Direct Experience is one of the most important tools in the inquiry of the Ten Fetters. How can it turn into a trap? What is Direct Experience? Should you already have started to inquire for example into the self-illusion, you will have come across the term “direct experience”, or “actual experience”. I like to use the term “first-hand experience”. The …
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Does Awakening Help With Sickness and Death?
Recently, I had a heart procedure. When the physician in the hospital explained the details of the procedure to me, he didn’t keep it a secret that the possibility of dying from a side effect was possible. This side effect would happen when I was at home. If I had any signs of it, I should come back immediately. Possible …
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You Never Decided Anything
Usually, we think we are making the decisions. “Make up your mind!” we say when somebody can’t tell us what they want to do. But is it true, are we really in charge of our decision? And if we are, what happens when any sense of ‘me’ disappears? How are we supposed to keep functioning in a life where so …
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Tell Me How To Do It!
How To Awaken on the Buddhist Path Through the 10 Fetters Do you sometimes listen to the words of an awakened spiritual teacher and think, “I don’t want to hear beautiful words any longer. Tell me HOW TO DO IT!” In this article, I’ll describe the “HOW TO” awaken. What Is Awakening? First of all, awakening is not something that you get as …
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ARE YOU STILL AWAKENED WHEN YOU BECOME ANGRY?
So, the self-illusion fell away, and desire and ill will are gone. You might have had more insights, and it looks like your journey has ended. You’re awakened. Yay! And then you scroll through your newsfeed and see this post – what nonsense this person has written there!! Anger shoots up in you like a jet flame and you start hammering away on …
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Why Can Awakening Be So Messy?
Do you think that awakening is a process of going from feeling average or worse to good, better, great, and then blissfully dissolving into One? Well…it’s not. “I would have never thought that awakening is so messy,” a client wrote to me. Though I use a linear model that helps you to let go of the beliefs in different self-aspects …
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TEST: WHERE ARE YOU ON YOUR JOURNEY TO AWAKENING?
With this test, you can find out where you are on your journey to awakening and what your next step is. Like any journey, it is always good to know where you are and which direction to take. Please answer the questions from your everyday experience right now. Do not refer to insights you had earlier in your life, when …
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Ignorance, the 10th Fetter
Ignorance is the 10th and last fetter on the journey to awakening. With it, the last assumption falls away that veiled the awakened state. What does Ignorance mean? We have been ignoring the truth because we didn’t like it. Most interestingly, ignoring the truth can return even after it was seen what truly is. When the last sense …
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Restlessness, The 9th Fetter
The Restlessness of the 9thfetter will arise after the last subtle sense of ‘I am’ or ‘I exist’ has fallen away. In this fetter, you’ll be able to witness first-hand how the fetters created the sense of self. You will recognize the restlessness. It has been there all your life, continuously re-creating the illusions which would collapse like a house …
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The 8th Fetter, The Subtle Sense of ‘I am’
The subtle sense of ‘I am’ or ‘I exist’ is the first step in developing the ‘Ego’ or the sense of ‘ME.’ It is created after a frantic search for something safe to stand on, something that is reliably there, something to hold onto. It had to be able to make sure that we’d always feel happy. Since absolutely nothing could …