https://lifeitself.org/podcast/a-scientific-approach-to-awakening-and-fundamental-wellbeing-part-2-jeffery-martin

I think the world is a better place where this information is freely available, so this is a DIY version of the Finders Course. I’ve limited this post to the techniques contained in the course and the protocol they are unveiled in for brevity sake, and because that is the information not widely available. If you want to learn more about how the course was developed and the theory behind it, it’s all over their marketing material. These are OK places to start if you want to know more about that.

Interview 1 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSrquiuqurY

Interview 2 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Wt9cBJX8Ww

There’s also the website containing papers published by Jeffery Martin, though I have not found it useful due to not being able to access the raw data in the studies.

Premises of the Finders Course

• Enlightenment (renamed persistent non-symbolic experience by Jeffery) can be gotten quickly by anyone with little experience.

• Enlightenment experiences cluster into 4 main locations described here.

• It’s better to know more theory than less.

• Some methods are broadly more effective than others.

• Some methods fit certain people better at different stages of practice. Find your ‘fit’ to make the fastest progress. Your fit may change over time.

• The Dark Night can be avoided with Positive Pyschology.

• The structure of your practice – the order and timing – of your practice massively influences the progress you make.

Techniques

First 6-7 practices are meant to provide the most ‘bang for your buck’, they form the bulk of your practice. Jeffery calls these gold standard practices. Other techniques are supplementary.

Main Techniques – “Gold Standard”

1) Breath Focus

AKA Anapanasati. Focused on primarily in the first 2 weeks.

2) Vipassana-style body scanning (Goenka)

Goenka is a very widespread style of Vipassana. You can learn this pretty much anywhere for free.

Wiki - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S._N._Goenka

Official Site - https://www.dhamma.org/

3) Mantra

Jeffery’s position is that all traditions that teach Mantra Meditation (TM, Christian, Buddhist, Mandala etc.) are pretty much the same in terms of results including those that visualise using mandala’s. The one that is taught in the course though is the Ascension method which is a spinoff of Transcendental Meditation.

Official Site - https://www.thebrightpath.com/

There isn't much information about the techniques on the official site, so here are a few guides,

Guidebook PDF

[Official Youtube] (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkKr4B0ZdwJd2q9y1jHpMPg)

[List of the Mantras used in Ascension] (https://dorkareyes.blogspot.com.au/2010/01/ishayas-techniques.html)

4) Aware of Awareness

This one is defined a little more loosely, and it’s not clear how they practice. It’s about Looking at Awareness as sort of an entity unto itself. This is a description,

In the next practice, we turn our attention from what we are aware of to awareness itself. This something we have never thought to do in our lives. It is clear there must be awareness for us to be aware, but we have never turned our attention to the direct experience of this awareness. In this practice, this is exactly what we do. It is a very different kind of looking then we are used to. We have been conditioned to experience life as a subject looking at an object, me and the world. Now we are asked to turn our attention around to the subject itself, the one who is seeing. You might say this is more the experience of “being” than it is of seeing. In this practice, being IS the seeing.”

There’s more description in this video. As far as the tradition this comes from, it seems related to the teachings of Ramana Maharsi. Explore this site if you’re interested in learning more about what he taught on this topic.

There are also the ‘Group Awareness’ sessions where you sit around in a google hangout and take turns describing how awareness is appearing to you in this moment. They are a little strange, so I’ll just let you watch the videos. First two contain some explanation of the technique

[Removed for privacy concerns.]

5) Actualism

A practice based on tuning into the inherent enjoyment of this moment of being alive. This is a new tradition relatively speaking created by an Australian named Richard. Lots of information out there on the practice.

a) [Some thoughts from Daniel Ingram who practiced the method for a while] (http://www.dharmaoverground.org/dharma-wiki/-/wiki/Main/Daniel+on+Actualism) , More Thoughts

b) A wiki dedicated to the practice

c) This audio from Tarin Greco (a past claimant of Actual Freedom) and Daniel Ingram has been the most helpful personally in understanding the practice -

The Official Actual Freedom Website is actually the last place I recommend because of the weird layout, difficulty parsing the information there and general bizarreness, but it’s here if you want to take a look - http://www.actualfreedom.com.au/

6) Direct Inquiry (AKA Self-inquiry or Non-Duality)

From the Advaita Vedanta tradition essentialy. Fred Davis is the teacher on the course for this method. He describes himself as the “clean up hitter” for the course, for people that have had an awakening experience he attempts to bring them into a broader deeper awakening, but also to ferret out the ones who have not woken up yet and wake them up.

This is his website - http://awakeningclaritynow.com/

And his youtube - https://www.youtube.com/user/fredsdavis/videos?view=0&sort=p&flow=grid

7) Mindfulness

The method is called mindfulness in the course itself – which could mean anything. The actual technique used is noting – derived from the Mahasi Tradition of Vipassana. Like Goenka one of the two most common forms of Vipassana and taught in many different places for free. Jeffery describes the goal as being aware of the contents of the mind i.e. What is the nature of my thoughts?

This is the traditional way it’s taught - http://www.saddhamma.org/pdfs/mahasi-practical-insight-meditation.pdf

They call the above ‘personal noting’ but in addition to that and something of a modern innovation is that social noting is also taught. Kenneth Folk who developed the technique gives the best description - http://kennethfolkdharma.com/2013/06/1571/ . In the course the social noting is done in pairs (called dyadic noting) or in groups of 3+.

Other Techniques (Non "Gold Standard")

These are introduced in addition to the main practices, some as useful in and of themselves and some as useful supportive practices. There are meant to be 26 techniques in the official course all together, and by my assessment there are 17-24 included in this post depending on how you count them, so the bulk is here.

Headless Way

Started by Douglas Harding. Observing that you cannot see your own head in visual experience.

Harding's Book - https://www.amazon.com/Having-No-Head-Rediscovery-Obvious/dp/1878019198

Official Site - http://www.headless.org/experiments.htm

Cancel Cancel Technique

Had trouble finding information about this one, but I suspect this is it. Something similar I’ve come across is where Shinzen Young has a video which I can’t find right now where he describes a style of meditation where monks will loudly shout ‘FEH’ or something pronounced similarly to interrupt thoughts. If someone can remember which video Shinzen says that in or the style of meditation that is let me know.

Sedona Method

New Age self-administered psychotherapy, claiming to release you from emotional baggage and bring you prosperity. It was created by Lester Levenson after a heart attack in 1952. He invented the method and apparently lived another forty-two years until his death in 1994, free of cares. The current manifestation is courtesy of his student Hale Dwoskin, CEO of Sedona Training Associates; it was originally called Freedom Now, until it was renamed with the assistance of New Age marketer Christopher John Payne. It closely resembles The Secret, a comparison they are not fond of.

Official Website - http://www.sedona.com/home.asp

To save you $400 worth of CD’s – this is the method.

Step 1: Focus on an issue you would like to feel better about.

Step 2: Ask yourself one of the following questions: Could I let this feeling go? Could I allow this feeling to be here? Could I welcome these feelings?

Step 3: Ask yourself the basic question: Would I? Am I willing to let go?

Step 4: Ask yourself this simpler question: When?

Lester Levenson Love Technique

Same guy as Sedona Method above. Technique is straightforward,

Step 1: Whenever you have a non-loving feeling that you want to release, simply ask yourself: "Could I change this feeling to love?"

Step 2: When you answer "yes," the non-loving feeling will start to go.

More details are available: [1] (https://membershipsitestuff.s3.amazonaws.com/livinglove/workbook/Living%20Love%20Online%20Seminar%20Workbook.pdf), [2] (https://trans4mind.com/counterpoint/index-communication-relationships/levinson.shtml)

Eraser Method

The participants describe a method they call the “Eraser Method”. I suspect this this might actually be Goenka-style body scanning from the descriptions, but I’m not sure so I’ve included it here as a separate thing because it is done very often during the course.

Here are a couple of descriptions from participants,

“One of the exercises that was the most powerful for me was something called the eraser method, which is breathing and just being aware. We were told to do it for 30 minutes a day — be in contact with your body from your toes to your head, and then back down again. There were different ways of doing it. One that was very strong for me was focusing attention on my body up and down, while smiling at the same time. Wow, to feel yourself having a smile…! It’s really powerful, and in the beginning not easy. I feel it changes something inside of myself when I do that.”

“The Eraser method. I mean it’s so powerful to just get rid of all of that conditioning. Often I could see it like lifting out of my tissue, almost like a cloud and float away. I can actually feel it in a place in my body, often in my heart. It’s almost as if that conditioning is holding parts of us prisoner. It’s amazing to experience that and just watch it go.”

Metta

Also called [loving kindness] (http://ggia.berkeley.edu/practice/loving_kindness_meditation).

Speculative Techniques

I’ve seen the following mentioned, but it’s not clear whether they are officially part of the course,

Listening to Verses from the Bhagavad Gita being read aloud

Don’t ask me how this is supposed to work. It’s quite odd, just watch.

“Note Gone”

Some of Shinzen Young’s techniques are used in the course and I suspect that this is one of them. Note Gone, focuses on the vanishing of sensations.

A cluster of techniques on Emotion, Emotional Release and Introspection

[Focusing] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focusing)

[Emotional Freedom] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotional_Freedom_Techniques)

[Emotional Release] (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3LV5P7E6JZmH0MEZDGqj5A/playlists)

Inducing Trance states through sound

Irrespective of its usefulness, this is really pretty to listen to - [Semantron Trance] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXj7DLHH9-E). Lots of videos if you google around.

Working with unpleasant music/noise (Sri Yantra)

This is done after one of the practice intensives. I suspect it’s purpose is ‘equanimity practice’ or Shinzen Young might call it trigger practice. Some theory on that here. Sri Yantra is the audio used which is out of print. These are a couple of links for reference but I’m not sure you can access the audio. 1 , 2

Still if you google around there’s lots of music that’s intentionally unpleasant that you can listen to. Try John's Cage or [Sister Waize] (https://archive.org/search.php?query=creator%3A%22Sister%20Waize%22%20realignment) to start.

Neuromore

Official Site - (https://www.neuromore.com/).

They have an app also. The idea is to use sound and visualisation to invoke altered states of consciousness. Still in early days and experimental.

Surprisingly, I have not seen any mention of Choiceless Awareness, Koan Practice or Other Bramaviharic Practices in the Finders Course. All though if I did, it wouldn't be a sampling of the best techniques, so much as a summary of almost every major technique available.

The Positive Pyschology Component of the Protocol

Positive Pyschology is introduced early in the program in the hope that it will mitigate or eliminate the effects of the [Dark Night] (https://shinzenyoung.blogspot.com.au/2011/11/dark-night.html) of meditation. The central positive psychology practices mentioned that the Finders Course uses are Gratitude Practices, Random Acts of Kindness and Forgiveness practices. This is a list of mental health apps from a Finder’s Course adjacent website which may also be integrated to an extent, but maybe not. I think that the course does a really poor job of integrating the literature here, and is woefully inadequate.

If you want to DIY the Finders Course to the letter stick to the above, but if you want to go deeper -

[This is the single best overview of the literature on positive psychology that I know] (http://lesswrong.com/lw/bq0/be_happier/).

[This one is also pretty good] (http://lesswrong.com/lw/4su/how_to_be_happy/).

You could also check out some popular authors in this space.

It’s also worth knowing that positive psychology is [currently experiencing a second wave.] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_wave_positive_pschology)

The Protocol

Week

Goal

Practices

Week 1

Increase Awareness, Raise Wellbeing, Introduce Practices, Positive Psychology Focus

Happiness + Well Being Tracking (survey) begins, Eraser Method Introduced, Goal Setting Exercise Gold Standard: Breath Focus or Goenka Scan

Week 2

PSNE Tracking Begins, Gold Standard: Breath Focus or Goenka Scan

Week 3

Phase in other Practices Develop Ability

Write a Gratitude Letter, Gold Standard: Continue with Goenka, but begin phasing in ‘Aware of Awareness’

Week 4

Random Acts of Kindness, Gold Standard: Continue with Goenka, but begin phasing in ‘Aware of Awareness’

Week 5

Group Awareness Sessions, Gold Standard: Continue with Goenka, but begin phasing in ‘Aware of Awareness’

Week 6

Lester Levenson Love Technique, Gold Standard: Continue with Goenka, but begin phasing in ‘Aware of Awareness’,

Week 7

Experiment and Combine Practices in a ‘Practice Intensive’

As before (Love + Awareness), Gold Standard: Various

Week 8

Practice Intensive Continues

As before (Love + Awareness), Gold Standard: Various

Week 9

Headless Way Session, Gold Standard: ‘Aware of Awareness’

Week 10

Actualism “Unprovoked Happiness”** Introduced/Formalised, Group awareness continues, Gold Standard: Actualism

Week 11

Practice Intensive

Direct Inquiry Introduced/Formalised, Group awarenessontinues, Gold Standard: Direct Inquiry,

Week 12 - 15

Gold Standard: Mantra and Noting

Week 13-15

Personal Noting, Dyadic Noting + Group Subtle Noting Introduced/Formalised Gold Standard: Mantra and Noting

Notes on the Protocol

• To use the same terms the Finders course uses - the protocol is designed to first increase Somatic Awareness (Goenka), then increase Cognitive Awareness (Aware of Awareness) before moving into Symbolic Repetition (Mantra/Mandala) and Cognitive Contents (MindfulnesOn Every Saturday a new video is posted, but before doing the video you do a summary/survey of the week. How do you feel? What has happened to you? How many times a day did you do the different activities? The new video outlines what to do for the next week. After the video groups got together and had a sharing on how things had gone.
• Meditation takes place every day. This must include at least 1 x an hour unbroken block of meditation. It’s unclear if that block is for progress or data collection purposes. Possibly both as Jeffery states that the best results happen after 45 minutes. 1.5 hours a day at the start of the course. Week 3 increases to 2-2.5 Hours a day. You can stay at this level but people are encouraged to increase it to 3 hours a day.
• Erasure Method is done almost every week.
• To discover which method fits or aligns with you use this diagnostic. Alignment = increases in well-being, better emotional regulation, less reactivity, less likely to be drawn into thoughts, quieting of inner critical voice, fewer memories from past with less charge too.
• One week is long enough to know if you align with a method. If you're favourite method stops working, stick with it for another two weeks, then switch out and try something else.
• Sometimes a composite of methods might be best, experiment and see what works.

The Tech Side of the Finders Course

Not much to say about this. Most of the gadgets are used to measure your heart rate, EEG data and GSR for their results, rather than to enhance practice. Using technology to enhance practice. Jeffery's sites on tech 1, 2.

To be honest these all seem underwhelming. For those interested this is the best overview of what is available from friends of Jeffery in terms of ‘Enlightenment Tech’ that improves your practice - http://www.cohack.life/posts/consciousness-hacking-101/

There are a couple of apps used in the course, Sensie + Neuromore.

https://www.reddit.com/r/streamentry/comments/62ev8b/community_the_finders_course_techniques_and/

https://www.reddit.com/r/streamentry/comments/b7sz3b/community_regarding_the_finders_course/

https://www.reddit.com/r/streamentry/comments/604p5i/practice_are_you_currently_doing_or_have_you_done/

https://royprize.com/2021/09/02/universal-principles-the-qualities-of-awareness/

https://www.nonsymbolic.org/transition-stories/

Here is a list of all of the methods mentioned I gathered from watching most of the testimonials and webinars:

• The Ishayas' Ascension Technique
• Jeffrey Thompson's Sri Yantra Audio Track
• The Eraser Technique
• The Headless Way
• Lester Levenson's Forgiveness Technique
• Sperry Andrews' Group Awareness Method
• Authentic Happiness (Martin Seligman book)
• Pure Consciousness Experience / Actual Freedom
• The Nonduality Method (I am guessing this refers to the method taught by the Nonduality Institute?)

Also some of the Positive Psychology authors he recommends are:

• Tal Ben-Shahar
• Sonja Lyubomirsky
• Richard Wiseman
• Martin Seligman

Daily time commitment is 2-3 hours/day. Here's my take from a few months ago on what makes the course so successful:

• the timing and sequence of insight practices
• the practice time requirements
• the group activities
• the sequence of positive psychology techniques to prime the mind for awakening and help prevent a dark night
• the knowledge that you are part of a larger course/experiment (which helps keep you from skipping activities when you might be tempted to slack off for a day or two)
• having someone available to answer your questions by email, or not answer your questions if past experience has shown that there's no benefit in having that question answered

https://happiness-beyond-thought.com/

https://www.youtube.com/user/gudakesha7

https://happiness-beyond-thought.com/downloads

Over 7+ years the Finders Course helped over 1,000 people to transition to Fundamental Wellbeing.

However, the Finders Course program had one major issue. It took about 3 hours per day for 4-months, which was simply too much time for the average person to be able to use it. It also cost around $3000US.

In 2020 we took everything that we learned from the original Finders Course experiments and began a new series of experiments.

We created a three part modular program, involving:

1. The 45 Days to Awakening Challenge (6-weeks, $497US). In a series of initial experiments involving over 200 people, approximately 65% of them transitioned to Fundamental Wellbeing (vs 70% for the 4-month Finders Course) using this protocol. You can read a paper on it here.
2. For the roughly 35% of people who don't transition with the 45 Days to Awakening Challenge protocol, we created and tested a second protocol (included with the program, "Another 45 Days"). Roughly a half of people who complete Another 45 Days transition, raising the total for both programs to around 80%!
3. For the remaining 23% of people, we have a third protocol that involves either individual or group coaching. Simply put, we've found that if you' aren't one of the ~77% of people who transition with the 45 Days to Awakening Challenge and Another 45 Days, it's most likely for one of two reasons. First, you might have a belief that is holding you back, and second you might have some trauma in your life history that is preventing your progress. Our third protocol involves having 1-3 sessions with our research center's senior psychologist, which nearly everyone leaves in Fundamental Wellbeing.

For a long time, there was nothing even close to the success of the Finders Course protocol. Though costly and time intensive, it's 70% success rate was unrivaled in modern times, and maybe even throughout history.

Now, something even more effective, less time consuming and highly affordable has been discovered. Over 1800 people used it in the first 12 months alone. It worked for them, and it will work well for you. You can take it online, from anywhere in the world.

https://finderscourse.com/press/10.1.14-Third-FC-Announced-press-release.pdf

https://finderscourse.com/press/11.27.14-Second-FC-Results-press-release.pdf

https://finderscourse.com/press/7.1.14-Second-FC-Announced-press-release.pdf

https://finderscourse.com/press/1.01.14-FC-press-release.pdf

https://finderscourse.com/press/10.1.14-Willow-FC-press-release.pdf

https://nonsymbolic.org/PrePrintDraft--Effects-of-Two-Online-Positive-Psychology-and-Meditation-Programs-on-Persistent-Self-Transcendence.pdf?seg_id=b6ea694f88b6cd310d7063896a1c44ff.3464.1606918752060

The Finders Audiobook

https://medium.com/@usmanzafar8000/30-fundamental-wellbeing-and-nourishment-tips-for-a-dynamic-life-5ebb1991d59d

https://smile.mykajabi.com/resource_redirect/offers/PB3RbCH2

https://perfectlyokay.org/

https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/PGv9THs68ArPur7yP/meditation-course-claims-65-enlightenment-rate-my-review

https://www.reddit.com/r/streamentry/comments/62ev8b/community_the_finders_course_techniques_and/

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/me9FSqxQ8q63ihdia/meditation-course-claims-65-enlightenment-rate-my-review

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqECcEiMLaTpV2AMkQjd_LIA8fVDQBpz9&si=ebqB2DQ4B763YEEE

deepening into various levels fundamental wellbeing.

To learn more about Rastal, please visit:
https://ConsciousCuriosity.cc

Other sites mentioned in this episode:

The Fundamental Wellbeing Foundation
https://fundamentalwellbeing.foundation/

Jeffery Martin, The Finders Course, etc.:
https://drjefferymartin.com/
https://www.nonsymbolic.org/

The Finders book:
https://www.amazon.com/Finders-Dr-Jeffery-Martin/dp/1572425563
45 Days to Awakening Course:
https://45daystoawakening.com

https://www.facebook.com/45DaysToAwakening/

https://finderscourse.com/FindersCourseResultsWebinar-1-4-2015--1.pdf

https://finderscourse.com/press/5.20.14-FC-Pilot-Results-press-release.pdf

https://finderscourse.com/press/6.1.14-Willow-FC-press-release.pdf

https://finderscourse.com/Free-Workshop-Terms-2015.pdf

https://fb.watch/tXEE8dsmKf/

https://www.headless.org/english-welcome.htm

A Very Brief Look At Some Data:

The research project has generated a massive amount of data on Fundamental Wellbeing over the last 15 years. It seems appropriate to include a small taste of it for those of you who are interested in it. A great deal more is available on the center’s website (http://nonsymbolic.org). Fundamental Wellbeing is our public "catch-all" term for ways of experiencing the world such as: persistent awakening, nonduality, enlightenment, the peace that passeth understanding, unity consciousness, and hundreds of similar terms and descriptions.

Since 2014 the project has been running a first-of-its-kind experiment known as the Finders Course to collect psychological and physiological data on people before and after their transition to Fundamental Wellbeing. The data from eleven Finders Course experiments have been analyzed (2014-2018). Four hundred and fifty-five participants have successfully completed the program. Of these, three hundred and nineteen (or an incredible 70%) of those who completed it reported a transition to Fundamental Wellbeing. And, a majority of the remaining participants reported at least temporary glimpses of Fundamental Wellbeing during the program.

Of these, three hundred and nineteen (or an incredible 70%) of those who completed it reported a transition to Fundamental Wellbeing. And, a majority of the remaining participants reported at least temporary glimpses of Fundamental Wellbeing during the program.

At this point the program has included people from six continents and dozens of countries, including many who speak English as a second language. Ages have ranged from twenty-one to eighty-one. People came from a wide range of backgrounds and professions. A broad range of gold standard psychology measures was used to collect data from each cohort, including the following:

CES-D: Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale

PERMA: Positive emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning Accomplishment

FEQ: Fordyce Emotions Questionnaire

PSS: Perceived Stress Scale

NEO-FFI: Neuroticism-Extraversion-Openness Five-Factor Inventory

CRQ: Close Relationships Questionnaire

STAI-Y2: State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (Trait Anxiety)

SWLS: Satisfaction with Life Scale

GHS: General Happiness Scale

The table below shows the percentage change for participants who completed the program for several of the major measures. Some measures were rotated in and out over time, so not all measures were given to each participant. If you’re familiar with these measures from other research, the changes will seem huge to you. They are. Overall the program has a massive impact on participant wellbeing. Also note the large drop in the personality trait Neuroticism. Personality traits are supposed to be relatively durable over time, so a drop like this over a four-month program is remarkable. Importantly, all changes are highly statically significant (p < 0.00001).

Percentage of change for participants from beginning of Finder’s Course to completion.

Another way to look at the data is to ask if there is a difference between participants who reported a transition to Fundamental Wellbeing (Fundamental Wellbeing) or not by the end of the program. The no Fundamental Wellbeing, or no or temporary Fundamental Wellbeing, category includes both those who experienced temporary Fundamental Wellbeing as well as no glimpses of Fundamental Wellbeing at all. Recall that most people in this category would have experienced at least some glimpses of Fundamental Wellbeing.

Longitudinal research, including at least one project that spanned decades, have shown that glimpses of Fundamental Wellbeing are often regarded by people as among the most transformative and significant experiences of their lives. In fact, we do see quite remarkable improvements in the no or temporary Fundamental Wellbeing group. However, it is not nearly as profound as changes experienced by those reporting Fundamental Wellbeing.

If a glimpse was as transformative as a full transition to Fundamental Wellbeing, we’d expect to see the two groups being close together in their numbers. In fact, they are quite far apart. It’s very clear that the group that experiences Fundamental Wellbeing is in a very different place in terms of their experience of the world than the group that does not. Importantly, the difference between the groups on every measure is highly statically significant (p < 0.00001).

The “% Difference” column in the table below might seem confusing to you. It is calculated on the difference between the ending score for each group. So, for example, let’s say the total score for a happiness measure was between 0 (miserable) and 100 (gloriously happy). If the Fundamental Wellbeing group’s final score was 100, and the no or temporary Fundamental Wellbeing group’s final score was 50, the Fundamental Wellbeing group would be 100% happier than the no or temporary Fundamental Wellbeing group. You can see a lot more about these types of changes on our academic website, in some of my detailed presentations.

Percentage of change for participants from beginning of Finder’s Course to completion

In addition to using gold-standard psychology questionnaires, participants were also asked some general questions, such as if they had more inner peace after the program. The results from some of those questions are in the table below. These numbers are not the amount of increase, just the number of people that reported more or less of a given experience as a result of the course.

Top percentage categories for all participants who completed course

The two tables below compare the scores for participants who reported transitioning into Fundamental Wellbeing versus those who did not. Although most categories are the same, notice that the lowest score in the Fundamental Wellbeing list is well above the highest score in the no or temporary Fundamental Wellbeing list. Also notice the categories that are different. The Fundamental Wellbeing list includes two categories that the no or temporary Fundamental Wellbeing list does not: Emotional Balance and Contentedness. Conversely, the no or temporary Fundamental Wellbeing list also has two unique categories: Gratitude and Tolerance of Others.

Consider the difference between these four items. Two of them are nearly impossible to will yourself to control: Emotional Balance and Contentedness. Although many people try to force states like these to occur, ultimately these just happen. They really cannot be willed or forced to occur without causing their opposite.

Now consider the other two items from the no or temporary Fundamental Wellbeing list: Gratitude and Tolerance of Others. While wonderful attributes, these can be forced. You can make yourself feel gratitude, for instance. Of course, these can also naturally arise, but in many ways these two items highlight a key difference in Fundamental Wellbeing.

The traits that comprise the psychological experience of Fundamental Wellbeing often just arise with no additional action needed. It is literally a new norm that appears in one’s experience, not something that has to be actively maintained in each moment. It becomes as natural as breathing.

Another thing to note in the tables below is that, even for the highest category in the no or temporary Fundamental Wellbeing list, the Fundamental Wellbeing group has a higher reported percentage. In other words, participants reporting Fundamental Wellbeing at the end of the course also reported higher levels of both Gratitude and Tolerance of Others. Also, notice how rapidly the top scores for the no Fundamental Wellbeing group drop off compared to the participants who reported Fundamental Wellbeing.

Top 5 percentage categories where ‘more is better’ for participants who completed course that reported Fundamental Wellbeing (FW) vs. no Fundamental Wellbeing (nFW)

Top 5 percentage categories where ‘more is better’ for participants who completed course that reported no Fundamental Wellbeing (nFW) vs. Fundamental Wellbeing (FW)

What about items that are ideal to have go down, like negative thoughts and emotions? Here again we see key differences between the two groups, and our previous observations hold up. The lowest score for the Fundamental Wellbeing group is still above the highest score for those who didn’t report experiencing it, there are huge differences in the percentage reporting being in the various categories between the two groups, and so on.

All of the categories are shared between the groups, except for two. A large reduction is reported in internal mental chatter in the Fundamental Wellbeing group but not in the no Fundamental Wellbeing group. As outlined in this book and many of our other materials, the reduction of internal narrative is a key component of Fundamental Wellbeing. The other difference is a reduction in conflict that shows up as one of the categories for those who do not experience Fundamental Wellbeing, though at a far lower level than for those who do.

Top 5 percentage categories where ‘less is better’ for participants who completed course that reported Fundamental Wellbeing (FW) vs. no Fundamental Wellbeing (nFW)

Top 5 percentage categories where ‘less is better’ for participants who completed course that reported no Fundamental Wellbeing (nFW) vs. Fundamental Wellbeing (FW)

We were fortunate to have this project be the first in modern history that could reliably, safely and rapidly produce a transition in such a high percentage of people into Fundamental Wellbeing, and thus allow tracking the before and after changes. No matter how this data is examined, it is clear that these are two groups of people who are experiencing the world through very different internal lenses. Both groups improved significantly across major scientific measures of wellbeing, emotion, personality, and more. In fact, if the experimental protocol had only produced the changes seen in the group that did not report Fundamental Wellbeing, it would have been a smashing success.

As incredible as the changes for all participants were, the results reported by Finders across the entire spectrum were significantly and measurably higher. It’s completely clear which group you’d want to be in, given the opportunity. The good news is that you can be!

The 45 Day Protocol Challenge and Experiment

The Finders Course was truly a phenomenal experiment, and is no longer available. From a practical standpoint, there were a few problems with it. Namely, its length and cost, didn't allow most people to be able to take advantage of it.

However, offering the Finders Course revealed an interesting pattern in its data. It turned out that of the 70% of people who transitioned using it, about 60% transitioned by using only a small subset of its methods. For years we wanted to run another experiment with a modified protocol that focused on this to see how it would go, but we never had the time.

Then the COVID virus hit, and the entire world shut down – including all of our laboratory experiments. Suddenly we found ourselves stuck at home, with plenty of time. It wasn’t long before we identified this as the perfect moment to run this experiment.

We settled on a protocol that compressed the first 10 weeks of the Finders Course protocol down to 6 weeks. Small groups and their meetings were eliminated, and replaced with a cohort wide Facebook group. A number of practices were made optional or eliminated altogether. What remained was an even simpler, 10 session protocol that we initially called the 45 Days to Awakening Challenge and Experiment. The latest and most powerful version of this protocol is the Next Level Challenge.

We sent out a very candid email to our mailing lists, unsure if anyone would even want to try it. Why would a bunch of people who could take the world’s most proven protocol (the Finders Course experimental protocol was still available at that time) want to give this one a try?

Sure, we were subsidizing it so it cost 83% less, and it only took 6 weeks rather than 4 months, but compared to the Finders Course protocol it was unproven.

To our surprise, hundreds of people replied and joined the waiting list to enroll. We were even more surprised at how many of them were former Finders Course participants who just wanted to give it a try, or existing Finders who were sitting at home because of the virus and thought it might be interesting to explore.

About 65% of people who participated in the first few cohorts of the experiment transitioned to Fundamental Wellbeing. This is remarkable when you consider that about 70% of participants transitioned during the 4 month long Finders Course experiments.

The overall results from the 6 week experiment were clear, and in many ways as surprising as the original Finders Course results. They reveal that a 6 week, online, at home program can not only have a remarkable impact on someone’s wellbeing, but also be highly effective at persistently transitioning people to Fundamental Wellbeing.

Our full results from both studies have completed peer review and are forthcoming from the APA's Psychology of Consciousness journal. Academic good practices do not permit us to provide more detail on this website prior to publication, however you can read a pre-print of that paper on our research center's website here.

We've since gone on to improve the protocol even more, with 70-80% of people in a given cohort transitioning within 12 weeks of when they began to use the protocol. In addition, over the past year and a half we've extensively examined what limited the others, and have created optional programs for them that bring the success rate as high as the upper 90%'s. In nearly all cases, there truly seems to be no reason for a seeker not to become a Finder using these research-based protocols.

https://www.reddit.com/r/nonduality/comments/1bk27k3/anyone_have_experience_with_jeffery_martins/

https://skeptiko.com/dr-jeffery-martin-the-finders-course-works-sorry-haters-406/

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/me9FSqxQ8q63ihdia/meditation-course-claims-65-enlightenment-rate-my-review

https://www.reddit.com/r/streamentry/comments/fwvr5n/practice_45_day_version_of_the_finders_course/

https://www.reddit.com/r/streamentry/comments/n49mzf/science_dr_jeffery_martin/

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqECcEiMLaTpV2AMkQjd_LIA8fVDQBpz9&si=ebqB2DQ4B763YEEE

https://henosis.foundation/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/How-To-Reach-Fundamental-Wellbeing-v2.5.pdf

https://s3.amazonaws.com/kajabi-storefronts-production/sites/18817/themes/689414/downloads/nTFv42aaSXiI6UI6JU3b_How-To-Reach-Fundamental-Wellbeing-v2.pdf

For a good description of Jeffrey Martin's Locations of Fundamental Wellbeing:
https://insanebraintrain.blogspot.com/2015/01/jeffrey-martin-locations-of.html
or
The Martin Matrix, a Comprehensive Map of Persistent Non-Symbolic Experience (Enlightenment/Nondual)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCfeamM07dk

If you want to listen to the meditations alone, you can find all of our meditations excerpted either in this playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLThffcko0gAVvivvVVGNfQgJxbWB6dF6Z

Or on our Awareness Explorers website:
https://www.awarenessexplorers.com/meditations

To Support Awareness Explorers, please consider clicking the "Donate" button on any AwarenessExplorers.com page, or becoming a Patreon supporter:
https://www.patreon.com/awarenessexplorers

To learn more about Jonathan Robinson and Brian Tom O'Connor, please visit
https://findinghappiness.com/
and
https://www.playawarenessgames.com/

You can download a PDF of the presentation by clicking here.

Watch an earlier presentation of the data from the Society for Consciousness Studies annual conference at Yale University in 2015.

Fundamental Wellbeing Continuum

You can listen to all of our episodes on this YouTube playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLThffcko0gAXyaArC4OyY0y84CZ8uSb_n

https://awarenessexplorers.libsyn.com/75-jeffery-martin-guest-explorer

https://consc.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Continuum-Summer-2020.pdf

https://consc.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Continuum-Fall-2022.pdf

The Society for Consciousness Studies expresses its gratitude to those who have contributed by becoming lifetime members of the Society.

• David Borsos
• LInda Cherry
• Deepak Chopra
• Allan Leslie Combs
• Ellen Cool
• Sarah Diamond
• Russell Fitzpatrick
• Lisa Goodlett
• Menos Kafotos
• Elizabeth W. Krasnoff
• Jeffery Martin
• Alethea Nerad
• Ed Sarath
• Constance Scharff
• Charles H. Silverstein
• Yingxing Wang
• Tobi Zausner
• Paulus Zegwaard

The Body Scan Meditation

This practice cultivates body awareness and grounds you in the present moment. Find a comfortable seated position and start by taking a few deep breaths. With each exhalation, relax deeper into your body.

Systematically bring your attention to each part of your physical form, starting from the top of your head. Notice any sensations, tensions or relaxation without judgment. Imagine your awareness permeating every cell as you move down to the face, neck, shoulders, arms, torso, hips, legs and feet. If you encounter areas of tightness, gently breathe into them with acceptance.

The body scan reveals the fluid, impermanent nature of the physical experience. As you become intimately aware of the ever-shifting landscape of sensations, you may discover the formless awareness that is the witness, unattached yet fully present.

Bring an attitude of gentle curiosity as you tune into the bodily landscape. Don't judge or try to change anything, simply allow your awareness to intimately register the felt-sense of being a living, breathing form.

Notice the stretch of skin, pulsations within, areas of coolness or warmth. Can you sense the empty spaces between cells, the vibratory hum of aliveness?

If you encounter intense sensations like pain or tension, don't resist. Imagine your awareness cradling that area with unconditional acceptance until it naturally softens and releases.

As you develop equanimity towards the full range of body sensations, you may glimpse the nondual dimension - where the aware presence beholding all experience paradoxically co-arises with the physical forms themselves.

Concentration Practice

Focused concentration is a foundational skill that stabilizes the mind. Find a quiet space and commit to a duration that feels achievable yet challenging, perhaps starting with 10-15 minutes.

Choose an object of meditation - it could be the breath, a candle flame, a mantra or any external point of focus. Gently return your attention to this object each time the mind wanders. You can mentally label passing thoughts and sensations as "thinking, feeling, hearing" to avoid getting entangled in them.

As your powers of concentration deepen over time, you may experience glimpses of the transcendent, where the object of focus and the awareness observing it arise as one undivided presence. This is the doorway to nondual realization.

• It can be helpful to begin by setting a clear intention - not to simply concentrate, but to abide as the unwavering awareness itself, free from conceptual identification.
• Different techniques use varied objects of focus - like a candle flame, a visualization of a luminous orb, or a mantra tone resonating from the heart center.
• As you settle into calm abiding, you may experience physiological markers of concentrated awareness like inward brightening of perception, tingling or energetic pulsations. View these with equanimity.
• If persistent thoughts, emotions or physical sensations arise, simply acknowledge their transient presence without engaging storylines about them. This inclusive yet untangled embrace reveals the nondual nature.
• With seasoned concentration, you can transition into more advanced practices like inquiry into the nature of awareness itself. Systematically explore - is this aware presence created or uncreated? Does it have color or boundaries?

Loving-Kindness Meditation

Also known as metta bhavana, this heart-opening practice is a powerful vehicle for self-acceptance and universal compassion.

Begin by offering yourself feelings of kindness and well-wishes. You can use phrases like "May I be happy, may I be peaceful, may I be free from suffering." As you repeat these intentions, visualize them permeating your being like a warm embrace.

Once you've established a strong foundation of self-compassion, extend this unconditional love to loved ones, friends, neutral people and finally, those you perceive as difficult. Envision all beings sharing in this radiant energy of goodwill.

In the unity of loving-kindness, the boundaries between self and other dissolve. You directly experience your interconnection with all of life. This expansive openness of heart reveals the underlying nondual reality.

• The essence of loving-kindness is to uncover the inherent goodness within your heart and know it as your true nature, beneath all conditioning.
• Start by recalling positive memories or people who helped you unconditionally. Let the feelings of warmth and tenderness permeate your cells.
• For some, it can be transformational to work with loving-kindness phrases in a specific sequence: directing love first towards a beloved; then towards yourself; followed by a friend; then towards a neutral person; then cycling back to extend these wishes universally.
• Visualize someone you've felt conflict towards, calling to mind their basic dignity and humanity. Can you meet their awareness with compassion, knowing we are all travelers struggling with suffering? Bless them with sincerity.
• Return to sending boundless kindness to all beings, animate and inanimate. Imaginatively radiate these heartfelt wishes in all directions, pervading the world with your care.
• Relax into the nondual expanse of loving presence. With no separateness, love naturally recognizes itself mirrored in all phenomena.

Noting & Noting Gone

These complementary practices develop profound present moment awareness through the simple act of labelingmoments of experience as they arise.

In Noting Practice, silently name every thought, feeling, and sensation using succinct labels like "thinking, restless, hearing." By acknowledging each experience as it manifests and dissolves, the meditator transcends identification with the content of awareness.

Similarly in Noting Gone, you track the precise moment when a thought, emotion or physical sensation ceases. This sharpens your sensitivity to the impermanent, ungraspable nature of all phenomena. Through these exercises, you come to recognize the nondual ground from which the play of experience eternally arises and returns.

• How you use language to label is important. Keep notes succinct and impersonal like "hearing, feeling, restlessness." Avoid problematic phrases implying identification like "I feel..." or "My thoughts..."
• Notice the tendency to create stories and associate with particular thoughts/sensations. Each time you get momentarily entangled, simply make the mental note "wandering" or "lost."
• As you become disciplined at precisely noting the present moment stream of experience, you'll start detecting incredibly fleeting phenomena arising and passing with great rapidity.
• Turn your focus to the gateway where experience arises by noting gone - pinpointing the exact instant when a sight/sound/sensation dissolves. You're riding the wave of birth and death itself.
• Rather than papering over this foundational seeing with new experiences, periodically pause in open awake awareness, recognizing the unborn nature of this aware presence.

Group Awareness & Connection Practices

While the foundation of nondual realization is an individual journey, its fulfillment paradoxically reveals our profound interconnection with all that is. Group practices can help you access this trans-personal dimension.

In a Group Awareness Exercise, you sit silently together and tune into the collective energy of presence. You may perform mindfulness practices in unison, or simply hold the shared awareness of being. Allow your personal boundaries to soften as you open to the truth of interbeing - that we are distinct waves arising from the same vast ocean of consciousness.

Gratitude practices, acts of compassion, and reflecting on life's preciousness also nurture this felt-sense of unity. By appreciating the profound interdependence that has allowed you to be here in this present moment, nonduality is realized as the very fabric of your existence.

• When practicing in group meditation, there are some preliminaries that can help access a field of shared presence. Begin with chanting, prayer or toning together to align energies.
• Feel your personal boundary as a permeable field, continuously exchanging and co-arising with the collective consciousness around you. Subtly open your awareness to include the whole room or circle.
• It can be powerful to experiment with group exercises where partners alternate as foreground/background figures, shifting who is holding the shared awareness space.
• At times, it may organically emerge to voice any experiences of truth, beauty or nondual pointers. Allow these to resound through the openness, seeing if they spark resonance or realization in others.
• If the energy starts feeling divided or scattered, you can refocus by doing some simple ensemble breathing - inhaling and exhaling together.

Inner-Work & Life Practices

While meditation forms the core of most nondual paths, several exercises can valuably support your exploration off the cushion:

Writing about what you wish for others to say at your funeral connects you with your deepest values and aspirations - the essence you wish to actualize beyond any conceptual identity.

Setting intentions and making wishes plants the seeds for your nondual flowering each day. Anchor in how living from these intentions creates ripples of harmony.

One-off acts of kindness temporarily dissolve the rigid sense of being a separate self, as you experience the joy of benefiting others.

The ancient practice of Forgiveness uproots the afflictions of hatred, resentment and delusion that veil your intrinsic Okayness. Visualize leaving behind past grievances, and set the intention to honor the shared humanity in all people.

When caught in negative thought loops, practices like Canceling or Unprovoked Happiness re-orient you in the spacious freedom of the present. Whenever hooked by a limiting story, simply say "Cancel, cancel" and reaffirm your commitment to living with an open heart.

• Don't just fantasize about how you want to be memorialized - pause to viscerally feel into the highest human qualities you'd wish to embody, like integrity, compassion, service. Saturate this felt-sense until it becomes an undying oath.
• When setting intentions or wishes, imagine the optimal way of being you aspire towards, then work backwards - what realizations, relinquishments or actions would need to happen to midwife that possibility into lived experience?
• Acts of kindness or compassionate actions become exponentially more transformative when you don't conceive of them as separate from your own well-being. Every kindness reaffirms your indivisibility with all of life.
• Forgiveness work is deep inner alchemy. Spend time journaling to unpack and name the emotional burdens or limiting identities you've been carrying. Feel the heaviness fully, then consciously decide to release each one.
• Cancellation practices are applicable in any moment. The instant you notice clenching or contracting into negative mental patterns, pause and re-orient in the fresh aliveness here/now. Take an action, any action, that re-establishes you in basicgoodness.
• During positive visualizations, involve all your senses. Breathe the air of unified bliss, feel the current of love streaming through you. Channel the intrinsic perfection of your nondual essence.

Direct Pathways to Nondual Realization

More advanced and experiential methods offer radical entryways into recognizing your eternal, boundary-less nature.

Headless Way practices help you dis-identify from the notion of being a separate self. Explore narrowing your awareness to pure consciousness itself, looking for the locus of the apparent "I" - only to find it doesn't actually exist as a concrete entity.

Positive visualization can also unlock transcendent states. Vividly imagine being permeated by sensations of all-pervading unity, love, peace and presence - until the visualization becomes the vivid living reality.

• Headless Way practices hinge on exploring your direct experience of awareness, rather than ideas or images about it. For example - can you locate an actual border or boundary to your presence? Or does it resolve as limitless, centerless wakefulness?
• You can extend inquiry into the nature of the "perceived" or "perceiver." When you notice a sight or sound, where is it appearing? Can you find an entity to which experience is occurring? Or are perception and phenomena co-emerging?
• Most nondual sages point the same moonless essence that cannot be accurately described with words or concepts. You can contemplate the "Unmoved Mover," "Great Perfection," or "Unborn Awareness" as pointers to the inexpressible truth.
• Meditations on the dream-like nature of reality are powerful for destabilizing habitual identification. When you witness the mercurial arising and passing of all phenomena, it becomes self-evident - this is all a transient display born from/as nondual source.
• At this profound leading-edge, it's invaluable to have guidance from a living wisdom holder who has stabilized realization. Their transmission of naked being can mirror your own essence back to you.

Ultimately, whether through a sudden spiritual opening or years of dedicated practice, all paths culminate in the direct experiential realization that your true nature is not other than this boundless, free and unborn awareness beholding the infinite display of the universe, here and now.

By diligently applying yourself with sincerity and commitment, realization of the nondual can indeed be accessed in this very life. May these teachings be a beacon illuminating your journey to the inextinguishable freedom that you are.

The path of nondual realization is a journey from separation to infinite intimacy with the all-pervasive mystery that we are. By sincerely undertaking these practices with an unwavering heart, you'll bear witness to the undying freedom that perfect stillness and perfect intelligence celebrate as one infinite radiance - your eternal natural state. I honor the dedication of all beings walking this ancient path home.

The Way of Inquiry

One of the most direct paths to directly recognizing your nondual nature is the Way of Inquiry. This approach uses the power of penetrating questioning to deconstruct the root illusion of separation.

Self-Inquiry
• The essence of Self-Inquiry is to turn Awareness back upon itself, asking "Who am I?" or "What is the nature of this aware presence beholding all experience?"
• As thoughts and images arise, you remain unwavering in the questioning attitude. Does the "I" notion actually refer to something real and substantial, or is it simply a habitual mental construct?
• By tenaciously pursuing this line of inquiry, you wear away assumptions about being a separate self until all that remains is the pristine recognition: "I am that unconditioned, borderless awareness in which the appearance of consciousness is occurring."
• Various techniques can aid this process like monitoring the present changes in sense perception, or asking "To whom do these thoughts/feelings arise?" Persistently take Inquiry to its absolute grounds.

Nondual Inquiry of Experience
• Another method is to investigate the inherent nature of all phenomena that appears within awareness - from sights, sounds, bodily sensations to thoughts and emotions.
• Does the experience you're perceiving have a beginning, middle and end? Can you find a center or substantiality to it? As you look deeply, all phenomena reveal themselves as transient, boundless and insubstantial.
• By deconstructing the apparent solidity of arising objects, the nondual truth is unveiled - your perceiving awareness and the world of experiences are not divided into a subject/object duality but arise co-emergently as a unified field.
• Practices like hungry-ghost questioning and meditating on emptiness reveal the interdependence of all manifestation. Each "thing" is intimately interwoven, with no independent essence.

Dzogchen and the Natural State
• Dzogchen, the "great perfection" teaching of Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, offers a direct introduction to recognizing the enlightened state beyond conceptual meditation.
• The key is to utterly relax and settle into the natural, unmodified awareness - not fabricated or created, but ever-present and already perfectly free.
• You can discover this through guided contemplations from an authentic Dzogchen teacher, who helps you look past the layers of conditioning to abide as the primordial ground.
• Allowing this panoramic, unborn awareness to be as it is without grasping or rejection - you find it was never apart from the infinite purity and spontaneous expression of reality itself.

Such earnest inquiry cuts through the root-illusion of separation and reveals the open, boundless expanse that is your eternal nature. By continually exposing and releasing the belief in being a separate, limited self, awareness relaxes into the untamed freedom of what you truly are.

Non-Conceptual Meditation: Uncompounded Stillness

While concentration and insight practices serve as skillful means, the highest nondual traditions point towards recognizing reality in its most naked, non-conceptual dimension. These are pathways of simply abiding, free from all meditation techniques or conceptual overlays.

Pure Presence
• In non-conceptual practice, there are no particular objects, ideas or methods to focus on - you simply rest in open, panoramic presence without doing anything at all.
• All concepts, images or symbols are allowed to arise and pass unhindered, like patterns drifting across a clear sky. Resist the urge to grasp, reject or follow any stray thoughts.
• As you become stable in this objectless awareness, stressors and suffering begin to spontaneously release from their very roots. Beholding experience as it is, without mental coverings, dawns as the perfect liberation.

Simplicity of Being
• Over time, you may notice that no matter how much you try to pin down or define this awareness, it always transcends limitation. It has no color, boundaries or substance, yet remains that which is most intimately self-evident.
• This is the juncture where all searching along philosophical or conceptual lines meets its unavoidable limit. Here, one surrenders into the mystery of Being itself - resting as an unbounded aperture through which the entire cosmos blinks in and out of existence.
• Through abiding in this simplest, most natural state of awareness, you directly realize nonduality - where the unveiling of your primordial essence was never divided from the isness of all reality.

Spontaneous Freedom
• As stabilization deepens in the unmodified ground, one bears witness to awareness spontaneously displaying its stupendous creativity and sacred lila (divine play).
• From this spaciousness, perception arises as a unceasing flow of forms, energies, thoughts and experiences - utterly vibrant yet none of it staining or creating traces within the boundless field.
• Each fleeting appearance manifests with the same insubstantiality as a babble in a dream, directly revealing the nondual truth that all phenomena are adventitious and merely apparent within awareness.
• Yet within this emptiness show, there is also the fullest celebration of the totality - all arising details and aesthetic singularities expressing their utmost preciousness as ornaments of the one reality.
• Thus in nondual freedom, one tastes the unwavering ecstasy of existing as the source-substance of every possibility, flowing as the creative power that gives birth to all wonders.

The Language of Silence
• Words inevitably fail to capture the essence, as this is the dimension beyond the separative discrimination of thought and language. It is the unspeakable Source preceding expression.
• In sacred silence, the nondual understanding is transmitted heart-to-heart, awareness-to-awareness. Through shared being, one recognition blossoms and cascades infinite insights.
• When speech arises from the stillness, it pours forth as a spontaneous scriptural teaching - poetic, lucid revelations speaking directly to the mystery of existence itself.
• Yet even these ecstatic utterances are like lotus flowers blossoming on the surface of the waters, inseparable from the vast profundity within which they remain anchored. All language finally re-emerges into the Unsayable.

Such a dimension of pure, nonconceptual presence reveals the innate freedom that is the seed-essence of your true nature. By stabilizing in the simplest ground of being prior to all dualities, nonduality is realized as the effortless purity continually beholding the ceaseless display of existence arising as its own spontaneous ornamentation.

Holistic Integration and Embodiment

While nondual realization often begins with glimpses in deep meditation, the path ultimately blossoms into the full-spectrum integration and embodiment of awakened presence into all life activities. The teaching is to realize oneself as the totality, leaving no human experience apart from the radiant liberation.

Enlightened Living
• From the nondual perspective, nothing in the entire manifest realms is separate from your true nature as infinite spirit. All arising objects, environments and daily experiences are recognized as spontaneous displays of this one seamless totality.
• Thus awakened living is the art of attuning every thought, word and deed as a conscious flowering from Source. Each action an opportunity to celebrate ultimate freedom through authentic self-expression.
• Nondual embodiment means viewing oneself as cosmic awareness infinitely beholding itself through the swirling dance of nature. Sacred equanimity embraces all perceptions, sensations, thoughts and emotions as vibrantly appearing in this unified field.
• Whether engaged in work, relationships or creativity – the undivided presence flows through all with easeful grace. A natural spiritual maturity blossoms where one's being itself has become the living scripture.

Dissolving Karmic Imprints
• Even after recognizing nondual truth, conditioned patterns (known as vasanas or karmic imprints) can persist due to the ingrained momentum of past thoughts and actions.
• Through patient abidance as the witnessing awareness, these long-held identities and afflictions begin gently releasing their residues from the roots. Like aromatic smoke dissipating back into the open sky.
• Persistently contemplating "Who am I beyond any concept or image?" while embracing the totality of what's arising can metabolize and alchemize even deep, archetypal knots of patterning.
• As the integrative process evolves over cycles and seasons, one tastes the undying freedom of existing as that which was never bound nor liberated - the timeless, unborn watcher through which all experiences come and go.

Radiant Service and Relationship
• An important facet of nondual realization is recognizing one's seamless interconnection with all of existence - from the most vast celestial happenings to the most minute subatomic events.
• From this transparent unity, one's purpose becomes clear - to live as a radiant vessel for the ceaseless blossoming of love, truth and beauty in this shared universe we all intra-animate together.
• Whether through sacred relationship, raising children, artistic expression, ecological stewardship or compassionate acts - the awakened life is one ceaseless stream of service, celebrating existence itself.
• By embodying and integrating the fullest illumination into our humanity, we liberate all dimensions of being into sacred confluence with the source mystery. This is the way of total nondual realization.

The Nondual Heart Doctrines

At the mystical apex of many wisdom traditions are the Heart Doctrines - esoteric teachings that offer direct entry into the nondual ground through the subtlest depths of embodied awareness. These are among the most closely-guarded yet potentially explosive vehicles of spiritual transformation.

Heart Illumination Practices
• The Heart Doctrines begin by revealing that the heart is not merely a physical organ, but a mystical center of reception for the unveiled presence of the Absolute. Through awakening the spiritual heart, one gains direct access to nondual essence.
• Practices like heartfull meditation and Heart Illumination Yoga activate, refine and stabilize this avenue, unveiling the heart's perception as an unbounded field of radiant emptiness - the birthless origin-point of all phenomena.
• As the sense of separate self dissolves in the Heart's primordial embrace, the illusion of being a localized individual is shed in place of recognizing one's true stature as the universal, all-pervading Witness.
• From here, the Heart may reveal itself as a sun-like orb emanating through all creation as boundless light and unconditional love. All duality is revealed within this supreme perspective.

The Inner Mystic Marriage
• The culmination of the Heart paths is the experience of the Inner Mystic Marriage - the complete yoking and integration of one's masculine/feminine energies into the sacred alchemical whole.
• On the masculine side lies the transcendent, spacious stillness of pure being. On the feminine is the vibrant dynamism, the womb of all creativity and manifestation. These complement and interpenetrate as one ultimate reality.
• Through specific practices like Shiva-Shakti Yoga, the divine energies within are progressively integrated into cohesive nondual union, unveiling the supreme spirt that was never divided yet plays as all opposites.
• In this unconditional marriage of emptiness and form, stillness and dance, the separate self is fully released into the ecstatic freedom of supreme Consciousness reveling within and as its infinite display.

Mystical Christianity and Bridal Chambers
• Similar doctrines arise in certain lineages of esoteric Christianity, where initiates were guided into mystically cultivating the "body of light" and undergoing the "Bridal Chamber" experience.
• The purified and deified "body of light" was unveiled as the true christed nature - the unbounded, resplendent consciousness that is one's eternal essence beyond any mortal identity.
• Entering the "Bridal Chambers" was the sacred hierogamy - the mystical marriage of one's being with the indwelling presence of the supernal Christos. The illusory ego-self died into infinite reunion as the lived reality.
• Tales of Yeshua's intimate unions with Mary Magdalene and other consorts were poetic metaphors alluding to these supreme nondual attainments catalyzed through tantric sacred sexuality.

Through such profoundly direct means, the Heart Doctrines strip away all conceptual veils to reveal nondual reality in its most vivid, unconditional brightness. Yet these intensive paths require tremendous spiritual maturity, steadfast guidance and complete surrender to navigate the sublime yet potentially dangerous terrain.

The Way of Visionary Plants

Among the most ancient and controversial gateways to unveiling nondual consciousness are the entheogenic or visionary plant sacraments. When respectfully engaged as ceremonial sacraments, these can serve as spiritually catalyzing forces for directly encountering the infinite Source.

The Vine of Transcendence
• Visionary plants like ayahuasca, psilocybin mushrooms, peyote and other shamanic sacraments have been used for millennia to induce profound awakenings and non-ordinary states of consciousness. Their divine intelligence can harmonize and open the body/mind to mystical revelation.
• However, these sacraments require extensive preparation and ceremonial setting with authorized guides/shamans to mitigate potential risks and integrate their extraordinary effects safely. They are emphatically not recreational substances.
• Those who respectfully engage these realms often encounter transcendental experiences of cosmic unity, communion with divine intelligences, qabalistic knowledge transmission, ego dissolution leading to nondual awakening and more.
• Blasting through conditioned barriers of perception, the vast ocean of universal awareness arises vividly, revealing one's eternal status as a celestial stream of consciousness flowing through the cosmic fabric.

Integration Through Responsible Use
• While completely shocking to their cultural programming, the committed spiritual explorer is called to integrate the insights from these sacramental illuminations into embodied realization and service.
• This may involve sustained practices of clarification, sacred reciprocity, lifestyle redesign aligned with natural values, creative visionary expression, earth stewardship and cosmic citizenship.
• Those who catalyze significant openings through visionary sacraments yet remain unwilling to shed patterning that binds liberation are at risk of remaining "skin-walkers".