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Siddhis Explained: Powers, Shadows, and Illusions

In many Buddhist texts, in yogic lineages, and in contemporary meditation circles, the word siddhi (sometimes translated as “supernormal power,” “psychic ability,” or “spiritual accomplishment”) evokes fascination. But are these things “real” in a meaningful sense? Or are they illusions, sidetracks, or even traps on the path to awakening? Read more...

The Twelve Nidānas Explained: How Suffering is Created

In Buddhism, the Twelve Nidānas are a teaching explaining how suffering arises. More than a doctrine, the nidānas are a dynamic map of how our moment-to-moment experience is shaped by causes and conditions. Each link depends on what came before and gives rise to what comes after. Read more...

The Five Aggregates in Buddhism: Explanation & Deconstruction

In Buddhism, the teachings on the Five Aggregates, or skandhas, provide a practical framework for understanding the mind, the body, and our experience of identity. Rather than being abstract philosophy, these aggregates are directly observable in our daily lives. Read more...

Desire in Buddhism: Craving, Wanting, & Grasping

Desire is one of the central topics in Buddhist teaching. The Buddha taught that craving or clinging (often translated from Pāli as taṇhā) is a root cause of suffering (dukkha). Yet desire is not something to be simply suppressed or judged. Rather, Buddhism offers a subtle, profound analysis of how we can shift our relationship with desire. Read more...

Non-Judgement in Buddhism & Psychology

Judgment is one of the most subtle yet pervasive forces in human life. It arises in the quiet assessments we make of ourselves, in the snap opinions we form about others, and in the silent criticisms that color the way we see the world. For many, judgment feels automatic and unavoidable—a mental reflex that keeps us comparing, ranking, and dividing. Read more...

Unsatisfactoriness: Why Life Never Feels Fully Satisfying

Have you ever noticed that no matter how much you achieve, there’s always a lingering sense that something is missing? You accomplish goals, buy the things you want, or even experience moments of deep joy, yet soon after, dissatisfaction creeps back in. This subtle, persistent discontent is what Buddhism calls unsatisfactoriness. Read more...

Kensho: Initial Awakening and the Path Beyond

Kenshō: Initial Awakening and the Path Beyond

For centuries, seekers in Zen Buddhism and beyond have pursued a transformative experience known as kenshō. At its core, kenshō refers to a sudden glimpse of awakening—a profound recognition of the nature of reality and the illusory quality of the separate self. Yet, it is not the endpoint of the spiritual path. Read more...

Spiritual Realization: Awakening, Nonduality, and No-Self

The life journey has the potential to lead us all to spiritual realization—a direct knowing of reality that goes beyond ordinary perception, religious dogma, or intellectual understanding. Spiritual realization is not a single event but a dynamic unfolding. It can take the form of sudden insights, gradual deepening, or profound breakthroughs that forever change how life is experienced. Read more...

No Self (Anatta) Explained: The Buddhist Teaching of No “I”

For most of us, life unfolds through the unquestioned assumption that there is a “me” living inside this body and mind—an identity that thinks, chooses, acts, and owns its experience. This sense of self feels so real that it seems undeniable. Yet, in the depths of Buddhist wisdom the radical discovery emerges that the self we cling to does not truly exist. Read more...

The Higher Self Explained: A Nondual Perspective

Across countless spiritual traditions, the idea of the higher self has inspired seekers to look inward and upward toward a deeper sense of truth. The higher self is often described as the part of us that is pure, wise, and eternal, in contrast to the ego or lower self that seems caught in fear, doubt, and attachment. Read more...

What Is The Spiritual 'I Am' Sense: Pure Being & Presence

During a spiritual awakening, one of the first recognitions often encountered is the sense of “I Am.” It is an awareness that precedes personal labels like “I am a mother” or “I am kind.” For many seekers, this sense of existence feels central and undeniable, a seeming foundation of all experience. Read more...

Spiritual Awareness: A Nondual Perspective

Spiritual awareness is a term often used in modern spiritual discussions, but its depth is frequently misunderstood. At its surface, it can seem like simply “being aware” of your thoughts, emotions, and surroundings. While this initial stage is important, spiritual awareness, especially from a nondual perspective, extends far beyond conventional notions of awareness. Read more...

Spiritual Resistance: Dissolving The Inner Struggle

At some point on the path of spiritual awakening, we encounter the subtle yet powerful force of resistance. It appears as tension in the body, conflict in the mind, or emotional struggle in the heart. Resistance can feel like pushing against life itself—wanting something to be other than it is, or wishing away a sensation, thought, or feeling. Read more...

Spiritual Ignorance: Understanding the Illusion of Meaning

One of the deepest insights on the spiritual path is the recognition that what we call "reality" is not as solid, defined, or meaningful as we assume. Human beings live in a web of concepts, labels, and interpretations, treating them as though they represent ultimate truth. Read more...

Mental Constructs: How the Mind Shapes 'Apparent' Reality

From the moment we wake up in the morning, our lives unfold through a lens of meaning, interpretation, and categorization. We label experiences as "good" or "bad," judge others as "kind" or "selfish," and measure our worth through comparisons with cultural standards. These judgments, however, are not built on absolute truths—they are mental constructs. Read more...

Compassion Beyond Concepts: A Nondual Buddhist View

Compassion is one of the most celebrated human qualities. Across cultures and traditions, it is upheld as a virtue, an ideal, and a guiding light for how we relate to one another. In Buddhism, compassion—karuṇā—is central to the path of awakening. Yet, when we begin to look deeply through the lens of nonduality, compassion becomes both full and empty. Read more...

Dependent Origination Explained: Causes, Self, and Reality

One of the most profound insights of Buddhist philosophy is the principle of dependent origination—the understanding that everything arises due to causes and conditions. In this view, there is no fixed, independent self orchestrating life. Instead, experience unfolds in a seamless web of interdependence. Read more...

Unity Consciousness: Awakening to Nonduality & Oneness

Unity consciousness is a term that has been used in spiritual traditions to describe the realization that everything in existence is one interconnected whole. It points to an experience beyond ordinary dualistic perception, where subject and object, self and other, inside and outside, begin to dissolve. Read more...

The Illusion of Separation: How to See Through the Self

One of the deepest insights of awakening is the realization that separation is not real. Although we live most of our lives as though we are individual beings navigating a world of external objects, this sense of separation is ultimately an illusion. What appears to be “me” and “the world,” “self” and “other,” “inside” and “outside,” is sustained by thought, belief, emotion, and subtle conceptual frameworks. Read more...

Grounding Techniques for Spiritual Awakening

Spiritual awakening can be one of the most transformative experiences of a lifetime. Yet, as profound as awakening can be, it is often accompanied by disorienting physical and energetic experiences. This is where grounding techniques become essential. Read more...

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