--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Ravi Chivukula wrote: > > Barry on Adyashanti - > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/message/288636 > - very spot on, serious, joyless. > > He is just a good speaker - nothing less, nothing more.
For the record, Ravi, all I was speaking about in my praise of this website was its/his "way of doing busi- ness." That struck me at the time (and still does) as a very CLEAN approach to teaching spiritual subjects in a very DIRTY smorgasbord of lazy, unscrupulous, and money-grubbing dilettantes. The book itself is free, or sold for the cost of printing. The teachers "invited" to teach the same approach are clearly named, and just as clearly it is stated that anyone else who might be hosting discussion groups is On Their Own, and that they do not necessarily reflect Adya himself or his teachings. Having seen so much of the opposite, I liked the CLEAN approach. That said, a quick glance through the first few chap- ters of this freebie book reminded me of the humorless- ness and seriousness that I first detected in the video I commented on earlier. I would not be tempted to "study with" Adya, although I'd be open to seeing him sometime if he were ever in my area, largely because of that overly Serious vibe I get from him that I also get from so many Zennists or former Zennists. Not my cuppa tea. Nor is his choice of language. I find it imprecise and overly project-my-experience-onto-everyone-else's- experience, especially his overuse of a word I don't like at all, and don't believe in even the concept of, Truth. Just because he experienced it don't make it Truth, and just because he experienced it don't mean that he can guide others to experiencing it also, let alone that it would be Truth for them. I'd love to hear how he deals with students who attain his level of supposed "Truth" but then find it either lacking in satisfaction and move on to something further, or just "move on" naturally, as the result of continual spiritual growth. I would think that the test of his rap would be how he'd handle that in one or more of his students. That said, it *was* a pleasure to encounter someone who has seemingly witnessed most of the things that can possibly go WRONG with spiritual teaching, and who has developed a teaching model that seeks to avoid as many of these traps and pitfalls as possible. The CLEAN nature of his presentation and the way he handles the *business* of teaching is impressive, and I commend him for that. The "Way" that he teaches, I have no comments on, because I'm not in the market for one, except my own. > On Mon, Feb 11, 2013 at 11:59 AM, turquoiseb wrote: > > > ** > > Haven't read it, don't know much about the guy, but > > I like the way he does things. > > > > http://www.adyashanti.org/index.php?file=productdetail&iprod_id=533 > > > > *The Way of Liberation* > > A Practical Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment > > by Adyashanti > > > > Printed copy: $10.00 > > Downloadable PDF: Free > > > > Even if you aren't interested in the free PDF, you might > > want to click the here link > > and read more about his > > organization and how it operates. I can only hope that > > it is as clean as it sounds, because that would be unique > > in the smorgasbord of things that people call spiritual. > > > > > > > > > > >
