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Awareness vs. Consciousness

One of my online course meditation students asked about the difference between awareness and consciousness. I’m glad the student posed this question.

My guru answers this question in the best way possible. He says “Consciousness and awareness are the same when awareness is totally identified with and attached to that which it is aware of.”

It is also really important to keep in mind that many people define these words differently so it is crucial to have them define what those words mean to them. I define awareness the way my guru taught me. In a simplified way, I tell people to view awareness as a glowing ball of light. When a person is angry his awareness is in the angry area of the mind and you can say he has an angry consciousness. When awareness is in a spiritual area of the mind a person will have a spiritual consciousness.

Jul 31, 2018
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Overcoming Anxiety

I've taken a long hiatus from blogging. My apologies. The last few months have been filled with speaking engagements around the world and working on a few important projects including the development of Siva Ashram, our retreat center in Costa Rica. I hope to update you on some o
Mar 12, 2018
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Slow Down or Simplify

A couple of weeks ago when I was in Berlin where I gave a keynote titled “Mastering your Mind” to a group of people involved in Private Equity and Investing, an individual said to me after my talk “I really need to slow down my life. My whole family needs to slow down. It’s just
Feb 11, 2018
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Why people don't change

I don’t want to sound pessimistic but the honest truth is that most people don’t want to change badly enough, and that is why they can’t sustain changes in their lives.You have to want change so badly that you are willing to do what it takes to make it happen in your life. You ha
Feb 8, 2018
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Apples and Oranges

When you desire apples more than you do oranges is when you will start to choose apples instead of oranges. Life is the same way too. A lot of people say to me they want to have a more spiritual life. But the truth is they don’t desire it enough. It’s only when their desire for
Jan 25, 2018
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Memory and Awareness

A few days ago one of the students of my 12-week online course "Introduction to Meditation" asked the following question on our online forum. "How are memories and awareness related?" Here's my response to him which I wanted to share with you as well. Memories are experiences t
Jan 24, 2018
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The Colored Sand Makers of Tamil Nadu

It’s been a long time since I’ve done one of my photography posts. As many of you know I am passionate about photography. During a recent trip to South India in December last year I drove past a small village in Tamil Nadu, South India, where it looked like the main industry here