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The Impact of Awakening: Excerpts from the teachings of Adyashanti
The Impact of Awakening presents a collection of dynamic excerpts from Adyashanti s satsang dialogues and lectures. The reader is guided from the initial impulse to be free, to its culmination in Liberation. Adyashanti also speaks about the role of grace, the student-teacher relationship and how to move beyond beliefs that distort our perception of the truth. This third edition includes a new introduction by Adyashanti.
From the New Introduction by Adyashanti:
The material for this book came from two consecutive evenings of discussions with a small group of about ten students who met at my wife Mukti s and my small cottage that we were living in at the time. We all barely fit into the tiny cottage and sat shoulder to shoulder in what turned out to be two very intimate and powerful evenings of inquiry and discussions. . . . I hope that you can enter into the inspired atmosphere that we all shared during those two evenings and join in the timeless present where everything happens for the very first time.
Reflections from Readers of The Impact of Awakening:
"A life-changing book. I've waited my whole lifetime for this teaching."
"I have honestly read this book 10 times at least. It is beautiful and each time I pick it up and read . . . I discover something new.
This is one of the very best books on the awakened state that I have read. It is simple, clear and easy to read. . . . It is filled with wonder and grace."
"The twelve chapters of questions and answers found in this gem are destined to be seen as a spiritual classic for years to come."
From the New Introduction by Adyashanti:
The material for this book came from two consecutive evenings of discussions with a small group of about ten students who met at my wife Mukti s and my small cottage that we were living in at the time. We all barely fit into the tiny cottage and sat shoulder to shoulder in what turned out to be two very intimate and powerful evenings of inquiry and discussions. . . . I hope that you can enter into the inspired atmosphere that we all shared during those two evenings and join in the timeless present where everything happens for the very first time.
Reflections from Readers of The Impact of Awakening:
"A life-changing book. I've waited my whole lifetime for this teaching."
"I have honestly read this book 10 times at least. It is beautiful and each time I pick it up and read . . . I discover something new.
This is one of the very best books on the awakened state that I have read. It is simple, clear and easy to read. . . . It is filled with wonder and grace."
"The twelve chapters of questions and answers found in this gem are destined to be seen as a spiritual classic for years to come."
153 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 15, 2002
61 people are currently reading
313 people want to read
About the author
Adyashanti
133 books572 followersAdyashanti 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.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
June 11, 2018
Adyashanti is the poor man's Ramana Maharishi. He teaches inquiry into awareness using paradoxical language.
Paradoxically, he makes intellectual discernments between seeker and seekingness, based around the sophism of "no self".
He commits the pre-/trans- fallacy by inferring that spirituality is instinctive rather than an emergent higher property, because this allows him to avoid having to clarify his terms using reason. It sure SOUNDS primordial and primal and tantric and wise, but there is a reason why "newage" rhymes with "sewage".
He indulges in a bit of amateur ontology in "Ceasing To Become", and goes all existential, talking about anxiety.
Here's a sample of this ineffable wisdom:
"Looking inside yourself
and not finding yourself
is finding yourself."
Riiight.
Ugh. I suggest instead reading both the following:
Ramana Maharshi, "Self Inquiry".
Nisargadatta Maharaj, "I am That".
Paradoxically, he makes intellectual discernments between seeker and seekingness, based around the sophism of "no self".
He commits the pre-/trans- fallacy by inferring that spirituality is instinctive rather than an emergent higher property, because this allows him to avoid having to clarify his terms using reason. It sure SOUNDS primordial and primal and tantric and wise, but there is a reason why "newage" rhymes with "sewage".
He indulges in a bit of amateur ontology in "Ceasing To Become", and goes all existential, talking about anxiety.
Here's a sample of this ineffable wisdom:
"Looking inside yourself
and not finding yourself
is finding yourself."
Riiight.
Ugh. I suggest instead reading both the following:
Ramana Maharshi, "Self Inquiry".
Nisargadatta Maharaj, "I am That".
June 9, 2019
I enjoyed reading this discussion in question and answer form. It gives a solid introduction on non-duality, the illusion of the self and the real Truth. In essence, the book covers most of the ego traps that the ego develops to protect itself on the path of enlightenment. But the ego is part of the Self, and to get truly awakened one must also love the Ego.
Some quotes I liked:
-Do not seek after what you yearn for, seek the source of the yearning itself
-In an effort not to feel insecure, in an attempt not to directly face the unknown—which is where the impulse to be free originates—the ego creates a spiritual seeker as a means to avoid it. It is a very intelligent play of the mind, a show, a fantasy,
-Do not seek outside of yourself; you are the sought. Be still and all will come to you.
-The more you step into insecurity, the more you notice how secure and safe it is. Where you just stepped out of was unsafe. Everyone is so miserable because they seek security in things that are limited and always moving and changing unpredictably.
-I have witnessed countless people turn away from the experience and revelation of freedom because in that freedom there is nowhere to hide and nothing to hold onto.
-To have a glimpse of this profound freedom requires very little, but to live it requires the destruction of every concept of self you have ever held or will ever hold.
-Can the mind actually hold this vastness of love full-time, or is it held in the heart? A: I can't relate to the concept of holding. How can you hold what you are?
-The body is a sensing instrument of consciousness. Without the body and the mind, the trees couldn't see themselves. Usually we think that we are looking at a tree, but the tree is looking at itself through us. Without this instrument, the tree doesn't get to see itself. We are sensing instruments of the Divine.
-You are so much less than your experiences, and therefore so much more.
-In the beginning, teachers can help a lot. But the deeper you go, all they can do is point, and clarify, and tell you what you need to do. Only you can take this step
-True devotion has no projection. Otherwise it's being devoted to a fantasy, to an image. This is better known as worship. Worshipping is when you put any head above your own.
Some quotes I liked:
-Do not seek after what you yearn for, seek the source of the yearning itself
-In an effort not to feel insecure, in an attempt not to directly face the unknown—which is where the impulse to be free originates—the ego creates a spiritual seeker as a means to avoid it. It is a very intelligent play of the mind, a show, a fantasy,
-Do not seek outside of yourself; you are the sought. Be still and all will come to you.
-The more you step into insecurity, the more you notice how secure and safe it is. Where you just stepped out of was unsafe. Everyone is so miserable because they seek security in things that are limited and always moving and changing unpredictably.
-I have witnessed countless people turn away from the experience and revelation of freedom because in that freedom there is nowhere to hide and nothing to hold onto.
-To have a glimpse of this profound freedom requires very little, but to live it requires the destruction of every concept of self you have ever held or will ever hold.
-Can the mind actually hold this vastness of love full-time, or is it held in the heart? A: I can't relate to the concept of holding. How can you hold what you are?
-The body is a sensing instrument of consciousness. Without the body and the mind, the trees couldn't see themselves. Usually we think that we are looking at a tree, but the tree is looking at itself through us. Without this instrument, the tree doesn't get to see itself. We are sensing instruments of the Divine.
-You are so much less than your experiences, and therefore so much more.
-In the beginning, teachers can help a lot. But the deeper you go, all they can do is point, and clarify, and tell you what you need to do. Only you can take this step
-True devotion has no projection. Otherwise it's being devoted to a fantasy, to an image. This is better known as worship. Worshipping is when you put any head above your own.
December 17, 2007
The dream of me is truly a dream.
For anyone ready (everyone really) to wake up.
For anyone ready (everyone really) to wake up.
March 14, 2012
I have all his books and I think this is his best,and my meditation practice really stems from his book True Meditation. I hope to some day do Satsang with him some day.
October 26, 2020
This is my first Adyashanti book after discovering him at a live talk in 2002.
So many great wisdom sound-bite quotes in this book which are all brilliant “pointers in words” to the Ultimate Reality. Some of my favorites that I always try to remember to abandon at the door of perception are…
“When you become humble enough to come back to being nothing and to discovering your perfect nothingness, you discover everything.”
“What always is is so easy to overlook because it's not a thing and it's not an experience.”
“The door to God is the insecurity of not knowing anything. Bear the grace of that insecurity, and all wisdom will be yours.”
“You are not the seeker. You are the sought. You are the Self.”
“True meditation is abiding as primordial consciousness. True meditation appears in consciousness spontaneously when awareness is not fixated on objects of perception.”
“Your thoughts, concepts ideas and imaginings cannot touch the truth.”
“Looking inside yourself and not finding yourself is the finding.”
So many great wisdom sound-bite quotes in this book which are all brilliant “pointers in words” to the Ultimate Reality. Some of my favorites that I always try to remember to abandon at the door of perception are…
“When you become humble enough to come back to being nothing and to discovering your perfect nothingness, you discover everything.”
“What always is is so easy to overlook because it's not a thing and it's not an experience.”
“The door to God is the insecurity of not knowing anything. Bear the grace of that insecurity, and all wisdom will be yours.”
“You are not the seeker. You are the sought. You are the Self.”
“True meditation is abiding as primordial consciousness. True meditation appears in consciousness spontaneously when awareness is not fixated on objects of perception.”
“Your thoughts, concepts ideas and imaginings cannot touch the truth.”
“Looking inside yourself and not finding yourself is the finding.”
July 29, 2020
The more i read or listen to any material to adya, i get this feeling to become stronger and stronger that this guy is my second spiritual teacher after ET, and not second cos of any comparison that i make or any preference but it is all about the path to me, turnings, degrees and levels, tolle had to take me out of the mud and save me from unconsciousness and delivered me to adya to condense the consciousness and help it flower and nourish, it is amazing how adya talkes about unity, that tolle and adya and me are just that which is me, the self, that is doing all that in order to awaken to itself throughout this self that used to be, how i love this game that consciousness is playing using our shapes, thank u ADYA
🙏 NAMASTE
🙏 NAMASTE
September 10, 2022
This is such a brilliant classic. Must read. But it's not really meant to be "read" from cover to cover like other books. It's not about taking in the information. Read a few sentences now and then when you're drawn to it.
February 27, 2024
Excellent Introduction to Adiyashanti
Not any easy introduction if you have not experienced some of what Adiyashanti is speaking about But is a heartfelt read and honest exploration of Awakening
Not any easy introduction if you have not experienced some of what Adiyashanti is speaking about But is a heartfelt read and honest exploration of Awakening
August 24, 2021
"The Impact of Awakening" was written as a result of a dialogue from two discussion groups led by the author regarding the nature of self-realization. These discussions reflect the author's roots in Zen Buddhism and non-dualism. It should be noted that this is not a how to book to self-realization but more of the author's individual experience of "Awakening". The author states that we are beyond the body-mind and individual personality and beyond all experience. We are pure consciousness, the "Eternal Witness," the "Self," or the "Absolute". The author states that we are beyond the body-mind and individual personality and beyond all experience. The author also states that before "consciousness," there is "Emptiness" which may be described as neither form nor formlessness, which neither exists nor doesn't exist and is beyond all conceptual understanding. Neither the mind, the senses and consciousness can touch "Emptiness" as it is the ultimate principle of "Self" which is the source of all. According to the author, the individual consciousness has appeared on the surface of the "Self" without reason and there does not appear to be any discussion of creation which other non-dual philosophies including "Western Mysticism" address. Notwithstanding the foregoing, although intellectually challenging, this is a compelling discussion of the author's view of non-dual philosophy. I would highly recommend this book.
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July 8, 2022The moment your dreams disappear in meditation – thoughts, images; these are all dreams – when they all disappear, then your spiritual sleep cannot remain; your dreams were protecting it. So just as on the ordinary mental level it is true, it is true on the spiritual level too, exactly in the same way. Once dreams have disappeared, that means meditation has come to maturity. And after the dreams are gone, suddenly you will feel a new awakening. You have been waking up every morning, but once you wake up from your spiritual sleep, then you will see the difference, and why in the East we have been dividing sleep into four stages. The first stage is so-called waking; the second stage is dreaming; the third stage is sleep, and the fourth stage is real awakening.
The so-called waking we all know; every morning we wake up. The enlightened being knows the real awakening. It has some quality of our awakening, but our awakening is very small, a very thin layer.
The awakening of a Gautama Buddha is total. In that total awakening, there is a luminous awareness surrounded by a positive nothingness. It is not empty, it is overfull. Rather than say nothingness, Gautama Buddha used to say “no-thingness.” Things have disappeared…and what has remained is inexpressible. We try to express it as blissfulness, as ecstasy, as eternal joy, but these are faraway echoes of the real thing. They don’t represent it exactly – there is no way.
The so-called waking we all know; every morning we wake up. The enlightened being knows the real awakening. It has some quality of our awakening, but our awakening is very small, a very thin layer.
The awakening of a Gautama Buddha is total. In that total awakening, there is a luminous awareness surrounded by a positive nothingness. It is not empty, it is overfull. Rather than say nothingness, Gautama Buddha used to say “no-thingness.” Things have disappeared…and what has remained is inexpressible. We try to express it as blissfulness, as ecstasy, as eternal joy, but these are faraway echoes of the real thing. They don’t represent it exactly – there is no way.
July 31, 2011
This is one of the very best books on the awakened state that I have read. It is simple, clear and easy to read. I read the entire book in less than a few hours. Adyashanti speaks of the direct path to enlightenment, which is simple but profound. Come to realize that the limited "self" does not exist by surrendering to complete emptiness. When we let conceptualization, judgment, attachments, aversions and the like go, when we let everything go, we find that there is only unbounded awareness. Life becomes effortless. It is filled with wonder and grace. Unconditional love flows freely. I love the line, "Cessation of struggle is like free falling through space without a care in the world." Read the book to get a sense of the awakened state and then just yield to it.
October 12, 2014
This is the book that has actually opened me up to the Truth of awareness, and has cut through the spiritual “materialism” I had been collecting and holding onto quite, to be honest, ignorantly, as before this book I had not been fully giving way for complete oneness, and the cessation of all separation. This is the one book I quite seriously recommend reading, as it is emptying me out in the ways it was intended, and has the flames raging to burn away and let go of all that isn't who I truly am.
(Review featured on www.evolvingthread.com )
(Review featured on www.evolvingthread.com )
August 24, 2017
“Those who are free don’t want anything. They don’t want anything from their mind, they don’t want anything from their emotions, they don’t want anything from anyone, and they don’t want anything from life. They don’t want anything. If you don’t want, all that’s left is an incredible sense of being free.”
June 3, 2008
I gave this book away some time ago, but for a while I was going back to it frequently to remind myself that meditation doesn't require a method and reality ultimately can't be quantified.
December 8, 2009
One of Adya's first books. Again,in the satsang tradition. Its another book I keep by my bedside as it is inspiring.
April 19, 2014
A very challenging book if taken seriously, but well worth the effort - or non-effort.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews