True Freedom
About Us
Writings Videos Meditations
Blog Events Retreats 1 On 1 Session Community Contact Us
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?

Is inner beauty a spiritual beauty?

July 1, 2025

Read original publication

There is no inner beauty without inner ugliness. Only in inner emptiness true beauty can be known, but it will not be beauty, but peace.

← Previous
Next →

Subscribe to our newsletter

Ready to explore the depths of self-love and acceptance? Stay connected with Artem's insights and upcoming events.

True Freedom © 2026 | All Rights Reserved