Wanting, craving, thirsting, clinging. This is the way of non-acceptance, the way of misery.
And so the opposite is true:
Desirelessness, non-grasping, non-attachment, openness. This is the way of acceptance, the way of joy and peace.
Wanting, craving, thirsting, clinging. This is the way of non-acceptance, the way of misery.
And so the opposite is true:
Desirelessness, non-grasping, non-attachment, openness. This is the way of acceptance, the way of joy and peace.
Buddhism has this notion of Dharma Gates. It means that there are ways of entering into this primordial state of freedom and joy. And what’s important is that these gates are plentiful, diverse and always present and available in every moment. In other words, paradise is right here and now if only you’d ‘enter into…
The ego constricts around a more-or-less fixed mode of being. So when the ego is transcended and the constrictions are released, then the manifest being reorients to a more natural, unconstrained mode. And we don’t have any real idea what that might look like. During the ego’s reign fundamental embodied modes of intelligence may well…
Why do we practice, why do we seek? Is it to attain or achieve some conceptual goal we call Enlightenment? Or is it to recognise that in every moment of our existence we are inescapably aware, we are here, we exist? In fact we are awareness itself, we only have to look right now to…
Perhaps the greatest exponent of self-inquiry and Self-realisation is Sri Ramana Maharshi. The genius of his method, in it’s simplicity and power, is unexcelled. Who is the knower? This is the fundamental question. Who am I? But remember, the answer to this question is experiential not conceptual. So ‘look’, don’t think. Observe, don’t analyse. Experience,…
Spiritual awakening is a lot like the creative process, because when you engage in meditation or introspection or inquiry, if you’re motivated by money or acquisition or anything like that it pollutes the process. It’s more important to be open and to play and be curious, to be intuitive and fearless rather than be wondering…
If you are insistent or even desirous of keeping your life exactly as it is then it’s probably best not to embark on the spiritual path. Better to just sit tight and tolerate your afflictive mind than to “give it all to God” or “surrender everything to the Self”. Because that’s what’s required, a single-minded…