Two Instincts of Enlightenment - DVD 97

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 lie 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
• No One, Everyone, and Someone
• Paying Attention to the Easiest Thing to Dismiss
• How Embodiment Requires Caring & Connection
• Spirituality’s Interface with the World

Q&A Topics Include:

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

Quotes:

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

“No one gets out of here without getting 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 the human psyche.”

“One aspect of spiritual teachings is meant to differentiate between the timebound of experience and the timeless nature of the psyche. The moment that happens, it is experienced as a revelation. It redefines our experience 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 the 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 worth making it your permanent home.” 

“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.”

“The greatest beauty and the darkest dark are 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.