Adyashanti: Waking Up: What does it really mean?

    —
May 16, 2016

Adyashanti: Waking Up: What does it really mean?

Adyashanti May 16, 2016

Adyashanti is a widely beloved, American-born spiritual teacher whose practice is rooted in Zen Buddhism but has expanded beyond any one path or perspective. He has created many books and audio programs through Sounds True, including Resurrecting Jesus, Emptiness Dancing, and Healing the Core Wound of Unworthiness. In this episode of Insights of the Edge—which previously appeared as part of the provocative interview series Waking Up: What Does It Really Mean?—Tami Simon and Adyashanti inquire deeply into what exactly constitutes “awakening.” Adya describes his own experiences of awakening, vividly comparing and contrasting his felt sensation of each of these life-changing experiences. Tami and Adya also discuss whether awakening is a sudden or gradual process, and what one can and cannot expect from these moments of profound epiphany. Finally, Adya shares his pith instructions on how to encourage such a spiritual awakening.
(57 minutes)

Adyashanti is an American-born spiritual teacher devoted to serving the awakening of all beings. His teachings are an open invitation to stop, inquire, and recognize what is true and liberating at the core of all existence. His books include Emptiness Dancing, The End of Your World, True Meditation, The Way of Liberation, and Falling into Grace.

Asked to teach in 1996 by his Zen teacher of 14 years, Adyashanti offers teachings that are free of any tradition or ideology. "The Truth I point to is not confined within any religious point of view, belief system, or doctrine, but is open to all and found within all." For more information, please visit adyashanti.org.

Author photo © Mukti

600 Podcasts and Counting…

Subscribe to Insights at the Edge to hear all of Tami’s interviews (transcripts available too!), featuring Eckhart Tolle, Caroline Myss, Tara Brach, Jack Kornfield, Adyashanti, and many more.

Meet Your Host: Tami Simon

Founded Sounds True in 1985 as a multimedia publishing house with a mission to disseminate spiritual wisdom. She hosts a popular weekly podcast called Insights at the Edge, where she has interviewed many of today's leading teachers. Tami lives with her wife, Julie M. Kramer, and their two spoodles, Rasberry and Bula, in Boulder, Colorado.

Photo © Jason Elias

Also By Author

Waking Up: What Does It Really Mean?

Adyashanti is a widely beloved, American-born spiritual teacher whose practice is rooted in Zen Buddhism but has expanded beyond any one path or perspective. He has created many books and audio programs through Sounds True, including Resurrecting Jesus, Emptiness Dancing, and Healing the Core Wound of Unworthiness. In this episode of Insights of the Edge—which previously appeared as part of the provocative interview series Waking Up: What Does It Really Mean?—Tami Simon and Adyashanti inquire deeply into what exactly constitutes “awakening.” Adya describes his own experiences of awakening, vividly comparing and contrasting his felt sensation of each of these life-changing experiences. Tami and Adya also discuss whether awakening is a sudden or gradual process, and what one can and cannot expect from these moments of profound epiphany. Finally, Adya shares his pith instructions on how to encourage such a spiritual awakening.

Awakening the Spiritual Heart with Adyashanti

Adyashanti is an American-born spiritual teacher whose work adheres to no single tradition, but points the way toward awakening for all seekers. He has published many books and audio programs with Sounds True, including The Most Important Thing, The End of Your World, and Resurrecting Jesus. In this episode of Insights at the Edge, Tami Simon speaks with Adya (as his friends and students call him) about The 30-Day Wake Up Challenge, an upcoming online course designed to take listeners on a journey through the layers of awakened consciousness over the course of a single month. Tami expresses her excitement about the course and asks Adya whether it’s really possible to “wake up” in just a few weeks. Adya talks about the liberation of dropping into the Spiritual Heart, leading listeners in a practice for touching this sublime, compassionate inner space. Finally, they discuss the everyday applications of touching awakened awareness, as well as why The 30-Day Wake Up Challenge has been one of Adya’s intensive projects.

(66 minutes)

Adyashanti: Waking Up: What does it really mean?

Adyashanti is a widely beloved, American-born spiritual teacher whose practice is rooted in Zen Buddhism but has expanded beyond any one path or perspective. He has created many books and audio programs through Sounds True, including Resurrecting Jesus, Emptiness Dancing, and Healing the Core Wound of Unworthiness. In this episode of Insights of the Edge—which previously appeared as part of the provocative interview series Waking Up: What Does It Really Mean?—Tami Simon and Adyashanti inquire deeply into what exactly constitutes “awakening.” Adya describes his own experiences of awakening, vividly comparing and contrasting his felt sensation of each of these life-changing experiences. Tami and Adya also discuss whether awakening is a sudden or gradual process, and what one can and cannot expect from these moments of profound epiphany. Finally, Adya shares his pith instructions on how to encourage such a spiritual awakening.
(57 minutes)

You Might Also Enjoy

Darnell Lamont Walker: Listen to a Death Doula: This I...

“This is sometimes what love looks like. People want to love you—let people love you.”

It’s a phrase death doula Darnell Lamont Walker has spoken countless times at bedsides, to those who feel ashamed of being seen in their vulnerability, those who don’t want to be a burden, those who have spent a lifetime giving but struggle to receive. What he’s discovered is that the end of life has a way of revealing what love actually is—and it often looks nothing like we expected.

An Emmy-nominated children’s television writer, documentary filmmaker, and death doula, Darnell has accompanied people through life’s final transition since he was a teenager. In this deeply moving conversation, he shares the profound lessons about love and connection he’s gathered from decades of this sacred work.

Join Tami and Darnell as they explore:

  • Why letting ourselves be loved—especially when we feel most vulnerable—is one of life’s hardest and most important lessons
  • “Grief is the sequel to love”—reframing loss as a testament to how deeply we’ve connected
  • The stories people most need to tell before they die, and how sharing them becomes an act of love
  • How spirits and ancestors return for the dying—and what this reveals about love’s continuity
  • The surprising joy that emerges from death work
  • What it means to “die empty” and leave nothing unloved or unexpressed

Whether you’ve supported someone through dying or are simply longing to love and be loved more fully, Darnell offers wisdom that will stay with you long after the conversation ends.

This conversation offers genuine transmission—not just concepts about awakening, but the palpable presence of realized teachers exploring the growing edge of spiritual understanding together. Originally aired on Sounds True One.

Paul Selig: A Journey to the Upper Room: An Attunement...

How do we move beyond fear and separation to experience our true divine nature—especially in times of collective upheaval and uncertainty?

This week, Tami Simon welcomes Paul Selig, a channeler, author, and teacher who has brought through 13 extraordinary books from non-physical guides he describes as teaching from “the upper room.” Born an atheist and trained at Yale, Paul experienced a spontaneous kundalini awakening in 1987 that left him clairvoyant and fundamentally changed his understanding of reality. Since then, he has served as what he calls a “spoken stenographer” for teachings on consciousness, awakening, and our capacity to align with the divine.

Join Tami and Paul to explore:

  • Paul’s dramatic awakening experience and emergence as a channel
  • What it feels like to receive and transmit channeled wisdom
  • The “upper room”—a vibrational state beyond fear and separation
  • How to recognize when we’re acting from fear versus divine knowing
  • The clearing process that accompanies spiritual awakening
  • Why this particular time calls for radical transformation of old structures
  • The powerful attunement: “I am in God, I am of God, I am with God”
  • How to maintain trust and openness when part of us still holds back
  • Practical ways to realign with source amidst chaos and uncertainty

If you’re navigating this time of collective change and seeking a deeper connection to your divine nature, this conversation offers both inspiration and practical guidance for claiming the upper room—that aspect of consciousness where we already dwell in union with all that is.

This conversation offers genuine transmission—not just concepts about awakening, but the palpable presence of realized teachers exploring the growing edge of spiritual understanding together. Originally aired on Sounds True One.

Ky Dickens: The Telepathy Tapes and What Lies Beyond

What happens when a rational, skeptical filmmaker encounters evidence that consciousness might work in ways science hasn’t yet explained?

This week, Tami Simon welcomes Ky Dickens—an award-winning documentary filmmaker whose podcast The Telepathy Tapes became the #1 podcast in the world in 2025. Ky’s work explores telepathic communication within the non-speaking community, raising profound questions about consciousness, human potential, and how we can better support individuals with autism and apraxia.

Join Tami and Ky as they discuss:

  • How a lightning bolt creative moment led to The Telepathy Tapes and what it means to trust the creative muse
  • The scientific evidence for telepathic communication in non-speaking individuals with autism
  • “Mindsight”—the remarkable ability of young children to see through blindfolds, and why this capacity appears strongest before age twelve
  • The interstitium, a recently discovered system in the body that may explain ancient knowledge about energy meridians
  • Why consciousness as fundamental, rather than materialism, better explains emerging research in telepathy, energy healing, and remote viewing
  • The dignity and rights of non-speaking individuals and why Communication Regulation Partners (CRPs) should be standard in schools
  • How this work has transformed Ky’s understanding of death, the non-physical world, and why we’re here

If you’ve been curious about The Telepathy Tapes or wonder what lies at the frontiers of consciousness research, this conversation offers a grounded, scientifically minded exploration of phenomena that challenge our understanding of human potential and invite us into a more marvelous world.

Listen now to discover what becomes possible when we approach the unknown with curiosity rather than dismissal. And to see where Ky and her team are heading with Season 2 of The Telepathy Tapes…and beyond.

You can listen to both seasons of The Telepathy Tapes here.

>
Share via
Copy link
Powered by Social Snap