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.
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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.