True Freedom
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True Freedom
About Us
Teachings
Writings Videos Meditations
Blog Events Retreats 1 On 1 Session Community Contact Us
  • Part I. Enlightenment.
    • What is enlightenment?
      • What is the most important event that changed your life?
      • Who are you?
      • What is spiritual enlightenment?
      • What did you realize upon spiritual awakening?
      • How do I not exist?
      • What is the importance of enlightenment?
      • What does enlightenment mean to you?
      • What do enlightened people know that others don't?
      • Why are there so many different interpretations to enlightenment?
      • Why is the state of enlightenment so hard to describe?
      • What is a central quality in achieving enlightenment?
      • What are the criteria for enlightenment?
      • Is enlightenment overrated?
      • What makes you enlightened? Why?
      • What is the best single word for an enlightened person?
    • Is enlightenment possible?
      • Is enlightenment a scam?
      • Is it possible to achieve Nirvana?
      • Is it really possible for humans to be without ego for prolonged periods of time?
      • Does enlightenment really exist?
      • Is it possible to experience a permanent state of enlightenment?
      • Is it possible to reach Nirvana in one day?
      • What is the best feeling you've experienced?
      • Do you credit your realization to personal effort or were you pushed to a corner by an act of grace?
    • How common is enlightenment?
      • What is extremely rare, but people think is very common?
      • What percentage of the people who think they are enlightened actually are?
      • How many enlightened people are living in the world right now? Would you know if you interacted with one?
      • How do I know if I am enlightened?
      • Do people really attain enlightenment and how long can they stay enlightened?
      • Why is enlightenment so difficult to realize?
      • What does it mean to be intellectually enlightened?
      • Why are there so many enlightened beings online?
      • Can someone test me to see if I am enlightened?
    • Stages or levels of enlightenment
      • What are the levels of enlightenment?
      • Are levels of enlightenment a linear progression?
      • Are stages of enlightenment obsolete and old fashioned?
      • How does emptiness relate to the sense of Being?
      • How do I reach a new level of spiritual awakening?
      • Spiritual awakening
        • What is the difference between spiritual awakening and spiritual enlightenment?
        • What are the differences between the higher self, awakening and enlightenment?
        • Is spiritual awakening a continuous process or a one time event?
      • Spiritual realizations preceding non-duality
        • Is the statement "There's a reason for everything" a soothing lie we tell ourselves?
        • What do people in spiritual circles mean when they say "We are all one"?
        • How should I understand my higher self in relation to my current identity?
        • Is enlightenment the understanding that occurs when you see the world is a simulation?
      • Self-realization
        • Do you stay enlightened when you reach the state or do you go back and forth?
        • What are the differences between self-realization, enlightenment, omniscience and salvation?
        • If there are endless levels to enlightenment, what should we be calling the simple realization that All is Self?
        • Is awakening the pinnacle of the human experience?
        • Does spiritual awakening happen one time or can it happen more than once at different points in you life?
        • Is understanding the reality of consciousness equivalent to being enlightened?
        • Is seeing the ego as illusory enlightenment?
        • Is it spiritual awakening when you're losing all emotion?
        • What literally happens to the self when someone has a spiritual awakening or enlightenment?
      • Non-duality
        • During ego death what does the sensation of oneness feel like?
        • What is the connection between enlightenment and non-duality?
        • What was your strangest non-dual moment?
        • Is there still a sense of being with non-dual consciousness? Who is the one who feels this beingness?
        • How different is non-dual awareness from enlightenment?
        • If we cut our hand, only we will feel so where is the oneness there?
        • What is the difference between present awareness and enlightenment?
      • Enlightenment
        • Once someone becomes enlightened does consciousness continue to evolve?
        • Can enlightenment be lost?
        • Does the ego exist after one is enlightened?
        • If one is enlightened do they still have to meditate?
        • When do we know we are truly awake?
        • Was the Buddha awakened or enlightened? Is there a difference?
        • Does an enlightened being have an expanded sense of self or no sense of self?
        • How do you know when you have attained ultimate enlightenment and there's no further to go?
        • Is enlightenment when the drop falls into the ocean?
        • If all dreaming ceases in enlightenment, how is anything experienced after, when that dreaming is existence?
        • Can one who has attained Nirvana feel pain?
        • How many years did it take you to progress from first identifying with awareness to the last stage of being a human body?
    • Misconceptions about enlightenment
      • Why do some people hold onto myths and fantasies about enlightenment?
      • Is enlightenment only for privileged people?
      • What is some of the misleading information taught about enlightenment?
      • How can an enlightened person acknowledge that they are enlightened? Isn't such an acknowledgement fundamentally against the state of being enlightened?
      • Are there any movies that can aid you on your path to enlightenment?
      • Can two enlightened people have children or is it considered an attachment?
      • Would a spiritually enlightened person think of themselves as being enlightened?
      • Does endarkenment (the opposite of enlightenment) exist?
      • Has there ever been a Buddhist monk disappear through enlightenment?
      • Does enlightenment free people from enslavement to reptilian Illuminati overlords?
      • Is the purpose of enlightenment in the end to sell books?
      • What is the difference between enlightenment and nihilism, if all philosophy and religion are flawed?
      • How do you deal with enlightenment?
      • What does it mean when people say that "everyone is already enlightened"?
      • Manifestation and synchronicities
        • If consciousness manifests reality, then an enlightened person can manifest anything?
        • Why do some people experience more synchronicities than others?
        • What is good advice for making sense of the signs and synchronicities of a spiritual awakening?
    • Enlightened beings aka supermundane people
      • Recognition of the enlightened
        • Can an enlightened person easily identify another enlightened person?
        • Do awakened people recognize other awakened people?
        • How do people know if someone is enlightened? Would it be possible to identify this via neuroscience means?
        • If I lose my physical body and become just a mind, how would I be recognizable by other minds that knew me in my body?
        • Can enlightened people argue with each other about enlightenment?
      • Perception of the enlightened
        • When you're enlightened, what effect does your presence have on other people?
        • Are enlightened people creepy?
        • Can people feel the presence of an enlightened human being?
        • Can one give spiritual advice without coming across as if they think they're better or wiser?
        • Can an enlightened person be an egotistical asshole?
        • The eyes are the windows to the soul. What would we see in your eyes?
        • Why is it that spiritually awakened people have a tendency to compete with one another?
        • If enlightened people have dissolved their egos, why do their egos appear so disproportionately inflated?
      • Gurus and masters
        • What is an enlightened liberated master the master of?
        • Does an enlightened person have the power to liberate others?
        • What makes a successful spiritual leader?
        • At what point does one realize that they are an enlightened master?
        • What is the difference between someone who is enlightened and an enlightened master?
        • What makes you skeptical about Sadhguru?
        • Was Osho a narcissist or a sociopath?
        • Who is Jed McKenna?
        • How can a be in a spiritual authority if they do not eat a Sattvic only diet?
        • Has anyone achieved enlightenment in recent history (last 100 years)?
        • Why is it so hard to lead a life as preached by great yogis and masters?
        • Why all enlightened masters were/are men?
        • Who declares that someone is enlightened? Is there a panel of people that says he or she is enlightened?
        • Is the guru/disciple model outdated in our age and time?
        • Why is there no other mystic that reached the peak of wisdom as Gautama Buddha?
        • Why did Osho, Jiddu Krishnamurti and U. G. Krishnamurti never understand each other?
        • Are ascended masters born enlightened?
        • What is the enlightened person committed to his spiritual practice called?
        • Is it true that a mystic is someone who experiences the ineffable and can't stop talking about it?
        • Why don't those who are enlightened just keep quiet? Why do they have to talk at all?
        • Are you the Maitreya?
      • What's it like to be enlightened
        • What's it like to live with no self?
        • Do enlightened people still ever experience bonding or the feelings of closeness or intimacy?
        • If you are enlightened and you are living among unenlightened people how do you hide your enlightenment?
        • Do birds and squirrels follow the enlightened around and rejoice in their blissful presence?
        • What does it feel physically when one gets awaken like Buddha did?
        • Can an enlightened being function and be accepted as a normal member of society?
        • What is a good career for someone who has achieved spiritual enlightenment?
        • What would a fully awakened person do when they see a homeless person asking for help?
        • Do enlightened individuals cry?
        • Do enlightened people need social interaction?
        • Do enlightened people lose the ability to experience sexual tension and attraction?
        • How do enlightened people experience seeing their body in a mirror?
        • What surprises you most about your spiritual journey?
        • What makes an enlightened person become a savage?
        • What do people get wrong about you and your personality?
        • How do enlightened beings achieve repeatable results if they live in the moment?
        • Can an enlightened being feel pride?
        • Do enlightened people maintain any recurring preferences? How do they make decisions?
        • How can enlightened people feel love if their mind is completely clear and free from worldly feelings?
        • Could an enlightened being be offended?
        • Can an enlightened person fall in love?
        • If enlightened people love everyone and everything, how do they handle people or things that bother them?
        • Is it better to be enlightened than not to be enlightened?
        • When someone is enlightened can they live a normal life?
        • What does it feel like to have an illuminated mind? Not just a brief spiritual awakening.
      • Influencing others
        • If you are enlightened, how do you deal with an unenlightened person?
        • What do you say to people who do not believe in spirituality?
        • How do I stop someone's ego?
        • How do I deliver a Shaktipat to my beloved spouse and soul mate?
        • Have you attempted to discuss your spiritual awakening with non-spiritual friends?
        • With the entire world heading into a completely enlightened state, why is it that many still refuse to accept, adapt, and change?
        • How does someone on the path to enlightenment best go about transmitting the Dharma in a way that doesn't result in them being dismissed immediately?
        • Are you only enlightened if you're able to share it with people?
        • If suffering is illusory, why can't an enlightened master change the illusion and liberate everyone?
        • Does one always feel a transmission from an enlightened being?
      • Spiritual abuse
        • Why would my enlightened partner try to abuse me? Is that what enlightenment is about?
        • How should I respond when a hurtful person uses the excuse that emotions are just the mind?
        • Can you be an enlightened asshole?
        • Why would Zen masters attack their students and even beat them close to death?
        • How can you distinguish between a spiritual guru and a narcissist posing as an "enlightened being"?
        • What are the signs of an abusive guru?
    • Methods and practice
      • What slows down our spiritual awakening?
      • How long does it take to get enlightened?
      • Is it possible to actually dissolve the dream and ego?
      • How hard does ego fight back?
      • What is the best way to see the illusory nature of the self?
      • What is the best I can do right now in the direction of enlightenment?
      • Is there a relationship between burnout and spiritual awakening?
      • Can enlightenment be achieved through pure reasoning?
      • Does faking that you are enlightened help you get enlightened?
      • Can I reach enlightenment by myself?
      • Why should anyone seek to stop seeking?
      • You are to convince me to seek enlightenment through any method. What is your sales pitch?
      • Can someone reach enlightenment while living a busy lifestyle inside society?
      • Are teachings on enlightenment that reduce to "You are already enlightened" of any use to anybody?
      • Why seek to know oneself?
      • When Nisargadatta says "The very act of perceiving shows that you are not what you perceive", what does he mean?
      • Is liberation simply a matter of courage to believe that you are already free and act on it, as Nisargadatta says?
      • UG says the mind cannot make the realization. Nisargadatta insists that witnessing one's own thought can lead the way. Which is it?
      • How does one avoid one's ego on the path to enlightenment?
      • Do your answers about awakening push readers through the "gateless gate" the same way koans do?
      • Is there such a thing as enlightened behavior?
      • How strong do you have to be to become enlightened?
      • Meditation
        • Is enlightenment a big bang or you get enlightened gradually through meditation practice?
        • Is mindfulness practice similar to Buddhists who seek enlightenment?
        • Can you get to a psychedelic state through meditation?
        • Why do painful forgotten memories from childhood popup during meditation?
        • What kind of drugs can enhance the meditation experience?
        • Do I have to be spiritual to meditate?
        • How do I protect myself from spiritual attacks when meditating?
        • Why shouldn't you interrupt someone who is meditating?
        • What is the best material to sit on while meditating?
        • Why have I lately been experiencing sudden contractions of my legs like spasms when I meditate?
        • Witnessing
      • Psychedelics
        • How do psychedelics cause hallucinations and why are they more intense when your eyes are closed?
        • Does doing DMT lead to spiritual enlightenment?
        • I was never an emotional person, but since my last acid trip I am crying all the time. How do I reverse this?
        • Do you need to take a hallucination substance to have a hallucination?
        • Can the psychedelic experience be considered objective relating to an afterlife or spirituality?
        • Does smoking marijuana hinder your ability to reach higher levels of spiritual awakening?
        • Why do people on psychedelics often obsess over free will and whether it exists?
        • Should psychedelics be reclassified since they are safe and proven to be psychologically beneficial?
        • Why do they say that DMT is a spiritual drug?
        • Is it dangerous to take psychedelics while on SSRIs?
        • Do enlightened people enjoy psychoactive substances?
      • Judgment and acceptance
        • Is acceptance the most important spiritual practice?
        • Is judging a sign of ego?
        • Should I also accept moments when I don't want to accept things as they are?
        • Is it OK for me to feel like I accept myself even if no one else accepts me?
        • What does Nisargadatta mean when he said deny yourself nothing?
        • At what age did you truly love yourself, mind and body?
        • What should I do when tears flow in longing to know myself and feel helpless at the same time?
        • What are the punishments for refusing to surrender to your own unconditionally loving mind and going back into the evil person?
        • Why do I live a life of trying to prove I am able to myself and to others?
        • Why does spirituality discourage comparison and competition?
      • Perfection and imperfection
        • How can an imperfect being label or consider another entity as perfect?
        • Does an early spiritual awakening lead to seeing the world as extremely flawed?
        • Why do so many enlightened teachers say, "The world is perfect as it is," when there are so many problems?
      • Loneliness and aloneness
        • What is the opposite of loneliness?
        • Is it normal to prefer being alone after a spiritual awakening?
        • What happens over time to a person that is left in solitude without any human contact?
        • Does a person who attains enlightenment become a dysfunctional member of society?
        • How do you deal with isolation when you are enlightened?
      • Kundalini
        • What is the difference between kundalini and spiritual awakening?
        • Can Kundalini awakening be scientifically explained?
        • Does Kundalini awakening have a cyclic or repetitive nature?
        • Is awakening Kundalini an actual physical thing or is it more psychological?
        • Is Kundalini awakening a myth? If not how do I reach that point?
        • Is it possible to experience Kundalini awakening from the top down in your body?
    • Spirituality
      • Is spiritual knowledge more important than knowledge of material reality?
      • What is the meaning of the spiritual knowledge if we all are destined to die one day?
      • Where does spiritual warfare take place and what is it about?
      • Who's the real enemy inside yourself in spirituality?
      • How can I embrace the unknown in spirituality?
      • What is meant by a spiritual level?
      • Do you feel stupid to be spiritual around not-so-spiritual people?
      • What is the most profound spiritual book?
      • Do we need to be aware of the spiritual battle that is taking place around us?
      • How can a person develop their own unique spiritual path?
      • Can becoming more spiritual cause sensitivities to everything, like foods, fragrances, people's energy?
      • Is spirituality religion? What does it mean to be spiritual, but not religious?
      • Is inner beauty a spiritual beauty?
      • How can I deal with spiritual transition and the confusion and uncertainty that comes with it?
      • What is the biggest spiritual battle you have experienced? How did you overcome it or did you give up?
      • Have you ever felt blessed by a divine source?
      • In the spiritual journey, how can you know whether you're following yourself or an idea you read?
      • Is it possible for brain damage to cause constant out of body experience?
      • Do the Himalayan mountains possess hidden spiritual wisdom?
      • Do spiritual people have no ego?
      • As a spiritual person do you ever have doubts about spirituality or spiritual process?
      • What are the secrets that enlightened people hide from the common people?
      • What is the biggest spiritual secret?
      • Ancient spiritual traditions
        • What is the ego?
        • Is there only one enlightenment and many paths to it, or different types of enlightenment?
        • Christianity
          • Is Buddhist enlightenment the same as Jesus'?
          • Would Jesus Christ recognize any of today's Christian churches or denominations?
          • Why am I such a bad Christian? Why can't I stop disappointing God and screwing up?
          • Is living our life to be like Jesus a good idea?
          • What is the Original Sin and its consequences?
        • Buddhism
          • What makes Samma Sambuddha different in relation to Arahants and other illuminated ones?
          • Are Samsara and Nirvana just states of mind?
          • Is Samsara a fair system?
          • What exactly did Buddha awaken to?
          • Is the cessation of cyclic existence possible, given that a Bodhisattva would always return to the world out of compassion to help a non-Bodhisattva?
          • What does Buddhism say about anger?
          • Why is there so much importance of making merit in Buddhism?
          • As a Buddhist do you consider yourself enlightened?
          • Is Buddhist enlightenment the same as ego death?
          • Why did the Buddha die if he was enlightened?
          • Was Buddha the first enlightened human?
          • Is Buddhism good for those who wish to strengthen their minds?
          • Is a Bodhisattva fully enlightened or are they a slave to their compassion?
          • How would people react if I called myself a Buddha?
          • What happens when you reach Nirvana?
          • What stops an enlightened being from returning to Samsara?
          • Are Nirvana and Samsara inseparable?
          • Are Monks the real masters of the mind?
          • If, in Buddhism, there is no self, what reincarnates, and what is reborn?
          • How are Samsara and Karma related?
          • In Zen, what is suchness? Is it the nature of emptiness?
          • How can Buddhists realize emptiness?
          • Is Nirvana eternal?
          • Are Sunyata and Nirvana one and the same?
          • Is a Bodhisattva's realization higher than that of an Arahant?
          • My commentary on the Heart Sutra
        • Hinduism
          • After attaining enlightenment was Buddha basically identifying as Brahman, universal consciousness?
          • When ego is dissolved in enlightenment and one experiences oneself as Brahman/Being/The Absolute, do they continue to experience that after death?
          • Is the Buddhist Sunyata/emptiness the same thing as Brahman from Advaita Vedanta?
          • Are the highest states of consciousness in Buddhism and Hinduism equivalent?
          • What does Western society fundamentally misunderstand about practice of yoga?
      • Spiritual experiences
        • What are a few common features of truly spiritual experiences?
        • Are spiritual experiences real or an illusion of our mind?
        • Is it true that some people can meditate themselves into an out of body experience? How is that possible?
      • Supernatural spiritual abilities
        • What are the abilities of an enlightened or awakened person?
        • Is it wrong to envy the supposed spiritual abilities of another?
        • Are people with psychic abilities spiritually advanced?
        • Can your psychic abilities be a byproduct of your third eye opening?
        • Can the high level of consciousness lead to higher extra sensory perception?
        • Can anyone talk to spirits or supernatural beings?
        • Is enlightenment a supernatural or neurological phenomenon?
      • Positive and negative energy, auras
        • How do I keep people with good aura closer?
        • Do enlightened people get their energy drained when they spend time with negative people?
        • Why some spiritual people keep saying you have the most beautiful energy, but can't be real friends?
        • Is it true that some people can see auras? What do they mean?
        • Has someone who is a professional in spiritually ever told you the color of your aura?
      • Reincarnation
        • Can an enlightened being remember their old life with all their hopes, dreams and frustrations?
        • What happens to us once we stop reincarnating?
      • Karma
        • If ego is an illusion, would it follow that karma is equally an illusion?
        • If there were no such thing as karma or God, why should you strive to be a good person?
        • Will you be affected by karma if you don't believe in it?
        • If you were the only living person in the world, how would your actions affect karma?
        • Do people who take pleasure in others' pain fail to understand the reality of karma?
      • Chakras
        • Is it possible to see a chakra, how do we know they actually exist?
        • Do we have more than 7 chakras and how do we utilize them if we do?
        • How do chakras work?
      • Soul
        • How does the soul enter in a baby while it is in the mother's womb?
        • Can a person have more than one soul?
        • As food is to the body what is to the soul?
        • Once you are enlightened are you aware of your soul?
        • As a spiritual person how does it feel when someone tells you that souls aren't real?
        • Why do some enlightened people claim there is a soul and others don't?
        • Where does belief in an immortal soul comes from?
        • Is the body separate from the soul?
        • Can an enlightened soul never be truly crushed?
        • What is the soul made of?
        • Is each of us a soul or do we have a soul?
        • Do you believe that an Amoeba has a soul?
        • Do you know anyone without a soul?
        • Are even the most kind souls selfish?
        • In what way do emotions, actions, reactions, and thoughts affect our soul?
      • Modern day and New Age spirituality
        • How come there is such a huge surge in awakened people all of a sudden?
        • Is mindfulness enlightenment?
        • What are the characteristics of New Age spirituality?
        • I had my spiritual awakening already and want to become a spiritual coach, will charging money accumulate my karma?
        • Why is ego considered to be so bad in the New Age guru type circles?
        • Do any other Divine Feminines who are totally surrendered feel like your ego keeps sneaking back?
        • Do Swarovski crystals attract negative spiritual energies? I own 8 of their Christmas stars and I can feel something angry is watching me?
        • Is the law of attraction real or is it just another concept of the dreaming mind?
        • The separateness of 3D is an illusion, but transcending ego isn't really viable in 3D. How to strike the right balance?
        • Do astral body and astral travel really exist? Are they real?
        • Does anyone really have a true self or is that just another name for a well adjusted ego state?
        • Is spirituality in America making a lot of controversy?
        • To enlightened people, is there such a thing as high and low vibrations, or is that ego talk?
        • Do enlightened people build a shell that protects them from the impositions of low vibrations?
        • If you lose friends during spiritual awakening, is it because you're not vibrating at the same frequency anymore?
        • What is the shadow?
  • Part II. You.
    • Ego
      • What is the human ego and what is its purpose?
      • How can you tell when one's ego is in control and how do you silence it?
      • What is the difference between ego and selfishness?
      • What is the difference between loving yourself and an ego?
      • What is the difference between ego and self-esteem?
      • What is the difference between ego and confidence?
      • What is the difference between self-respect and ego?
      • What is the difference between ego and personality?
      • What is a positive ego and a negative ego?
      • Why does it hurt someone's ego to lose in a fair fist fight?
      • Why is ego death sometimes seen as liberating and peaceful?
      • Why is ego useful?
      • How is ego counter-productive?
      • How does ego develop and "ripens" before it can be lost?
      • Who created the ego? Is it just a illusion built on our conditioning without any merit?
      • Why is it that we anthropomorphize everything?
      • Do attempts that the ego makes to accomplish an end generally have the opposite effect?
      • Is it bad to feed someone's ego?
      • What is a healthy ego?
      • What does the ego do?
    • The body
      • If self is an illusion, is there an explanation as to why awareness is localized to one's body?
      • Do only awakened people hear a high-pitched ringing?
      • Can the unconscious determine the quality of our health?
      • Can one have health issues that would make enlightenment impossible?
      • How can I transcend the physical body permanently?
    • Ignorance
      • What is the most important thing humans ignore?
      • What is the biggest lie everyone holds up as true even though everyone knows it isn't?
      • What is the cost of ignorance?
      • Why no one understands that life is fragile and futile?
    • Specialness and vanity
      • If you're enlightened or otherwise superior, what are some things you are lacking?
      • Do enlightened people feel special as they've been touched by God?
      • If I am already a nobody, will enlightenment make me special?
      • What prevents us from enlightenment?
    • Wisdom, knowledge, intelligence and understanding
      • What is wisdom based on?
      • Are enlightened people wise?
      • Is it necessary to know everything?
      • What is it like to have Buddha-like intelligence?
      • Is enlightenment like your thoughts vanish into understanding?
      • Personally, how do you measure the level of intelligence in a person?
      • At what point do we become adults?
      • What is wrong with generalizations in general?
      • What is the difference between intelligence and wisdom?
      • Where have you encountered a surprising source of wisdom?
      • Is happiness really at odds with the pursuit of knowledge?
      • Is human brain made to understand just the world around us or to understand itself?
      • Does IQ have anything to do with spiritual enlightenment?
      • Will we ever understand physical reality, or is there a limit to human mind's comprehension?
      • If we are living in a simulation, for what purpose would some higher intelligence have created it?
    • Truth and falsehoods
      • Does enlightenment create paradoxes? Is truth paradoxical?
      • Does every human on Earth already knows the truth, but interprets it through ego-mind lens?
      • Is it possible to be free from hypocrisy?
      • What is it like to be living with no ego?
      • Does it help or benefit us to cling to truth?
      • How can we cope with the truth that there's no security in anything?
      • A knife can't cut itself, since it's doing the cutting. How can we know ourselves when we are the ones knowing?
      • Do you know anyone who willfully denies the truth?
      • Why do people tell their opinion and not the truth?
      • Where do I look if I want to find the truth?
      • Why do we keep lying? Is it possible not to lie?
      • What's more important: truth or life?
      • Reality and illusion
        • Is there a reality beyond illusion?
        • Why is it so painful to see that people are not spiritually awakened and are living in an illusion?
        • Does spiritual experience point to the world being unreal or the mind being unreal?
        • What are examples of illusions we mistakenly believe as reality?
        • If the reality we experience is the reality we create, what then is real?
        • What is the difference between delusion and illusion?
        • Illusion and confusion
      • Beliefs and imagination
        • Is there ever a time when you should not question authority?
        • What is it called when you think of something so much that you believe that it's real?
        • How do conscious and unconscious work in the theory of imagination?
        • Why don't most people question everything?
        • Should you believe in what you are seeing or should you believe in what you are seeking?
        • Can enlightened people be hypnotized?
        • What is the longest amount of time you believed something to be true that wasn't?
        • How powerful can a belief be?
        • Do enlightened beings have beliefs? What happens to beliefs after enlightenment?
      • Sanity and insanity
        • Is enlightenment actually a mental illness?
        • Is it common to think you are going crazy when on the path to awakening?
        • Is it possible to imagine insanity?
        • What if the truth disentangled your sanity?
        • How do you know your enlightenment/spiritual awakening isn't just mental illness?
      • Objectivity and subjectivity
        • Do truly enlightened people share the same point of view?
        • Does objectivity exists?
        • Does objective morality actually exist? How would you prove its existence?
        • Are we alone in our own subjective experience? Will we ever be truly understood?
    • Mind and consciousness
      • Conscious, subconscious and unconscious
        • Are our conscious minds just spectators to the unconscious mind?
        • What are some truths about the subconscious mind that most people don't know?
        • Is the state of enlightenment a no-consciousness state that lasts forever?
        • What is the distinction between the conscious and subconscious mind?
        • If in enlightenment there are no more questions, does that mean life loses its mystery?
        • Is it true that like an iceberg only a small portion of the mind conscious, and the rest is hidden beneath the surface?
        • Are ego defense mechanisms conscious or unconscious processes?
        • Can someone's subconscious mind affect another person?
        • Is the ego unconscious?
      • Consciousness and awareness
        • Is existence conscious?
        • Where does consciousness reside?
        • Does the collective unconscious act across time and space?
        • When does a collection of chemicals begin to become alive and have consciousness?
        • Can you explain how awareness transcends consciousness?
        • What leads some enlightened to also reject consciousness and others to stay in spiritual ideas?
        • Is the experience of one's own experience the most fundamental experience?
      • The mind and the brain
        • What is the difference between mind and brain? Is mind just brain and its processes inside? And consciousness?
        • Does the mind control the brain?
        • Does the mind shutdown after enlightenment?
        • Does the mind give rise to consciousness or does the consciousness generate mind?
        • Is the essence of a human being in their consciousness or in their memories?
        • Is the human brain logical in nature?
        • What makes humans so curious and inquisitive?
        • How do you know that enlightenment wasn't just another manifestation of your mind?
        • The magnificence of the human mind
    • Thoughts
      • Why are my thoughts so out of control? I feel like I need to act on them in order to feel better.
      • What is the true nature of thoughts?
      • Did Buddha have complete control over his thoughts?
      • Why do sometimes ideas come suddenly? What happens to our brain?
      • Can one still get music stuck in their head after enlightenment/self-realization?
      • If not thinking, than what is the real use of mind?
    • Emotions
      • What psychological mistake do people make again and again?
      • Is it better to cry when we feel sad and hurt or should we avoid crying?
      • Is it a conscious choice if you decide to feel a certain way?
      • Why is laughing much more acceptable than crying when they are both ways to release emotions?
      • How do I get rid of my emotions?
      • What are some rare signs of emotional maturity?
      • What is way more protected than it needs to be?
      • How can you learn to control your emotions?
      • How do you distinguish between reacting to an emotion and surrendering to it?
      • Does a beginner in spiritual path feel emotionally unstable?
      • Are emotions physical?
      • What leads to people repressing their emotions?
    • Happiness
      • Is it true that a truly happy person doesn't have any malice towards others?
      • What's one thing that has to happen before you can die happy?
      • Do you agree that our happiness is massively dependent on how we connect with and contribute to others?
      • Why do I never feel satisfied?
      • What's more desirable, enlightenment or happiness?
      • Which virtues are the most important to happiness?
      • Is happiness a choice or a happenstance?
      • Is it really possible to be always happy when you are enlightened?
    • Love
      • Is Nirvana a state of eternal love?
      • If I can't explain why I love the person is it love?
      • Is it true that everybody just wants to be loved?
      • Is indifference the opposite of love?
      • Is the absence of hate love or indifference?
      • Is there any better feeling than love in the world?
      • Why do we overlook the flaws of someone we're in love with even when it's detrimental to our well-being?
      • Why would one risk everything for love just to have it then lose it when things don't go as planned?
      • How do I know if my intuition is right?
      • What is the connection between unconditional love and enlightenment?
      • Do you have unconditional love for humanity?
      • Do you need to be enlightened to be able to truly love your partner?
      • The end of dependency is the beginning of love
      • The mind is a crying child
    • Compassion
      • Is compassion an illusion?
      • Can you be hurt so much that you lose your empathy?
      • How do you give yourself and others unconditional compassion?
      • Was Buddha truly enlightened? His compassion makes me feel otherwise.
    • Forgiveness
      • Why is it so hard for people to forgive?
      • How can I let grudges go, and why do I hold them towards certain people?
      • A master once said: "How can you forgive your narcissistic mother when you haven't forgiven yourself for being born"? What does it mean?
    • Peace
      • Is peace just an illusion?
      • If you had to choose between peace, love and happiness, what would you choose?
    • Meaning, reasons, purpose and goals
      • Does it matter if I do nothing?
      • Why do we spend our lives searching for meaning when nature never intended us to be anything more than animals?
      • What is the point of life if we are going to end up dead and forgotten?
      • What is the purpose of spiritual enlightenment?
      • Would it be hypocritical to be enlightened and still have earthly goals in life?
      • What do you believe your reason for existing is?
      • What is the difference between living and existing?
      • What is the ultimate potential of a human being?
      • Success and failure
        • Why do I still exist when I failed at everything?
        • If ego is the source of success, why get rid of it?
        • Do you still have ambition in enlightenment?
        • Can people who don't wake up till noon still be successful?
        • Would you rather die and be known as a significant or successful person?
        • Why does my ego prevent me from accepting that I'm the root cause for the everlasting cycle of my own failures?
    • Free will
      • Do spiritually enlightened beings believe in free will?
      • How does the concept of power tie into spiritual enlightenment?
      • If you reached spiritual enlightenment, do you accept hard determinism?
      • Is free will an illusion of our conscious mind?
    • Time
      • Is the sense of time an artificial concept created by our minds?
      • If time is an illusion, then why do we age?
    • Suffering
      • What are the origins of pain?
      • Can a spiritual awakening be a rude awakening as well?
      • Do I want to become enlightened or is it not for the faint of heart?
      • What is there to be learned through suffering in life?
      • Is enlightenment the cessation of suffering or the cessation of identification with the sufferer?
      • Is it true that enlightenment is not the end of emotional suffering because ego is still there?
      • Desire
        • What is the difference between wanting and craving?
        • Are all doings the work of ego?
        • If Buddha tried to teach that to desire is to suffer, why do people desire to be enlightened?
      • Pain and sorrow
        • Why is spiritual awakening so painful?
        • Do people need to feel pain to truly achieve happiness or enlightenment?
        • Are defilements abandoned by recognition of the mental pain causing them?
        • Is it true that emotional pain can be just as destructive to your body as physical pain?
        • Why is it so difficult to remember exactly how physical pain feels?
        • Do you ever enjoy the experience of emotional pain?
        • After awakening has anyone been able to feel great pain and sorrow radiating from nearly everyone?
        • What is the most emotional pain a person can ever experience?
        • Why is spiritual awakening always painful?
      • Fear
        • What do you mean that the ego is driven by fear?
        • Is it normal to be really scared during a spiritual awakening?
        • Is paranoia caused by misperceiving some happenings or by not perceiving some?
        • How can we cope with the fear coming with seeing our ego is never constant and may not be real?
        • Fear is anticipation of pain
      • Loss
        • What did you lose as a result of spiritual awakening?
        • Is the key to enlightenment losing everything?
        • Can huge losses be considered spiritual awakenings or the catalysts thereof?
      • Guilt and shame
        • What is the purpose of embarrassment from an evolutionary standpoint?
        • How can I get over the fact that I hurt someone and forgive myself? Is it my karma?
        • The confusion between guilt and shame
    • Good and evil
      • Is human by nature good or evil?
      • Are people fundamentally good or bad in general?
      • Are people born good and something happens in life that makes them bad?
      • Are all bad people punished or will be punished?
      • Are good people automatically good and don't know they are?
      • Why don't good people believe that the world is bad?
      • Does man have an innate sense of what is good and what is bad?
      • Do you believe there are people who deserve to die?
      • Altruism and egoism
        • What are some examples of enlightened self-interests?
        • Is enlightenment a selfish pursuit?
        • People are not bad, they are just selfish, right?
        • What does "even a desire to do good can lead to the dark side" mean?
    • Personal relationships
      • Why is it so hard for people to get along with each other?
      • Is it true that there are few things more liberating in life than giving up the need to be liked by everyone?
      • How is it healthy for certain awakening gurus to devalue the importance of personal relationships?
      • Why does it seem like people are constantly testing me even though I have demonstrated that I'm not the one to disrespect?
      • Why am I so spiteful?
      • My friends all either baby me or bully me, what does that say about me?
      • How do you learn to separate truth from lies when you are being gaslighted?
      • Romance and sexuality
        • Is celibacy necessary to reach enlightenment?
        • Is sex a hindrance in path of spirituality and enlightenment?
        • My girlfriend pleasures herself a lot. Is the problem with me or her? Am I making a big deal out of nothing?
        • What is the evolutionary purpose of pedophilia?
        • In an enlightened romantic relationship, what role does monogamy play?
        • Is it normal to switch from homosexuality to heterosexuality after Kundalini awakening?
        • Are couples subconsciously attracted to each other by natural body scent?
        • Why am I attracted to older guys when I'm already in a relationship?
        • Why do I still like a girl who broke my heart?
        • Should I continue to act the same way around my crush after he has told me he likes me?
        • Why do I find crazy attractive?
    • Psychology and personality
      • What is the most interesting psychological fact you know of?
      • Is ego a psychological problem of human beings?
      • How mentally tough are you and what are you doing to get stronger?
      • Was Carl Jung enlightened?
      • Do we tend to dislike others who have character flaws similar to our own?
      • What characteristic is underrated in people?
      • Are highly sensitive people real?
      • What is humor?
      • Should you major in psychology if you are good at manipulating people?
      • What is the psychology behind consistent defensiveness?
      • Why are people fascinated with other people?
      • What is the psychology of people who talk bad about other people?
      • What is the psychology behind being condescending?
      • How to retain your personality without clinging to it? And on the other hand how to rest as awareness without clinging to egolessness?
      • Why do some people curse so much?
      • What is the essence of charisma?
      • What is a clear distinction between spiritual and psychological?
      • Arrogance and humility
        • How do I know if I am being humble?
        • What is humility and why is it hard for some to understand?
        • Is arrogance a result of ignorance?
        • How do you crush someone's pride?
        • Do modest people really overlook their successes or they just choose to ignore them?
      • Cruelty and kindness
        • In what ways do people weaponize kindness?
        • Why is it often harder to treat ourselves kindly than to treat others with kindness?
        • Which virtue is better, kindness or honesty? Are they complementary or mutually exclusive?
        • Can kindness be taught?
        • Why do people make excuses for bullies instead of admitting that kids can be cruel and sadistic?
        • Why are Buddhist societies so harsh when the Buddhist philosophy seems so kind?
      • Complexes, inhibitions and insecurities
        • Can spiritual enlightenment cure psychological issues like negative self worth, low assertiveness?
        • What happened to your previous problems, issues and complexes after spiritual awakening?
    • Sleep and dreaming
      • How does enlightenment affect dream life?
      • Is it common for an awakened being to be traveling to parallel realities during sleep time?
      • Why can I lie down and dream but be fully conscious and not asleep?
      • How does a spiritually enlightened person experience sleep?
      • Are lucid dreams different than hallucinations?
      • I never experienced sleep paralysis before starting meditation. Should I stop?
      • Are the people you see in dreams conscious?
      • Can you feel achieve enlightenment in your dream?
      • Why is it so difficult to remember the details of a dream?
      • What is the difference between vision, dream and fantasy?
      • Why, when you're dreaming you don't know you're dreaming?
    • Life
      • What works perfectly fine but people complain about because they don't understand it?
      • How can we make our life flawless?
      • Do you have a philosophy which guides your life or do you take more of chaotic approach?
      • How come people complicate life?
      • What makes a life well lived?
      • What is the most inconvenient truth about life?
    • Death
      • What do enlightened people believe happens once you die?
      • Is there consciousness after death?
      • Why can't I cry after a death?
      • Is it possible to have a deep feeling that you are near your death?
      • Why is enlightenment considered a spiritual death?
      • Is it better to be dead or enlightened?
      • What is the difference between non-existence before birth and death after life?
      • What will happen after your body dies when you reach Nirvana?
      • If there was no life before one was conceived how can a one believe there is life after death?
      • What words would you have on your gravestone?
      • Why don't we like thinking about death?
      • Did Buddha had a natural death after he was enlightened?
      • Is it normal to be afraid of dying alone?
      • Is an enlightened person still subject to the process of death and decay? Does that still bother them?
      • Do you still fear death after you've reached enlightenment?
    • Depression and despair
      • Can someone be depressed and enlightened at the same time?
      • How do I accept the fact that without being on my antidepressant I am mentally unstable?
      • Should depression be managed like chronic pain?
      • Can depression be a form of an ego death?
      • The dark night of the soul
        • How do you know if you're experiencing the dark night of the soul?
        • Has anyone suffered a dark night of the soul and overcome it through complete surrender?
        • What is the practical explanation for the dark night of the soul? Is it really awakening or psychosis?
      • Psychosis
        • Is psychosis strictly a mental illness or can it be spiritual in nature?
        • Why is spiritual awakening mistaken for psychosis?
      • Depersonalization
        • Can an experience with ego death cause depersonalization? How do you live normally after such a profound experience?
        • How have people handled depersonalization? Is it enlightenment's evil twin?
    • Suicide
      • What is the biggest mistake ever caused by ego?
      • What is the position of Vedanta regarding suicide?
      • Are spiritual gurus making people feel suicidal?
    • Drugs and alcohol
      • Can my past drug use prevent me from enlightenment?
      • Can enlightened people still suffer from addiction problems?
      • Does consuming alcohol have any negative effects on the practice of meditation?
      • What's the saddest truth about alcohol?
    • Diet
      • Can a non-vegetarian person become enlightened?
      • Why do all the enlightened beings prefer vegetarianism?
      • Can an enlightened person be a meat eater?
      • As a spiritually awakened person, do you drink alcohol and eat meat? Should we stop this to awaken our spirituality?
  • Part III. The world.
    • Society
      • What will the next civilization think about us?
      • What has caused people to become so sensitive and easily offended?
      • Could it be said that social media magnifies our egos and insecurities?
      • When you've been enlightened/awakened, do you find it hard to watch meaningless TV?
      • Why are humans so destructive to the Earth?
      • Why is it that people are capable of lying as well as telling the truth?
      • Why are people so judgemental toward those who "end up alone"?
      • Why has power shifted from older people to younger people, unlike in the past?
      • What single act by governments would make you feel that the world's future is bright?
      • Why can't we as a society stop putting value on things that don't matter?
      • Did Buddha oppose slavery?
      • What would happen if every person in this world is spirituality enlightened?
      • What makes one culture better than another?
      • Would the world be better without humanity?
      • Are people becoming more evil or more good?
      • What professions have the most egotistical people?
      • Morality
        • Why do some people resist living lives of moral integrity?
        • Is there a difference between ethics and morality?
        • Is it immoral to obey a law that you consider to be immoral?
        • Is trying to achieve moral perfection selfish?
        • What is moral but untrue?
        • Does "The Good Place" do a good job depicting philosophical principles?
      • Crime and violence
        • Why do humans get random thoughts of violence that we discard?
        • Is the murder of a human and dolphin considered the same, as we are both technically considered intelligent beings?
        • Why does boredom spawn crime?
        • Is stealing considered to be morally right?
      • Gender
        • Can women achieve enlightenment?
        • I've heard people say that women are insecure. What does it really mean to be insecure?
        • Is the female emotional response to being left by a male partner different than it being vice versa?
        • Why are people transgender from an evolutionary point of view?
        • Can women shut off their emotions like men do?
        • Is it wrong to believe that men and women have roles?
        • Are women more kind than men, on average?
        • Can women be as egoistic as men?
        • What does it mean to be masculine?
        • Is feminism destroying masculinity?
        • What is the biggest misconception about women and, likewise, about men?
        • Are-men born with an innate predisposition towards or is it how men are socialized?
        • Why do men have such a hard time talking about shame?
        • Are there more than two genders?
        • Why do men always want to be right?
        • Why is every country in the world male-dominated?
      • Children
        • If babies are enlightened, at what age do they lose it?
        • What things seem harmless, but are indicators of a disturbed mind?
        • How do you know that you have an enlightened child?
        • Do we experience the deepest levels of presence as children and most of becoming present is remembering how to be this way?
        • How do I get rid of the guilt after scolding my children?
        • What are some truths you learned in adulthood you would rather keep a childlike ignorance of?
        • Why do teens feel like they are invincible and don't have to follow rules?
        • What is your philosophy about childhood?
        • Will we overcome being afraid of the unknown like little children can?
      • Capitalism
        • Is capitalism inherently evil?
        • Why do people think capitalism is ethical?
      • Stereotypes
        • Why do people ignore the fact that stereotype often have some accuracy to them?
        • Are there any racists who believe their prejudice against another race is reasonable?
        • Is there a difference between being racist and saying racist things?
    • Mental disorders
      • Can you explain multiple personality disorder using id, ego and superego concepts?
      • Can someone with a bipolar personality disorder be enlightened?
      • Do people with schizophrenia have inflated egos or a lack of ego?
      • I have been diagnosed with ADHD. How can we prove to the general public that ADHD is real?
      • Is it possible to be enlightened and not know it?
      • How would you compare psychopathy to being enlightened, given their similarities?
      • What's the polar opposite of spiritual enlightenment?
      • Narcissism
        • Is enlightenment enough to heal narcissism?
        • Why do enlightened beings get opposed by narcissists?
        • Why do everybody hate and want to discard narcissists?
        • What is the driving force behind a narcissist being so cruel?
        • How have you used your experience of being involved with a psychopath/sociopath/narcissist to become enlightened?
    • Science, philosophy and religion
      • What are the differences between spirituality, theology and philosophy?
      • Science
        • Why can't I believe in science?
        • Does science hinder spiritualism?
        • Why won't science and spirituality join forces?
        • Why did Einstein say imagination is more important than knowledge?
      • Philosophy
        • What specific attributes qualify an individual to become a philosopher?
        • What is the importance of the philosophy of self?
        • What have you learned from philosophical ideas?
        • Was Marcus Aurelius enlightened?
      • Religion and atheism
        • Do people hold religious tenets for emotional and not factual reasons?
        • If I'm an atheist, does that mean I sold my soul to the devil?
        • What religion has been the most damaging in all of existence?
        • What's the difference between a fully enlightened person and an atheist person?
        • Do you agree that religion was created by the rulers for the purpose of subjugating the people?
        • Has religion lost its purpose?
        • Is God enlightened?
        • Why is ego an issue when ego is a creation of God?
        • Could an enlightened or awakened being believe in the existence of a God?
    • Animals and biology
      • Are humans not biologically wired to live comfortably? It seems we tend to create problems when all the basic needs are met.
      • Do animals have ego?
      • Why does the Animal Realm even exist if the beings on it will never attain enlightenment?
      • What differs a human from an animal?
      • If freedom is simply being able to do what you want, are animals more free than humans?
      • Why would we evolve to feel such grief and loss of will to live when we lose our child? It makes no sense from a biological perspective.
      • What is the biological purpose of morality?
      • Do plants really respond to human beings or their words?
    • Artificial intelligence
      • Can robots become enlightened?
      • How could we implement consciousness into artificial intelligence?
      • Is self-aware artificial intelligence possible?

How can Buddhists realize emptiness?

July 1, 2025

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Buddhists can’t realize emptiness. The moment they realize emptiness they are no longer Buddhists.

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