Adyashanti comes to town

This week, Adyashanti was in town for 2 evening satsangs. Although I talk about him fairly often on this blog, he is one of the few such teachers that I’ve not actually met.

At one time, I used to joke that all of my mentors were dead. (laughs) Yet curiously I’ve had the unexpected opportunity to meet teachers that have not always been very accessible. Adya is a more recent influence, largely because he was one of the few voices speaking to the part of the journey I was on.

For both evenings, he spoke for about an hour, then took questions for about an hour. There was no prepared talk, so the content was different on the 2 days, catering to the presence of the group.

Adya is quite honest and direct about the process. The straight talker. Rather than talking about the benefits of awakening, he speaks more to the challenges of stepping out of the me.

His core message on the first night was to always bring it back to awareness of one’s personal existence. He spoke of the illusions of being spiritual and jokingly apologized to anyone who was new on the path there. (I didn’t take notes)

On the second night, he spoke of how we all want to have more “spiritual experiences” but it’s good they are usually rare. Otherwise you can fall into the illusion you’re getting somewhere. (laughs) That there is a goal being reached. Indeed, I’ve seen people with one really good experience get stuck on the memory of it.

He spoke of the natural drive to acquire things and how this shows up in spiritual circles as well. We seek to gain understanding and experiences. This is the same game as acquiring cars and houses, applied to the spiritual journey. The energy of seeking is simply turned within. Even meditation has a dead end like materialism.

This is not to say seeking and a practice are bad, just not to confuse them with reaching a goal. More, a practice is a strategy. (more shortly) Sometimes, when we see the impermanence of experiences and seeking, there can be a spontaneous stopping. There is nowhere to go. We give up. We let go.

Adya said that in waking, the only thing important is how much self (me) we let go of. If we still carry some sense of attaining something, we are set up for a fall. And this is normal. We are seeking to fill what is deficient. But what would life be like without your wants and don’t wants?

He asked how many had the experience of the seeking stopping but the seeker remaining. A few had. This is not unlike the idea of the self awakening to Self yet not being lost or what has been called soul awakening. Sometimes, the self can be resilient and take some time to implode. But once it is seen through, it will. Perhaps when we see the me can’t do it and it reaches defeat.

He called monasteries institutionalized seeking and monks professional seekers. He said they had value but this must be seen. Waking comes from the end of seeking. He used the analogy of a cat trying to cough up a fur ball to the letting go of seeking.

Freedom is defined not by what is attained but by what is lost. All that is lost is an idea, an idea of a me.

He said there may be states as existence becomes aware of itself. All kinds of byproducts of awakening but all byproducts will disappear. We’re not an experience. We are something that is already there, that which is not an experience.

During questions, a few more points arose.

Every practice and concept is a strategy. All strategies stop working.
The seeker is the controller. Same thing.
The only illusion is believing our thoughts.

When we surrender, the flow of existence is much smoother.

Don’t resist seeking. Trying to not seek is just more seeking. It’s out of your control. Instead ask who is trying to surrender?

Fear is a good thing. Different than fear in the world. It means you are close to the truth. Just don’t run away. See fear as an invitation.

What to do with all the energy when there’s no concepts? Ask why you’re here. What’s this about? This gives the energy a direction and focus. When we see things as they are, there is an influx of energy. Then it’s not about seeking, just acknowledging.

Bring the inside out, want to love? Give everyone all the freedom to be exactly as they are.

Anything we’ve not been conscious of is stored in the body. When we see it consciously, it can release.

Indifference? 2 kinds.
Disconnected = don’t care, ego denial.
Simple = what Meryl Wolfe describes as “high indifference” is radical non-attachment. Ironically, this is the place from which true love can arise. Ego cannot understand this.

I enjoyed finally seeing him.
Davidya