Hi all.

Just surprised no one has posted anything on the Adyashanti interview, which is probably the best talk I've heard posted on IN yet, on audio or video. Certainly the most balanced and thoughtful when it comes to spiritual concerns (and quite close to Ken in overall content, except in emphasis).

Any thoughts?

Mark

I love Adya's teaching. I have listened to a few of his talks on CD, and have read some of his stuff. I have several friends who also love his teaching, and we share how refreshing his style is. In this format, I found him a bit flat. It just didn't stand out for me, but maybe that is because I had some pretty high expectations from previous exposure to his teaching. Still love him.

Keith

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Peace. It does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work. It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart. -unknown

Here Here. I just heard the Adyashanti dialogue and I agree that it is one of the best I've heard of any of the IN dialogues.

I've watched a few of his teachings videos at a spirituality group near where I live and I was really impressed by what he had to say and his manner and style of presentation.

I'm pleased that he seems to embrace, at least in principal, the AQAL approach to spirituality, especially the difference between stages and states, and I like his comments on spiritual 'fundamentalism' (or was it materialism?), that is, the way that someone experiencing higher states can become dogmatic and really stuck in their relative philosophy, because of the apparent certainty and lack of doubt that these states have as one of their characteristics. My own experience is certainly that the mind is very inclined to hold dogmatically to certain pet ideas and theories after such extraordinarily strong immersion experiences. And further, that reading Wilber and studying Integral and AQAL has really helped me to expand my mind in the best sense.

I was pleased to mention this talk to a spiritual seeker friend who has taken the teachings of Adya and Eckhart Tolle and become unbearably anti-intellectual (and almost Ken Wilber hating). We'll see what his reaction is.

Anyway, I highly recommend the dialogue to anyone interested in spirituality and spiritual life.

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"The god you don't believe in I don't believe in either" - paraphrased from a statement by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi - directed at Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris and those holding similar views/beliefs.

Very clear. Alive... The truth speaks itself.

I rarely read or listen to too much of this stuff anymore, including Ken Wilber, that giant glob of luminosity. But then again, I get such a kick out of the minimalist style of these newly minted American masters, hmmm... like drinking the finest, oldest, freshest, most astonishing wine... so subtle, there is never any getting enough of that Taste.

M

i thought it was one of the more refreshing interviews in a while.  i've only heard him a couple of times, so it was a good chance to get better aquainted with his style.  not sure who the interviewer was, but i like the way he conducts his interviews.  not the usual rehashing of AQAL that comes up in every interview with KW or mini-me (sorry stu).   it's nice when the guest gets to talk.

I strongly agree jimtzu re: the 'usual rehashing of AQAL'. As much as I love reading Wilber's work and follow the Integral/AQAL stuff from II, he does tend to go on like a broken record about the same stuff, using the same examples. I would like it to reach a point where the dialogues (and perhaps this is already happening, I don't know) were not just aimed at beginners to Integral and got more and more into the juicy stuff - not necessarily the super-intellectual - but really explored these issues in great depth. 

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"The god you don't believe in I don't believe in either" - paraphrased from a statement by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi - directed at Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris and those holding similar views/beliefs.

I have to say I found this discussion/interview quite thrilling: strongly resonant with much currently knocking around in my head. And more than once I found myself saying, 'and what about .....', only to have Adyashanti cover the very same a moment later. All in all, totally on the money, in my humble view.
For those interested the Interviewer Bert Parlee can be found here, http://in.integralinstitute.org/live/view_Integral_Psychotherapy.aspx - talking of how an ILP can aid therapists in their practice. Not as exciting as Adyashanti in interview but certainly worthwhile, whether you are therapist or not.

I've been a big fan of Adyashanti for about a year; even went to one of his retreats last June.

Highly recommended, he seems to be the real deal (as far as I am able to determine with my current operating system); so far no hint of scandal, I would be very surprised if it were to happen. 

So I was very pleased to see him interviewed on IN; and look forward to the rest of the interview...

For some more Adya,  check out www.adyashanti.org
or
there's a few satsang videos posted at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hpnlPpVZko&search=adyashanti

Enjoy!  -- and thanks Integral!!!

Namaste--Julie

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All of my thoughts, like junkyard dogs, guarding scraps of nothing......
Bird York

I am And I am Not
In Duality or Not
Already there or Not
Empty or Fulfilled

All the same and Not...

Right on!

Spent 5 days in Silence with Adya recently--very glad to hear him on IN--

I head Father Thomas Keating speak today and found his references to silence in his centering prayer reminiscent of Adya's relationship with silence. . . 

Adya called it "non-dual fundamentalism,"  a very interesting concept, I think.  ( I don't know if that term is original to Adya, but I hadn't heard it.

I have seen this phenom  happen to friends who routinely, and sometimes for prolonged periods, experience sublte, perhaps, causal states.  They withdraw into themselves, intensifying UL and ignore much of the rest of thier lives-- shadows . . .

Which Adya says in the audio he sees in his students--

His humor didn't come through as much in this piece as I've heard it in others--and I think that is an important element of his teachings. 

In any case I reccomend Adya's teaching.  "The Direct Approach,"  as he calls it,  is very straight forward, accessible to anyone with an interest in awakening. Which is sort of his taglline. 

really like on his site when he says don't battle the mind, it's about ending the battle ... let the mind think if it wants to think ... just acknowledge that which is not thinking

that has really helped me with my morning sitting ...

Just wanted to echo the thoughts about the interviewer (is he the psychotherapist we saw in recent clips?), I also liked his style and hope we hear more of him in the future.

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Gavin

Haunted by the familiarity of inner softness behind frozen eyes

i don't think he's a psychotherapist ... more like a monk or something ... very articulate i must say

 

Bert Parlee is a psychotherapist and a life coach who has also traveled the world and done "monkly" things.  He was one of my professors at JFKU.

 

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May the boundless knowledge that time presents and space allows illuminate the native perspectives of your original face.