Emptiness Dancing

by Adyashanti

There is something about you brighter than the sun and more mysterious than the night sky.

Who are you when you are not thinking yourself into existence? What is ultimately behind the set of eyes reading these words? In Emptiness Dancing , Adyashanti invites you to wake up to the essence of what you are, through the natural and spontaneous opening of the mind, heart, and body that holds the secret to happiness and liberation.

From the first stages of realization to its evolutionary implications, Adyashanti shares a treasure trove of insights into the challenges of the inner life, offering lucid, down-to-earth advice on topics ranging from the ego, illusion, and spiritual addiction to compassion, letting go, the eternal now, and more.

Whether you read each chapter in succession or begin on any page you feel inspired to turn to, you will find in Adyashanti's wisdom an understanding and ever-ready guide to the full wonder of your infinite self-nature.

Genres: Spirituality, Buddhism, Nonfiction, Philosophy, Meditation, Zen, Self Help

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Adyashanti is an American spiritual teacher from the San Francisco Bay Area who gives regular satsangs in the United States and also teaches abroad. He is the author of several books, CDs and DVDs and is the founder of Open Gate Sangha, Inc. a nonprofit organization that supports, and makes available, his teachings.

Reviews

[Carolyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome. I've read this book at least 4 times. Very easy and clear to understand. Doesn't have a lot of difficult terminology or lingo that some spirituality books use. I've given this book about 10 times as a gift because I think it's that important.

[Jade · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really, really enjoyed this book, and very often go back to it.

On a practical side, it's organised into different, stand alone chapters, that address topics such as Fear, Love, Dharmic Relationship, and Enlightenment. You can read it from the beginning to the end, or dip in and out depending on which chapters catch your eye.

I found the book to be really well written, and discuss each topic with great depth and clarity, and to be accessible to people at all stages of their spiritual evolution. For me, it's the kind of the book where you can read the same part again and again and take something different away from it each time.

Adyashanti has a wonderful down-to-earth approach, and I feel like he does everything he can to make his writing as simple, and unpretentious as possible.

If you're looking for a teacher who cuts straight through all the crap and new age-isms, and goes to the heart of Enlightenment and what it is to wake up then Adyashanti's your guy.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

The unfathomable world of zen broken down by a realized master. Adayshanti was born and raised in the SF Bay Area in California, which for me made his style more accessible than many teachers from the East. The book is free of Zen jargon and traditional Zen koans, however it is not lacking in ability to disarm the mind from concepts. Adyashanti describes his awakening and what it means to live an awakened life. What it is to find that deep peace and radiance. This is the essential non-dual guide to disarming the mind to what actually is.

[Magdelanye]

his approach to awakening is not based on spiritual practices, but rather on the disarming and deconstruction of the personal identity. from the introduction pxv
Whatever you may think or feel about yourself has nothing to do with you whatsoever. p60

Whoa! Doesn't this go against everything we are striving for? Whether we have disciplined ourselves for a structured life or if we are just stumbling through our days; doing our best to keep up or to excel;or not: our identity is something we spend our lives cultivating in accordance with our values. Generally, it's the last thing we are prepared to relinquish.

We do not want to see that our viewpoint is wrong and that there is no right viewpoint....We don't want to see what the Buddha meant when he said there is no self....We do not want to see that there is a gaping void at the centre of existence. p139

Of course not. But once we have grown disenchanted with materialistic values and embarked on a more spiritual quest, we are required to face our essential truths.

Truth is not an abstraction, it is not out there at a distance from you, and it is not something to learn tomorrow....Truth is who you are without your story or script, right now. p9

But that would be nothing, you might be thinking.
Bingo! And its a good thing, apparently. There is nothing to prove and it's now easy to delight in the freedom of being just who you are.

When it clicks, some people get happy and some people get scared because it gets more powerful. p28
You become afraid when you realize you have no control but haven't yet given up the desire for control. p105

In fact, despite his reassuring mantra that the only rule is that there aren't any rules about how how one unfolds. p110 the ultimate freedom that this bestows can be overwhelmingly disorientating.

a teacher/guide can point the cluttered mind towards the exit door and open the heart directly into the love and radiant emptiness that underlies existence. from intro pxv

Now that sounds appealing!

In a real sense, self-inquiry is a spiritually induced form of winter-time. It's not about looking for a right answer so much as a stripping away and letting you see what is not necessary, what you can do without, what you are without your leaves. p39
When you are very still and quiet, falling away happens naturally. If you are not trying to control anything....Of course, humans have abilities trees don't. If trees were like humans, you would see them reaching down with their branches and raking up all the leaves to hold them for security. p40

Student: Wouldn't it be the best thing to just sit in bed for two years?
Adyshanti: Is that going to solve your problems? Absolutely not. You've got to get up and get out. And you're going to have to let go of control to do it. p 108

This is not a new book, containing material from dharma talks given between 1996 and 2002, but its message is still both radical and timeless. Obviously, if you are still clinging to your illusions of superiority or whatever, you will probably not want to read this book. If you are ready to grapple with some of the issues that might puzzle you about your life, you might find the struggle with the material to be very worthwhile.

When the realization is deep, you're whole being is dancing. p102

[Szeee · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Valójában már most az vagy, akit keresel. Istent pásztázod - a saját szemével."

Személyes dolgok miatt egyszerre volt megrázó és eksztatikus élmény ez az olvasmány. Bővebben nem tudok, nem is nagyon lehet és nem is szükséges beszélni róla.

[Dona · Rating 4 out of 5]

A student recommended this book to me before Spring Break, and I really enjoyed reading it very slowly. I don't know much about the author--if he really practices what he preaches--but I definitely thought there was wisdom to be obtained from his writing and his outlook on life, which are very positive.

[Justin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't resonate with me, but it could've just been my judgemental mind.
Seeing a white guy from North Cal with a fancy/shiny robe and a nice watch didn't set a good impression. The author saying he was visited by a ball of white light as a kid probably didn't help either. I will probably need to read Cutting through Spiritual Materialism a few times before I can read the author without being so judgmental.

[Sandy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Took me a long time to read, maybe due to reading many similar books over the decades and feeling like this was a repetition. Since I am a practitioner of Buddhism, I felt that he made life more difficult than the Buddha did, but it reminds me of Buddhism. I understand that his words work for many folks and I respect that.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

A phenomenal collection of talks. There is something so pure and simple about Adyashanti's words. He reveals, ironically, an astounding fullness that can be found in emptiness. I can see myself returning to this if I need a pick-me-up. Highly recommended if you're looking to deepen your spiritual practice – Buddhist or not!

[Fi's Journey · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Go to the unknown, experience the unknown, be the unknown."

"None of your identities exist until you think them into existence."

This book has many great things to tell, but also I believe Adyashanti seems too nice sometimes, as there were passages that I disagree with. But overall I enjoyed it. I've tried reading everyday 2 chapters and sometimes random one's as he suggested in the preface.

This is definitely for people who are truth-seekers and want to be inspired.

"When you really love, you know that love transcends all experiences."

[Bhakta Kishor]

There is the mania in society of collecting things. What is the reason for this? Why does man want to accumulate? Really, there is a big emptiness inside which has to be filled, and it has to be filled up with anything, otherwise you feel very empty. If you possess nothing, then you feel very empty inside. Just think: if you have nothing to possess, you will be free and empty inside.

This emptiness within you hurts, so it has to be filled up. Therefore you fill this emptiness with money, position and fame. By accumulating things and sitting among them, one feels that one has something. Those who don’t have anything have the desire of accumulating. But those who have something don’t accumulate, they are sufficient unto themselves. Just “being” is so fulfilling that there is no need to collect anything.

That is why we worship Buddha, we worship Mahavira, we worship Shankara – because we notice that their wealth is within them. There is something in them, and because of this the emptiness has disappeared. There is some light within them, and because of this the inner emptiness has become a fulfillment, the inner emptiness has become truth.

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[Earl II · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a marvelous book by author who has lived through the very thing is trying to help others lived through. The writing style is easily readable and devilishly complex at the same time. I found myself rereading sections and discovering things that I had missed during prior readings. I also found myself realizing what the author was trying to say only after I had finished the book and started through it again. This is a book where indigestion is insufficient. Digestion is the key and it takes multiple passes in order to have it occur. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is on a spiritual journey.

[Jill · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book I'll continue to read over and over to remind me of how from less comes peace and love.

Adyashanti writes simply of our need to empty ourselves of all we believe we are, using the teachings of Buddha. His conversations with students are helpful in answering the readers questions along the path to acknowledged englightment.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adya is so clear, precise and present. Even more so in person. If I could spend more time at his retreats, I would be a different person. Nonetheless, he is one of the most inspirational people I have encountered and feel lucky to have him lecture in the Bay.

[Petra · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a real lesson in mastering my ego.
I would recommend it to anyone who struggles with the concept.

[Dawn Downey · Rating 5 out of 5]

It made me smile.

[Peter Forster · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most of this book comes from edited transcriptions of talks given by Adyashanti at retreats and similar. There are nice insights here but I feel that it could have been said much more concisely. Apart from the last chapter, which is an interview in which he talks about his life, you could go to an AI-based search engine and ask something like, "What is the essence of advaita vedanta?" You'd then have most of this book in just a few paragraphs.

[Zeynep Esin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found parts of the book infinitely wise. It might be a book to come back to and read from time to time, rather than read in one go. The book was recommended to me by a mindfulness teacher as a first book on the natural state. It fulfilled that purpose beautifully and gave me many beautiful moments of reflection.

[John Fredrickson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a difficult book to review and rate. The text somewhat reminds me of Krishnamurti. It is very free of the lingo/jargon of Zen, but addresses many of the same themes. Adyashanti continually focuses on our notion of self and how we continually construct our world, and that this should STOP, immediately. This is not an easy read.

[Gerald Jerome · Rating 4 out of 5]

I give it four because it was solid and an easy read. I just feel like it didn't quite hit with me like others have. I'm also a little put off by Adyashanti for different reasons. Maybe one day my mind will change, a lot of people seem to get something out of him. His name always reminds me of Ashanti. Give it a read and find out for yourself.

[Peter Marendeak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nekem nagyon bejön Adyashanti stílusa. Olvastam már más advaita tanítótól is, de az ő szavai állnak hozzám a legközelebb. Világos, letisztult, sallangoktól mentes.
Akit érdekel a téma, szerintem érdemes ezzel kezdenie, mert szépen van felépítve.

[Silvio · Rating 5 out of 5]

i so so love the title of this book. i so so love this book. thank you adyashanti for this gem, thank you so so much. i believe that this one little book can be all that's needed for the whole way. simple, profound truth.

[Mark Best · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cut through Everton by and discover the.truth

Adyhashanti breaks down awakening into simple language. Straight to the point. No BS. Hard and Fast. Highly recommended for all sincere seekers.

[Saimon Sanchez · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is fantastic, one of the closest to definition books on awakening and enlightenment, i read half of it because i feel it's of not much use for me now, when the awakening process starts to unfold, i may need it or find it useful.

[Masi Dawoud · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deep insights of Adyashanti put into clear, concise, and compact writings that unfold into infinite wisdom when they touch you.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. Adyashanti has a knack for explaining things simply and clearly.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

This really makes you questions everything which is the whole point of the book. An amazing read, beautiful to consider and contemplate. Nothing is as it seems and that’s the beauty of it.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

More wonderfulness on getting out of the monkey mind and self-realization . . . realing loving reading Adyashanti . . .

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book

One of the very best spiritual books I’ve ever read. I had many insured while reading Adya ‘s books. They are very enlightening.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wise words from a true Zen master. Such profound insights and I must admit, things that went over my head. I will definitely be reading this book again.