I would assume that, like me, you have consulted many doctors and they aren’t able to do much to help. In this case, one of the most powerful therapies is what we might call “radical acceptance.”

The basic premise is that we often don’t realize how much of our suffering is of our own creation, created by how we react to the pain in our body. Sometimes the core of pain itself can be like a grain of sand in an oyster; but through our irritated reaction, it grows and grows and grows, like a painfully hard pearl, into something large and hard that impinges on our ability to live.

I use the word “radical” acceptance because normally we think of acceptance as a sort of trivial cognitive process: I know I’m in pain. OK, I accept that — but it’s not going anywhere.

On a more influential level, though, real acceptance is not just cognitive but also emotional, and has roots deep in the body and the unconscious mind. And so the process for those of us who experience constant pain is to learn to look deeper than our thoughts, deeper than our surface emotions, and observe our own reactions to the pain in a very intimate way. Instinctively, it is often the last thing we would think to do, since we just want the pain to get out of our way; but if we become skilled at looking deeper and with greater compassion, it can help a great deal.

One of the first steps, especially for those of us who tend to get caught up in our thoughts, is to learn to be more deeply present with “the now” — and not just when we sit down to meditate or do yoga, but as a way of life. In this area, I know of no better teacher than Eckhart Tolle. His book The Power of Now is perhaps the best instruction manual for learning to get more deeply into the present moment and stay there.

I particularly recommend listening to the audiobook version of The Power of Now, so you can hear his voice and join him at a psychological level as he models the quality of consciousness of which he speaks.

When it comes to more intensive meditation and personal inquiry, another teacher I’ve learned from immensely is Adyashanti. His True Meditation audiobook is particularly incisive, even though the recording quality isn’t great. For anyone with some prior exposure to Buddhism, I would also highly recommend his Spontaneous Awakening recordings.

Adyashanti’s basic teaching is very simple. He teaches that if we want to reach our true potential, we must learn to stop trying to manipulate our mind into artificial states, wishing for our experience to be different, always longing, striving, aching for reality to be other than it is — wanting to get somewhere faster, to gain more insight, to overcome our struggles, to change the way we feel, to improve the way we think, etc. This striving creates a conflict in our minds, so that we do everything from a place of effort and tension, rather than ease.

And so his basic spiritual teaching, regardless of your level of meditation experience, is to simply let go of control and allow everything to be as it is.

In my own meditation practice, I often sit on a small bench, put my torso in a nice relaxed upright posture, get in touch with the feeling of my in-breath and out-breath, and then start paying attention to the tension in my body. As I see my emotional tension, I notice where it is at in my body, observe it as intimately as I can, and then let go of it.

Then I repeat that same process with any urgent thoughts that come to mind, any aching tensions in my body, any well-intentioned efforts to improve my state of mind, etc. The answer to each of these things, almost like a mantra or a psychological balm I administer to them in equal measure, is: Let go of control and allow everything to be as it is.

And I keep repeating the process. The first time notice some mental tension and let go, I might get 10% of the way there. But as I keep repeating it, with each tension in my mind and body, I get deeper into a state that actually looks like radical harmony with the way things are.

Amazingly, the more I let go of control, the more my mind and body are able to join this harmony, accomplishing things I could never have accomplished through deliberate effort: My mind is more clear, I have more energy available, I’m able to think more creatively, I feel more relaxed, and my aches and pains gradually shrink back to much more manageable proportions.

Lately I use this instruction-mantra not just when I’m on my meditation cushion, but when I’m typing e-mails, when I’m in conversations, when I’m doing the dishes, when I’m shopping, when I’m working, when I’m driving: Let go of control and allow everything to be as it is. It’s amazing how much it helps.

If you get to experimenting with these ideas, I’d really enjoy hearing how it goes. I know many friends who have been helped by them in one way or another. I wish you luck in your journey. Feel free to write if you have questions or want to know more about something.

It’s a topic that interests me, as I’ve long been fascinated by the fact that peace sometimes requires something that looks an awful lot like war — and perhaps, occasionally, even war itself.

Her post begins:

“conflict is essential to the development and growth of man and society. it leads either to the construction or destruction of an entire group or state. . . if there is no conflict – internal or external – there can be no growth.”
-sun tzu, the art of war

thinking about this quote brought a conversation from many years ago to mind. at the time, i was an idealistic new college graduate in my 20s and was tutoring high school and middle school students. one particular student challenged me when i talked about peace as an important ideal. he defended war, and he called it a completely natural thing. “war is even something that happens within our bodies,” he told me. that teenager so eloquently left me flustered. Keep reading

See her full post for more.

Perhaps I should write a post about it, sometime, for the benefit of those who are unfamiliar, who see it as a “mystical” concept, or who are skeptical that it has any value. Meantime, I know a few of my readers are acquainted with Adyashanti — or “Adya,” as students often call him — and his teachings.

In any case, a friend said the following to me today during a chat conversation, and it struck me as worth repeating:

nobody can choose to be enlightened

but spirituality is not so black and white

enlightenment is a gradient

even adya says the once and for all sudden enlightenment is extremely rare

it’s a gradual process of openings

that, i’m committed to

continuous opening

curiosity about my experience and how it unfolds

and all the great things that come about as a result: adventure, discovery, love, peace, etc

thats both a spiritual life, and a worldly life

Very well said — and something I agree with entirely.

It turns out she has a blog as well, called A Peaceful Human Race. Reading it, I was moved by this post:

for the last couple months, i’ve been reading the gentle art of blessing by pierre prandervand.

a little excerpt from the book can give you a taste of what this book is about, or you could click the title of the book above, order, and check it out yourself.

pradervand enthusiastically shares the journey of his discovery and practice of blessing as an everyday art. as his ideas have begun to sink into my own mind and way of being, i’ve realized how fantastic blessing is as a tool to transform what would otherwise be a painful and conflicted interactions.

when i first started reading the book, life presented me with an opportunity for blessing. a student came into my office one day and informed me that he’d gone to the administration to complain about me. as he told me about my unfairness in grading, my adrenaline started to pump, and the knee jerk reaction to defend myself and point out his deficencies started moving towards action.

luckily, i recognized this as an opportunity to put my passion for peace into practice, and i stopped myself. instead of picking up my own sword and fighting back, i could choose to bless him. i could see his integrity, his goodness, his desire to connect and succeed. i could see his blame as merely one small part of all he was bringing into my office, and i could honor and recognize how much more there was to him and to what he was saying.

as i resisted my initial conditioned response, i sat quietly and worked to hold a loving space. i detected a little surprise from him that i was so calm, and the entire encounter was over as quickly as it began. i’d be lying if i said it didn’t cause me some anxiousness, but overall, the discomfort on my end was considerably less than during tense student situations in the past.

the real testament to the power of this practice came as the semester continued. Keep reading »

I feel inspired to read the book.

Jon Bernie is one of Adya’s friends and colleagues. I met him briefly and attended one of his satsangs (sitting & teaching events) last time I was in San Francisco.

Below is a brief teaching he sent out to his an announcement list. (Thanks to Marsh for the forward.)

I think it’s a well-expressed encapsulation of this perspective. You might find it worth contemplating if you’re open to this sort of thing.

For those of you new to this perspective, there’s plenty of “poetry” here: It’s not so much to think about; the trick is to feel its actual meaning in your lived experience. Your mileage may vary.

“Karmic arisings,” by the way, can be loosely translated as “the difficult things that come up in your experience.”

To awaken is to dissolve in one place and simultaneously appear everywhere. Awakening can also be called being presence, being energy. Karmic arisings, whatever their nature, are fuel for dissolving. So rather than resisting, or fighting, or arguing with what is — instead of all that, simply accept what is. Receive what is, allow what is. Become what is.

Now there’s no separation between perceiver and perception — there’s simply being perception. There’s just listening, just observing, just feeling. There’s just thinking. And you allow this gestation to happen, you allow this growth, as painful — or ecstatic! — as it might be.

The good news is you don’t have to understand how it works for it to work. Being here is enough. All you have to do is learn to allow yourself to cook. To be dissolved into light. To appear everywhere simultaneously. That is freedom.

Bodian is a long-time student of Adyashanti’s, but — according to a friend of mine who spoke with him — does not claim to be fully enlightened himself.

However, the book is very well blurbed by Adyashanti…

Both profound and practical, Wake Up Now guides the reader through the intricacies of awakening as only someone who has walked the walk themselves can do. The clarity and compassion it offers are both rare and welcome.

…and Adya is someone I’ve come to trust tremendously, when it comes to the topic of spiritual enlightenment.

He has also convinced me gently in recent years — via his excellent audio lectures True Meditation and Spontaneous Awakening — that enlightenment is both meaningful and achievable for those who take to the spiritual path in a certain way.

I haven’t yet decided whether it’s my path, but I’ve become very interested.

In any case, I expect Bodian’s book to be a fascinating read. I’ve often wondered whether someone schooled in enlightenment, though short of the Holy Grail itself, might actually be in an even better position to explain the state to those of us who are on this side of the gate.

Perhaps, when I finish reading, I will know the answer.

Stay tuned.

Joshua: man did that make a difference in my day

Joshua: i felt better this morning than i’ve felt in months

Marsh: yeah, i’m changing my life

Marsh: more meditation

Marsh: that “let everything be as it is” meditation? the most effective use of 20 minutes I’ve ever come across

Joshua: yep

Marsh: i can’t believe i wasted so many hours watching my breath

Joshua: *laughing*

Currently there is no Adyashanti group listed in Albuquerque, so I’ve decided to start a new group. I have submitted a new listing, which should appear once they update their site.

If you live in the greater Albuquerque, New Mexico area (including Rio Rancho, Placitas, Corrales or nearby areas) and are interested in attending, please contact me.

Like I mentioned, my main concern was that I was having a hard time understanding how his approach would help me with my goal. I did enjoy reading his work though. I’ve always wrestled with the concept of greater concentration through letting go. How do you let go and let things just be? Is concentration not a skill? I want to give his CD a go and see what happens.

To which I replied:

If you had told me, when I was learning to ride a bike, that I’d be able to keep my balance better if I looked at the road in front of me rather than at my handlebars, I might have questioned your sanity. And yet it’s true.

There is a similar dynamic with concentration. We tend to think that we have poor concentration because we have insufficient discipline or motivation or will-power. (I can’t balance the bike because I’ve not learned to turn the handlebars fast enough!) In reality, we’re focusing too closely on the handlebars (what we think we can control) rather than the horizon (what will actually give us balance).

In the case of meditation, we have to understand that clear-mindedness, including adequate levels of concentration, is the natural state of awareness. Yet we all have mental habits — our fears and our desire to control our own mind and experiences — that upset the natural equilibrium.

And so “true meditation,” as Adyashanti calls it, requires letting go of our attempts to control the mind, so that we can learn to focus on the horizon rather than the handlebars. More literally, it means practicing our ability to observe experience without manipulation, and allowing our mind and body to respond more intuitively to our experience, without interfering constantly in our own mental processes.

In this way, we stop overcompensating (like turning the handlebars too fast) and upsetting the natural balance of our mind.

I hope this analogy helps some and makes it easier to relax into the kinds of exercises that Adyashanti provides in his audio recording. The True Meditation recording is fantastic; I can’t recommend it highly enough. My wife is already asking me to make copies to loan to her friends.

From his reply:

I played baseball my entire life. I pitched through college and played a summer of semi-pro ball. The thing that held me back from making it all the way was my head. During fielding practice I would amaze my coaches at my abilities to throw with incredible velocity. Come game time though; I’d bare down so hard I actually lost velocity and control. I was never able to break this. Had I had the explanation you just gave who knows where I’d be right now.

Good point. I’ve definitely found that the benefits of meditation, approached properly, are helpful in many areas of life.

In the interim, I’ve been listening to his “Spontaneous Awakening” lectures, which a friend gave me, and I have to say I have enjoyed them very much.

Adyashanti is very easy to relate to. I get a sense of genuineness about both his person and his teachings. He speaks the truth, it feels to me.

And I like his perspective on awakening … that it’s not something for just the rare Tibetan monk.

He says he personally knows hundreds of people who’ve experienced the kind of awakening that he experienced.

Very exciting stuff indeed. Looking forward to talking about it more here and on Mudita Forum!