Adyashanti explored Zen Buddhism for 14 years and found himself constantly working to perfect one meditation technique after another. He decided this process of trying to control or manipulate his mind was counter-productive in the long run. Then he let go of the idea of what meditation was supposed to be and learned to be present to the experience of what he calls "True Meditation." Adyashanti found himself returning to his natural state of being. The peace and stillness he was striving for was already there. He believes that True Meditation is the ultimate act of faith: it is "effortless effort." Whatever is within us is revealed in this state of mind. He shares more about enlightenment in his second book The End of Your World.

Adyashanti sees the Jesus story as a mirror that enables us to see ourselves more clearly. In the prologue, he calls Jesus "the silent colossus who has defined Western culture for the better part of two thousand years. He's the central persona in Western culture's collective dream." After years of studying Buddhist spiritual practices, he experienced the heart of sacred love through Jesus and St. Therese. He says these two mystics help us to realize that we are living in the kingdom right now.

Jesus' life is relevant to ours thanks to his experience of temptation, his love of stories, his keen appreciation for the mystery of life, his courage to break through structures of ignorance and separation, his ability to see the sharing in healing, his speaking the truth to power, and his willingness to give of oneself completely.

Adyashanti identifies with Jesus' loneliness and even calls him "one of the most alone human beings that ever walked the face of the earth." No wonder that outcasts, rebels, the poor, and outsiders all identified with him. The author interprets the Last Supper as a pivotal moment in Jesus's ministry for he lets the disciples know that they will henceforth be his body on earth.

Adyashanti pays tribute to the three women and the disciple who loved Jesus for being there when he died. They model for us a compassionate, open-hearted spirituality. He concludes that the Jesus story "brings forth the radiant thread of divinity that breaks through old structures, that brings together and makes whole all the ways that our minds divide us from each other, even divide us within ourselves."

You can read more about Adyashanti's teachings in our profile in the Living Spiritual Teachers Project. Also, visit www.adyashanti.org.