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Ep 21: The Wu Zong Transmission
Today we will be going deep into Wu Zong – The Origin of Enlightenment , looking at its core. This isn’t your typical topic, it is a transmission of method. So whether you bought the Jiu Wu Tan Gong scroll 1 or not, stick around. This may be your first time hearing the name Wu Zong, and rightfully so, for it is the name I gave this practice after thirty or so years of practicing it. Originally it had no name, but its general methodology was similar to Daoist dan tian work, lo

Erik Oliva
Jan 116 min read
Episode 20 — Walking in Two Worlds, Seeing One Clearly
What’s up everyone, thanks for tuning in. I’m Zi Yi. Today is a special episode. This marks our 20th podcast, and for me, it feels like a turning point. We started with recordings in the car, moved to audio-only, and now we’re working with video. We’re only a few videos in, still recording from the basement, but the intention is clear. This podcast is a long-term development. For now, we continue as we are, getting the word out and opening the door to real-world cultivation.

Erik Oliva
Dec 26, 20256 min read
Ep.19: Psychic Attacks, Family Life, and Seeing Clearly
Welcome + Quick Book Plug Welcome to the Awaken24 Podcast, it’s me, Zi Yi. Today’s episode covers a few things that touch the soul of every cultivator, and honestly, anyone dabbling in the fine art of cultivating the mind. Before we get into it, the book plug. Jiu Wu Tan Gong, The Sacred Platform of Celestial Embodiment, Scroll 1: The Three Root Methods is available on Amazon in Kindle and paperback . I wrote it. It’s the beginning of a seven-volume system built from over 37

Erik Oliva
Dec 22, 20256 min read
Ep.18: Spiritual Diets, Peace Fantasies, and Other Myths
Why This Episode Exists I’ve been on a personal mission since the 1990s to cut through spiritual commercialism and expose what actually holds up under real investigation. To do that, I had to question, test, and sometimes discard many of the spiritual fads that were popular then and are still circulating today in updated forms. Some things require direct trial and error. Other things become obvious once cultivation matures and clarity sharpens. If this message resonates, it’s

Erik Oliva
Dec 20, 20254 min read
Ep. 17: Deeper Questions on Meditation & Cultivation
One of the first points of confusion in cultivation is the difference between concentration and insight . Concentration is something you actively develop. It is trained by repeatedly applying attention to a single focus and learning how to keep it there. Insight, however, does not arise through effort in the same way. Insight appears when the senses stop being pulled outward and the mind becomes clear. Concentration is cultivated, insight is revealed. Understanding this dist

Erik Oliva
Dec 18, 20254 min read
Episode 16: Deep Dive, Spirituality and Relationships
What People Get Wrong, and What It Really Is Hey everyone, thanks for joining the Awaken24 Podcast with me, Zi Yi. This episode is going to hit many of you in different ways, because it challenges the way most people define spirituality, and the way people think about spirituality in relationships. Before we get lost in the modern versions of spirituality, the aesthetics, the trends, the wellness branding, let’s look at what the word actually meant before all of that. The wor

Erik Oliva
Dec 17, 20255 min read
Episode 15: Meditation Basics
In this episode, Zi Yi breaks down the real foundations of meditation, not the trendy versions, not relaxation exercises, and not guided scripts marketed as mindfulness. Instead, this episode focuses on the actual beginning of cultivation: developing single minded focus, stabilizing attention, and understanding how the mind moves. Meditation does not begin with chasing calm, bliss, or special states. It begins with learning how to apply attention and keep it applied. Single m

Erik Oliva
Dec 17, 20253 min read
Episode 14: What Mindfulness Really Is
In this episode, Zi Yi breaks down the true meaning of mindfulness, not the modern trend, not a relaxation technique, and not the self care version commonly sold today. Instead, he shares how real mindfulness was discovered through direct self introspection, quiet meditation, and observing the movement of the mind long before the word itself ever entered his vocabulary. As a teenager, mindfulness was not a concept, a label, or a method. There were no frameworks, no instructio

Erik Oliva
Dec 17, 20252 min read
Episode 13 — Cultivation, Work, and Living Clearly in the World
This episode is a perspective check for cultivators , especially for those navigating work, money, and life in the modern world while walking a spiritual path. Cultivation does not happen outside life. It happens inside it. You Are in the World, Act Accordingly No matter how deep your practice is, you are still living in the human realm. You are not exempt from causes and conditions. You are not above work, responsibility, or participation in the world. Even a Buddha, an Imm

Erik Oliva
Dec 17, 20253 min read
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