Q: What is spiritual awakening?
A: Spiritual awakening refers to a shift in consciousness, an apperception of reality which had been previously unrealized. The culmination of such realizations is in the recognition of oneness with all of existence.
Q: What is enlightenment?
A: Enlightenment is the end of division; a full awakening as living truth.
Q: What is God?
A: God alone IS
God cannot be known - the very faculty of knowledge, the mind, is itself only a minor, subtle aspect of God and being fragmented can never embody the whole. God cannot be experienced, for that would require an experiencer - a division of the One
One must drop everything which perpetuates identification, including all concepts of God, to remove the veil to the one living truth that is unbounded, undivided, and all encompassing
As Meister Eckhart said, "God is when you are not."
Q: What is meant by 'witnessing consciousness'?
A: Witnessing consciousness is the silent, still background that is pure awareness. When energy is freed from mental projection and is at rest, existence witnesses itself as the one unchanging Reality.
Q: Can the mind come to know Truth?
A: The mind is inherently limited, existing as only an aspect of the Infinite, how could it encompass complete wholeness?
Truth resides in the space between thoughts and not in the thoughts themselves.
Q: I have a religious background, are these teachings compatible?
A: As there are many ways to approach climbing a mountain, so to are there many paths that lead to eternal truth. True teachings are universal, do not create boundaries, require no belief system, and always lead to the complete dissolution of the 'me'. Beliefs on the other hand come from the limited mind - and having conceptualized truth, the very obstacles that need to be overcome are set in place.
Q: Will devotion to Christ, to Buddha, or any other, lead to spiritual realization?
A: Yielding oneself to the grace of great spiritual teachers can lead to the merging of the devotee with the devoted if approached through genuine selflessness. It is through this union that spiritual realization unfolds.
Q: Is surrender necessary for spiritual awakening?
A: Spiritual awakening occurs naturally as a result of letting go without finding something else to hang onto.
Q: To who or what do I surrender?
A: Why create something to surrender to? You will then only have something else to let go of. To surrender, just stop creating reason to hold on.
Q: How can I be free of my ego?
A: You cannot be free of your ego. When you think of yourself as someone looking to be free you are conceptualizing freedom through the mental structures that make up the ego itself. Be free by realizing you have never been bound until you begin looking to be free.
Q: What is Bliss?
A: Bliss is the fullness found in the absence of the 'me'. Not to be confused with personal experiences - happiness for example, is only alive in the absence of pain - and will invariably teeter back and forth in tied duality. Furthermore, all experience is personal - requiring the limited self, the egoic 'me', to sustain them. Devotional readers may find this resonates as the result of absolute surrender; by giving everything unto God, one bathes in the light of Bliss. This is the passion of the Christ, the path of Bhakti Yoga, and the full expression of the heart chakra.
Q: Some traditions stress the importance of a personal Guru, is this path needed to awaken?
A: Completely Self realized masters can be invaluable in guiding seekers to the Truth and most find that inner clarity is a natural result from their company. The Guru, by way of Grace, dispels ignorance so the way home becomes clear in the consciousness of his or her disciples. It is important to understand however that in the end, a physical guru is not any more necessary to spiritual awakening than the rustling leaves are to the existence of the wind.
Q: If there isn't anything to learn, why the Institute?
A: It is important to distinguish traditional learning from spiritual teachings. Learning is inextricably a function of the mind and implies the need to acquire something more. The problem is that the more you 'know' about something - the further it takes you from the Truth.
Spiritual teachings however can be helpful in purifying the mind by way of deconditioning. As consciousness becomes uplifted through the effortlessness of the space freed from conditioning, the 'me' becomes like the peeling of an onion - eventually when all the layers are gone, the core is found to be empty - it is in this guidance that the Institute finds purpose.
Q: Are there any pre-requisites to enrolling for personal teachings?
A: An unyielding desire to realize God and a willingness to be guided are the only requirements. These intentions provide the fertile ground for the flower of awakening to bloom.
