The world is brimming with different cultures, traditions, religions and languages. People living in one geographic location comprehend things in a different manner as compared to those living in another geographic location. However, one thing that is common in people all around the world is their constant search for spiritual enlightenment and the spiritual experience itself.

What is the concept of atman? Is Atman the mind? Let’s look at this ancient idea. Atman, one of the most basic concepts in Hinduism, the universal self, identical with the eternal core or soul which if one attains gives release from the bonds of human existence.

The disciple through devotion and discipline strives to become a Witness of their humanity and its self-awareness. Seeking the state of unified awareness, the 8th state of beingness, often simply called Enlightenment.

Self Realized isn’t about education and it isn’t about inborn holiness or mindless faith, and it isn’t about taking the next self improvement class. The self help methodology is a one size fits all approach, an outward looking method that embraces a socially acceptable hive mentality; it does not enlighten or lead to self realization.

Mindfulness transforms how we relate to events and experiences, one could say that it creates a more spacious way of being in the world that is less reactive.

We sometimes say that some people are enlightened, but do we really know what that means? We might say that because they are kind, loving, and insightful. While these may indeed be qualities of an enlightened person, it's hard to be sure unless we ourselves are enlightened.

We measure time in cycles of the suns movements, hours, minutes, seconds and so on. Also time is distance and light speed. All the while assuming that it’s a fundamental construct of reality, a mathematical immutable law.

A thought is a representation of something. A representation is a likeness a thing that depicts another thing by having characteristics that correspond to that other thing. For example, a picture, image, imprint, or mold of an object is a representation of that object. Thought is an idea or opinion produced by thinking, or occurring suddenly in the mind.

The concept of the “man of knowledge” is a person who lives an examined life and progresses through stages of awareness, connection, and ego dissolution. A man of knowledge is one who has followed truthfully the hardships of learning, a man who has, without rushing or without faltering, gone as far as he can in unraveling the secrets of power and knowledge. To become a man of knowledge one must challenge and defeat his four natural enemies.

When you are born you become a member of a collective agreement we call humanity, this is a collective agreement between billions of smaller individuals. Personal egos which come together to create a family, a community, a society, a nation, and finally an agreement called humanity.

Rationality is the quality or state of being rational, a state based on our agreeability to reason. Rationality implies the conformity of one's beliefs with one's reasons to believe, but really what we called rationality is our ability to recognition patterns, an unconscious state where the brain identifies patterns that it can use to predict and expect what is coming.

There is a lot of attention paid to the ego in modern society and while we are often told that having an ego will advance our place in the world, very few talk about the humbleness of being ‘ego-less’ and of the many great people, who every day without recognition or respect, silently bring greatness into our ego focused world.

At its core the concept of impeccability has as its guiding principle the idea of non-attachment, but this is not the traditional idea of detaching or unattaching from objects or material things. Impeccability is referring to the non-attachment of self from self’s human agreement.

The practice of meditation is widely used for spiritual and religious purposes. But over the years, other uses for meditation, like relaxation and stress management, have emerged.

In the article I’m going to confront the common misconception that suffering will lead to spiritual growth, and I think this idea has taken root because of the idea that suffering builds character. And although a little hardship really does strengthen our character and can even motivate us to try harder, but suffering in itself does not lead to spiritual growth and enlightenment.

Hara character is common to Chinese and Japanese. Abdomen should not be translated as "stomach" to avoid confusing it with the organ. In the Japanese medical tradition and in Japanese martial arts traditions, the word Hara is used as a technical term for a specific area or energy field of the body. An alternative Japanese reading of the character is Hufu, the Chinese reading is Fu.