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Obstacles to Enlightenment and Liberation
Experience is Edward Salim Michael’s keyword—feeling, understanding, beyond words, through a direct inner experience.
What are the obstacles to enlightenment and liberation? What prevents us from coming into direct contact with our true selves?
It is not enough to want it; practices, exercises, concrete tools are necessary to reveal the automatisms that condition us and to detect alienating thought patterns. The author guides us with precision through the traps that will inevitably be encountered on the path. Thus, inner chatter, that little voice within us that never stops, that comments and repeats to the point of obsession, must be recognized, one must distance oneself from it, and use skillful means to stop it.
Identifying the obstacles and approaching them with understanding gives seekers the possibility of knowing another state of being and consciousness, from which it is possible for them to apprehend the meaning of life and death in a completely different way; it is a decisive step on the path of their liberation.
Born in England, Edward Salim Michael (1921-2006) spent his youth in various Eastern countries and lived for a long time in India, his grandmother’s country. After several years of assiduous meditation practice, he had, at the age of thirty-three, an extremely powerful experience of awakening to what one might equally well call his Buddha Nature or the Infinite within himself. It was to Buddhism that he felt closest, but, as all his writings come from direct spiritual experiences, to illustrate his words, he does not hesitate to quote the Bhagavad Gita, the Gospels, or Christian or Sufi mystics.
He is the author of The Law of attention, Nada Yoga and the Way of inner Vigilance, now a recognized classic
What are the obstacles to enlightenment and liberation? What prevents us from coming into direct contact with our true selves?
It is not enough to want it; practices, exercises, concrete tools are necessary to reveal the automatisms that condition us and to detect alienating thought patterns. The author guides us with precision through the traps that will inevitably be encountered on the path. Thus, inner chatter, that little voice within us that never stops, that comments and repeats to the point of obsession, must be recognized, one must distance oneself from it, and use skillful means to stop it.
Identifying the obstacles and approaching them with understanding gives seekers the possibility of knowing another state of being and consciousness, from which it is possible for them to apprehend the meaning of life and death in a completely different way; it is a decisive step on the path of their liberation.
Born in England, Edward Salim Michael (1921-2006) spent his youth in various Eastern countries and lived for a long time in India, his grandmother’s country. After several years of assiduous meditation practice, he had, at the age of thirty-three, an extremely powerful experience of awakening to what one might equally well call his Buddha Nature or the Infinite within himself. It was to Buddhism that he felt closest, but, as all his writings come from direct spiritual experiences, to illustrate his words, he does not hesitate to quote the Bhagavad Gita, the Gospels, or Christian or Sufi mystics.
He is the author of The Law of attention, Nada Yoga and the Way of inner Vigilance, now a recognized classic
244 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 22, 2018
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About the author
Edward Salim Michael
17 books6 followersHis biography and spiritual journey has been writtent in French by his wife and translated into English : The Price of a Remarkable Destiny published on Amazon
Of Anglo-Indian descent, Edward Salim Michael spent his entire childhood in various countries of the Middle East. He never had the opportunity of attending school and did not have a mother tongue.
Parental peregrinations brought him back to London just before the storm of the Second World War.It was there that providentially he made the acquaintance of an Anglican Chaplain who taught him the basics of reading and writing. The Chaplain’s wife taught him music which he assimilated at a stunning speed. His first orchestral piece, composed after only two years of study, won a competition and was played at the Albert Hall in London.
After the War, from which he emerged terribly bruised, he pursued his musical studies with passion and in addition to composition, became a solo violinist. He gave his first concerts after only three years of study. In 1949, another providential meeting awoke within him a mysterious silent memory.
It was in London at the house of Mr. Adie who was part of the Gurdjieff groups in England, that he saw a statue of Buddha for the first time in his life. He remained transfixed in front of it and, when he returned to his home, he immediately put himself into the same posture as the statue with no difficulties, closed his eyes and began to concentrate on an inner sound that he heard within his ears and head, without even knowing that what he was doing was called meditation.
In parallel to his career as a musician, he then embarked on his spiritual practice with all the passion and exactingness of a great artist. Through the exceptional concentration skills he had developed as a composer, he swiftly began to have profound spiritual experiences.
As his parents had never practiced any religion, he had been sheltered from any religious conditioning. His lack of school education and book knowledge left him with a slate clean from prejudice and projections. He would follow the path of direct experience, beyond all dogmas.
At the beginning of the 1950s, he went to Paris to study with Nadia Boulanger, the greatest teacher of musical analysis of the Twentieth Century. He appreciated her extreme rigor and felt profound gratitude towards her.
He lived from hand to mouth under the most precarious conditions, assiduously pursuing his practice of meditation added to by a constant combat to remain present to himself amid all the circumstances of his active life.
After five years of incessant effort, at the age of thirty-three, he had an extremely powerful experience of awakening to what one may call the Buddha Nature as well as the Infinite in oneself.
Of Anglo-Indian descent, Edward Salim Michael spent his entire childhood in various countries of the Middle East. He never had the opportunity of attending school and did not have a mother tongue.
Parental peregrinations brought him back to London just before the storm of the Second World War.It was there that providentially he made the acquaintance of an Anglican Chaplain who taught him the basics of reading and writing. The Chaplain’s wife taught him music which he assimilated at a stunning speed. His first orchestral piece, composed after only two years of study, won a competition and was played at the Albert Hall in London.
After the War, from which he emerged terribly bruised, he pursued his musical studies with passion and in addition to composition, became a solo violinist. He gave his first concerts after only three years of study. In 1949, another providential meeting awoke within him a mysterious silent memory.
It was in London at the house of Mr. Adie who was part of the Gurdjieff groups in England, that he saw a statue of Buddha for the first time in his life. He remained transfixed in front of it and, when he returned to his home, he immediately put himself into the same posture as the statue with no difficulties, closed his eyes and began to concentrate on an inner sound that he heard within his ears and head, without even knowing that what he was doing was called meditation.
In parallel to his career as a musician, he then embarked on his spiritual practice with all the passion and exactingness of a great artist. Through the exceptional concentration skills he had developed as a composer, he swiftly began to have profound spiritual experiences.
As his parents had never practiced any religion, he had been sheltered from any religious conditioning. His lack of school education and book knowledge left him with a slate clean from prejudice and projections. He would follow the path of direct experience, beyond all dogmas.
At the beginning of the 1950s, he went to Paris to study with Nadia Boulanger, the greatest teacher of musical analysis of the Twentieth Century. He appreciated her extreme rigor and felt profound gratitude towards her.
He lived from hand to mouth under the most precarious conditions, assiduously pursuing his practice of meditation added to by a constant combat to remain present to himself amid all the circumstances of his active life.
After five years of incessant effort, at the age of thirty-three, he had an extremely powerful experience of awakening to what one may call the Buddha Nature as well as the Infinite in oneself.
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