Image Credit: YouTube/ Adyashanti
Adyashanti is a modern spiritual teacher and author, well known for his down-to-earth teachings on spiritual awakening and self-realisation. Born as Stephen Gray in the United States, he has dedicated his whole life towards helping other people understand spirituality, truth and the real nature of consciousness.
The spiritual teacher doesn’t restrict himself to any particular religion or spirituality but rather uses concepts taken from Zen Buddhism and Advaita Vedanta.The uniqueness of Adyashanti lies in the way that he teaches spiritual concepts and philosophies in an easy and understandable manner. Through books, lectures and spiritual retreats, he inspires people to look into their own self and understand the deeper meanings of life.
His teaching focuses a lot on silence, presence and the readiness to accept the true reality of oneself.The quote, “Anything you avoid in life will come back, over and over again, until you’re willing to face it – to look deeply into its true nature,” is widely attributed to Adyashanti and reflects the essence of his teachings.
What this quote conveys
Essentially, the quote emphasises the need to face one’s problems and issues rather than ignore them.
People have the tendency to avoid unpleasant feelings, memories, and thoughts with the hope of escaping from them and finding some kind of relief. On the contrary, these issues keep popping up again and again, either in relationships or experiences, or even in one’s thoughts. According to Adyashanti, avoidance brings more suffering whereas facing these issues will bring true freedom.Furthermore, this quote also encourages self-reflection.
The quote is not only about confronting external problems but, more importantly about digging deep to discover their “true nature.” By investigating these true natures, we can learn the root of why we fear something, the reason behind certain patterns that we follow or actions that we do. When we take the time to observe and reflect without judgment, we begin to dissolve the power these issues hold over us.
Although this journey demands patience and courage, it eventually brings greater clarity, emotional balance, and meaningful personal growth.Adyashanti’s quote is an excellent illustration of the fact that personal growth is initiated once we have stopped avoiding things. Life constantly offers us situations in which we can meet and face our fears and resistance; with each situation becoming aware of our experiences, we move closer and closer to finding true peace. It allows us to break out of our behavioural patterns and become more authentic individuals.
