Seeing Beyond the Ego

In this talk, Adya unpacks ego—what it is, what creates it, and its role as a source of suffering. He ties the ego to thought, encouraging us to leave thoughts alone and awaken from them, awaken from ego. He points to the silent awareness that is always and already here and which can only be accessed by letting go of our attachment to thought. Adya also dialogues with students about fear and conditioning, letting go of resentment, and exploring the effects of judgement.

Topics:

• The Nature of Ego
• Awakening from Thought
• Emerging from Awareness into Fear
• The Connection between Resentment and Judgement

Quotes:

“In order to realize what you really are, consciousness has to begin to wake up from its trance state with thought, it has to wake up from its identification with thought, from its merging with thought.”

“Ego is nothing more than identification with thought. As soon as there’s identification merging with thought, when consciousness merges with thought, when you take it to be real—that is egoic consciousness.”

“Stop struggling with your mind and pay attention.”

“If you think that your judgment of something or somebody is true and valid, you’ll never be able to let go of it.”

“Do we want to be free, or do we want to get even? That is the big question.”

Recorded in San Jose, California on October 23, 2008.
© 2008 by Adyashanti. All rights reserved.