What do you imagine when you hear the word “awakening”?
Something big?
Something special?
Maybe even something unreachable?
In direct experience, it turns out to be something very different.
understand
Articles that explain context and background.
They offer clarity and understanding of the Buddhist framework, the ten fetters, and direct experience.
Part 2: (My) Dialog – Desire and Illwill
This is the dialogue between Christiane and myself, taken from the Facebook group – with all spelling mistakes and forgotten words.
Self Illusion
You assume that you think, decide, and act.
That there is someone running your life.
But is that actually true?
The Self – the First Fetter
Is there really a self – or is it only assumed?
The first Buddhist fetter is the belief in an “I”.
What becomes visible when this belief is directly examined?
Doubt and Perplexity – The Second Fetter
The second fetter is doubt and perplexity – the apparent ability to resist or deflect what challenges our idea of who we are. It falls away together with the first and third fetters when the self illusion is seen through.
Seeing through the self illusion
Seeing through the self illusion means looking directly at present experience and discovering that no separate thinker, chooser or doer can be found. Nothing mystical happens. Life continues, but the assumption of a central “me” begins to fall away.
Rites and Rituals – The Third Fetter
The third fetter is attachment to rules, rites and rituals. The ritual itself is not the problem. What is interesting is how we identify with what we do and don’t do – and how this supports the idea of a separate self.
Am I Awareness? – About a Subtle Difference on the Path to Awakening
Advaita ends at the recognition of pure being – the seventh fetter.
In the ten fetters model, the journey continues: What is the subtle experience of “I am”?
Discover the difference between Advaita and the ten fetters and explore a practical exercise for investigating the eighth fetter.