Adyashanti's insights

Some insights from Adyashanti during the retreat that I attended in August:

All self is imaginary

Bring all of myself to this moment.

Nothing in the manifest world is perfect...just look at nature...the green needles turn brown.  (We too are not and never will be perfect in the human sense).

Surrender.

When life goes haywire it is often due to not listening to one's Truth.

Anything that remains after I stop thinking about it is real.  Everything else is imaginary.

When feeling lost, ground yourself in Truth.



My intention this week is to sit with the last 3 ideas.  What is Truth?  What is real?  What is imaginary? Interesting questions, worthy of contemplation.  

the path of nonresistance

I recently heard a very sweet, spiritual man give a talk about his life.  He was a Hindu monk for about 29 years.  At this point in his life he is experiencing a health issue that is debilitating.  Instead of being bitter, his attitude is one of acceptance.  He said that he is going to experience it all...whatever it is that life has to offer. This is the path of nonresistance (see chapter 16 of The Untethered Soul "The Spiritual Path of Nonresistance").

I have been sitting with what I heard from the speaker this week.  What if we are not here to solve all of life's problems, nor to arrange our lives so that we can have peace and happiness?  What if the reason we are here is to wake up to the truth of who we are...expressions of Divine Love?

Life can be very difficult.  And in the difficult moments it can be very challenging to let go of struggle, blame, fear, efforts to control life, and, accept what is showing up.  But as we do so, we open to a higher reality and a deeper peace than what the world could ever give us.

I know that this body that I inhabit and the persona that I present to the world are not who I really am.  I am much, much more.  Protecting this identity and fighting with life no longer serve me.  I choose to move into acceptance, thus opening myself to God's will flowing in, as, and through my life.

listen

Since life is uncertain and I cannot rely on my limited egoic mind to tell me what to do, then relying on God (i.e., the Universe, my Higher Self...) seems to be a good choice.

This requires listening.

It has been suggested that we "Stop telling God what to do and listen to God instead."

Adyashanti emphasizes being in the silence as a way to listen.  He gives three steps to meditation which I find to be very helpful at quieting my noisy mind:

Enter into stillness
Open your heart and mind
Lovingly return to Source.

I remind myself that God is always communicating with me.  If I am caught up in the world or in my conditioned self then I will miss what God is saying to me.  I choose to spend more time in the silence...more time listening and communing with God.

uncertainty

I was reminded this weekend that life is uncertain, but within that uncertainty lies the unlimited potential for joy, the peace that passeth all understanding, and love.

Why would I rely on my limited egoic self (which is not much more than a set of conditioned beliefs, feelings and perceptions based on my past experiences) to direct my life when Truth, Unconditional Love, Divine Wisdom (or whatever you want to call that which created life) is already in charge?

Please join me in taking lots of deep breaths and letting go...over and over again until there is nothing left to let go of because we have merged with Truth.

Beyond Fear

The spiritual path is a path to freedom…freedom from the tyranny of the egoic, limited self.

One of the biggest fears that blocks us from realizing this Freedom is the fear of letting go (i.e., surrendering or leaving the comfort of one’s beliefs, expectations, judgments, sense of control).

Every time I whole-heartedly surrender my life to God something inevitably occurs that causes me to come face-to-face with the areas where I am blocked (i.e., the areas of my life where I struggle the most). I have a decision at this point to either resist and struggle with what is showing up or continue to let go.

If I choose to let go, then right in the midst of the confusion or fear or stress I breath in and out through my heart.  I get out of my head by noticing what I am feeling both emotionally and physically.  I surrender my concerns and ask God for guidance.  I express gratitude that an area where I have been blocked is now free to be released.

When I let go, I am taking down my walls one brick at a time (Think of Michael Singer's analogy of the dark house built in the middle of the sunlit field).  I am surrendering my life to God one moment at a time.  I am not allowing fear to stop me from knowing and experiencing the truth of my Being. There is freedom on the other side of the fear.  The question is, am I willing to experience the discomfort of letting go in order to experience this Freedom?