The path to Liberation and Awakening is the same now as it has ever been. It has not changed since the earliest times.

1. First, you must have good conduct. Here are 10 precepts that you must observe or your practice will be largely a waste of your time.

   1. No Violence

      • Do not kill to eat. Follow a vegetarian diet or at least cut back on meat eating.

      • Do not think or express hateful, prejudicial or destructive ideas.

   2. No Stealing

      • Never take anything that is not yours.

   3. No Lying

   4. No Sexual Excess

      • Ideally, celibacy

      • Or, moderation

      • Must learn to conserve sexual fluids

   5. No selfishness or greediness

   6. Maintain purity of mind, body and spirit

      • Cleanliness

      • Don’t pollute your mind, body or spirit with unclean words, thoughts or substances.

   7. Maintain contentment and enjoy your life

      • Pessimism and nihilism are destructive. If your spiritual practice makes you sour and dour, it is wrong practice.

   8. Be disciplined in your efforts. In Yoga, this is called “tapas” or austerity. This is difficult in the world these days.

   9. Study ancient and modern spiritual classics. Modern writings are rarely helpful. They are rarely deep. Classics like the Bhagavad Gita, The Upanishads, The Tao Te Ching, The I Ching, parts of The Bible, The Quran, Poetry by Rumi, Hafaz, Meri and other Sufi masters, almost all of the Chinese classical poetry, The Surangama Sutra, The Heart Sutra, The Dammapada - these works have occupied the greatest minds throughout history. Follow in the footsteps of the Masters.

   10. Surrender all you are and everything you do to God. Especially in these times, devotion is a key component. The keynote here is humility. There is no wisdom without humility and surrender.

2. You must perform charitable acts to build merit.

3. You must have a sitting meditation practice that you do every day.

   1. Your meditation must involve cultivation of purity of mind, emptiness, compassion, and wisdom.
   2. Simply “not thinking” is not enough, though it is a start.
   3. It is focused awareness that does not attach itself to thoughts and emotions that arise.
   4. It has been called “neither no-mind, nor mind”
   5. Samadhi absorption with cultivation of wisdom is the key. Samadhi without cultivation of compassion and wisdom is a trap. Some meditators get very good at samadhi (absorption in empy mind), without taking the next step. They are “professional meditators” who will never be able to function with wisdom in the world. They can never be Bodhisattvas until through cultivation they awaken themselves to their wisdom mind.
   6. Purity and emptiness is not a static state of emptiness or purity, rather, it is an infinitely creative dynamic state of mind. Those who have succeeded in this step are very rare.

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