We have a natural drive to seek greater happiness and fulfillment. And that’s great. Most of us want to be happy and fulfilled. And as we seek more and more happiness and fulfillment, we just need to be alert to
Who Wants To Be No-Self?
Some teachings focus on the realization that there is “no-self,” no person. Various teachings use this term differently, often referring to quite different stages in spiritual unfoldment. In my view, no-self is simply a way of referring to the changes
Listen Beyond The Words
Listening to, or reading the writings of, different spiritual or religious teachers can be very inspiring and informative, if we know, or at least think we know, what they are actually saying. The meaning of their words can get in
The Divine and Its Presence
The Divine is where we start. The Divine is beyond any concept we can come up with, which makes it very difficult to talk about it. The Divine must be directly known to truly know It. The Divine is the
Basics: Existence, Being and Consciousness
Whoever or whatever we may think we are, we know we exist. Even when we are lost in our thoughts, feelings, sensations, perceptions, or experiences of life, somehow we know that we exist. If we did not exist, there would
Layers of Reality
Who are we and what is the world? Most people would say we are a body-mind and that our mind carries with it our sense of self, what we call “me” or “I,” the person situated in this body-mind. And
The Divine and Disillusionment
The following is a transcript of the video: “The Divine and Disillusionment” which you can find here. Welcome everyone to this gathering of Full Dawn Circle. Thank you for being here. The mission of Full Dawn Circle is to share
Concepts Are Confusing
While going through some old files, I came across something I had written many years ago after initially awakening. The awakening itself was clear and self-evident. I had no doubts about it because the awakening was so obvious. But what
The Many Forms of Oneness
In many spiritual circles, “oneness” has become the new word to capture what in traditional Indian philosophy is the teaching of advaita, non-duality. It’s not a new idea, just a modern usage of a word that refers to an ancient
Awakening Is Not An Experience
Some teachers say that awakening is not an experience. And yet, even some of these teachers who assert that awakening is not an experience may still use experiential terms in describing their awakening. What do they mean by saying awakening
A Misunderstanding
Many spiritual seekers believe that to discover the peace of awakening requires the elimination of all thoughts, not just moments of thoughtless silence, but no thoughts at any time. I don’t know the source of this idea, but once an idea
Uh oh! The ego will not die.
Some teachings refer to death of the ego as a prerequisite, or as a casualty, in awakening or enlightenment. Metaphorically this may be true, but many teachers and seekers take this literally. When teachers speak of death of the ego,
Spiritual Seeking
There are some spiritual teachers, particularly contemporary ones, who suggest that seeking to find one’s true nature, to find who one really is, is counter-productive. In their view, our true self is already and always present; and already fully awakened,
Attracting Grace
Divine Grace is the mysterious cause of awakening; and of the subsequent awakenings that occur in our continuing spiritual evolution. Divine Grace causes the transition from one stage to the next. Because awakenings occur beyond the mind, Divine Grace can
What is The Right Path?
We each start our spiritual path from where we are now. We start with the background of our life challenges, emotional baggage, and personal histories. We differ in social and cultural norms and constructs, religious training, psychological makeup and personality.
The Evolution of Awakening
Awakening is the first step — that moment when you take a step back from who you thought you were and discover a deeper identity. Even the first step of awakening profoundly alters who you think you are. Awakening usually
Let’s Journey Together
I set out on a journey many years ago to become enlightened. Of course I had no idea what “me” seeking enlightenment really meant; or that self-realization was not a “me” awakening but the awakening of consciousness itself. Still, I