Adyashanti

[Deleted]

zero obfuscation.

[silence]

Jan 12, 2013 11:16:22 GMT -5 quinn said:

From where I stand, becoming clear about the search is purely for the purpose of becoming clear about the search. Just to pick one more sliver out of my eye. What dissolves or doesn't dissolve isn't part of the question right now.
Keepin' it simple

Good enough.

[Deleted]

what is your aspiration right now?

Jan 12, 2013 20:39:38 GMT -5 maxdprophet said:

zero obfuscation.

and fully alive.

[Deleted]

I was listening to a free archived Radio Adyashanti recording called "Rooted in the Primordial" this morning. It's probably the fourth time I've listened to it now. It starts off with Steven Gray outlining his tree model. He puts it out there to aid a particular practice or activity. But I'm a little confused by it. Unfortunately there is no forum where one can ask questions at www.adyashanti.org/cafedharma so I'm putting it out here.

The tree model that Mr. Gray uses is that the leaves and twigs serve as the sensory interaction with things and stuff out there in the world. (I'm thinking synapses). The twigs and branches lead to the trunk, which is consciousness. The branches and so forth represent seeing or hearing or touching, tasting.... Consciousness, the trunk (dendrites, axon) is just the awareness that a particular sensation is happening. All of it is rooted in what he calls the "Primordial Void" -- that which is ineffable. The primordial void sounds a lot like emptiness to me.

Anyhoo, as an activity, he suggests 'tracing' thoughts or sensations through consciousness to the primordial void, to the thoughtlessness or to that which is absent sensation. Rooting oneself in the awareness that everything emanates from the primordial void creates a sort of strong 'ballast' that keeps the boat from tipping over at the first thought or sensation (those are his mixed metaphors).

I think I get the model and the suggestion. What is puzzling to me is the activity of 'tracing.' On the face of it, tracing a sensation to the primordial void appears to be an investigation of memory and imagination. That's very unreliable in my experience, so I can't imagine that that is what Mr. Gray is suggesting. Sensations happen now. So how can one trace a sensation?

[runstill]

Oct 8, 2013 7:50:16 GMT -5 maxdprophet said:

I was listening to a free archived Radio Adyashanti recording called "Rooted in the Primordial" this morning. It's probably the fourth time I've listened to it now. It starts off with Steven Gray outlining his tree model. He puts it out there to aid a particular practice or activity. But I'm a little confused by it. Unfortunately there is no forum where one can ask questions at www.adyashanti.org/cafedharma so I'm putting it out here.

The tree model that Mr. Gray uses is that the leaves and twigs serve as the sensory interaction with things and stuff out there in the world. (I'm thinking synapses). The twigs and branches lead to the trunk, which is consciousness. The branches and so forth represent seeing or hearing or touching, tasting.... Consciousness, the trunk (dendrites, axon) is just the awareness that a particular sensation is happening. All of it is rooted in what he calls the "Primordial Void" -- that which is ineffable. The primordial void sounds a lot like emptiness to me.

Anyhoo, as an activity, he suggests 'tracing' thoughts or sensations through consciousness to the primordial void, to the thoughtlessness or to that which is absent sensation. Rooting oneself in the awareness that everything emanates from the primordial void creates a sort of strong 'ballast' that keeps the boat from tipping over at the first thought or sensation (those are his mixed metaphors).

I think I get the model and the suggestion. What is puzzling to me is the activity of 'tracing.' On the face of it, tracing a sensation to the primordial void appears to be an investigation of memory and imagination. That's very unreliable in my experience, so I can't imagine that that is what Mr. Gray is suggesting. Sensations happen now. So how can one trace a sensation?

Following thought seems to come from a prior thought that's about as far I've taken it, but I can go back to three, or four prior thought's and see what started the thought train, before that I'm not sure, I think Enigma says its the inherent conditioning and that may account for how most thought's originate but not all thought's.

Sensation's are a different matter for starters it/they are direct, if attention is placed on it/them mind easily becomes still. Notice how I'm referring to sensation as singular and plural, that's because sound and the sensation of pressure can be noticed with out separation , as one but different.

The sensation of pressure can easily be noticed as having no boundaries.

Its getting late hopefully I'll come back to this thread and finish it, later.......

[quinn]

Oct 8, 2013 7:50:16 GMT -5 maxdprophet said:

I was listening to a free archived Radio Adyashanti recording called "Rooted in the Primordial" this morning. It's probably the fourth time I've listened to it now. It starts off with Steven Gray outlining his tree model. He puts it out there to aid a particular practice or activity. But I'm a little confused by it. Unfortunately there is no forum where one can ask questions at www.adyashanti.org/cafedharma so I'm putting it out here.

The tree model that Mr. Gray uses is that the leaves and twigs serve as the sensory interaction with things and stuff out there in the world. (I'm thinking synapses). The twigs and branches lead to the trunk, which is consciousness. The branches and so forth represent seeing or hearing or touching, tasting.... Consciousness, the trunk (dendrites, axon) is just the awareness that a particular sensation is happening. All of it is rooted in what he calls the "Primordial Void" -- that which is ineffable. The primordial void sounds a lot like emptiness to me.

Anyhoo, as an activity, he suggests 'tracing' thoughts or sensations through consciousness to the primordial void, to the thoughtlessness or to that which is absent sensation. Rooting oneself in the awareness that everything emanates from the primordial void creates a sort of strong 'ballast' that keeps the boat from tipping over at the first thought or sensation (those are his mixed metaphors).

I think I get the model and the suggestion. What is puzzling to me is the activity of 'tracing.' On the face of it, tracing a sensation to the primordial void appears to be an investigation of memory and imagination. That's very unreliable in my experience, so I can't imagine that that is what Mr. Gray is suggesting. Sensations happen now. So how can one trace a sensation?

My guess would be that he's not the least bit interested in the content of thought, which is the unreliable part. Looking at a thought or sensation in order to trace it reduces it to a 'thing', or an object. I would think that little exercise is really a way to frame thoughts and sensations differently and get a little witnessing going on.

**singing in Revival tent** Can I get a witness?

[Deleted]

youtu.be/pbqdERVDYEw?t=48m53s

[frustratedwanter]

Feb 28, 2012 13:18:41 GMT -5 maxdprophet said:

I just listened to one of SG's satsangs from 2004 this morning -- "The View from No Problem" or something. It was good. Three things ricocheted around as a result:

1. you are that which is sought
2. GAME OVER
3. Dr. Evil giving the shush sign with his hand

Such is the depth of my thought these days.

That clip felt like me (the smart one) talking to myself.

[silence]

Oct 8, 2013 7:50:16 GMT -5 maxdprophet said:

I think I get the model and the suggestion. What is puzzling to me is the activity of 'tracing.' On the face of it, tracing a sensation to the primordial void appears to be an investigation of memory and imagination. That's very unreliable in my experience, so I can't imagine that that is what Mr. Gray is suggesting. Sensations happen now. So how can one trace a sensation?

All of these activities and practices are not what they seem to be. If you logically take them apart piece by piece you will discover that they are all different manners of the same attempt to get you to become clear about where you're looking FROM rather than being consumed by what you're looking at. The practicing of the tracing is itself part of what you're looking at but it is nonetheless given. If you feel you need to trace your thoughts and sensations, do so. If you don't and there is no dilemma to be resolved, so be it.

[Deleted]

Nov 20, 2013 13:30:47 GMT -5 freejoy said:

Is Adyashanti greedy?

Yes. "Adyashanti" is an ancient Sanskriji word meaning, roughly, "primordial lust and self-serving desire." Word has it that when he was given his name by his teacher that he was overcome with speechless gratefulness. He was familiar with Sanskrit, which is a much more widely known ancient tongue, and Adyashanti means "primordial peace." Still, overcome with love and humility as he was, he didn't feel necessarily peaceful. Reportedly he asked his teacher what this name meant to her and she said "Two ladels of bean soup kills the fly." This puzzled him greatly and so he spoke to an old time student who gave him the actual Sanskriji translation above. Apparently the teacher was still fuming about when young Steven Grey, metabolism amped from miles and miles of roadbiking, had greedily taken more than his share of miso soup at the recent Spring retreat. This shat on the vow to save all beings, as it was standard sangha practice to leave soup in the serving bowl for house flies and any other critters. But to this day, not surprisingly, Adyashanti prefers the Sanskrit translation. If you dig deep, you'll find that most teacher names have similar and more realistic etymologies.

edit: maxdprophet just being a snarky a-hole as usual

[Deleted]

youtu.be/jr-fE2xn_5w?t=7m37s

[Deleted]

What Calls the Eye to See

What you are now stands before me immortal and true. I see it in the ground underfoot, and in the clouds in the sky, and in the mist gathering among the canyons, and in the face of the old man walking his grandchild down the sidewalk. In the robes of monks I see it, and in the rags worn by the women begging for change outside the supermarket. I see it in the sympathetic eyes of the mother greeting her young son as he returns home from the war, and in the father trying to comfort his baby daughter as he stands in line at the grocery store. I see it in the curve of my face in the mirror, and in the multitudes of stars in the sky.


I not only see it but I hear it as well. I hear it in the cries of the newborn baby hungry for its mother’s breast, and in the laughter of the old men sitting in the donut store together, and in the quiet sobs of the man placing flowers at his wife’s grave. I hear it in the ancient chants echoing through the open window of the old church, and in the ladies sitting on benches in the garden laughing with delight, and in the man working at the butcher shop asking his customers “Who’s next?”


What calls the ear to listen or the eye to see more than the surface façade that shrouds the essential spirit? Parting the strata and dross, what is essential picks its way through the manicured narrative of endless lives. In each moment of every day, Truth is not lacking or held in abeyance for some later date; it is given in full measure, and abundantly so. Do not be afraid of what appears to be chaos or dissolution—embrace the full measure of your life at any cost. Bare your heart to the Unknown and never look back. What you are stands content, invisible, and everlasting. All means have been provided for our endless folly to split open into eternal delight.

[Deleted]

Jul 24, 2015 11:51:01 GMT -5 maxdprophet said:

What Calls the Eye to See

What you are now stands before me immortal and true. I see it in the ground underfoot, and in the clouds in the sky, and in the mist gathering among the canyons, and in the face of the old man walking his grandchild down the sidewalk. In the robes of monks I see it, and in the rags worn by the women begging for change outside the supermarket. I see it in the sympathetic eyes of the mother greeting her young son as he returns home from the war, and in the father trying to comfort his baby daughter as he stands in line at the grocery store. I see it in the curve of my face in the mirror, and in the multitudes of stars in the sky.


I not only see it but I hear it as well. I hear it in the cries of the newborn baby hungry for its mother’s breast, and in the laughter of the old men sitting in the donut store together, and in the quiet sobs of the man placing flowers at his wife’s grave. I hear it in the ancient chants echoing through the open window of the old church, and in the ladies sitting on benches in the garden laughing with delight, and in the man working at the butcher shop asking his customers “Who’s next?”


What calls the ear to listen or the eye to see more than the surface façade that shrouds the essential spirit? Parting the strata and dross, what is essential picks its way through the manicured narrative of endless lives. In each moment of every day, Truth is not lacking or held in abeyance for some later date; it is given in full measure, and abundantly so. Do not be afraid of what appears to be chaos or dissolution—embrace the full measure of your life at any cost. Bare your heart to the Unknown and never look back. What you are stands content, invisible, and everlasting. All means have been provided for our endless folly to split open into eternal delight.

You and me gonna write like that when we grow up, yeah? 

[Deleted]

Jul 24, 2015 11:58:17 GMT -5 @wren said:

Jul 24, 2015 11:51:01 GMT -5 maxdprophet said:

What Calls the Eye to See

What you are now stands before me immortal and true. I see it in the ground underfoot, and in the clouds in the sky, and in the mist gathering among the canyons, and in the face of the old man walking his grandchild down the sidewalk. In the robes of monks I see it, and in the rags worn by the women begging for change outside the supermarket. I see it in the sympathetic eyes of the mother greeting her young son as he returns home from the war, and in the father trying to comfort his baby daughter as he stands in line at the grocery store. I see it in the curve of my face in the mirror, and in the multitudes of stars in the sky.


I not only see it but I hear it as well. I hear it in the cries of the newborn baby hungry for its mother’s breast, and in the laughter of the old men sitting in the donut store together, and in the quiet sobs of the man placing flowers at his wife’s grave. I hear it in the ancient chants echoing through the open window of the old church, and in the ladies sitting on benches in the garden laughing with delight, and in the man working at the butcher shop asking his customers “Who’s next?”


What calls the ear to listen or the eye to see more than the surface façade that shrouds the essential spirit? Parting the strata and dross, what is essential picks its way through the manicured narrative of endless lives. In each moment of every day, Truth is not lacking or held in abeyance for some later date; it is given in full measure, and abundantly so. Do not be afraid of what appears to be chaos or dissolution—embrace the full measure of your life at any cost. Bare your heart to the Unknown and never look back. What you are stands content, invisible, and everlasting. All means have been provided for our endless folly to split open into eternal delight.

You and me gonna write like that when we grow up, yeah? 

You're there m'lady, let it flow.

[quinn]

Bodian: There’s an ancient debate in Zen about the nature of enlightenment. Some schools claim that it’s sudden, and others claim that it’s a gradual process. What do you think?

Adya: It’s usually a combination of the two: a sudden penetration into the true nature of being, and then a gradual embodiment of this realization on the level of body, mind, and personality. It can take time to live our understanding fully, to express fully who we know we are through this human form, in the world of time and space, in the ways that the emotions and energy move and the mind functions. This gradualness differs tremendously from individual to individual. In rare cases, the awakening and the embodiment seem to happen in the snap of a finger: The false self drops away at once and never returns. More often, the process of embodiment involves a continual seeing through any remaining false layers of self, belief, and identity, as well as an ongoing surrender of anything that would cause us to stay separate. Whether it’s sudden or gradual, in the end one comes to an absolute and unconditional "yes" to reality just the way it is.

Interview in Tricycle "The Taboo of Enlightenment"