In the end, we’re all held accountable to our own depth.
– Adyashanti, Facets of Unity
What does Adya mean by this?
I don’t know but here is how it matches what I have found.
HELD ACCOUNTABLE TO OUR DEPTH
This becomes more clear through inquiry and also in an awakening process.
We can never really trick ourselves. Somewhere in us, we know.
Even when we pretend to hold certain thoughts and assumptions as true, we also know what’s happening.
Something in us knows when we get caught up in beliefs and fears. And something in us knows when we are more honest, authentic, and sincere.
We are all being held accountable to our depth.
HOW CAN WE EXPLORE THIS FOR OURSELVES?
The most simple and accessible way I have found is The Work of Byron Katie. We start with a stressful thought that most often seem true to us. We examine it. We find what’s more true for us. And we may find that this was already more true for us. We already had that wisdom in us. We just needed a little help from structured inquiry and perhaps an experienced facilitator who knows the right questions to ask.
OVER-I VS THE DEPTH
I cannot help noticing the parallels with this and Freud’s super-ego or over-I.
Freud’s over-I comes from culture. We internalize the common values and shoulds from our culture during our upbringing. This helps us fit in, be accepted, and function in society. And it also comes with costs depending on how strongly we identify with these shoulds.
Adya’s Depth is different. This is the part of us that inherently knows what’s going on. It knows what we are – capacity for our world and what our world happens within and as. It knows when we are more aligned with this through honesty, sincerity, and receptivity. And it knows when we are more out of alignment with it by getting caught up in beliefs and reactivity.
Neither one is an object or thing. In the first case, it’s internalized values, norms, and shoulds. In the second case, it’s a simple knowing inherent in what we are.
WHY DID ADYA POINT THIS OUT?
I assume for a few different reasons.
Many already have an intuition and sense about this, and he is encouraging them to trust it.
If we realize we are being held accountable to our depth, it’s a bit easier to align ourselves consciously with that depth. It’s a little easier to shift towards honesty, sincerity, and receptivity.
We may realize this through our own noticing and experience. Or it may just be hearing what Adya said about it and it resonated and sounded right.
In either case, his words encourages us to hold ourselves a bit more accountable.
INITIAL NOTES
accountable to our own depth – bc somewhere we know, something in us knows when we get caught up in fears and beliefs, and when we are more honest, authentic, and sincere
…..
WHY DID ADYA POINT THIS OUT?
I assume for a few different reasons.
Many already have an intuition and sense about this, and he is encouraging them to trust it.
If we realize we are being held accountable to our depth, it’s a bit easier to align ourselves consciously with that depth. It’s a little easier to shift towards honesty, sincerity, and receptivity.
We may realize this through our own noticing and experience. Or it may just be hearing what Adya said about it and it resonated and sounded right.
In either case, his words encourages us trust it and hold ourselves a bit more accountable.