Stuck In The Middle
With the goal of bringing more peace into my life and the lives of others, I’ve studied the work of quite a few spiritual teachers over the years. Adyashanti is one of those sages whose teachings resonate with me. In this interview, Adya states:
“Simply because you’ve had an awakening, however, does not mean you stay awake. Enlightenment, in simple terms, is when you stay awake. If the awakening is abiding, that’s enlightenment. And most awakenings are not abiding — at least, not initially.”
Before those words, I always thought that enlightenment and awakening were the same concept, but Adya’s words make sense to me. I haven’t experienced either of those two states of being, but I hope to someday. The problem with this wishful thinking is that…. it’s wishful thinking:
“One of the best ways to avoid awakening is to let the idea of awakening be co-opted by the mind and then projected onto a future event: something that’s going to happen outside of this moment. This looking to the future isn’t really the fault of the spiritual practices themselves; it’s the attitude with which the mind engages in the practices — an attitude that is seeking a future end and seeing that end as somehow inherently different from what already exists here and now.”
Freakin’ Bummer. Since I’m a slave to my mind, I may be a lost cause. It’s time to change strategies, but wait, the mind devises strategies! According to Adya (and the vast majority of other teachers) using the mind to attain enlightenment is fruitless. Double bummer.
Many spiritual teachers profess that tragedy can be a doorway into awakening and Adya is no different:
Reality is not operating on any moral principle. It’s looking for a moment when the seeker is exhausted. It can be prompted by some tragic event: an illness, or the death of a loved one, or a divorce. Reality rushes into the crack and presents itself.
Triple bummer. I’ve experienced several deeply tragic events but reality hasn’t found any crack to infiltrate my being yet. The lead sarcophagus that encases me is still too impenetrable.
Oh well. With no clue on how to go about awakening out of the dream of separation and experiencing the reality of universal connectedness, I’m, as Stealers Wheel would sing, “Stuck In The Middle“.
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Good lordie are we on the same cosmic page or what?! in the book In Search of the Miraculous, there is a bit in there where Girdieff (spelling?) speaks about two bar stools – you are either HERE or THERE and both are better than IN THE MIDDLE. And I was just thinking today how I feel as though I’m in the middle AND how I feel I’ve lost sight of what ‘I’ was looking for when this journey began several years ago.
The one thing I CAN say from experience is how ‘miraculous’ Byron Katie’s Work is.. today I can have a thought like “he/she doesn’t care about me” and i don’t ‘feel’ it or believe it anymore. thoughts are not a problem until we believe them automatically. i still have a repetitive ‘there must be something REALLY wrong with me’ that needs work.. but we are a work in progress my friend. Rome wasn’t built in a day I hear 🙂
I don’t know if you read Tom Stine’s blog (http://tomstine.com/?do=blog) but he has some good writing that I think you will enjoy.
Glad I stopped in – I enjoy this post very much 🙂 and what in sam’s hill does “sarcophagus” mean?!! that is a MIGHTY fancy word. lol
Hi Lana,
I sort of agree with U about life being better for U if you’re stuck either on the left or the right. However, I think if you’re stuck on the “clueless” left, your behavior tends to make everybody else’s life more difficult than if you’re in the frustrating middle.
Wikipedia: “A sarcophagus is a funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved or cut from stone.” Remember when they encased Chernobyl with a shitload of concrete? They call that quagmire a sarcophagus.
Based on your recommendation a while back, I subscribed to Tom Stine’s e-mail newsletter. That’s where I got the link to the Adya interview.
Cheers
i have to agree with you on this “I think if you’re stuck on the “clueless” left, your behavior tends to make everybody else’s life more difficult than if you’re in the frustrating middle.” that’s been my experience for sure.
i may re-read what the book was referring to about the bar stools.. now that i think about it, he may have meant being in the middle in regards to doing the work on oneself that is required to awaken. stay tuned!
Holy shit. I just checked out Stine’s blog and he posted a similar, but much better, article on the same date as mine. Serendipity – kool!
a song for you.. https://bulldozer00.wordpress.com/
crap – this is what i MEANT to post.. this song – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OJ7QQqaYKA&annotation_id=annotation_578474&feature=iv
🙂
LOL! That song sounds as good today as it did in 1972. I never saw the video (which is great!) so thanks for the link.
yea it does – after i listened to that one i searched for the Joker.. oldie but goodie there too. have a grand day!