The Levels of Spirituality: Part 1/4 – Overview

Enlightenment is our default word for spiritual awakening or deep spiritual insight. While it may serve and inspire certain students to engage in spiritual work, I also believe it is problematic and t...

15 Maalis 5min

Despite problems, the word enlightenment does capture two real aspects of awakening: transformation and insight.This is a short snippet from my episode Is Enlightenment The Right Word? on Wednesday 1...

12 Maalis 3min

We use the word enlightenment all the time in spirituality.But it might actually be one of the most misleading words in the entire field.It suggests a climactic transformation, a final state, somethin...

11 Maalis 30min

Perhaps 1% or fewer practitioners reach late-stage meditation, where awakening has permanently altered one’s perception.Late stage says: “There is no centre for awakening to happen to.”This is a snipp...

10 Maalis 9min

Mid-stage practitioners constitute perhaps 5–10% of meditators. This is the stage where awakening begins to stabilise. A core feature of this stage is that thoughts lose their unquestioned authority. ...

8 Maalis 10min

At the early stage, meditation is something you do. It is an activity during the day, set apart from life, distinct from the rest. Awakening is imagined as a future event: a breakthrough, a shift, a p...

5 Maalis 6min

We tend to see meditation as a single spiritual practice experienced equally by all. It seems meditators sit, practice their technique, attend retreats and accumulate hours.What’s missing is the devel...

4 Maalis 39min

Meaning, meaningnless and ameaningful are three different words. Meaning and meaninglessness imply one another.Questioning the meaning of life is not a symptom of meaninglessness. We are obsessed with...

3 Maalis 6min