Customer Reviews

Spontaneous Awakening

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1 star:		(2)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

I really enjoyed this audio set. Adyashanti is modern layed back guide into being.

If you are sick of methods, guru's, practices etc etc give him a go as he had done it all and speaks of what ended up working for him.

There is a real transmission of his presence through this audio set.

I really like that Sounds True womans voice too but thats a different story!

Check out http://www.adyashanti.org for over an hour of free downloadble teaching of Adyashanti, and see if what he says is for you! That's what convinced me to buy this set.

If you were desperate to realize your True Nature, and you had but one day left on the planet, this might very well be the person to spend your time with. This was my first exposure to Adyashanti. My conclusions? Worth the time, worth the money, worth the look. He's the Real Deal. Namaste.

FIVE YEARS LATER

Adya became my primary distance-learning teacher. We have spoken a few times; I've seen him once. He's had an enormous influence on my spirituality. He and my one-on-one teacher, Scott Kiloby, are two of the clearest lamps in the land. HIGHLY recommended.

I was present for the New Age movement, the consciousness movement, the channeling phenomenon, the endless parade of gurus and crystal healers that stormed through San Francisco and LA in the '70s and '80s. All I wanted was a teacher who could help me integrate spirituality with my everyday life. Never found that teacher then, but did pick up a chronic, acute case of guruitis and woo-woo-noia. I left CA, vowing never to set foot in another spiritual bookstore.

But like everyone who has ever peeked behind their ego and yearned to be free of its falseness, I felt frustrated that, apparently, I would not get to awaken in this lifetime. I had to make a living, didn't have 30 years to spend in an ashram. Consequently, I was walking around with a hole in my spirit, secretly waiting for my next lifetime when I might get lucky.

Ten years passed. I found love and remarried. Life was as good as it can get in mundane reality. Those teasing mystical experiences of childhood were fading away. I was even beginning to question their authenticity.

One day, a dear friend and beautiful co-worker came into my office and told me about a most amazing experience that had just occurred at lunch. She had been reading a book by a fellow named Adyashanti, when she looked up, and in that instant, saw the people sitting around her as herself, and herself as those people. After trying to describe the experience with words, she finally gave up. "The love ..." was all she kept whispering, tears now streaming down both of our faces, "The love!"

Thus began my exploration of these teachings. "Spontaneous Awakening" was first. I would listen to this recorded satsang on my way to work and on my way home, that's all. What he said was that it doesn't take 30 years meditating in a cave to awaken. It can happen right here, right now, at any moment. All it takes is a willingness to let go of the trance that passes for reality and allow the real thing to appear. Hell, I knew reality wasn't real, but I did not know, until this gentle teacher came into my life, that I could make that leap in this lifetime.

For anyone who has been similarly disillusioned by the enlightenment game, take heart. This teacher does not come with a "worship me" disorder. In fact, just the opposite. Something about him does not allow the transference of personal power that plagues so many teachers. His radical humility allows you to pay attention to the truth as it resonates within, allows you to shatter your own delusions, to own your awakening.

I cannot recommend this series highly enough. What some have called "rambling" and "talking in circles" is just authentic soul talk, and the only way my mind can be disengaged long enough to let the real thing in. No one has ever been able to do that, and I've sat at the feet of more gurus than I care to remember.

Someone said he contradicts himself, but if you listen, he says that upfront: "Nothing I will say today is the whole truth ..." and that's the Truth. It cannot be spoken. All he can do, and does do, is lead you into a conversation about the truth that points you on your way to discovering that for yourself, in your own way, for your own good. He will not do it for you. If, like me, you value the teacher who makes it impossible for you to surrender your power to him or her, Adya is the friend and guide you've been looking for.
Namaste'

I loved this series. It cuts away to the heart of enlightenment.
Pure and unvarnished, direct experience, is truly understood.

You won't get what you thought you were paying for, you'll get something far greater than anything you could imagine. What a bargain :)

Adyashanti is avery accessible and down to earth dude while talking about subtle and deep spiritual material. He does not come across as arrogant or holier than thou as so many other so called gurus or teachers. Many practical tips and great stories included in this set. Highly recommended!

this is a very refreshing view. if he seems like he talks in circles it's because he is taking about what cannot be talked about.

if you are ready to let go you'll get something out of this.