About this episode
I’m sorry about the video quality. We had technical problems which we weren’t able to surmount. “Adyashanti” means primordial peace. Adyashanti dares all seekers of peace and freedom to take the possibility of liberation in this life seriously. He began teaching in 1996, at the request of his Zen teacher with whom he had been studying for 14 years. Since then many spiritual seekers have awakened to their true nature while spending time with Adyashanti. Adyashanti offers spontaneous and direct nondual teachings that have been compared to those of the early Zen masters and Advaita Vedanta sages. However, Adya says, “If you filter my words through any tradition or ‘-ism’, you will miss altogether what I am saying. The liberating truth is not static; it is alive. It cannot be put into concepts and be understood by the mind. The truth lies beyond all forms of conceptual fundamentalism. What you are is the beyond—awake and present, here and now already. I am simply helping you to realize that.” A native of Northern California, Adyashanti lives with his wife, Mukti, and teaches extensively in the San Francisco Bay Area offering satsangs, weekend intensives, and silent retreats. He also travels to teach in other areas of the United States and Canada. Books and other media: The 30-day Wake Up Challenge Resurrecting Jesus - a self-guided video course The Direct Way The End of Your World (book) The End of Your World (audio download) Emptiness Dancing True Meditation Falling Into Grace Spontaneous Awakening Realization Unfolds Adyashanti's website Interview Summary and Transcript Interview recorded 8/30/2011 Other interviews with Adyashanti Interview on Conscious.tv covering a lot of biographical info. Adyashanti and Francis Bennett on “Resurrecting Jesus” Adyashanti and Susanne Marie on the Falling Away of Self Adyashanti and Francis Bennett on "The Embrace of Jesus and Buddha" YouTube Video Chapters: 00:00:00 - Adyashanti's Teachings on Spiritual Awakening and Inquiry 00:04:11 - Intuition and the Spirit of Inquiry 00:07:23 - Connecting through Fresh Inspiration 00:10:46 - Letting go of Attachments to Thoughts and Ideas 00:14:11 - Different Strategies for Awakening 00:17:03 - The Thorn and the Boat Analogy 00:19:50 - The Capacity for Infinite Truth 00:22:19 - The Beginning of Awakening 00:25:41 - Understanding Awareness and Awakening 00:28:08 - The Complexity of Defining "Ego" and "Awakening" 00:31:13 - The Complexity of Truth and Viewpoints 00:34:12 - The Resistance to What Is 00:37:18 - The Concept of Self and its Functionality 00:40:06 - The Subtle Sense of Self 00:43:40 - The Disappearance of Ego in Awakening 00:46:19 - The Absence of Seeking and Fear 00:49:00 - Surrendering to Death for Truth 00:52:43 - Seeing the Hidden Secrets 00:56:05 - The Process of Letting Go 00:59:00 - The Erosion of Personal Will and False Notions of Awakening 01:02:04 - The Disappearance of Personal Will 01:05:22 - Letting Go of Personal Relationship to Existence 01:08:17 - The Importance of Taking Action 01:10:41 - The Breaking of the Heart's Shell 01:14:15 - Awakenings in the Head, Heart, and Gut 01:17:45 - The Nuanced Nature of Understanding and Awakening 01:20:52 - Insight and Action in Zen 01:23:03 - Maturing in Spiritual Awakening 01:25:50 - The Fear of Aloneness and Loneliness 01:29:04 - The Maturity of the Process 01:31:46 - A Conversation with Adya Save Save Save Save