Awakening isn’t what’s so damn difficult. The difficult part is cutting the legs out of the super structure of our own illusion. Let your heart break, you’re supposed to fail at this. There’s nothing wrong with you if you can’t make it work. People aren’t making it work wherever I go. Don’t be afraid of the sorrow, don’t be afraid of the defeat. Fall right through the sorrow and the defeat, and discover the freedom that comes with joining your defeat and your sorrow.
— Adyashanti
Last Updated on June 16, 2016 by
…ahh yes, a very good quote. This Adya sees the truth, even knows how to say it. He is not separate from anything anywhere including suffering, including bliss, including you, including me…a rare being.
My first teacher Chogyam Trungpa, once said something to the effect that that the path to enlightenment is just one disappointment after another until the final disappointment, which is enlightenment itself.
Ok, and thanks to you for all your time and energy in helping others.
Hi Bob
Most teachers teach their tradition and/or their own experience of the process but Adya has paid a lot of attention to the surprising number who have received his assistance. This has given him a much bigger picture which is quite valuable. He also talks of the actual experience, not the ideal.
Some teachers discourage this as it may create expectations of struggle on the journey. But I’ve found it brings clarity and has allowed me to notice steps that were smooth for me that I might not have otherwise noticed. Easier to support others if you’ve noticed the steps.
(laughs) Well – I’d never heard enlightenment described as a disappointment. But I suppose I’ve known a few people who’s response was “Thats it? That’s all it was?” It’s certainly not how I’d describe it though – to the remotest extreme.
Thanks for your thoughts.
Love it! Thank you!
By the way, you should consider twitter. It’s an amazing medium for all your thoughts that don’t need an entire blog post.
Thanks, Bob
Thanks, TS. Yes, I have considered Twitter and how I would use it. The issue is mainly – do I want something else to manage? I used to add photos to most of my posts. Makes them look much nicer. But it took about a half hour to find, prepare and insert each one. It certainly adds up…
Just the words I needed right now =)
My curiosity drives me to wonder about the true nature of humor. I did a search on your archive and did not find anything on the subject. I have started exploring the possibility of “unconditional humor” and what it implies. Perhaps something you would like to talk about on your blog?
Thank you for sharing your wonderful work
Great, Raz.
hmmm – don’t think I’ve written on the subject directly. I do have a Humor category, but its mostly amusing quotes from others.
Humor tends to arise from unexpected juxtapositions but is rather personal. Humor oft pushes the edge of whats acceptable so may cross the line for some, making it no longer funny. Lower brow humor does this more.
Unconditional humor is an interesting idea.
Laughter can arise from a form of emotional purification. This is most common on meditation retreats and when someone awakens in a group. There can be a major outbreak of laughter for no reason or for what is trivially funny. Some people also have release stories where they fell into uncontrollable laughter in a public scenario. Thats not unconditional but it certainly may be funny. 😉
When bliss becomes established, much of life becomes quite amusing. Even suffering can seem absurd.Compassion tends to arise later to balance this.
Unconditional happiness is certainly real and a little easier to define. Being more personal, humor us trickier. Thoughts?
I have considered that the spectrum of humor is vaster then I have realized before and is multi-dimensional in nature, acting differently on different levels of reality. Conditional humor can be light, dark or the colors and hues in-between. Unconditional humor transcends light, dark; the words clear and unattached come to mind. Perhaps it is pointing to the same aspect as unconditional happiness.
I observe that even in the most serious situation there can still be found a sense of humor in the background and sometimes it serves to bring it from the beckground in to the situation, sometimes not. It can be like “Finding waldo” at times, especially if I become self-absorbed in something intense, and perhaps I don’t find waldo on this day. But at some point I will be able to find the sense of humor in even the darkest moment and heal the wounded present.
I remember during my near death experience my sense of humor was “out of this world” and I rest assured that the situations that I may find hard to find a sense of humor in while in this body, I will find humor in when it is transcended.
It helps knowing that there is nothing we will not recover from; suffering in any form is highly temporary in the big picture, of this I am sure.
I´m not saying I don’t have compassion for the parts of me that suffer. When we experience the truth of our being, we understand that there is nothing negative in reality, only different levels of positive. Of course, at the moment we need a certain level of positive for the wellbeing of our lower body, just like we need a certain level of temperature.
You’ve certainly picked an interesting subject to explore. Its that juxtaposition that brings humor, so the many paradoxes that arise on the path can be great fodder for bliss. Such an outlook can very much make the ride smoother.
And yes, suffering is happily a side effect that ends. You say many wise things.