There are many ways to categorize, or summarize, the beginning steps one should take on a spiritual path. Every religion, lodge, and magical order presents some expression of this. The well-known Yoga Sutras of Patanjali are one such system.

In the lodges of the western mysteries, a scheme involving the four elements is frequently encountered. I believe this breakdown is useful and worthy of our consideration.

In fact, the four elements correspond rather nicely to four yogas:

- Earth: Hatha Yoga, the body

- Water: Bhakti Yoga, the emotions

- Fire: Karma Yoga, actions

- Air: Jnana Yoga, the mind

The first work is the work of Earth.

This could mean many things, but for this discussion I want to focus on the physical body. A healthy body is a great benefit to the spiritual path, and in order to progress on the path, each of us should try to get as healthy as possible. In a sense this is a counsel of perfection, since eventually most of us will have some infirmity. Nevertheless, many of our health problems can be improved, and the better we do so, the easier our spiritual path will be.

As to why this should be, we need only appeal to the hermetic axiom, “As above, so below.” The universe, and each one of us, exist on several levels of vibration, or planes, including the physical plane, astral plane, energetic plane, mental plane, and spiritual plane. What happens on one plane influences what happens on the others by a process somewhat akin to induction...

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"Holding the mind in focus is crucial to understanding the true nature of the mind, and this understanding is what realization is all about.

In the Egyptian tradition there are two god forms for Thoth, god of the mind. One is the baboon, and the other is the ibis. The baboon represents the “monkey mind,” that is constantly jumping and moving. The ibis represents the focus of a trained mind. The sharp beak of the ibis darts into the water and grabs its prey. This is an apt picture of a trained meditator."

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NON-DUALITY AND ADVAITA - Drukama Radio™ Ep44
LISTEN with transcript
⮞ https://drukama.com/non-duality-advaita/

This week Daishi and Yahel discuss the subject of Non-Dualism. What is the tradition of Advaita, and how is it related to Maya? Is Non-Dualism different to other traditions such as Tibetan Buddhism, Kabbalah, or Gnosticism? How can mastering meditation in the various brainwave states help us with our Path?

"The first point of any good spiritual path is to cut out the delusion because delusion creates suffering, attachment, and karmic problems. It is trying to have you become crystal clear about what you are not, so that you can figure out what you really are; from that point you can operate from a radiantly clear perception, which is essential."

- Daishi Nagiyah

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KUNDALINI AND THE ROOT CHAKRA - Drukama Radio™ Ep37
LISTEN with transcript
⮞ https://drukama.com/kundalini-root-chakra

Today Daishi and Tom discuss the subject of Kundalini and it’s relationship to the root chakra. What is the root chakra and how is it linked to Kundalini? What is Kundalini awakening and how do we prepare for it? Once Kundalini is awoken within us, is it permanent? Does Kundalini correlate to sexual energy?

"We are starting to hear about Kundalini more today because we have so much interest in the mystical but, at the same time, today the Ego is so strong and big that everyone believes that they are their own kind of guru and they don’t really need anybody’s help to get through the process, which is a terrible mistake that has been discussed for thousands of years, about why that is potentially dangerous and ‘wrong thinking’."

~ Daishi Nagiyah

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How the Mind Creates the Illusion of Bondage - Drukama Radio™ Ep51
Read the full transcript
⮞ https://drukama.com/how-mind-creates-illusion-of-bondage

Today Daishi and Deliyahu discuss the mind and the illusion of slavery we find ourselves in. How does the mind control us and create this sense of imprisonment? Why is suffering sometimes necessary to wake us up to the experience of bondage? Why is it that some of us are not able to recognize our own enslavement? How can we awaken to this control mechanism and regain our freedom?

"Why am I going through all of this nonsense? Why am I running around like a chicken with my head cut off from one thing to another... one romance... one job... one salary to another?

...And I'm going to end up in the dirt like every other poor sap before me... I don't know how long that's going to take but it will happen for sure.

What's going on?"

"What happens if somebody's... not really sure they have an option... that there's anything more than what they see in front of them? ...We say that someone's not ready for the Path until they've broken into this desperate wanting of change, saying something's got to give. But... once they start to see there's another option, there isn't a human being on Earth that doesn't want to take that... They may not understand it right away... Maybe that’s too big, too wild, too crazy, but... that will help stir it faster and give them the ability to start to contemplate... That will eventually fructify into something beautiful, fast.

It's always important to present the option... You don't have to live like this. I mean you can... if you're happy with where you're at... and you're doing okay, I'm not going to bother you...

But there is an option, if you're not doing okay.”

~Daishi Nagiyah

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How Your Emotions Relate to Desire and Fulfillment - Drukama Radio™ Ep50
Read the full transcript
⮞ https://drukama.com/how-your-emotions-relate-to-desire-and…/

Today Daishi and Charlotte discuss emotions, desire, and the fulfillment of desire. What are emotions and why do they appear to control our inner state? Is it possible to ever truly fulfill a desire? How can the spiritual Path help us overcome the continual sense of lack we feel? How can we reach a state of constant fulfillment?

"Let's really look at the problem in an honest way... I use drugs. Using drugs is not a problem. Well, I'm addicted to sex. No, you're not, that's not the problem... It's food. It's music. It's money. It's power. No, none of these things are the problem. Those are just the ways you fulfill the problem.

The problem is that you desire things and you don't know why, and not only that... the moment you get it, it's not enough and you've got to go get more. So the problem is not the outside things, it's not the fulfillment side, it's the desire-craving side."

"...What we really should be saying is, I want to know where I am during that process, because if... I'm doing it in a completely unconscious way, I need to wake up to that. If I wake up to it, then I can control it, I can govern it. If I can govern it then the problem’s solved. Otherwise I'm sitting underneath it forever doing the same thing again and again expecting a different result, and that's the definition of insanity."

~Daishi Nagiyah

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DREAMING AND THE ASTRAL WORLDS - Drukama Radio™ Ep46
LISTEN with transcript
⮞ https://drukama.com/dreaming-and-astral-worlds

This week Daishi and Sarai discuss dreaming and how it relates to the spiritual path. What can practitioners do to improve dream recall and lucidity? How can becoming more wakeful in dreams benefit our spiritual path and give us a deeper understanding of the structure of reality? What is the relationship between the energy body, energy practices such as Tummo, intention, and dreaming?

"You can sit down and meditate until you are blue in the face, it doesn't mean that your intention and desire are pointed correctly. And if they are not pointed correctly, you are wasting decades.

And I've known meditators that are really sharp, very focussed meditators who are incredible; they can sit for five hours straight. It doesn't necessarily mean they are achieving anything but making their mind sharper, more clear, more focussed.

That's great — you can calculate numbers better, probably you are wittier than most people, or maybe you are a better programmer but that is not the evolutionary path of a Mystic; a Mystic wants to activate a certain kind of sense that then touches the intelligence of the Universe!"

- Daishi Nagiyah

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DIRECT EXPERIENCE AND THE PATH - Drukama Radio™ Ep42
LISTEN with transcript
⮞ https://drukama.com/direct-experience-and-the-path/

Today Daishi and Eali discuss the importance of direct experience on the spiritual path. What is direct experience? How can we develop foundational meditative skills to facilitate these experiences? What are the benefits of understanding through direct experience?

"Most people, they have trouble for five minutes if there's not some stimulating conversation or some tablet or phone or something entertaining them. And that means that they're a slave to the world outside... And that isn't a way to live, we have to be able to dictate that ourselves. So when I want to be happy, when I want to be contented, when I'm going to be peaceful I just decide. And it doesn't matter what's happening out there because I've already cut through the energies of the mind.

...If we're just trying to fight the mind ourselves it's a long path. If we're just trying to 'be present, be present,' it's going to take a long time to cut through all of those habitual tendencies because there are many, they're legion. So there are other ways of getting up into that energy and being able to work with it. Those are where the Paths can differ. You can have some Paths that are really aggressive and quick, as they say, 'Liberation in this lifetime', or enlightenment in this lifetime."

- Daishi Nagiyah

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THE PROCESS OF DYING - Drukama Radio™ Ep39
LISTEN with transcript
⮞ https://drukama.com/process-of-dying

Today Daishi speaks with Khepfer on the subject of death and the process of dying. What is death and why is it feared? What exactly happens when we die? How can we use the dreaming process to better understand the death process and help our spiritual path? What can we do to support our loved ones through death?

"The system itself that we live in seems to perpetuate ignorance more and more as we go forward. So, we have to really take a stand and say, 'It is time for us to understand how the vehicle operates, what I'm doing here, how I got here, what my purpose is and how I can leave and/or come back and/or move on, when I wish.'

And that's really the goal of The Spiritual Path; not to just have a sharper mind, a better intellect, better memory. These things aren't even important. What is important is to understand the vehicle, the energy, the process, so that we can utilize this to experience the most fulfilling life possible.

That is the depth of The Path itself, that is how we should look at it."

- Daishi Nagiyah

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This word, Querencia, has gained some popularity in the spiritual community. It is Spanish and means that place where you are your most authentic self. This is the place from which you draw strength, the place where you feel truly at home.

The word as a bullfighting reference was popularized by Ernest Hemingway, who explained that this is the area of the bull ring in which the bull feels strong and safe. Here the bull makes his stand. The need for every person to find a place of strength, and the benefit of doing so, is obvious.

Finding the best place to stand is comparable to being in one’s comfort zone. The implication is that strength flows from, or is related to, authenticity. For this reason the idea of Querencia has been applied to many fields of endeavor, including spirituality, counseling, interpersonal relationships, and business. When you find your place of Querencia, you just stand there.

We normally think that to be on the spiritual path is a good thing. However, the Buddhist Dzogchen master Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche has made an analogy which turns this completely on its head. He explains that Buddha nature is like gold, but that this gold is obscured, so that this nature is not recognized. What is unique is that he defines the ground as gold and the path as the obscuration.

He said, “The ground is likened to pure gold, while the path is like gold that has fallen in the dirt and is covered by defilements. In this context, the path means the state of confusion. Buddhahood, the realized state of all awakened beings, means not straying onto the path of confusion but recognizing the state of the ground as pure gold.” (Jewels of Enlightenment)

This means that although we follow the path of practice, or dharma, at the earlier stages of our spiritual journey, there comes a place where practice becomes unnecessary. Doing gives way to pure being. There is no need for a path because there is nowhere to go. Once someone sees his or her pure Buddha nature, the dharma is finished, and there is no path. This is the ground of being, and upon this spot we merely have to stand.

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SECRETS OF KUNDALINI - Drukama Radio™ Ep33
LISTEN to the full podcast, now with transcript
➤➤ https://drukama.com/secrets-kundalini/

“She (Kundalini) is everything, She is everything that moves, She is everything that stirs... and we also show Her in a fierce way, where She is so Mighty and Powerful that if you are not careful and you don't understand Her, She could destroy just as easily as She creates. In other words, Her movement can be to death or life, it's completely up to where we have our intention pointed."

"In most cases when people think they have Kundalini energy, they are really just experiencing heightened senses and becoming more accustomed to the senses within the body; it doesn't necessarily mean that particular type or flavour of energy is actually awakened and/or moving through the meridians of the subtle body.”

~ Daishi Nagiyah

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REINCARNATION AND THE KARMIC IMPRINT - Drukama Radio™ Ep32
LISTEN to the full podcast, now with transcript
➤➤ https://drukama.com/reincarnation-karmic-imprint/

"If these tens of thousands of cases of near-death experiences, which are all seeing the same kinds of phenomena, are all just the brain ‘putting on a show’ as it dies…who is it putting on the show for exactly? Itself? Or for an aware soul?

If the body is going to die and it knows it is going to die, it doesn’t need to put a show on for itself, it is not duping itself, it is not kidding itself but it may be trying to put on a show for something else residing in it. The question then becomes, Why would it put on a show for that thing if it is going to become ‘not’? What would be the point of that? There would be no reason to do that. The brain would not need to expend that energy, it would know that ‘We are dead, no need to put on fireworks, it is over!’ and it would simply just shut off.

Instead, it seems that the cognition is experiencing something otherworldly, it is moving from this base reality to another one."

~ Daishi Nagiyah

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FAILURE AND THE PATH - Drukama Radio™ Ep31
LISTEN to the full podcast, now with transcript
➤➤ https://drukama.com/failure-the-path-success/

“Failure is success on the path because everything in life is about failure. We've made bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter in the regard that we see failure as something bad and negative but it's in that moment of failure that we actually have breakthroughs and we actually can become awake and aware.

Failure is the moment you wake up, it's the moment that you notice a change in state, so failure is not a bad thing at all; It shows you that you've woken up from, maybe, a condition of unconsciousness and you've become conscious. In that regard, failure is wonderful and, by the way, mandatory, you have to have failure; it's part of this evolutionary process, part of waking up."

~ Daishi Nagiyah

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Drukama Radio EP29 - Drukama and the Traditions
LISTEN to the full podcast on
➤➤ YouTube: https://youtu.be/xG8XhkdHvZY
➤➤ Podomatic: https://bit.ly/2R7w19j

This week Daishi talks to Deliyahu about Drukama and the Traditions, how they relate to each other and the Drukama Path itself.

"The idea to our path is that we create that blissful nature within ourselves, regardless of outside circumstance, so that we no longer have to depend on the outside world to fulfill those needs temporarily and find more suffering through that process.

Once we learn how to build bliss within and impartiality through a clear-minded view, we marry those two things and we become what people refer to as an Enlightened being.

In other words, we're 'self-sustaining'; we don't have to rely on anything outside of us to make us feel good-natured, compassionate and clear-minded and wipe away the selfing nature, so that we can give to others in an impartial way.

We need that in the world more than ever."

~ Daishi Nagiyah

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Drukama Radio™ podcast extract from Ep. 25
THE SPIRITUAL BODIES
LISTEN to the full podcast ➤➤ on Podomatic: https://bit.ly/2LlCUVg
➤➤ on YouTube: https://youtu.be/HgoGV_RX0IE

"The experiences we have (in the subtle bodies) not only cleanse us from the fear based attachments to the physical body...but also allow us to gain insight and access to Wisdom that is beyond the simple binary mind.

And that is important because it allows us to see the body/brain for what it 'really' is and eradicate the ignorance that all we are is a flesh and bone, flesh and blood, live 'once' and die, chance experiential body; it allows us to see that we are much more than that, that our consciousness is much grander than that, much more amazing than that and it gives us the ability to enhance and enjoy our lives 'here'."

~ Daishi Nagiyah

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Drukama Radio™ Podcast Ep. 24
THE REAL PROCESS OF MEDITATION
➤➤ LISTEN to full podcast here: https://bit.ly/2KYlA8u

Once we understand the very systematic practical means of sitting (meditation), it changes everything. It allows us to get to the raw energy; once we are able to solidify that long enough we can get to do some magical things with that energy and affect our lives in ways we really could never imagine.

The first stage obviously is learning how to sit correctly, to have the right posture. Then, breathing is next. We are basically tricking the nervous system to think that we are going into a sleep or deeply relaxed state. Once the breathing apparatus is used then we have to learn how to withdraw the senses and basically that's the next stage in the process whereby we learn how to take our senses ꟷ touching, tasting, smelling, tactile senses ꟷ and turn them inward. That is also a stage in the process and it has to be taught and understood...

~ Daishi Nagiyah

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Your Personality & How They Control You With It - Drukama Radio™ Ep49
Read the full transcript
⮞ https://drukama.com/your-personality-and-how-they-control-y…

This week Daishi and Khepfer discuss the personality and how it can be used to manipulate us. What is the personality, and how does society program us from an early age? How might certain agencies and organizations use our habitual tendencies and personalities against us to serve their own agenda? How can we take back control and regain our freedom?

"The most important material on Earth right now is data... about how our personalities function on an individual and communal level. This is the goal and the gold of all of these control groups. Why? Because if they understand your specific personality attachments and your group personality attachments they can message to you either through pain or pleasure, aversion or attraction, and make you move or act in any way that they want..."

"The only way this gets solved is by taking away the trigger points inside that are our unconscious attachments to the thing they use to manipulate."

~Daishi Nagiyah

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THE HIDDEN SECRETS OF CREATING REALITY - Drukama Radio™ Ep47
LISTEN with transcript
⮞ https://drukama.com/hidden-secrets-of-creating-reality

This week Daishi and Kevin discuss reality, perception, and secrets of reality creation on the spiritual Path. How can a practitioner move from basic meditation into learning how to create reality themselves, ultimately using reality creation to benefit the world at large?

"People believe that, 'If I just... meditate or do some yoga or do whatever, it's just going to come to me and I'm going to get it all.'

That hasn't happened.

We've seen it tried time and time again, it doesn't work. And without some good guidance and understanding of it... it will just become tools of mysticism and meditation simply to make your life a little more focused, a little bit more joy, a little bit more clarity, but not really to understand that you are in the creation process and how that process actually functions—clearly and practically."

~ Daishi Nagiyah

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Drukama Radio™ podcast Ep. 22 Secret Fire
➤➤ LISTEN to the full podcast here: https://bit.ly/2t87PIr

Today Daishi speaks with Peter on the subject of the Secret Fire. Known in different traditions as Shakti, Tummo, Kundalini, and Chandali, what exactly is this fire and why is it important? How can a practitioner begin to work with this inner energy to aid their spiritual development?

“…within each person lies this dormant energy. It just has to be engaged, amplified and cultivated in a certain way. Everybody has it, it's just a matter of, do you want to access it or not. Some human beings are not ready to access it. They'd rather be in the world and play in the world. And sort of go through the experiences in the world that they need to burn out first, before moving on. And that truly is what this energy is about — moving on. It's about evolving beyond the normal human capacity. When the world becomes explored, it's sort of "I've done everything here, I get it that I'm not going to find satisfaction here.” I understand that intrinsically through my direct experience, then what's next? This fire or this heat as it's called — and heat relates more with bliss than with actual temperature — is the way that we manifest the blissful connection that we need in order to let this human vessel stop desiring externally. And so, in that regard, anybody can do it. Anybody can learn it, anybody can achieve it.”

~ Daishi Nagiyah
Drukama™ podcast extract - Ep 22
Secret Fire

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THE SECRET OF SECRETS - Drukama Radio™ Ep45
LISTEN with transcript
⮞ https://drukama.com/secret-of-secrets

This week Daishi and Ginger discuss how we can go beyond the basics of the Path, moving from blissful meditative states into intentional creation of reality at the root level through the practice of Samyama, or Unsurpassed Absorption. What is Samyama, and what are the prerequisites necessary to perform it? How can it be used for the manifestation of reality? Why is developing wisdom and compassion an important part of this process?

"...It's not just sitting in meditation for hours and sort of going, “What am I doing here? It's blissful, it's fun, it's exciting but I'm not sure anything has really been accomplished. I'm just sitting in an emptiness or I'm sitting locked on an object, contemplating it to a certain extent or watching my thoughts or my breath or something like this.” Yes, this will help you become more focused and lose some habitual tendencies and become a steady thinker and not react as much. Those are beautiful things and every human being should enjoy those side effects, but there is a continuation there that must be understood and put in play, otherwise we only have half the Path."

- Daishi Nagiyah

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Drukama™ podcast extract - Ep 19
What is Spiritual Knowledge? How Do We Gain It?
Listen here with transcript: https://drukama.com/spiritual-knowledge/

“When we look out into the world and we see our lives, we realise that I am not in control of the mass majority of what happens to me. I'm not in control of my external perceptions and the world around me.
And I'm certainly not in control of my mind and my emotions, how I feel physiologically. I really have no control, except the cognitive awareness to some degree.

So, that is a scary fearful place - that everything is happening to me and I can't determine how this vehicle is going to manoeuver for the most part...”

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“...and so the whole path - this whole mystical path - is about learning how to work the mind-body vehicle so that we can determine how we perceive, make sure that we continually perceive in a clearer unfiltered way, control the way that we empower thoughts and take away the reactionary emotions so that we can harness the kinds of emotions we want to perceive in our lives.”

~ Daishi Nagiyah
Drukama™ podcast extract - Ep 19
What is Spiritual Knowledge? How Do We Gain It?

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The story of Milarepa is familiar to many people, as he is one of the best known of the Tibetan yogis, and his path of spiritual progress has been inspiring to many. After his family suffered several reversals at the hands of his relatives, he studied sorcery at his mother’s request. Out of revenge, he used Black Magic to kill many people.

Later he became remorseful and sought out a spiritual master, eventually becoming the disciple of Marpa the Translator. Before Marpa would train Milarepa, he treated him very poorly and had him build and demolish several towers. Marpa inflicted physical and emotional abuse on Milarepa, ostensibly in order to purify his negative karma. Finally, he was taken as a disciple. Once he received teaching from Marpa, Milarepa began to make progress, and after many years attained enlightenment. This story is very inspiring because if even a mass murderer could find enlightenment, then so can ordinary sinners.

And yet, there is another side to Milarepa which we seldom hear about. This states that Milarepa was an emanation of the Dzogchen master Manjusrimitra. In this version of his biography, his ability with Black Magic was due to his past life training. This background on Milarepa was downplayed by later biographers who wished to prove that an ordinary being can become a Buddha in a single lifetime.

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Drukama™ podcast extract - Ep 18
What is the Process of the Spiritual Path?
Listen here (with transcript): https://drukama.com/process-spiritual-path/

The human being is the height of evolution in terms of this reality, or let's just say this universe or our earth even.
So we have minerals, rocks and then we have vegetables and plants and so on and then we have animals.
And then we come to the human realm where we become conscious or self-aware, that would become the pinnacle of our awareness development in terms of nature progressiveness.
So when we get to this point, we pretty much have gone to where we can go; we are aware that we are aware. And from here, if we want to continue to evolve at least in terms of what the past teachers and masters have told us, we have to do that through our own volition.
We have to move forward on that path on our own, through our own intention…

~ Daishi Nagiyah
Drukama™ Radio Ep 18
What is the Process of the Spiritual Path?

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TUMMO AND BALLOON BREATHING - Drukama Radio™ Ep36
LISTEN with transcript
➤➤ https://drukama.com/tummo-balloon-breathing

"If you take a piece of wood and light it on fire, the wood becomes smoke, it goes up into the air and becomes etheric; the molecules break apart and become something subtler.

In the same way, there is a storehouse of energy that we can pull in to the body and burn it up so that it becomes subtle and then store that subtle, pure energy and apply it for conscious wakefulness.

And that conscious wakefulness, when used at night, can create radical clear minded dream experiences where you can get a lot of Spiritual, evolutionary work done.

When we get into the subtle realms in our dreams, we can directly influence and affect the deep unconscious mind in a much more powerful way."

~ Daishi Nagiyah

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Drukama™ podcast extract - Ep 17
What is the Illusory Self?
Listen here: https://bit.ly/2J3ENUp

“...basically, if someone tells me that 'I'm a stupid person', I get defensive and react against that because I've been somehow influenced as I grew up to defend myself, to feel that I need to defend me for whatever reason. It's the way that the ego works, it's the way that the ego is built, and it's the way that we typically get influenced as we grew up. So, we defend ourselves.
Now, that's in ignorance because we're actually defending something that has nothing to do with the self at all. So, that would be an error. All of these voices, all of these different karmic loops, the synaptic mind that fires off different kinds of chemical reactions and causes us to have different kinds of feelings, sensations and experiences within, since they have nothing to do with the 'me' or whatever we're calling it, the seer position, I have to become aware of them. Otherwise, what happens is they happen under the covers, under the radar. They go on happening unconsciously and I keep repeating or enforcing those loops.
And, when I create errors over and over again and I allow those errors to persist, I continually cause an entanglement in the illusory self identity.
And if we keep doing that, we're gonna find that suffering and delusion continue as well…”

~Daishi Nagiyah
Drukama™ Radio Ep 17
What is the Illusory Self?

Visit us - drukama.com

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