awakening one community at a time . . .
Does Egypt Call Out to You?
There are moments in our lives when the mysteries of the universe call us on a journey, no place holds these mysteries like Egypt. I invite you to join me on a journey of a lifetime and discover and reconnect with ancient Egypt. If you feel a spiritual connection or attraction to the land of Egypt, to the Gods, and myths of the ancient land then this journey is for you. By joining me on this adventure in May 2014 you will have an opportunity to meet and discuss your beliefs and experiences with others on a similar path. We will be accompanied by an Egyptian Egyptologist who will offer insights and knowledge into ancient Egyptian history and culture, as well as modern day Egypt.
JOIN ME ON MY NEXT VISIT TO EGYPT IN MAY 2014 “A modern day pilgrimage” is how Mark Anns, a psychologist with an interest in transpersonal psychology, described the tours he accompanies to Egypt. Mark was trained by Mary Shaw (Consciousgateways), and in May 2014 he will accompany a small group of participants, who will explore their own connection to the ancient land of Egypt. When asked why Egypt, Mark stated Egypt has a fascination for many, and there are those who feel a calling to journey to the ancient sites. The tour offers the opportunity to immerse yourself and experience this connection. www.spiritualtoursegypt.com.au
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www.innerself.com.au
The Way of Liberation An Interview with Adyashanti
BY LEO DRIOLI & ENZA VITA Adyashanti is an American-born spiritual teacher devoted to serving the awakening of all beings. He is the author of The Way of Liberation, Falling into Grace, True Meditation, and The End of Your World. His teachings are an open invitation to stop, inquire, and recognize what is true and liberating at the core of all existence. Asked to teach in 1996 by his Zen teacher of 14 years, Adyashanti offers teachings that are free of any tradition or ideology. “The Truth I point to is not confined within any religious point of view, belief system, or doctrine, but is open to all and found within all.” Adyashanti will be holding a 7 day silent retreat in Mangrove, NSW in October 2013. For more details on his events, books and teachings visit www. adyashanti.org LEO: You came from a Zen background but you don’t actually teach Zen Buddhism, why?
ADYASHANTI: There’s not really a specific reason. When I started to teach I taught it pretty much the same manner that my teacher did. I had meditation cushions and mats … I’d set them up and everybody would face the wall and meditate just like we’d done with my teacher. We did some chanting and I did a short 15 minute talk. It was all modeled on what I’d done with my teacher who I’d studied with for 14 years. And then one day I started to entertain a few questions after my short little talk and I was really moved by how sometimes in just a few moments of dialogue I could help someone see through something that they might have been meditating on for years. Occasionally I would save people a lot of time just by doing it in a public forum … Because in Zen Buddhism most of the questioning is done in private between a teacher and student in what they call Dokasan. Anyway I just saw that this more public question and answer thing had the power to it so I started to extend the time that I’d be engaged with people in discussion and just slowly it took on the form that it has today. It just really naturally evolved. When I was doing it I had never heard of things like Satsang or any of these kind of words. It just evolved that way and it also goes back to my original intention. I was really interested when I started … I just had to find out what enlightenment was. Every time I read the word I just had to know what it was. Even though I became an official Buddhist, my intention wasn’t to become anything other than what I already am. I really just wanted to know what this enlightenment thing was all about. So that kind of naturally started to manifest itself when I taught and I was more than happy to use Buddhist teachings that would help, or Christian teachings or anything that I thought would help me communicate better. That was really my interest. Leo: I was listening to an interview you did a few years back and the interviewer asked you what your teaching was. He said he listened to you speak but he couldn’t pick up what the actual teaching was and you said, Well that it’s probably because you address each individual’s needs … so you kind of said, I struggle to find what my teaching is too but I’ve come to your “Way of Liberation” book and teachings lately and I realise that you’ve actually done that now, you’ve formulated the teaching, is that right?
ADYASHANTI: Yeah, that’s the reason I put out that book. I wanted to come up with a really condensed form of what my teaching is. All of those elements that are in that book can be found in my teaching over the last 15 years but I never really presented in that format. So I was always clear on what the aim of my teaching is but I started to realise that for people listening, they weren’t always exactly clear on just what the teaching is. That was one of the motivations to write it down in a really direct and simplified version. LEO: It’s actually fantastic. I must say I’ve read it and it’s really really powerful, being that condensed it captures everything so succinctly.
ADYASHANTI: I’m delighted it feels that way for you.
LEO: At the end of your book “The Way of Liberation”you describe a sort of imaginary journey that you put together about what happens in awakening … was this based on your own journey?
ADYASHANTI: It wasn’t strictly. It’s a sort of fictionalized account of my own experience. I wouldn’t say it’s exactly as it happened to me but it was certainly pretty much the elements of what happened to me as a different story. So it was a way to give in a story format what I saw is some of the really important elements of awakening. I think sometimes stories contain or express something that you can’t do just in straight conceptional language. Immortality is something you can kind of get a sense of it more than getting the teaching. LEO: I must say I enjoyed it being at the end; it really brought everything together beautifully. In the new book you really explain it as a stripped down practical guide to spiritual liberation and enlightenment. Can I ask you how many of your students have actually achieved this?
ADYASHANTI: Well I couldn’t tell you numbers coz I don’t keep track of numbers. If you ask me has anybody I’d taught come to it? I would say yeah, quite a few, but I wouldn’t really know how many. I mean it’s one of the things about awakening, enlightenment, liberation, as I see they’re much more fluid concepts than people think they are. In other words, not all awakenings are the same. Even in a legitimate awakening it can be a vast array of how deep it goes, how thorough it is, how much it is embodied into one’s life. You know all those elements can vary greatly from one individual to the other. When I started to teach 15 years ago if I could just get one person in my lifetime to really realize the truth really clearly and be able to live it, I would be thrilled. If I had a goal, that is my goal. I’ve been really pleasantly surprised over the years that it’s been many, many, many, years that first person has really woken up and lived it to a great degree, so there have been many others since. Beyond that I couldn’t possibly it’s been 50 or a 100 or … It’s a good question. To me, the bottom line of any spiritual teaching, the only thing that’s important is: Does it work? It’s not really how eloquent it is or how subtle it is or refined … but at the end of the day what’s really important is, Does it really work? So I think your question really comes out of that and is an expression of a very important question … does it work? And anybody, no matter what spiritual teaching they may be utilizing … that’s a really important question for them individually which is Does this seem to be working for me? And if it isn’t, you’ve got to review how you interacting with the teaching, or you might need to move on and find something that really works for you. ENZA: What is this Enlightenment that you speak of, because the word is used out there in all the different spiritual teachings and everybody’s got a slightly different definition of it? Just wondering what your definition of enlightenment is?
ADYASHANTI: Well you know, like most things in life, you can’t define it (Laughter) but it doesn’t mean that I’m not going to give it a try. (Laughter) ENZA: I thought you’d say that. (Laughter)
ADYASHANTI: Like anything, the definition isn’t really much like the real thing at all, so I think we should all hold the definitions very, very lightly instead of very tightly. I mean I think there are few basic elements that have to be considered when we talk about enlightenment. One of them would be something that’s really fundamental. By fundamental I mean something that is not just transitory or passing but the real seeing of ourselves not in some way separate, to see ourselves as whole, by whatever means you want to express that. To see our essential nature is that which is the whole, whether we want to call that Buddhanature or the Divine or just the One. I think that’s the key element. If that’s not there, we really can’t be talking “Enlightenment” … Enlightenment is really to be waking up to the whole, to the oneness of all existence. Although to me that’s the first step. You can realise that and still have a lot of egoic content going on, and a
ADYASHANTI lot of inner contradiction happening. To me part of this trajectory from awakening to liberation would be the capacity to, number one: To be able to live what you realise, so you’re expressing it in the way you move into the world of time and space. So it’s not just a private inner realisation or inner experience but it literally becomes who you are through your humanity, to be the much more mature expression of enlightenment. And also what I would include to be a really mature expression of enlightenment would be the experience of non-division, not in the metaphysical sense like I just mentioned before but non-division in the psychological sense. Where we do not internally have divisive psychological forces creating friction. I think that those elements are indispensible if we’re going to talk about enlightenment about liberation. ENZA: What is the greatest barrier to awakening and what is the most valuable thing that we can do in our daily life to wake up?
ADYASHANTI: Oh … you guys are so full of good questions aren’t you? (Laughter) They sound so harmless. (Laughter) Oh gosh, I’m just playing with you … that’s a great question but the reason why I think it is not simple to answer, is because I’m really hesitant to give pat answers to questions like that. In “The Way of Liberation” it’s what I call the False Self. The False Self that sees itself as separate is probably our greatest barrier to awakening. In the metaphysical sense it’s very true that it is a barrier but when we get down to a specific person, what they are actually dealing with … what their particular barrier is can be very different from person to person. Their particular type of separateness … the way they feel and create separateness ... that can vary so much. So that’s why I’m kind of a little hesitant to give you one answer. Because I know over all these years working with people that it’s very unique from person to person and it always has something to do with the way we see ourselves as separate from the whole. ENZA: So this brings us to the role of the Teacher and their importance in guiding us. Is it absolutely necessary to have a Teacher to awaken?
ADYASHANTI: No, it’s not. It all also comes down to an individual person. For one person the answer may be absolutely yes but for another person the answer may be no. It’s very individual; some people really, really need a teacher. Their chances of finding their own way out of their confusion are very, very slim if left on their own. And there are other people - you know Ramana Maharshi didn’t have a teacher - you know there are other examples of people who have awakened but didn’t have a teacher at all. It’s so individual, some people do and some people don’t. ENZA: So what is the role of the Teacher in your teachings?
ADYASHANTI: Well I think the first role of a teacher is to Continued to page 6