Owner: Awaken to Life with Eric Putkonen URL:http://people.tribe.net/awaken2life/blog Join Date: Tue, 28 Aug 2007 15:47:13 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: A modern-day mystic and yogi, Eric Putkonen focuses on the "Direct Path" traditions (a.k.a. Pathless Path): Jnana Yoga, Advaita Vedanta, Zen Buddhism, etc. After searching for thirteen years and awakening in 2005, he has devoted himself to sprea Site statistics:Click here
In Joy (enjoy), not suffering 2008-04-15 14:15:25 I see and hear of so many references and statements about peoples’ suffering. They take it to be a reality…but it is a mirage. It is not what it appears to be. Suffering is a figment of our minds…it is imagination.
Do you remember a time hearing, “don’t look or it will hurt more”? That hurting more if you see it is suffering. There is not reality to this more hurting because you looked. We imagine more. If we investigate or watch our minds, we may see this.
If we investigate who/what we are, we may realize we are satchitananda. Sat meaning being, chit meaning consciousness, ananda meaning bliss. We are joy. This is obscured by the mind, but when the mind is quiet – there is Joy. We are That. In Joy, there may be pain from a physical injury – but there is n Read more:enjoy
"How to destroy the ego?" 2008-04-21 15:58:15 It is a common question I hear, but you can not battle the ego. It is the ego (me) that would be fitting the ego.
The "myself", the "I", and the "me" are all ego. As such there is nothing "I" can do to rid "myself" of the ego (which is "I" and "myself"). It is a futile battle that will never end.
Stop fighting the ego…cease all effort. Inquire into who/what you are. Who are you? What are you? If you realize you are not thoughts - which creates the mind (and which includes the ego)…then you see the ego for the mirage it is and it is no longer a problem.
Of course, "you" can't do this in order to get rid of the "ego" - for that reinforces the ego. Inquire into who/what you are - but expect no results…have no purpose in it.
Namaste,
~ Eric Putkonen
Read more:destroy
Understanding is All - episode 17 of Out of Our Minds (biweekly 15-minute podcast) 2008-04-27 10:59:30
The first of the Buddhism’s Noble Eightfold Path is often translated as Right View, but instead of View I would translate it as Understanding
. How does Right Understanding related to the rest of the Eightfold Path? Can the Eightfold Path be condensed into the First? Is complete understanding all that is needed?
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Namaste,
~ Eric Putkonen
You are not this body VS You are not only this body - which is more nondual? 2008-05-01 08:25:35 While saying “you are not only this body” may be more correct in purely a nondual (no other) context…but its power is now more limited in overcoming identification with the body and realizing this body is no different than the computer you are reading this message on or the chair you are sitting on.
It gives the ego/mind something to hold onto yet…I am the body and more (the more being usually accepted intellectually, but accepted none-the-less because it is palatable to the ego/mind). This also opens the trap of trying to expand “yourself”…a never-ending process of trying to include more. It also leaves a loophole for the ego/mind to survive and remain in power.
It has long been the usual eastern method (and works better from my experience) to use negation. Rip ever
Mindfulness and the Quiet Mind - episode 18 of Out of Our Minds (biweekly 15-minute pocast) 2008-05-13 14:05:18
What quiets the mind? What is Mindfulness
? These two questions are intertwined. For mindfulness itself brings about a quiet mind without trying to control or quiet the mind...and therefore mindfulness can not be a mental activity. Let us explore mindfulness and find out why mindfulness quiets the mind.
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Now all 18 episodes are on the website!
Read more:Quiet
Equiminity and Dispassion for the World - episode 19 of Out of Our Minds (biweekly podcast) 2008-05-24 10:14:55
When all things are truly seen as equal, there is no passion for one thing or another...and therefore dispassion. Is there a real difference between a piece of gold and a broken piece of pottery? Is there anything outside the mind and the world game it has created that should cause a passion for the gold?
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Namaste,
~ Eric Putkonen Read more:World
Skype Satsang with Eric 2008-06-04 11:02:44 I have been hosting satsangs in the Minneapolis area for a couple years now, but I thought it would be fun to do something online. I produce a podcast, so I have the headset and microphone...and skype allows small conference calls for free.
So bi-weekly on Saturdays at noon (CST) over the summer, as a trial, I will be hosting a Skype
Satsang Conference Call. Up to 9 people can attend, so it w
Who Am I? - episode 20 of Out of Our Minds (biweekly podcast) 2008-06-07 11:50:02
Discovering or realizing who and what we really are, is what enlightenment is. This is the grand question...a turning inward, rather than looking elsewhere. Our normal conception of who and what we are is a false self. What many people see as themselves is not their true selves, but self image. Who would we be without our self image?
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Namaste,
The Importance of Satsang - episode 21 of Out of Our Minds (podcast) 2008-06-24 18:30:09
What is Satsang? Why is it important? These are two questions I am sometimes asked. These questions and the details about whether it is a transmission or resonance are covered. As well as the related benefits of keeping company with saints and sages.
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Namaste,
~ Eric Putkonen
Thought and Emotion Have No Basis In Reality - episode 22 of Out of Our Minds (podcast) 2008-07-04 14:43:48
We are typically caught up in the life story and believe our thoughts and emotions have validity, but our emotional reactions and thoughts are a product of our own minds and not based on reality. Eric will be covering two stories and a thought experiment to delve into this subject.
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Namaste,
~ Eric Putkonen Read more:Emotion
, Basis
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