Adyashanti/Steven Gray (adyashanti.org) via Ellie Askew, Dhr. Seven (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly
(Adyashanti born Steven Gray, July 1, 2016) In this calming Zen guided meditation, inquire within and explore the true nature of self. Adyashanti attempts to guide a direct awareness inward to experience the blanket of silence that intrinsically underlies every moment of life, while also pointing towards the ineffable mystery inherent within all of existence. Adyashanti offers a few questions: What is the nature of self? Where is this thing called "me"? This is excerpted from “Guided Meditations Volume 2.”
"Those who are free don't want anything. They don't want anything from their mind, they don't want anything from their emotions, they don't want anything from anyone, and they don't want anything from life. They don't want anything. If you don't want, all that's left is an incredible sense of being free."
(Adyashanti born Steven Gray, July 1, 2016) In this calming Zen guided meditation, inquire within and explore the true nature of self. Adyashanti attempts to guide a direct awareness inward to experience the blanket of silence that intrinsically underlies every moment of life, while also pointing towards the ineffable mystery inherent within all of existence. Adyashanti offers a few questions: What is the nature of self? Where is this thing called "me"? This is excerpted from “Guided Meditations Volume 2.”
"Those who are free don't want anything. They don't want anything from their mind, they don't want anything from their emotions, they don't want anything from anyone, and they don't want anything from life. They don't want anything. If you don't want, all that's left is an incredible sense of being free."
-Adyashanti, The Impact of Awakening
Spiritual seeking
In speaking regularly with spiritual seekers, it dawned on me one day how addicted so many of them are to the power of charisma.
They swap stories about how powerful this or that teacher is and compare experiences. They get a charge from it, many mistaking charisma for enlightenment.
Charisma attracts at all levels: political, sexual, spiritual, and so on, and it feeds the ego's desire to feel special. The ego loves getting hits of power; it's like a form of spiritual candy. The candy may be sweet, but can you live on it? Does it make you free?
Freedom is not necessarily exciting; it's just free. Very peaceful and quiet, so very quiet. Of course, it is also filled with joy and wonder, but it is not what you imagine. It is much, much less. Many mistake the intoxicating power of otherworldly charisma for enlightenment.
More often than not it is simply otherworldly, and not necessarily free or enlightened. In order to be truly free, you must desire to know the truth more than you want to feel good.
Because if feeling good is your goal, then as soon as you feel better you will lose interest in what is true. This does not mean that feeling good or experiencing love and bliss is a bad thing. Given the choice, anyone would choose to feel bliss rather than sorrow.
It simply means that if this desire to feel good is stronger than the yearning to see, know, and experience Truth, then this desire will always be distorting the perception of what is Real, while corrupting one's deepest integrity.
It simply means that if this desire to feel good is stronger than the yearning to see, know, and experience Truth, then this desire will always be distorting the perception of what is Real, while corrupting one's deepest integrity.
In my experience, everyone will say they want to discover the Truth, right up until they realize that the Truth will rob them of their deepest held ideas, beliefs, hopes, and dreams. The freedom of enlightenment means much more than the experience of love and peace.
It means discovering a Truth that will turn your view of self and life upside-down. For one who is truly ready, this will be unimaginably liberating. But for one who is still clinging in any way, this will be extremely challenging indeed.
How does one know if they are ready? One is ready when s/he is willing to be absolutely consumed, when one is willing to be fuel for a fire without end.
The spiritual path
“Unmasking is the spiritual path. It is not about creating new masks -- not even spiritual masks. It is not about going from being a worldly person to a spiritual person or trading a spiritual ego for a materialistic ego.
It is a matter of authenticity and of the capacity to trust life, even if life has been tremendously tough. It is stopping right where we are and entering profound listening, availability, and openness.
If we feel wonderful, we feel wonderful; if we feel lost, we feel lost, but we can trust in being lost. We can do this without talking to ourselves about it and without creating a story around it.
We must find that capacity to trust ourselves and to trust our life -- all of it, whatever it is -- because that is what allows the light to shine and revelation to arise.
We see it when we stop and listen, not with our ears and not with our mind, but with our heart, with a tender and intimate quality of awareness that opens us beyond our conditioned ways of experiencing any moment.
My first retreat, as difficult as it was, taught me that the most amazing things can come out of the most difficult experiences IF we dedicate ourselves to showing up for the situation.
That is the heart of meditation and the heart of what it takes to discover who and what we are as we turn away from external things and toward the source of love, the source of wisdom, the source of freedom and happiness within. That is where you will find your most important thing.”
- Adyashanti, The Most Important Thing
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