The Waking

  Image: Ram Dass and Chogyam Trungpa Here are some indications:     • Lack of Personal Growth If you feel you are no longer learning or growing under the guidance of your current teacher and what they say no longer helps, this might indicate that you've outgrown the teachings or that the methods are no longer effective for you.     • Misalignment of Values or Beliefs Sometimes, as you evolve, your values, beliefs, or the direction of your spiritual journey might diverge from those of your teacher. If this happens, it might also be time to seek guidance elsewhere.            • Ethical Concerns If you witness or experience unethical behaviour, such as manipulation, exploitation, or abuse (emotional, financial, or physical), this is a clear sign to reassess your relationship with the teacher. Spiritual guidance should never harm or exploit. This can take many forms. You might want to look up the history of Chogyam ...

  Aaron Lee, from Facebook This blog is devoted to American Buddhist, Aaron Lee, who died on the 21st October 2017 at the age of 34. Although he was known to many for his blog, ‘Angry Asian Buddhist’, I am mainly going to cite some of the things that he told the former editor of the Buddhist site ‘Lion’s Roar’, Sam Littlefair, shortly before his death. May they sustain, inspire and encourage you as they did me. By the way, it may help you to understand the following better if you know that the Buddhist concept of a ‘refuge’ is an ultimate source of guidance and protection. In his last year, Aaron shifted his focus from activism towards creating “refuges,” which he described as spaces where someone can feel safe, supported, and nurtured. In a blog post, he wrote, “In the hospital, I found my speech and actions could become refuges for my family and caregivers — providing them with a space where they could feel calm, positive and helpful.” When I spoke to Aaron for a second time, in ...

      I have included the jhanas as part of my meditation practice for over three years, in part because I was researching meditation practices and experiences, and also because the Buddha described them as an important part of awakening or realising enlightenment. I wrote a bit about this in an earlier blog, which you can find at https://herethewaking.blogspot.com/2023/04/what-are-jhanas-and-how-can-they-help.html I wanted to write this updating note because of a recent change in my experience of jhana meditation, in case it is helpful to others who also include it as part of their practice. For the past three years I have ‘followed the book’ when it comes to the procedure for jhana meditations, the book being ‘Right Concentration’ by Leigh Brasington (citation in Sources below). By this I mean following each step Brasington describes to get to each stage, from access concentration, to the first jhana and so on through to the eighth, or as far as I felt was possible in t...

    I have written a little about St. John of the Cross before (in https://herethewaking.blogspot.com/2023/10/dark-night-of-soul.html for example). His feast day is celebrated on 14th December and he is a patron saint of mystics and contemplatives. John has another link to Advent as he was imprisoned by fellow Carmelite monks in a monastery in Toledo on the 2nd December 1577 in a cell so small he could barely lie on the floor. He was fed only bread and water, with occasional scraps of salt fish, and was lashed weekly, again by his fellow monks. He was imprisoned because of his efforts (along with St. Teresa of Avila) to reform the Carmelite order and restore the observance of a simple, more austere life.  And yet it was in that small cell that John began to compose the poem for which he is probably best known, ‘The Dark Night of the Soul’ , first by memorising the words and later, thanks to a kind gaoler, by writing them down. Nine months later he escaped, with the manusc...

    (As with my previous blog from 11th November 2024, this first appeared as a book review that I contributed at goodreads.com on 19th November. I didn’t think the previous book by Jed McKenna was helpful and only gave it 2/5, whereas this one is helpful and I gave it 5/5.) ‘Subtraction: The Simple Math of Enlightenment’ is a very good (despite missing the ‘s’ from ‘Math’ 😊 ), very useful book on one man’s journey to enlightenment, which includes advice to all who have an interest in this journey. The title refers to the subtraction of that which is not true, as the path to the discovery of that which is true. It’s a popular way of describing this journey, although Nevins himself, like his main teacher Richard Rose, is not that well known yet. I found much to like in this book. I paused in many places to reflect on something I just read – a good sign. Even better, I sometimes felt compelled to write notes to myself to consider later! Early in the book, Nevins writes: Years l...

   (This blog first appeared as a book review that I contributed at goodreads.com on 10th November, 2024. There is a small amount of overlap between some of my comments there and previous blogs here. Hopefully the repetition is useful! I also ‘tidied up’ the text of the GoodReads review a bit.)   As far as I know, ‘Jed McKenna’ is a pseudonym and people in a position to know say that the spiritual centre and cast of characters described in this book are all made up. However, the ideas given in the book are worth commenting on anyway, whoever the author is. Rather than keep referring to the author as ‘the pseudonymous Jed McKenna’ I’ll refer to him / them as JM.  For those wondering about buying the book, I’ll mention a few of the points JM made in the book and add a few observations of my own. As the title suggests, the book is about spiritual enlightenment, which JM defines as “abiding, non-dual awareness.” JM also describes a simple technique for realising enligh...