CORAL SPRINGS, FL–I recently changed the tag line of this blog from Passionate Enlightenment to Attainable Enlightenment.

Passionate seemed too ambiguous–too vague. Does it mean sensual? Out-flowing? Active? Obsessive?

Attainable is much more direct and meaningful.

Where I differ from most spiritual teachers, and thus this blog differs, is that I believe most teachers are not focused enough on what keeps their students from waking up (the Problem) and how to help them overcome the this. (more…)

PALM BAY, FL–After you wake up, eventually you will have to deal with your family. Unlike modern enlightenment fairy tales which say life will be all bliss and harmony, you will have to deal with your family members who, understandably, will be trying to figure you out, understand just what the hell happened to you, and quite possibly, determine where they went wrong in your upbringing.

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PALM BAY, FL–I don’t know why I had such a hard time getting this meditation out–either I’d screw up the sound quality or I’d over explain the instructions–but I finally got it right. This is the meditation that I used to stabilize my “enlightenment consciousness” during those precarious three weeks of my awakening. I first mentioned it the September 21st entry, Waking Yourself Up. Part IV: The Practice.

You can download the meditation here.

SILVER RIVER STATE PARK, OUTSIDE OCALA, FL–I’ve made and uploaded a new video today. Shot from inside a canoe as I drifted down the Silver River outside Ocala, FL. Another example of the one-take-push-record-talk-push-stop technique complete with all the expected unexpected interruptions of real life. Sadly, I didn’t capsize or knock the camera into the water as that would have sent the video soaring up the YouTube viewer ratings. Oh well, maybe next time.

Enjoy and have a wonderful Holiday!

SILVER RIVER STATE PARK, OUTSIDE OCALA, FL–Before I woke up, one of the things that I thought I understood was the sense of Oneness. To the mind, when you drop all boundaries, you become one with everything. The logic goes something like this:

• Boundaries only exist in the mind.
• Thus all boundaries are artificial.
• Without boundaries, everything is one.
• Thus you are one with everything.
• Thus you are everything.

To the students of non-dualism (buddhism, taoism, zen, yoga, et all), this makes perfect sense. There really is no table–the mind just categorizes some “awareness stuff” as “table” and some other awareness stuff as “not table.”

Oneness therefore makes perfect sense to the student and the thought of separation is considered as just an illusion.

This is all fine and dandy until the student puts his non-existent coffee cup too close to the non-existent table edge and the non-existent scalding coffee burns his non-existent groin off. And of course the searing pain he feels as he jumps up and down is all just non-existent pain too.

Once I woke up though, I started to feel what is meant by Oneness, and the feel is nothing like what they babble on and on about in the non-dual schools and forums.

After waking up, boundaries still exist–objects still have boundaries–but oddly, I seem to have lost all my boundaries. For instance, when I look at my hands, they seem to exist inside of me.

From the level of the Enlightenment of Oneness, your body seems to exist inside of you. In fact, everything feels like it exists inside you. Everything feels like it is you. And, because everything feels like it is you, it’s almost as if you don’t exist at all.

So forget thinking about what Oneness is–here’s how Oneness feels…

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HENDERSON BEACH STATE PARK, DESTIN, FL–The clouds, filling the sky, thankfully block the direct rays of sunlight–for the sand is so white that the light’s reflection would surely blind.

An emerald green sea gently rolls in, its rhythm like a beating heart that the tiny sandpipers sense as they dodge in and out–just above the gentle surf–searching for tell-tale signs of hidden crustaceans.

The sand crunches underfoot and a sudden quiver of appreciation runs up my spine as the seagulls float silently upon the air–separate, yet one with the wind.

GUM SPRINGS CAMPGROUND, OUTSIDE WINNFIELD, LA–I’ve added a new video, Dropping the Personal Self, to the Videos page. It provides a technique for seeing and distancing yourself from the sucky personal self.

Enjoy.