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nearoanoke
USA
525 Posts |
 Posted - Jun 07 2011 : 12:05:02 AM
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All,
I've been to Adyashanti's Weekend retreat in San Rafael,CA this weekend (June 4-5).
I've been reading his books and listening to his videos and wanted to attend in person and see. He is definitely as remarkable in person as he is in his videos and writings. Truth just flows out. Very beautiful. I didnt feel any energy surges or anything different seeing him in person. It is just the same as in Videos.
I did their "True Meditation" while I was there. I used to think AYPs DM is the as simple as it can get but this one surely beats it. It is as he calls it "Sitting in silence, without any control or manipulation. Letting everything be as is." No Mantra, no Concentration. No Effort. Much like our samyama where we sit in silence between sutras. Not sure how effective it is though.
Usually I get bored with retreats but I never got bored of this one. His words and wisdom just flowed and was very sharp and cutting. I felt him more like Ramana Maharshi wih the self-inquiry approach. There were question and answer sessions and I wanted to ask him "His view about sitting practices and how self-inquiry can't be useful without adequate inner silence". Surprisingly before I even asked the question, he answered it (as part of answering another question to somebody else). "Self-Inquiry without meditation is like going in circles and meditation without self-inquiry is not of much use either. They both need to complement each other"
Anyway all he said left me more confused; "You are already there. Drop all resistance. Let everything be as is. There is no effort to make. It doesnt matter.". I know he is speaking the truth and I just am not getting it. It is not his fault but his instructions are being misunderstood by the common public.
I was completely confused and angry on him when I reached the airport. I had two hours to my flight and I opened up Yogani's lessons on Self-Inquiry on my iphone. I kept reading like that till I went home. All my confusion was removed. Thanks Yogani for that beautiful explanation of the Relational Vs. Non-relational inquiry and the importance of cultivating the witness state before going to inquiry. I really felt like a bird without wings being asked to jump from the mountain - so helpless.
Ofcourse it was not Adyas fault. He is as enlightened as anyone can get. He is may be doing the right thing and may be that is what the world needs right now. I might also attend his retreats in the future. But I felt once again why AYP is more usable and useful to me.
- Near |
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manigma
India
1065 Posts |
Posted - Jun 07 2011 : 01:19:34 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by nearoanoke
"You are already there. Drop all resistance. Let everything be as is. There is no effort to make. It doesnt matter."
LOL
Resistance is futile. ~ Borg (Star Trek)
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maheswari
Lebanon
2516 Posts |
Posted - Jun 07 2011 : 02:13:57 AM
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Anthem
1608 Posts |
Posted - Jun 07 2011 : 07:42:52 AM
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Hi Near,
Thanks for the nice report.
quote:
Anyway all he said left me more confused; "You are already there. Drop all resistance. Let everything be as is. There is no effort to make. It doesnt matter.". I know he is speaking the truth and I just am not getting it. It is not his fault but his instructions are being misunderstood by the common public.
This is Adya simply speaking from where he is. I heard a quote in a video by Sadhguru the other day who said something along the lines of: (me paraphrasing badly)--> "yes there is nothing to do, nowhere to go but before that there is a lot to do in order to get you to that point".
So he (like AYP) endorses the use of practices to unwind the mind before one can enjoy: "there is nothing to do, nowhere to go".
All the best! 
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nodoubt
India
90 Posts |
Posted - Jun 07 2011 : 10:48:34 AM
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| Meditation without pranayama, mudra and mantra is just ordinary anxiety. The best wisdom is not in words, but in action. |
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HathaTeacher
Sweden
382 Posts |
Posted - Jun 07 2011 : 4:37:35 PM
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I admire Adyashanti's flavor of Zen and his emphasis on simply letting go of old mind patterns. But, leaping right into the calmest stage of meditation is difficult (Shikan Taza - Only Sitting; there are slightly similar meditations in Tantric rituals too, like going into emptiness, then beyond emptiness); a more traditional Zen Do wouldn't start there. They would let an adept's stillness of mind develop from scratch, through techniques like breath counting in a correct posture, to occupy the mind just enough, then dropping off more and more of it, before giving a go to Shikan Taza. So, both Zen and Tantra practices are actually stepwise.
I understand some people prefer to "jumpstart" it the Adyashanti way because they're more or less born with stillness, but personally I wouldn't be able to start directly from the high end; a sound-mantra made a very good stepping stone for me in the beginning. Then, the learning and the process itself ("meditating") is quite similar in Zen and Tantra.
Same thing with sex drive. In Zen, the focus is on the high end: all instincts are just a part of the "scenery", so do continue sitting and breathing and give it a lot of patience. Good for those who are already there. Tantra on the other (left :-) hand offers the how-to upfront (sitting posture, asanas, pranayamas, energy purification), for those including myself who need to tame the Kundalini in order to get any further. |
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Kirtanman
USA
1651 Posts |
Posted - Jun 07 2011 : 5:25:15 PM
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Hi Near,
As you may know, I've found both AYP and Adyashanti to be very helpful.
Adyashanti emphasizes the truth of non-duality, and AYP emphasizes the need of practices in order to consistently experience the truth of non-duality.
These two areas of emphasis are not actually mutually exclusive, though they can seem like it, to thinking-mind, at times.
Without form-practices such as AYP, realization is certainly possible, but consistent liberation seems much more difficult, and/or more difficult to sustain in ongoing experience.
In a nutshell, practices such as spinal breathing and deep meditation help to prepare the physical and energetic bodies as a foundation which can support inner silence.
Inner silence then becomes the fertile soil for inquiry. Sitting practices and inquiry lead us to the experience of the full range of consciousness, and realization of unbound awareness, and ultimately everything in it, as the wholeness we each and all ever actually, are now.
And so, it's true that Adya is speaking the truth, and that AYP is teaching methods that can help us all become living expressions of the truth, consciously, in ongoing experience.
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Edited by - Kirtanman on Jun 07 2011 5:28:39 PM |
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nearoanoke
USA
525 Posts |
Posted - Jun 09 2011 : 3:09:57 PM
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I feel there is a lot of similarity between what Yogani and Adya says especially in how they describe enlightenment.
A simple example is Yogani's "Stillness in Action" which corresponds to Adya's "Emptiness Dancing"
Adya's True Meditation is like our DM without the mantra. Just letting go. What he teaches as "Meditative Self-Inquiry" is asking a question and letting it go (he says answer needs to come beyond mind) which is exactly like our Samyama.
The way Adya so eloquently describes enlightenment is amazing. For people who are near enlightenment and caught up in myths about having arrived his teachings can be of great help.
- Near |
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jenniferad
47 Posts |
Posted - Jun 09 2011 : 3:35:02 PM
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I have read Adyashanti's writing and watched some of his videos. His message, teaching, and his being resonate very deeply with me. I can see why many people find what he talks about very helpful.
However, for me what I have found at AYP is so much more useful. I had kundalini awakening and a fundamental identity shift years ago, and have lived these years since integrating and balancing what happened. I have only been practicing spinal breathing and deep meditation for a few weeks now, and I feel so much better in my life.
My healing has been intensified, expanded and accelerated through two simple AYP practices. What Adyanshanti gives is a taste of stillness, of blissful awareness in the present moment. What AYP has given to me is a way to expand that very awareness. The practices are clearly and precisely outlined and they are so effective. I am very grateful. My husband has started practicing meditation as well, and he is reading the book on pranayama. |
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