Caution Spiritual Seekers: You Might Just Find What You're Looking For!
Underneath the turmoil of thought, emotion, and personal will, there is a flow. If you're reading these words, you've probably felt it - the natural movement of life, the truth that beckons below the surface of things. What would happen if you were to stop avoiding this universal energy, and instead completely embrace it?
According to author and teacher Adyashanti, herein lies the heart of spiritual awakening - and it's likely to "end your world." Why? Because with spiritual awakening, instead of a new version of you, you find no version of you - your true nature beyond any point of view - "that which is continually partaking of all experience, in each and every instant."
Straight Talk on the Nature of Enlightenment
More and more people today have had a glimpse of this genuine kind of awakening, only to see it slip away after a few hours or days. Adyashanti calls this the "I got it/I lost it" phenomenon that perplexes so many of his students. For those caught between what he calls "non-abiding" awakening and the ultimate state of "abiding" enlightenment, Adyashanti offers The End of Your World - his first in-depth audio course about the remarkable yet enigmatic process of spiritual awakening.With straight talk and penetrating insight, Adyashanti helps you navigate the pitfalls and cul-de-sacs that "un-enlighten" us along the journey, including: the trap of meaninglessness; how the ego can "co-opt" realization for its own purposes; the illusion of superiority that may accompany intense spiritual breakthroughs; and the danger of becoming "drunk on emptiness."Inquiring Sincerely into Every Aspect of Your Life
"Full awakening comes when you sincerely look at yourself, deeper than you've imagined, and question everything," teaches Adyashanti. With 12 bold sessions about topics ordinarily kept private between student and teacher, The End of Your World is your invitation to join Adyashanti for an honest investigation of what you really are - and how to live when you discover it.
More and more people are “waking up” spiritually. And for most of them, the question becomes: now what? “Information about life after awakening is usually not made public,” explains Adyashanti. “It’s most often shared only between teachers and their students.” The End of Your World is his response to a growing need for direction on the spiritual path. Consider the book you hold in your hands Adyashanti’s personal welcome to “a new world, a state of oneness.”
Adyashanti begins by describing the “I got it/I lost it” phenomenon that perplexes so many of his students—the fluctuation between what he calls “nonabiding” awakening and the ultimate state of “abiding” enlightenment. With straight talk and penetrating insight, Adyashanti then points out the pitfalls and cul-de-sacs that “un-enlighten” us along the journey, including the trap of meaninglessness, how the ego can “co-opt” realization for its own purposes, the illusion of superiority that may accompany intense spiritual breakthroughs, and the danger of becoming “drunk on emptiness.” “Full awakening comes when you sincerely look at yourself, deeper than you’ve imagined, and question everything,” teaches Adyashanti. The End of Your World is your invitation to join Adyashanti for an honest investigation of what you really are—and how to live once you discover it.
Contents
Chapter One: Exploring Life After Awakening
Chapter Two: Authentic Awakening—And the Disorientation That Can Follow
Chapter Three: “I Got It, I Lost It”
Chapter Four: We Come to Nirvana by Way of Samsara
Chapter Five: Coming Completely Out of Hiding
Chapter Six: Common Delusions, Traps, and Points of Fixation
Chapter Seven: Life Itself Holds Up a Mirror for Our Awakening
Chapter Eight: The Energetic Component of Awakening
Chapter Nine: When Awakening Penetrates the Mind, Heart, and Gut
Chapter Ten: Effort or Grace?
Chapter Eleven: The Natural State
Chapter Twelve: The Story of the Wedding
Chapter Thirteen: An Interview With Adyashanti
Excerpt
There’s a phenomenon happening in the world today. More and more people are waking up—having real, authentic glimpses of reality. By this I mean that people seem to be having moments where they awaken out of their familiar senses of self, and out of their familiar senses of what the world is, into a much greater reality—into something far beyond anything they knew existed.
These experiences of awakening differ from person to person. For some, the awakening is sustained over time, while for others the glimpse is momentary—it may last just a split second. But in that instant, the whole sense of “self” disappears. The way people perceive the world suddenly changes, and they find themselves without any sense of separation between themselves and the world. It can be likened to the experience of waking up from a dream—a dream you didn’t even know you were in until you were jolted out of it.
In the beginning of my teaching work, most of the people who came to me were seeking these deeper realizations of spirituality. They were seeking to wake up from the limited and isolated senses of self they had imagined themselves to be. It’s this yearning that underpins all spiritual seeking: to discover for ourselves what we already intuit to be true—that there is more to life than we are currently perceiving.
But as time has passed, more and more people are coming to me who have already had glimpses of this greater reality. It is because of them that I am giving the teachings of this book.