Glimpses vs. Stabilization on the Way of Jnana Yoga

By Adam J. Pearson Questioner: “One instant of boundlessness resolves the entire equation,” is this true? Adam: “Yes and no. In an instant, there can be a perfect glimpse of boundlessness. But that is very different from being stabilized in and as it. The selfing mental process is very quick to claim anything it comes…

Six Obstacles to Ceaselessly Abiding in the Feeling of Being

By Adam J. Pearson Introduction “There will be periods of frustration; there will be periods of doubt. Your worldly involvements would hamper your Sadhana (practice) and an atmosphere of defeat would prevail. But, come what may, just throw everything aside, don’t bother about anything and continue your abidance in the ‘I am’ with all earnestness….

Great Doubt Expresses Great Faith

By Adam J. Pearson In spirituality, particularly in Zen, but also in Advaita and at the heart of jnana yoga, great doubt expresses great faith. Great doubt arises out of a sincere and profound wish to discover what’s really, really true, what’s true beyond all doubt, even beyond the very doubt that motivates the yearning itself. This…

No One Has Ever Hated Themselves

By Adam J. Pearson Introduction: You’ve Never Hated What You Are, Only What You Believed You Were One of the most shocking things I ever discovered is that no one has ever hated themselves. Really. And trust me, I thought I did. There were periods that I thought I hated myself badly enough to want…

The Madness of Our Present Situation

By Adam J. Pearson Such is the madness Of our present situation that… Being freedom itself, We come to believe we are bound, And desperately seek to become free, For the bound self we believe we are. Being the source of all love, We come to believe we are unlovable, And fervently seek to find love, For…

Everything You Experience “Now” is Remembered: Neuroscience and Nonduality

By Adam J. Pearson Introduction: What We Seem to Experience ‘Now’ is… Remembered? A fundamental breakthrough in cognitive neuroscience and neuropsychology was the discovery that the brain contains distinct memory systems that shape every experience we have.  These systems have striking implications for our understanding of what it means to be “in the present moment,” and what alone can truly…

Is the Body Limited or Unlimited? : A Dance Through Science, Philosophy, and Nonduality

By Adam J. Pearson  More and more the body, as conceived and contemplated by the mind, seems to pose a fascinating paradox. Although it appears so solid and intimately familiar to us, we can also envision it in what seem to be totally contradictory ways depending on the perspective through which we look. Is the body limited? Is it unlimited? Is it…

Haikus While Walking in the Rain

By Adam J. Pearson Walking in the rain; Droplets tapping on a face, True nature laid bare: Empty, clear, aware– Never were we wet or dry, Nor did we ever walk. Beyond One and two, Body, mind, and awareness Belong to no one. Laughing and laughing, Clear tears pouring out like rain; How was it missed so long? Part…

Dzogchen Buddhism and Advaita Vedanta: Discerning the Ground (shiy) from the Factors of the Mind (Citta)

By Adam J. Pearson My friend Steph recently asked me an excellent question: “According to Buddhism, the condition of ‘knowing’ arises with what is ‘known’; the two are interdependent arisings. What, then, can be beyond the knowing and the known?” My response: While I can’t speak as an authority on Buddhism, I can attempt to convey the fruits…

Emptiness in Emptiness

By Adam J. Pearson a thought arises and is seen, emptiness in emptiness a blade of grass is growing green, emptiness in emptiness a newborn baby breathes his first emptiness in emptiness an old man in a somber hearse emptiness in emptiness a feeling flows through and is felt, emptiness in emptiness stars shimmer on Orion’s belt, emptiness in…