A few weeks ago, Adyashanti retired from in-person teaching.
Some talk about how devastated they were when they heard he was retiring, and I understand it can be a big loss.
For me, it’s less of an impact, although I did feel surprisingly sad immediately after his last regular online talk.
What he has produced is still out there in writing, audio, and video, and the content is timeless for all practical purposes. It’s obviously colored by our times and culture, but not so much that it will be outdated anytime soon.
He is retiring from in-person teaching. He didn’t say he is retiring from everything altogether. He may still write books and produce audio and video on specific topics.
Who knows what he will be moved to do in the future? Retiring in this way opens the space for something else, and neither he nor us may know what that is yet.
In general, it’s just another reminder of impermanence. Some of those who had a big impact on me earlier in my life have died: Arne Næss, Bonnie Greenwell, Douglas Harding, Michael Dowd, Carl Sagan, and so on. Some are still alive: Fritjof Capra, Jes Bertelsen, Genpo Roshi, Joanna Macy, David Attenborough, Byron Katie, Richard Lang – but they are getting up there in age. Some were dead before I knew about them: C.G. Jung, Joseph Campbell, Alan Watts, Chögyam Trungpa, Evelyn Underhill (“Mysticism”), Gregory Bateson, Lao-Tse, Chuang-Tse, and so on.
Death is the price we pay for life. Death is the price anything pays for existing for a while. Death is how anything exists at all. Death is how we are here. Death opens the space for something new. It opened the space for us and our death opens the space for something new.
Adya retiring is a reminder that all is change. Make the most of what’s here because it won’t be here forever. When I look more closely, I see that it’s already gone and it’s already here in a different way. Enjoy what’s here.
INITIAL DRAFT
ADYASHANTI RETIRING
Adyashanti retired from in-person teaching a few weeks ago, and I see people talking about it and how it impacts them.
For me, it’s less of an impact, although I did feel a little sad after his last regular online talk. What he has produced is still out there in writing, audio, and video, and the content is timeless although obviously also colored by our times and culture. He is not retiring from teaching. He will likely still write books, record audio on certain topics, and he may even create workshops and classes on specific topics. It’s just the regular in-person teaching he will retire from, and I completely understand that it may be a relief for him to do that and leave it to others.
Who knows what he will be moved to do in the future. Retiring in this way opens the space for something else, and neither he nor us may know what that is yet.
In general, it’s just another example of impermanence. Some of those who had a big impact on me earlier in my life have died: Arne Næss, Bonnie Greenwell, and so on. Some are still alive: Fritjof Capra, Jes Bertelsen, Genpo Roshi, Joanna Macy – but they are getting up there in age.
Death is the price we pay for life. Death is the price anything pays for existing for a while. Death is how anything exists at all. Death is how we are here.