Author’s Note to the First Edition Preface Introduction Glossary: Words Pointing the Way Part One: The Domain of Absolute Consciousness Part Two: The Relational Being 1. The Material Body 2. The Feeling Life 3. The Mental Life 4. Consciousness 5. Perception 6. Intention 7. Emotion 8. The Personification of Life 9. Karma, the Principle Law of Mental Conditioning 10. Birth and Death 11. Reincarnation and Rebirth Part Three: The Spiritual Life 1. Morality and Ethics 2. The Spirit of Surrender…..
Nonduality. The oneness or unity that envelops all sides of duality. In spiritual terms, nonduality describes God, the absolute, or divine consciousness. While duality implies subject/object relationships and the apperceived sense of separate self that exists in time and space, nonduality represents the totality of the present moment. Like the word infinity, nonduality eludes precise description in conceptual language, making it difficult for the dualistic mind to comprehend. Relative Reality. The conventional, dualistic world of relational beings and changing…..
Hope. Wishful thinking about something we desire for the future. When the mind leans forward, hoping for an imagined future, it is contracted and bound to what it wants. Therefore, it is not free to be in balance with what is real in the here and now. Hope is often exalted as a positive force, but this may come from confusing it with faith, which is a power of mind that is trusting and present with what is. Identify…..
Delusion. The cloudiness of mind that obscures seeing clearly what is true. Delusion does not imply that the mind or its faculties of perception are impaired, but there is no clear understanding of what the mind is actually doing or experiencing. Delusion is not a judgment about a person from the outside; it describes the condition of the mental faculty when it’s confused about its own self-nature. Divine Consciousness. Another name for God, the absolute, or nondual reality. Using…..
This glossary offers meanings for key words as used in this book to provide a consistent, comprehensive language with which to understand imperience and the heart of consciousness. Because words can be used in many ways, endless confusion is possible—and this is magnified when the topic is subtle and intuitive. We need language to convey meaning and describe divinity, but even among religious traditions and contemporary spiritual authors, the same words are used in different ways. No matter how we…..
Awakening the heart of consciousness requires no specific material objects, rites, rituals, beliefs, or intercessions. Everything we need already exists within our bodies and minds. We only need to understand how to consciously engage the faculty that awakens us to the divine source. While we have sense bases to experience the sense worlds in and around us, we also have the innate ability to imperience consciousness directly. Imperience is our umbilical connection to the heart of divine consciousness, the absolute,…..
Our personal consciousness awakens from the inside out, from firsthand imperience within our own blood and being. Imperience: Understanding the Heart of Consciousness presents a brief, contemporary version of timeless spiritual knowledge and intuitive insight. It includes a view of absolute reality that can help readers develop a feeling for the nondual nature of consciousness and all beings within it. Understanding this clarifies the aim of spiritual practice and brings us closer to awakening the heart of consciousness. This is…..
One afternoon at the home of a friend, a poster on the wall caught my eye. It was a computer- generated picture showing many rows of waves in an unusual, mechanical pattern. The rows were identical and repeated throughout the picture, each row touching the one below it. My friend asked what I saw, but I didn’t quite understand his question. He suggested I stand closer to the poster and look again. I still saw rows of waves in graphic…..
During the past forty-five years of studying, practicing, and teaching meditation for the purpose of awakening intuitive insight into the nature of consciousness, I have observed countless ways that the beautiful heart of spirituality is corrupted by views and concepts that may mean well, but often result in unnecessary sectarian divides, intolerance, animosity, and even warfare in the name of religion. It is unlikely that cultural hatred will change unless individuals see through the ideologies that divide them. For the…..
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