Articles

When we wake up to who we are, something happens. We stop identifying with our egoic selves because we realize they are impermanent and only that which is permanent can be who we are.

We aren’t our bodies, we aren’t our memories, we aren’t our thoughts, we aren’t our feelings… We aren’t any of these things, so we stop identifying with them. What happens is that detachment develops. An aloofness or distancing from everything that occurs. We wake up to the fact that life is an extended dream and a relaxation is able to set in. It’s a sense of calm or a feeling that ‘all is well.’

We lose our identity with our lives, thoughts and feelings, so we witness them but we don’t engage with them. We notice them, but we don’t create stories with them. Since we don’t create … Read More »

When I was an undergraduate at university many years ago, my deep enjoyment and love for the works of William Shakespeare blossomed. I had the privilege of taking a Shakespearean class and then during one summer in my undergraduate years, I was able to travel through Europe inexpensively on a bike and a Europass to see the great sites. A memory I remember most is going to Stratford-upon-Avon and watching a William Shakespeare play. I don’t know where my passion and love for his plays comes from but it has been a deep part of my life. His writings have also taught me many things.

When I was in England many years ago for the first time, I was standing in the back of the audience watching the play ‘As You Like It’ that was performed not too far from the … Read More »

The Most Powerful Mantra: Learn to Lose the Ego and Awaken to Who We Are

What Can Help Me Achieve Enlightenment? Begin Your Journey with the Right Tools

There are three big steps towards spiritual enlightenment. Anyone of us can take these steps but they are crucial aspects in moving in the direction of living an awakened life.

The first step we have to take is what I call ‘earnestness.’ What I mean by this is that in order for us to move in the direction towards enlightenment, you really have to want it. It can’t just be one of your many endeavors. You can’t say “I’ll work during the day, sleep at night and during Saturday and Sunday evenings I’ll study and work towards enlightenment.” This is not going to cut it. In many ways we have to eat, drink and sleep our paths towards enlightenment. It’s very crucial that it consumes our lives. Many people have gone down the path towards enlightenment and most have failed. It’s … Read More »

Over the years I have had many people ask me “What is the most important thing that I can do to hasten, quicken and effectively pursue my path towards waking up? How can I get there, Dr. Puff? It’s very important to me. I don’t want to mess around. I just want to have the peace and happiness that comes from enlightenment. How do I get there? What do I need to do?”

We become tired of the search. We get exhausted and end up saying “I’m done. I just want to learn to be happy, to be in the present moment and to love life. But I don’t know how. What can I do? There are so many obstacles. What can I do to get there, Dr. Puff?”

The greatest advice I can give to people who ask me this is … Read More »

People around the world are seeking peace of mind. The field of psychology in which I trained is all about helping people arrive at and achieve peace of mind.

What I realized very early on in my experience of working with other psychologists is that they don’t arrive at peace of mind. They sometimes experience peaceful moments and psychology is good at getting rid of disturbing thoughts, but experiencing peace that passes all understanding is something that psychology isn’t very good at.

Psychology taught me things, but it didn’t teach me how to have peace beyond the mind. That’s where it – and so many things around the world – end up failing. They seek peace in that which is naturally disturbed – the mind.

What happens is that shortly after we’re born, around the age of two or three, we start having … Read More »

When we answer the question “Who are we?” we might have so many ideas about who we are and we just assume they’re correct. But now we’re going to explore them and perhaps even change them.

For centuries people thought the world was flat until scientists proved that the world was actually round. It appears flat to most people, and the reason why we think it’s round today is because we’ve been taught that. Even though when we look out it seems very flat, we know it’s actually round.

Let’s look at our own assumptions and view the world differently, with eyes of enlightenment. First, we can explore time. We think that time has a history to it: there’s the past, future and present. But all we can ultimately know at this present moment is that the past and future are in … Read More »

When I was in graduate school working on my PhD, I remember I was taking a course in child psychotherapy. On the first day of class, the professor stood up and said, “We are always going to have child abuse throughout the world. Always. So what are we going to do?”
At the time, the professor was considered to be one of the top child psychologists in the world, so you couldn’t easily dismiss his statements as being that of an odd professor. But if like me you’re a lover of history, you’ll see that throughout history there have always been wars, famines, cruelties, and a constant onslaught of human tragedy.

What I see as new people enter the world of pursuing spiritual enlightenment is that they wonder “Well, what about the world? How do we change the world? If we focus … Read More »

Focus on What is Permanent: The World of Nonduality

What Happens During Spiritual Enlightenment: You are the Ocean, not the Lotus Flower

When I was about 12 years old, I really wanted a minibike for my birthday. It just had one gear and went about 15 to 20 miles per hour. But I knew that if I got this minibike I’d be the happiest boy around. When I finally got it, I rode it all over the place. I especially rode it in my backyard. Round and round I rode, and I was in heaven. I thought “Life is so wonderful.” For a little while, it was.

But this feeling didn’t last long. I then went onto my next desire. I just kept searching externally for things that would make me happy. But they didn’t. None of them could, because they were impermanent and transitory. They changed and anything that changes will come – but then it will also go away.

I was searching … Read More »

Our minds love to label things. From a very young age we start airing our opinions, such as by saying, “We like this,” “We don’t like that,” “That’s ugly,” “That’s beautiful,” or “That’s disgusting!”

Language is a mental tool based on opposites, and it is used by the mind. Once we start speaking and labeling, the mind separates ourselves from that which is. In reality, however, there just is. Once we label it, we separate ourselves from it because when we label something we are really taking away from what it really is. Words carry distinctions and oppositions. But in reality, what is exists beyond words and descriptions. It is indescribable even though that word is trying to describe something.

The best way to understand what is is to just be. We can best experience what is through silence; through silent awareness, … Read More »

What is the key factor of waking up and discovering who we are?

In many ways, it’s very simple but it can be extremely difficult to do. When we’re around the age of two or three, we start identifying with things. For instance, we like and dislike certain things, we realize who our parents and grandparents are, we take on a name, we take on a personality. The longer we live, the more solidified our egoic identity becomes. We start believing everything that we’re told. But we need to take a moment and really reflect on and think about what we have taken on.

When I was growing up I had a sister named Kim and when she got married she changed her name. She wasn’t Kim Puff anymore, but she became someone else. So who is she? Is she now this … Read More »

We need to become aware of the fact that we are, and everything comes out of who we are. All there is, is beingness. Silent awareness, things that can’t be described but what we are, and everything, is not two, non-dual, isness.

The universe in which we are living is more like a play. It isn’t really real. It’s merely a play and we’re not real as players in it. We’re just acting our parts or being acted, and the only thing that is permanent is our awareness, our witness of our playing our part. We’re the actor, director, playwright, lighting, background scenes; we are everything. But what we remember is our own beingness. We’ve forgotten our full beingness of being everything that’s a part of the play.

There are many decisions we need to make throughout our lives. If we awaken … Read More »