Eric Putkonen
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Insights into Nonduality and Living Awake & Engaged Expert
Eric Putkonen Quick Facts
- Main Areas
- nonduality, awakening, enlightenment, advaita, zen buddhism, jnana yoga, self inquiry, self realization, satsang
- Career Focus
- Speaker, Author, and Teacher
I describe myself as a modern-day house-holder yogi and love of what-is; living in peace, contentment, and joy.
In November 2005, during a moment of profound silence...total stillness and presence seemed to come out of hiding from behind everything. There was no future and no past…just what is – that is sort of timeless. There was no “I” or identification with anything. The senses functioned and so I saw, but there was no seer…no “I”…just seeing. Also, everything I had read about and studied in the prior 13 years came into sharp focus and there was understanding. It was a direct, sudden realization into what is as it is. There was a clear and deep seeing through the false “I”. At the same time, as it is connected and not separate, there was a clear seeing of the nature of the world.
After realization, there was a noticing of a lack of suffering (problems, worries, fears, guilt, etc.). There was no denying what was realized - it hit all the way to the bone (deepest being). Even still there are no attachments, fears, suffering, seeking, etc. The mind is usually fairly quiet now and what thoughts do occur do not fool me (i.e. cause me suffering). I live in a constant state of contentment.
I offer satsangs in St. Petersburg, FL (https://www.facebook.com/StPetersburgSatsang/) and produce videos on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/ericputkonen).
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Articles by this expert
SelfGrowth articles and saved writing connected to this expert.
Article
True Self
Authenticity and integrity is really the same thing. To be authentic means to be our real being. I did not use the word "self," because our normal conception of self is a false self. What many people see as themselves is not their true selves. We often try to identify ourselves by our ...
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Forgiveness: an Intermediate Exercise in Unconditional Love
I have long pondered on why humanity as a whole practices "eye for an eye," especially after reading about Mahatma Gandhi's life and learning the concept that an "eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind." The message of peace is within most of the world's doctrines, and yet, it ...
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Death: Teacher Of Life
To me, death is a teacher whose wisdom and simplicity can be awe-inspiring. Humanity, as a whole, fears death; however, death is inevitable. For as an old saying goes, you can win a million battles with death, but death only has to win once. This resistance to an inevitable part of nature ...
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Effortless Meditation
After meditating for many years, through many forms of meditation, I prefer a most basic and simple meditation. A meditation that requires no effort. A meditation that is not a doing. It is simply sitting...aware. In its simplicity is something very powerful, because when we sit down to ...
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Happiness is What We Are, When We Are Not Making Ourselves Miserable
Happiness and joy are our natural state, but people often then question, “why isn't that my experience now?” We don't experience our natural state, because of the bad mental habits and beliefs that we learned while growing up. Look at young children. Happiness and joy perpetually shine from their faces, except when hungry or hurt or a diaper needs changing. Say a young child falls and hurts a knee. The child will cry, and mommy will kiss it and make the boo-boo go away. Minutes later, the child is happy again like nothing happened.
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Happiness is What We Are, When We Are Not Making Ourselves Miserable
Happiness and joy are our natural state, but people often then question, “why isn't that my experience now?” We don't experience our natural state, because of the bad mental habits and beliefs that we learned while growing up. Look at young children. Happiness and joy perpetually shine from their faces, except when hungry or hurt or a diaper needs changing. Say a young child falls and hurts a knee. The child will cry, and mommy will kiss it and make the boo-boo go away. Minutes later, the child is happy again like nothing happened.
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What keeps you motivated after awakening?
Motivation is something the ego wants. Ego needs motivation and drive to do things it doesn't really want to do. Motivation is something you need in order to do work. Ask a child "what is your motivation or drive for playing?"...and you will have a very confused child. Or you might get the simple reply..."because it is fun." What is play, really, but to have fun. So what is being said is "I'm having fun to have fun." It is having fun for its own sake. This is play...no motivation needed.
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What do you mean when you say “be present”?
To be present means to cease doing things that take your awareness away from now. If you did nothing at all, you would automatically be present. We are present, because our bodies are in the present and our experience is of the present. There is no when or where else we can truly be than here and now.
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Are there partial or incomplete awakenings?
The idea of partial or incomplete awakenings is a refuge of the ego by creating progress. It feels good, egoically, to say I partially awakened. I have taken another step to “full awakening.” No, that is just being stuck in a new illusion…a new set of chains.
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What is the importance of not being attached to things and people?
None. No importance what so ever. The ego is what is looking for “shoulds” and “should nots” and rank by importance and trying to do something (like – not being attached). It is true that the enlightened are not attached to things and people. When there is a seeing through the illusion of “me”, the illusion of attachment also falls away as it is founded upon an illusory “me”. However, there is no such thing as “the importance of not being attached”. There is no need to try to not be attached. In fact, the enlightened don’t really think about attachment or detachment.
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The Self has always been free. The Self is always awake. Right?
This is really a nasty question. If I say “yes”, then you will think there is nothing to realize and remain stuck in suffering. If I say “no”, that is not correct and limitations on the Self could be inferred.
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What advice would you give someone seeking the Self?
I would immediately ask, “where are you looking?” And then follow that up with, “what is looking?”
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Favorite Quotes & Thoughts from Eric Putkonen
"...our normal conception of self is a false self. What many people see as themselves is not their true selves."
~ Eric Putkonen ("True Self" - January 2006, Edge Life Magazine online)
"Upon awakening, you clearly realize that all of that time you spent in the process of freeing yourself from bondage was the delusion of bondage itself.."
~ Eric Putkonen (Engaged Nonduality blog 2017)
How to get started
Check out our YouTube vidoes at https://www.youtube.com/ericputkonen
There is a Facebook page for the satsangs at https://www.facebook.com/StPetersburgSatsang