Adyashanti Intensive

[Chakburthi]

I really, really, really love listening to Adyashanti. Initially though, I also had the impression that he is almost trying to convince his students with his beautiful eloquence towards enlightenment.  But he is indeed not ignorant of the energetic aspects of the path. Also see: http://youtu.be/WysDN5oVqZA
where Adyashanti appears to be everything but embarrassed about his Kundalini experience...
I think his teachings address those ripe ones that have already gone through the Kundalini stage. I have also listened   to him, advising a student that has asked about the energy. He basically ignored her question and suggested trying to figure out who is aware (of the energy).

[kami]

quote:Originally posted by Chakburthi

I really, really, really love listening to Adyashanti. Initially though, I also had the impression that he is almost trying to convince his students with his beautiful eloquence towards enlightenment.  But he is indeed not ignorant of the energetic aspects of the path. Also see: http://youtu.be/WysDN5oVqZA
where Adyashanti appears to be everything but embarrassed about his Kundalini experience...
I think his teachings address those ripe ones that have already gone through the Kundalini stage. I have also listened   to him, advising a student that has asked about the energy. He basically ignored her question and suggested trying to figure out who is aware (of the energy).

Thank you for sharing the video Chakburthi.

I would agree that his (as well as some other similar teachers) teachings appeal to those who might be ripe enough to make that subtle shift to "who" is aware of the energy or the silence.

After 3 months, I'm still in awe of his humble yet magnificent presence. If anything, he seemed embarrassed to be up on stage as the teacher..

Love to you.

[chsmithe]

I think Adya's main bag is that there isn't any one single path to awakening. Everyone has their own unique journey. So I think that he does a very good job of being aware of, and acknowledging Kundalini but he doesn't put too much emphasis on it because he doesn't want it to become a distraction for people as being the one thing that you should be fully focused on. He even recommended Shamanic ritual for those inclined? That is awesome.

I have followed Adya more closely throughout the years than any other spiritual teacher because he has a way of remaining very down-to-earth about the whole Awakening process rather than getting too cosmic and kundalini and whatnot. But he doesn't deny mystical states and kundalini either. He realizes the universe is infinite in its potential.

And I think that he feels that becoming too one-pointed on Kundalini will ultimately make your life more haphazard than anything. Kundalini Awakening doesn't necessarily mean Enlightenment. Awakening makes Enlightenment possible, but doesn't guarantee it. So you could awaken your K, but that could potentially lead to more confusion than ever before. Now what to do? He once said to me directly that many spiritual teachers can teach students how to awaken their Kundalini, but once they do that, the student has more questions than ever about where to go next in life. Usually, the teacher has no idea what to teach once the Awakening has occured. Where to go from there? How to live your life now?  What he's trying to say is, Kundalini Awakening or just Awakening (the same thing, really), isn't the end of the journey. It doesn't stop there, and it's not enlightenment.

Enlightenment meaning, an abiding state of Unity.

And then Embodiment and the autonomous and unique expression of that Unity.

[Sparkle]

Adyashanti Retreat UK 2014

I attended a retreat with Adyashanti a few weeks ago in London. It was a 7 day silent retreat with 350 people.

I haven't read all this thread because I just discovered it, but thought I would jot down a few things about my experience.

About a week prior to the retreat I started feeling strongly about it and felt a draw to experiment with energies out of the crown. As I investigated this I was feeling strong (by my standards) energies going up out of the crown and then when it reached a certain point above the head I could feel a corresponding opening of the heart. This went on for a few day and then a few days into the retreat and it tailed off into silence. So it was nice to experience this descending energy into the heart that I hear people going on about - a confirmation as such.

On the above, the image I get when these things happen (and similar things have happened with Amma) is that there are a host of spiritual helpers in some other realm, in association with the likes of Adyashanti and Amma, that are operating in conjunction with their teaching. Sounds bizarre to most but maybe not here.

A few questions came up on kundalini and I felt like shouting out - go to the AYP website for advice, it's all there and much more.
He did say he had K symptoms for about 8 years. The advice he gave a few times on this, as well as the usual grounding etc. was to see if one could get in touch with a neutral energy underneath the K energy and reside with this.

Towards the end of the week he gave a talk about descending energies but integrating the Jesus story, Buddhism and other systems and no systems. It was a truly beautiful talk. The whole place was in tears and at the end some people were balling their eye out. He knows how to weave a good story and push the right buttons.

It was a very different type of retreat than I would be used to. There was no floor space available for people to sit cross-legged, which I was disappointed with as were many others too, so we were all in auditorium seats, which were quite comfortable nonetheless.

In all I was very happy with the experience, not sure about going back next year, which is telling in itself, we'll see.

Thanks for reading



 

[mil]

Sparkle

If you have any nuggets of the Jesus, Buddha thread that you found especially inspiring I would love to hear about it.

Thanks

[maheswari]

thx for sharing Sparkle[]

[Sparkle]

quote:Originally posted by mil

Sparkle

If you have any nuggets of the Jesus, Buddha thread that you found especially inspiring I would love to hear about it.

Thanks

Hi Mil
The Jesus/Buddha thing has interested me too. One of the main reasons I went to the retreat was because I was raised on ascending and descending energies in the form of dieties such as Jesus, the Holy Gost(Spirit), Mary etc. and was quite familiar with that. Then being drawn to Zen Buddhism and finding that there was none of that.

I had a hunch that I needed to focus more on the body energies and leave the higher ones alone for a while and it was AYP that got me into that properly with the use of Spinal Breathing by breathing through the forehead and staying away from the crown. This allowed more integration in the body for me as I tended to always go for the higher energies.

Adyashanti has been stressing the importance of the ascending/descending  energies and so I thought it might be time to return to this. This has proven to be a good move and it feels very right at the moment and more balanced.

I understand that the Tibetan Buddhists incorporate the higher energies whereas Zen, Theravada, Mahayana don't, to my knowledge. But I have not been drawn to Tibetan Buddhism, too icon heavy for me.

Adyashanti talks a lot about his Christian roots and how it was his spiritual formation. This is the same for me as for many out there so it is great to have someone from a similar background with such clear insights to listen to.

He talked about metaphor in the bible a lot. One of the things he remarked on was that throughout the New Testament there are many references to people who are in a dark place i.e. possessed by the devil or evil spirits, and that they immediately recognized Jesus for what he was and asked for help. Adyashanti was struck by this and noted that these people were much more likely to recognise Jesus than say the Pharasees and Priests etc.. The moral of the story being that we often have to go into the darkness in order to see the light and it is out of the mud of inquiry that we grow and blossom.

Hope that helps.

thanks maheswari

[mil]

Sparkle
That was very helpful.  I have the same curiosity between the ascending/descending versus the more body based traditions.  I meet those contradictions (if I can call it that) in my own body and awareness...I have been struggling to understand the relationship between the two.

Thanks so much...I hop that Adya puts this one up for listening on his site.  If you could tell me the date and the city if it is in the UK  so I could look for it I would appreciate it.

[Sparkle]

Hi Mil

Yes, I don't think they are contradictions but in my view they may require emphasis put on one or the other at different times, depending on what is going on for the person.

The retreat was in London 17th to 24th August 2014 and they said the audio's would be available in approx 4 weeks from the retreat date and would be on the Cafe Dharma link on his website.

All the best[/\]

[mil]

perfect...thanks Sparkle

[Jim and His Karma]

...and here it is: Silent Retreat Vol. 40 ~ U.K. Aug 2014


Talks   $40.00 (6.5 hrs)

Q&A Sessions $55.00 (13 hrs)

...and Meditations $18 (2.5 hrs)