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 the word divine to qualify consciousness distinguishes it from personal consciousness, which isn’t different. Personal consciousness is just a more limited subset in a similar sense to how the sunlight that finds its way inside a house is limited in relation to the totality of sunlight. Divine consciousness is the primal parent of all beings in all realms of existence.
Duality. In this context, duality refers to the conventional, relative level of reality. Duality implies that self and other—“me” and “what I experience”—are independent of each other. Individual beings experience the relational world in terms of subjects and objects, giving us a sense of separateness and supporting the illusion that we each live as independent realities. Whereas this is relatively true in the dualistic world, it’s not ultimately true in the nondual domain of the absolute.
Enlightenment. This refers to awakening, imperiencing divine consciousness through one’s personal consciousness. Enlightenment does not affect consciousness, but it reveals its nature and other valuable insights about our being. How much it reveals depends on the clarity of the revelation and one’s spiritual maturity. As deep as any moment of enlightenment may be, it is rarely a complete and final dissolution of ignorance. The effect of a flash of light in a dark house, briefly revealing valuable knowledge about the contents, is not the same as deconstructing the walls that block the light in the whole house. Every fleeting moment of conscious awareness in daily life gradually and effectively enlightens the mind as well, shedding some of the burden it habitually carries.
Equanimity. A profoundly balanced state of being when the mind is so spaciously present with whatever conditions it faces that it remains unmoved and nonreactive. Because the equanimous mind is too awake and detached to offer resistance—even to inner mental conditions—nothing can flatter, offend, or harm it. Equanimity is a characteristic of the most sublime forms of life, along with loving kindness, spiritual joy, and compassion.
Experience. The process in which we perceive sense objects, as well as the combined effect of multiple perceptions. In every moment of experience, there must exist a living sense base, contact with a suitable object, and consciousness of this contact. Humans typically have six types of experience: seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, bodily sensations, and the thought and mental imagery the brain creates in relation to its sense world.
Faith. An open and trusting quality of mind that creates balance in perilous circumstances by not reacting or trying to force a particular outcome. Faith supports courage and equanimity when we need to act in the present without knowing what the result will be. Faith is a spiritual power because the spiritual path necessarily leads through fear into the unknown domain of consciousness that our brains can neither perceive nor navigate. To exercise spiritual faith, we must not confuse it with personal hopes or wishful thinking about what we want to be true—or mistake it for clinging blindly to dogmatic views for security.
Feeling. A foundational aspect of relational beings in which the mind translates its attitude about its perceptions into bodily sensations. Feelings are experienced as a range of vibrations we consider to be pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral. Our personal feelings subjectively condition our minds toward liking (attraction), disliking (aversion), or indifference. Although this is necessary and useful, it can also prompt us to blindly react according to past preferences and prejudices. Without wisdom about feelings, we can happily indulge unwholesome tendencies if we enjoy the feeling, and we can also avoid wholesome actions simply because they don’t feel pleasant to us. Used here, feelings do not refer to emotions per se, although emotions do include feeling sensations as a primary ingredient.
Forgiveness. The conscious act of releasing our hearts from withholding love. Holding our hearts against ourselves or others is something we can do unconsciously in reaction to negative perceptions and feelings. Forgiveness undoes that holding, liberating our hearts from the inside to be open and loving again. Our faith to forgive unconditionally frees our own hearts, and it supports others to soften their hearts as well. In this way, forgiveness is an act of compassion that we can practice anytime, since nothing outside of us needs to be changed or condoned.
Generosity. A wholesome, selfless quality of mind, open and willing to share unconditionally. Because selfish grasping is one of the greatest “dis-eases” of the mind, the spirit of generosity is one of the most powerful antidotes. For the most beneficial effect, we must not carry expectations of receiving anything in return, including appreciation or recognition. The more unconditional and selfless our giving is, the more powerful and heartful the results will be.
God. One of many names for divine consciousness or the absolute. This original field of being gives birth to all forms of life, and is the source of all mind and materiality. God is not a supreme being, God is supreme being. To emulate this vision of God, awakening loving kindness, compassion, equanimity, and empathetic joy will always lead us in the right direction.
Grace. A felt sense of intuitive connection with divine consciousness. Since our hearts must be open and receptive in order to imperience this connection, grace can feel like a divine energy being bestowed from a source outside ourselves, and it is commonly understood that way. The vibrational energy we feel arises from awakening consciousness, resulting from the faith to drop our own protective coverings, releasing a rush of sensitivity from within our blood and being. We awaken grace whenever we allow spiritual faith to rule our hearts, overwhelming the fear that lingers in the shadows of our minds.
Guilt. A particularly pernicious, conditioned mental state expressing self-hatred. Guilt is compounded when we first identify with—and then blame ourselves for—past deeds we believe were wrong. Guilt is contracted around oneself and therefore unwholesome. We need to distinguish it from moral shame, which is wholesome and openly accepts responsibility for past actions. Moral shame strengthens our ability to be more conscientious in the future, but guilt grinds down on us, making love and forgiveness more difficult.
Hatred. An extreme form of aversion, in which the mind holds itself against the object. Like all forms of aversion, hatred is a contracted, unwholesome state that tends to require repetitive and obsessive thinking to justify itself. Although essentially self-centered, hatred is usually projected outside ourselves to cast blame for how we feel inside. When we direct it inward, like guilt, self- hatred becomes an even more pernicious and difficult hindrance to overcome until we can awaken forgiveness.
Heart. Spiritually speaking, heart can refer to both the faculty of personal consciousness and its source in divine consciousness. These are not separate, and even though there is no actual physical base of consciousness, we do imperience it in our blood and being. Although blood permeates our whole bodies, it is most concentrated in and around the pump (the heart). Therefore, our sensate experience of love, compassion, and conscience is strongest in our chests, and it is common worldwide to regard these qualities of being as matters of the heart, distinguishing them from mental matters of the brains in our heads. Having a big heart refers to the expansive feeling of selflessness inherent in all wholesome qualities of being.
