Spontaneous Awakening [Audiobook, Unabridged] [Audio CD]

Adyashanti (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2005

An inspiring new spiritual guide emerges on the scene with his first major audio course--Spontaneous Awakening, a full retreat on audio.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

After a series of transformative spiritual awakenings, Adyashanti began teaching in 1996, at the request of his Zen teacher with whom he had been studying for 14 years. Adya's teachings have been compared to some of the early Chan (Zen) masters of China as well as teachers of Advaita Vedanta in India. Meetings with Adyashanti include teachings, meditation and satsang. Bring your innermost questions or join in deep silence, as Adya leads a profound and intimate investigation into the freedom of spiritual awakening. A native of Northern California, Adyashanti is a teacher of growing recognition and popularity in the United States. He teaches extensively in the San Francisco Bay Area, offering weekly satsangs, frequent intensives, and silent retreats. He also travels to teach in other areas of the United States and Canada.

From AudioFile

These 11 lessons from Adyashanti were recorded live. They include lectures, personal stories, interviews, and guided meditations. While the content of the lectures will be familiar to listeners already versed in Zen or Eastern spirituality, Adyashanti's explanations are quite lucid, even homely, making difficult concepts readily accessible even for those new to them. Sound quality is uniformly high, and the recordings capture much of his warmth and spontaneity. His excitement for spirituality and his eagerness to share with his listeners are apparent. It is especially nice to hear jokes, or to hear Adyashanti fumble a term and then laugh at himself. G.T.B. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Sounds True, Incorporated; Unabridged edition (June 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1591792916
• ISBN-13: 978-1591792918
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 7.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #647,773 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

83 of 83 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fresh, alive, and simple approach in awakening to what you really are, August 1, 2005

By 

KAP (Wisconsin) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Spontaneous Awakening (Audio CD)

I really love this compilation of Adyashanti's talks from one of his retreats. My only reason for purchasing it was to simply get another perspective on awakening. To my delight, I found an incredibly clear description of what awakening is. He strips away the misconceptions surrounding enlightenment and through two guided meditations he brings you face to face with your true nature.

His definition of meditation is simplicity itself: allow everything to be as it is - let there be no manipulation whatsoever and just rest in/as primordial awareness. There literally is nothing to "do". Although I had discovered this myself prior to coming across Adyashanti, I have found his way of conveying this to be fresh and alive. He is truly a remarkable teacher and acts as an unerring guide for those who are interested in rediscovering/remembering what they really are.

Included with this set of CDs is a handy guide listing the topics found on each CD and a definition of just what meditation is. Also included is an interesting audio interview where he talks about his own awakening.

It is a delight to have discovered such a remarkably clear and powerful rendering of just what awakening is and isn't. Adyashanti is a pristine mirror for those who are ready to see themselves in his teaching/presence.

40 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awakening to What You Already Are, January 22, 2006

By 

Tom Thompson "Tom Thompson" (Southern Pines, North Carolina) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Spontaneous Awakening (Audio CD)

Adyashanti is a teacher for those who are clear that the most important thing in their lives is discovering the Truth of Being. He is for those who are ready to set aside philosophy, metaphysics, methods, techniques, gurus, theories, and the endless maze of the conceptual mind to swan dive into the very depths of the mystery of Being right here, right now.

I recommend this recording, Spontaneous Awakening, as a good place to start with his teaching so the listener can become familiar with his style. He is relaxed, easy going, with a great sense of humor. He likes to talk. The listener may begin to relax into a sense of complacency only to realize that the whole structure of belief and ego has been dissolving out from under them and they are falling into the very Void they have always been avoiding. As Adya says, "There will be no damage control today." (My Secret is Silence-Adyashanti. See my review of this book.)

The meditation essay, on a hand-out that comes with the program, plus the guided meditations on a CD, are excellent. They seem to be based on a relaxed form of Zen shikantaza, or just sitting, welcoming everything as It is.

Does Adya contradict himself? Of course he does. Just try to be an honest spiritual teacher, using words, and not contradict yourself. In Zen, there is a saying that all true teachers know well: "Open mouth, already a mistake." But the words are not it. They are simply being used as pointers to This Truth that is happening. As Adya often says, "You already know ths."

By now you know I have nothing but respect for this teacher and his teachings. So now I'm going to have a little fun with the spiritual name game. In an interview in this series, Tami Simon asks him about his name and Adya slips out of answering the question. Can't blame him. His original name was Stephen Gray. That is about as WASPish as they come and it ain't going to fly on the spiritual circuit in California. Now Adya and his wife, Annie, (who has now had her name changed to "Mukti") attended some satsangs and intensives with Ganagji (whose original name was Toni Roberson). My fantasy is that at one of these affairs, she took Stephen in the back room and had a good talk with him. "Listen, kid, if you want to make it big time in this satsang business, you've got to lose that name and come up with something foreign and more exotic."
And so Stephen disappeared, Adyashanti was born and business is booming!

And this is a good thing for those who want to know the Truth more than anything else.

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, Alive and Powerful, August 30, 2005

By 

Justin (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Spontaneous Awakening (Audio CD)

6 CDs with 7hrs of pure consciousness streaming 'into' you and through you. If you want to Experencially Know your true nature then this compilation will take you 'there'. Adya seems like a really cool guy and his teachings work extremely well for Westerners with clarity that you'll never find in teachers with Eastern backgrounds.
Don't let the Zen background of Adya fool you. His teachings are beyond any confine of philosophy or tradition. He even admits that his failure with the 'traditional' zen path is what propelled him into his true path to awakening.
I highly recomment this set.