

I detailed the end of the year since I awakened fully in my other blog "A Spiritual Odyssey." This includes the end of inquiry! In part, it's because the mind

How do we open to divine love and intimacy?

This is my blog post on With Gangaji today: Gangaji's talk on love and intimacy really brings me to ask everyone the question "how do we get it?"

Can we define the present moment?

The present moment can be said to be the point where the unknowable becomes the known. The mind can know itself.

How do we know when information is true?

First, there is no information that is absolute truth. It has been discovered by the masters and we know within ourselves, that the first word or thought

A post from Jim Tolles: Spiritual Awakening Process: Avoiding Yourself and Lack of Self-Commitment

Spiritual Awakening Process: Avoiding Yourself and Lack of Self-Commitment: One of the ways that people self-sabotage themselves on a daily basis is through self-avoidance and lack of commitment. This goes not just...

Why do some people negate the self and ego?

It frees them conceptually from their concern about an inner scapegoat. If there is no "self" and I have "killed the ego" then none of these problems or delusions

How quickly can we experience causelessness?

There are many ways to inquire to reach a direct experience of the causeless state. Why not just go for it, what's the delay,

Is it better to teach what we are, or what we are not?

This idea that we are not our thoughts, not our beliefs, not our bodies or anything that we can experience or conceive of, keeps coming up.

How many possibilities are there?

The present moment is one of infinite possibilities. Those were the words that came to me in my impermanent awakening in 2000,

What is your spiritual comfort zone?

I'm observing that it's vastly different for different people. Some only go for hits of bliss, like a Palo Alto meditation teacher who has been on the path for 20 years,

Why are we here?

I shared in a discussion group two weeks ago that my personal story of suffering was over, but the feeling of suffering from all around -

When does intellect prevent our awakening?

Intellect can be said to interfere with the attainment of enlightenment when it leads to delusion. What is delusion? It is a belief based on something that is not true.

"Just stop!" But before, or after awakening?

Perhaps the number one mantra in all of modern Western spiritual teaching is: "You are already awake, you just don't know it. Stop everything and let go,

What exactly is enlightened awareness?

We experience the full spiritual awakening, or enlightenment, when we are no longer the witness. That's because the witness creates duality.

How do we know when we are awakened?

We know we are awakened when the teachings become confirmatory of what we already know. When we go to satsang we no longer learn anything but 

What is the relationship between mind and awareness?

Mind and awareness should not mean the same thing. If they are used interchangeably they become less useful.

Errant teachings - on self, letting go, and suffering

It is a misconception in that it is part of but not the whole truth to say the following:

• Teaching: Just let go, stop thinking or reading, and you will awaken
• Truth: Striving, giving full effort will bring us to the point where letting go occurs.
• Teaching: Every human being suffers
• Truth: personal suffering can and does end. Humanity as a whole suffers.
• Teaching: The self doesn't exist 
• Truth: The self doesn't exist as separate.

Can science define consciousness?

"Consciousness" by filmmaker Gregory Alsbury 2005, is a 5-DVD series interviewing 20 experts in various fields such as neuroscience, cognitive science, psychology,

Ist it really possible to be free of suffering?

Yes. All the great masters, and a number of spiritual teachers say yes. No, too many Dharma seekers, and some "awakened" spiritual teachers say no.

What is reality for you?

A question that must be answered for oneself...directly and experientially? Consider...
A DVD series of scientific discussions on consciousness and the nature of reality.

How many reasons to be on a spiritual path?

Three reasons: 1) To find freedom from suffering; 2) to find the deepest truth; 3) to be of service to others. Do in fact, all come from a common arising of suffering?

IAA book dismissed by spiritual leaders

Submission of a sample of my book in progress "Inquiries About Awakening" elicited various negative feedback that will either get me to redirect the approach

Inquiries: the end or a new beginning?

A Shape-shifting is occurring. The process of turning this process into a book is stalled at the feedback stage.  A prelim inquiry to ShantiMayi produced almost total negation,