Enlightenment – The Awakened Dreamer

The Eight Time Lords of Spiritual Awakening

I am sitting on the roof deck in a small Mexican town called Troncones, looking out to the Pacific ocean. The sun is rising behind me, a dog barks nearby, a rooster crows the morning into being. I have just read the second page of a book called The Impersonal Life and at once, have been […]

by Lori Ann Lothian

What Spiritually Woke Folk Look Like (and how to spot a faker)

This morning, while thumbing through my brand new copy of Buddha on a Bull (one of the most startlingly honest books on enlightenment out there) I landed on this: “Our minds have a lot of ideas of what an awakened human being looks like. But what if your teacher is not ….a vegetarian? … doesn’t […]

by Lori Ann Lothian

The Neptune Effect: Can a Planet Herald Your Awakening?

Some of you know that I am an astrologer, not only a writer about awakening. Lately I have been noticing how the transits of outer planets impact our awareness of truth, particularly the planet Neptune. To be clear, I am not saying any planet is a causal agent. What planets seem to be in relationship […]

by Lori Ann Lothian

The Last Satsang: When Suffering Ends, What Next?

I’m sitting in an airy room in Costa Rica, bird song wafting through the open windows along with a warm breeze. The sound of a spiritual teacher answering questions from his seat up front is just a part of the mandala of beauty that is this moment. The day wears on. I am without questions. […]

by Lori Ann Lothian

Are You Dreaming You are Spiritually Awake?

Have you ever had one of those nocturnal dreams where you are convinced you just got out of bed and made a cup of coffee but for some reason the coffee tastes like nothing and the clock on the wall is unreadable? And then your lucid dreamer mind kicks in and you go, “oh shit, […]

by Lori Ann Lothian

The Shadow Side of Awakening: False Prophets, Nasty Gurus & Bliss Babes

In the seven years since an overnight spiritual awakening catapulted me into a surreal peace with a months-long afterglow—followed by years of increasing hyper-synchronicity, mini-miracles and rare but intense episodes of suffering—I have learned two true things: Nothing is static, especially enlightenment. And awakening to true nature does not mean liberation from the personality (and […]

by Lori Ann Lothian

Awakening and the Radiance Factor

You know those halos on the heads of saints in medieval Christian art, the solar disc in Egyptian hieroglyphs or the flaming nimbus in Asian holy art? Well, I call it the radiance factor. And everyone has it. The thing is your radiance factor might be shining at only 40 watts instead of say the […]

by Lori Ann Lothian

What to Do About Apparent Evil?

I’ve given up being Zen about Donald Trump. The truth matters. A refrain has been stuck on repeat in my head for the first week of the new US Presidency: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” These words were spoken by president John F. Kennedy (and […]

by Lori Ann Lothian

What if Your Awakening is Not Just for You?

Have you noticed there’s a not-so-subtle narcissistic weather pattern that prevails in today’s awakening and non-duality climate? It’s a kind of low pressure system of “how can waking up make MY life better” and unfortunately a whole lot of contemporary teachers—me included—have at times accidentally or even purposefully catered to that self-serving impulse. I’ve watched people in […]

by Lori Ann Lothian

The Whiplash of Sainthood: Why Your Awakening Can Look Like a Soap Opera

Myth: Awakening is an exit door out of this duality gong show where you get to leave behind identification with emotional content and plot-thickening storylines such as betrayal, abandonment, jealousy, blame and shame. Truth: Awakening is more like entering a fast track through some of the most crazy-ass chaos you will ever encounter, a manic, magnified […]