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,

Should we really assert that "I" doesn't exist?

Spiritual teachers everywhere repeatedly assert that there is no "you" or "I." Claiming Advaita as the basis for their teaching, which I believe was made obsolete

What is the mystery on the journey to awakening?

Many teachings and spiritual people refer to various mysteries on the path to enlightenment. It seems that sometimes, when a difficult question comes up,

What is the shift of identification known as awakening?

The shift of identification of the self is associated with spiritual awakening. It is so commonly described that it is ubiquitous.

Is the mind the most difficult inquiry?

Nobody agrees on what the mind is or just what it does. The school of Yogacairna called it the Alaya-Vijnana, recognizing conscious and unconscious.

What is a human being?

A human being is a microcosm of consciousness, the first level of expression capable of experiencing all things. Love gives it the desire to experience

How do we define the spiritual heart?

TO BE COMPLETED from below References:

Why should we want to awaken?

The obvious answer is to end suffering. The next common answer is to satisfy the desire for truth. Looking deeper, I find another answer:

Is Advaita Vedanta obsolete?

It is time for this direct inquiry. 1) This school demands a formal master-student relationship, including surrender 2) The I AM philosophy and concept of a supreme self is core

Is the "I AM" an erroneous teaching?

Contemplating the "I AM" is basic to Advaita teachers such as Ramana, Nisargadatta, Jean Klein, and it is bread and butter for many lesser teachers today. Should it be?

How do you know if you are awakened?

One of my fellow Dharma students asked "do you think you are awakened?"

What is ultimate reality? Academic reference

Sometimes we should go to academics and get the broader view. This is from http://www.nvcc.edu/home/lshulman/URBELIEF.html

Can we revisit the five skandhas?

They are the essence of the Heart Sutra: Form, sensation, volition, conception, and consciousness. Skandha is Sanskrit, meaning "aggregate."Sunyata = interdependent causation = "emptiness."

What was Buddha's ultimate teaching?

There is claim that it was the LOTUS SUTRA. From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotus_Sutra comes this:

From where does the teaching of emptiness come?

It's not from Sai Baba, Eckart Tolle, Adyashanti, Jean Klein, Ramana, or Nisargadatta. They are just handing it down, and as one lesser teacher put it "repackaging."

Where does pleasure fit on the spiritual path?

You won't find bogha mentioned much in spiritual circles. It means "fun" or "pleasure" in Sanskrit, and is/was the name of a whole school of yoga

What is awareness? (and consciousness)

Similar to consciousness, this is decribed in various and contradictory ways.
NEED TO EDIT AND ADD TO:

What is consciousness?

There may be more clarity in addressing the relationship between consciousness and some other attribute like awreness, than describing consciousness on its own.

Why can't we talk about the absolute beyond all knowing?

The Buddha was rather clear about it, elevating it from the Vedas, and even avoiding the doctrine of emptiness as a way of understanding it.

Are awareness and consciousness interdependent?

The DVD series "Buddhism" by Malcolm David Eckel (The Teaching Company, 2001) contained a helpful lecture on the doctrine of emptiness.

Why do we avoid inquiry?

Yesterday at Adyashanti's event in San Rafael we volunteered and were given parking lot duty and chair take-down duties. I had an inquiry in mind, got a 3rd row seat,

What is a spiritual journey?

This inquiry is about how we define "spiritual journey," and what makes it different than just living life.

Who are we? A new line of inquiry

Who am I? or Who are We? Occurs that I should become i, and we should be We. The question expands our concept of dual nature of an individual to that of community.

Inquiries for teachers and for discussion group

Many questions are occurring that don't seem to be answered in teachings or in books going around now. Questions for teachers are perhaps best asked

Introduction to Inquiries About Awakening

Inquiries About Awakening is my new blog, and the working title for an idea for a new book. www.inquiriesawakening.blogspot.com

Can non-doing be a spiritual practice?

In the past couple weeks, Akemi has experienced increased intensity in her spiritual quest. She really liked Adyashanti's second teaching last night,

Is there a difference between discernment and discrimination?

This is from the introduction of Suzuki's translation of the Lankavatra Sutra: "This going beyond all forms of dualism, however differently

How do we inquire with the Satguru?

Occurs that questions about the unknown itself, are questions for the satguru, who may or may not be present at any particular teaching, or reside at every moment

Awakening because of suffering, or to avoid it?

Do we become seekers on a spiritual path because we want to find a way to escape suffering? This may be the most common reason for people to become dharma seekers.

What is the difference between psychosis and awakening?

From Adya lecture 3-12 online series #4: A caller had bipolar disorder with psychotic features and mania, which was mixed with episodic spiritual experiences.

What is the relationship between consciousness, awareness, mind, unity, duality, and nonduality?

Having seen many dharma students who lack insight or are completely baffled by these words, and a number of satsang-givers stumble and grope to clarify them,

Is spirituality used for psychological problems?

Yes. Should it? No. Psychological issues and emotional problems should be addressed by a trained therapist, not a spiritual teacher. Some reasons:

Inquiries from the Lankavatara Sutra

Inqs will go here - see Buddha's 108 Qs
SEE LankaQAsCH2p39 .doc file in INQUIRIES folder

Is awakening sudden or gradual? Buddha's words

from: http://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/dhamma/index.html
Dhamma  dhamma © 2005–2012

What is the function of wisdom?

My answer: It has only one function - to discover and correct our mistakes. (need to contemplate this out). If wisdom = knowledge + experience...

Richard Rose "Lecture of Questions"

References - Buddha and Buddhist history

Authoritative on Buddha: http://www.zenguide.com/history/history_of_buddhism_links.cfm

What happens to the unconscious during awakening?

A quick web search reveals good resources, a few listed below, esp Dennis Hunter's.  (keywords Buddhism and unconscious) the ALAYA-VIJNANA (see in Lankavatara also).

Questions from I Am That by Nisargadatta

Here will go selected Qs (& As) from the electronic version.
Sample (from Ashley Mistry FB post):

mahadakash - is nature, the ocean of existences, the physical space with all that can be contacted through the senses.
chidakash - is the expanse of awareness, the mental space of time, perception & cognition.
paramakash - is the timeless & spaceless reality, mindfree, nondifferentiated, the infinite potentiality, the source & origin, the substance & the essence, both matter & consciousness, yet beyond both.

the main change was in the mind, it became motionless & silent, responding quickly but not perpetuating the response.
spontaneity became a way of life - the real became natural & the natural became real.
& above all, INFINITE AFFECTION, LOVE - dark & quiet, radiating in all directions, embracing all, making all interesting & beautiful, significant & auspicious.
Questioner: I don't have the capacity to accept what Maharaj has given me.
M: If you don't think you have the capacity, then you can go elsewhere. I am not concerned with any state which is temporary. This consciousness state is not of my choosing. The sooner it goes the better. Once it is known what is temporary and what one's original state is, no further knowledge is needed. As soon as consciousness stirred, space and time came. It has a time limit. In this space-time
everyone suffers, so why should I accept this suffering as something unique? I was always in that blissful, complete, total state; suddenly I am in this imperfect state. Those who have apperceived my knowledge will not fall a prey to the logic or spirituality expounded by others. I dare to say to any scholar who considers himself full of wisdom, that when he was being born I was watching his birth from a corner. Would you accept this?
Q: Yes. Why did consciousness arise at all?
M: Hang on to this consciousness which has come and it will explain why it arose without cause. No one else can explain to you why and how it arose.
It is the manifest consciousness which is continuously talking, I am not talking. How does the language emerge? Is it because of your efforts?
If you grasp the essence of the talks which I am giving, you will illuminate the world. Those people who run about from place to place aimlessly will gather nothing. What is that you are after? Eknath, a country sage who has written wonderful poems, said, "I am stung by a scorpion!" What is that sting? It is the consciousness. This knowingness is the scorpion which is giving me all the pain in the form of various experiences and concepts. I am telling you with the authority of a jnani, everything is unreal. This is all the play due to your consciousness, and your consciousness is due to the food essence body.
Q: I am grateful to my body which has brought me here.
M: You have come here just to commit suicide.
FROM ASHLEY - Vedas talk upto the point of Pure " I Am ", and successively negate everything learned at each step completely. Brahman , satchitananda, self knowledge are just names. Mixed with the activity , modifications of the world. Absolute is beyound all. No words can reach it.Beyound consciousness, awareness,etc.
JOEL resp - We cannot have neagating without it's opposite: asserting. We cannot know that we are not, because it is unknowable. The truth that we can put in words is that nothing is missing, nothing is here that isn't supposed to be here, and none of that is ultimate Truth.
 

Nobie's quest's for self inquiry

Categorizing inquiries about awakening - how?

This is the working outline to categorize questions about awakening. Considering all current sources, there are well over 1,000. 
Later cross-referencing the answers and coming up with originals will result in a tome.
QUESTIONS ABOUT AWAKENING:

• Life suffering - why, who, and what is it; samsara.
• Psychology and emotions - fear, anger, desire, temptation, what are they, where are they from, how we deal with them, why do they arise
• Existential - why are we here, what is our purpose, how do we find our mission, the meaning of life
• Spiritual journey - the path, no path, what is it
• Seeking - why do we seek, what is a seeker, what do we seek, desire v fear, how should we seek
• Practice - types, meditation, ritual, yoga eg jnani, bakhti, discipline, how much, how long
• Spiritual experiences - bliss, unitive, emptiness, transcendence, etc
• Identifications (special section) - mind, consciousness, awareness, unity, infinity, eternity, absolute, nirvana, ego, self, body, heart, spirit, love, who am I, form, energy, etc
• Awakening - who awakens, what awakens, enlightenment, liberation, freedom, realization, self-realization
• Pre-awakening - conditions, triggers, etc, attachment/non-attachment, effort v no effort
• During awakening - experiences, teaching, practice, doer/non-doer, by grace or effort
• Between awakenings - got it/lost it, experiences, time
• Types of awakenings - depth, quality eg unitive, empty, bliss, temp/permanent, 7 types of awakenings
• Stages of awakening - eg 10 stages of Lankavatara Sutra
• Problems with awakening - stuckness in empty or bliss, ego attached, impermanence, delays, fear
• Teachers of awakening - who should teach? who is awakened?
• Teachings about awakening - falseness of words and assertions, which are closest to truth, recognizing dualistic teaching
• The Ultimate Reality, the wordless, silence, and beyond

Was Buddha's word final?

If not, let the one with the final word come forward. Until that happens, can we agree to use Buddha's words carefully and as the gold standard

Does something come out of nothing?

No, it cannot. This seems to relate to cause and effect. It asserts that first there is "nothing", and something arises or manifests from the nothing. However, "nothing" becomes something when it is asserted - it becomes a word, a thought, and then a concept. If nothing is defined as being neither here nor there, neither present nor non-present, then it is closer to the truth but still assailable and therefore erroneous. As for "something," it can only be held to be an appearance, or a mirage.
Yes it does. We can't leave it at that, however. We must qualify it by adding that there is only the appearance of something from nothing. This discussion is immediately relative to the company that is conducting it. It is more erroneous than the preceding, which makes it easier to grasp. It can be said to be true only if appearances and impermanent images are held to be true. Therefore it can be negated easily, but we should be careful not to get caught in the trap of negating everything, or "addicted to negativism" as Buddha was quoted.

Who am I - who are we?

We discussed the profundity of "who am I" in our self inquiry group yesterday. Comes thoughts and ideas, including mine about the answer being relative to the question.

What is cause and effect?

Observing what is arising from the present moment or awareness, we see the manifestation of infinite possibilities. All manifestation appears as an "afterthought,

First question

Why does consciousness that has fully realized its true nature, remain in the body?
This is one of my favorites. Teachers don't know (few exceptions). Buddha called it the "looking back" of Tahagatas. RA called it. It is out of compassion, but it is not yet the arrival at the level of awareness beyond all looking back. It may be said to be beyond the true point of no-return. Not only the ability or freedom to not NEED to return, but the place of realization that is complete enough to be beyond even the mnovement to return out of deepest compassion. Moving toward the repeat of the grandest cycle, into creation of a new order of cosmos? Who will join in this inquiry?