Adyashanti presents a blend of Zen and advaita teachings that's become relatively popular in the West Coast guru scene. A reader mailed me a DVD of his which I dutifully watched, then put on the shelf. It wasn't that I didn't like what I saw -- I wasn't sure of my impression. On one hand, I saw a witty, soft-spoken American with an Indian-sounding name, smiling a lot, pausing for long silences, and talking about how we are already that which we seek. Yet I couldn't dismiss him outright as I also felt an undercurrent of seriousness and honesty.
Many months later, I read two of his books: a collection of poetry and short quotes (My Secret is Silence), and Emptiness Dancing, a collection of transcribed talks. You can see a selection of his poems at the Poetry Chaikhana. Some poems were clever and humorous and some were calls to action. It's not that he wasn't speaking about the profound. For me, there wasn't a feeling resonance with the imagery of the poems; none that haunted me with the feeling that truth was close.
Emptiness Dancing offers numerous noteworthy points that differentiate Adyashanti from most of the "be here now" advaita shuffling clones in the spiritual marketplace. Some of my favorite quotes:
- Self-inquiry is a spiritually induced form of wintertime. It's not about looking for a right answer so much as stripping away and letting you see what is not necessary, what you can do without, what you are without your leaves.
- I suggest you ask, "What's ultimately behind this set of eyes?" Turn around to see what is looking.
- We project our own beauty.
- The me I know myself as, my personality, is toast.
- The best thing that human beings can do for themselves is to always be absolutely, totally, and completely coming from an honesty with themselves, a total internal integrity.
- It is so important to be more hooked on the truth than on wanting to get rid of identity.
- Asking, "What is the Truth?" is a demolition project. Most of spirituality is a construction project. We're ascending and ascending.... It just keeps building, and a person feels, "I'm getting better and better." But enlightenment is a demolition project.
- We do not want to see that there is a gaping void at the center of our existence.
- Many people ask, "How do I integrate my spirituality into everyday life?" You don't. You can't. How could you integrate it? You can't stuff the infinite into your limited life.
What did I not like? He is not consistent in describing the goal. In one talk, he describes three levels of realization: the head, the heart, and the gut. Yet in other talks, he seems to be encouraging people toward lesser experiences. He tells people to "just be." Encourages being aware of the five senses to "open to the whole." Equates relaxing into the moment with one's true nature. However, he says when the undivided state occurs, two things may happen: awakening to our true nature, or arising of our old conditioning. I must point out, though, that I was reading a collection of excerpts from talks, and that may explain the confusion.
Adyashanti's website is Adyashanti.org. There I find the same mystifying mix of powerful advice and spiritual cliche:
- Get rid of all of your illusions and what’s left is the truth. You don’t find truth as much as you stumble upon it when you have cast away your illusions.
- So if you want to find out how openness relates to each moment, just go inside. Be that openness. Be that emptiness.
Can we judge the teacher by those he encourages to teach on their own? Jon Bernie's Teachings are unimpressive. He seems to be proposing a path of ever increasing ease -- relaxing our way into enlightenment. We hear the siren call to stop, just be present, be here, be awareness, ta-da tadum. If I have to hear one more teacher talk about flowers opening.... Here's a list of those Adyashanti has invited to teach.
Despite this, I award Adyashanti three stars -- because I think if I sat down with him at the kitchen table as a struggling seeker, meeting him would help. I think there is helpful material in his books. I worry about his ever increasing organization and the lack of "quality control" of disciples.
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