Customer Reviews

My Secret Is Silence: Poetry and sayings of Adyashanti

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Poetry can be a profound communication like no other. Yet I seldom read poetry as it is usually so bad that I feel embarrassed for the writer. They seem to be trying to be clever, deep and profound... and it usually doesn't work. Too much mind! And so it is surprising that I have read My Secret is Silence a number of times, enjoying it more deeply each time. Why? Because the author, Adyashanti, is an awakened spiritual teacher. He is able to express the apparent process of awakening and the truth of awakening in very humorous, direct and impactful ways that go much deeper than the conscious mind, as poetry is able to do. These poems and sayings have the potential to awaken us from the trances of limitation and separation.

I enjoy reading this book just before I go to sleep. And I often go to sleep laughing like Ho Tei. Adyashanti is a pretty funny type of guy in a deadly sort of way.

If you are sincerely interested in spiritual awakening, I highly recommend all of Adyashanti's books, tapes, CDs, DVDs and programs.

In the world of spiritual poetry, this is as good as it gets! But readers should know that Adyashanti is not out to indulge their minds with sweet words of the Eternal. Like he himself says: "I'm not one of those spiritual comfy guys. I'm one of those spiritual alarm clocks."
If you are ready for some serious questioning of who you are, there is really no book I would recommend more than this one. Adyashanti comes to life on the page, one instant as a laughing Buddha, the next as a teacher out to behead you. What could be better?

Adya dispenses truth without apology in these beautiful lines of poetry and dharma. The words are so direct that the deepest part of me seems to respond. There is no soothing of the ego. As a matter of fact, Adya takes no prisoners as he gently allows me to come to a new understanding... that nothing needs to be done and the only thing standing between me and God, is nothing.

For the comparing mind there might others who are "better" but Adya doesn't come from that world. His poetry is like a fresh touch for those of us who are craving clarity, resonance and most of all the tender touch of the awakened. Meet yourself in this poetry and know your own beauty.

I was disappointed given all the rave reviews so far for all of Adyashanti's books. Although there were some neat pieces and insights, I find infinitely more power and depth in the writings of other enlightened beings including such well known ones as Rumi, Hafiz, Kabir, Mira Bai, Yunus Emre ("The Drop that Became the Sea") or "Nobody Son of Nobody" by Shaikh Abu-Saeed Abil-Kheir. Of course it might be a matter of personality or approach better suited to some than others. That is why I'm listing some of the others I find much more powerful so as to give you a hopefully helpful baseline of comparison for your purchasing decision as I personally find those other authors deliver everything mentioned by the 4/14/05 reviewer much more powerfully.

I find Adyashanti's writing and speaking about spiritual awakening the clearest and simplest and most accessible of the many enlightened writers and thinkers in this arena. I particularly love this book, because I find that whenever I get stressed and very much stuck in future anxiety and past beliefs. I can just dive in anywhere in the book and read a poem and/or several aphorisms, and return to the now quickly, with a minimum of fuss and usually with a belly laugh at myself and with myself. I keep a dog-eared copy by my left hand at my desk and in my travel valise, so Adyashanti's wisdom is always wonderfully available.

Adyashanti is clean and clear. He literally speaks from my very own heart and inspires something in me that is at the same time very familiar and very fresh. It seems that the freshness plays a trick on me. I have read paragraphs that I know I have read before, but my subjective experience is like reading it for the first time. I highly recommend him. He's the real deal.

Silence is the goal but this thought provoking book does anything but still the mind. The reader is left to marinate with the wonderful poetry and sayings of Adyashanti long after the last page is read.

I bought this beautiful book last year during a silent retreat with Adyashanti. His words have a wonderful way of piercing straight through to my heart. The poems and writings are simple, clear, honest and thought-provoking. His words hit home and I usually find myself laughing as his message becomes clear. This book is like a bible for me. I flip it open every day and find just what pearls of wisdom I need.