Two Instincts of Enlightenment

There are two essential instincts that drive enlightenment. Adyashanti first reveals the instinct for transcendence and being free of all identification, where awareness becomes conscious of itself and its timeless domain of being. He then illuminates the instinct for wholeness: diving into the immediate sense of being and engaging in life from the fundamental caring and connection that lies at the root of embodying spiritual realization.

Topics Include:

• The Importance of Intention
• We Each Affect the World
• The Domain of Timelessness
• Unavoidable Suffering
• What Actually Is Awakening?
• The Urge to Merge
• Encountering the Immediate Sense of Being
• The Transcendent Instinct
• The Wholeness Instinct
• Noone, Everyone, and Someone
• Paying Attention to the Easiest Thing to Dismiss
• How Embodiment Requires Caring and Connection
• Spirituality’s Interface with the World

Q/A Topics Include:

• Unpackaging Suffering
• Two Ways to Experience the Unknown
• Treating This Experience with Kindness

Quotes from this Download:

“What affect do we want the world to have on us and what affect do we want to have on it?”

“No one gets out of here without caught in the rough and tumble of being, and experiencing the unavoidableness of suffering.”

“One of the spiritual person’s delusions is that the Buddha never had an off day, that he was in bliss every second. Many of us would like to be here but not be touched. It’s a very real impulse in human psyche.”

“One aspect of spiritual teachings is meant to differentiate between the time bound of experience and the timeless sliver of the psyche.” The moment that happens, that is experienced as a revelation. It redefines our experience of being.”

“If we could actually move toward—and be curious about—what we became afraid of, and at least begin with doing this experientially versus theoretically, then this is the whole of contemplative practice. This is going into the immediate sense of being.”

“The direct encounter with the immediate sense of being is the most important thing spiritually. Without that, there’s no foundation.”

“If you have come to a final conclusion that world is unreal and unimportant, your life can start to fall apart. Your energetic connection to it can disappear. It’s worth realizing but not making a permanent home.”

“Spirituality itself is ironic; it’s based on the willingness to pay attention to that which is the easiest thing not to pay attention to.

“The experience of the divine exists by plunging conscious into the unconscious. That’s what you’re doing when doing contemplative practice.”

“Spirituality can seem like a self-orienting pursuit. That’s the danger of it. What protects us from this is staying connected to the part that cares.”

“If you want to understand the being of all beings, start looking at your own because it takes you right there.”

“Caring comes from an intuition of connectedness.”

“The greatest beauty and the darkest dark is all part of us. There is no deep unity without admitting this.”

“When we come here, it’s about connecting. Otherwise it’s a self-centered pursuit.”

“We’ve got to stop being afraid of our humanity.”

Recorded in Oakland, California on November 3, 2018.
© 2018 by Adyashanti. All rights reserved.