The Most Important Thing: Discovering Truth at the Heart of Life, by Adyashanti ~ Book Picks

"Hopefully, you're interested in being happy in the deepest and most central way possible...happy independent of conditions. If so, this book will point you to the real deal."Shinzen Young, author of The Science of Enlightenment

Looking outward can only take us so far on the path to understanding ourselves. The deeper truths are felt by looking inwards, and discovering what is really important to each of us as individuals. By knowing ourselves we can follow our own paths to happiness, rather than getting lost on a path defined for us by society.We all define ourselves through the lens of stories. Whether we see ourselves as heroes or victims, good people or bad, everyone lives according to interwoven strands of narrative. “And yet,” teaches Adyashanti, “the truth is bigger than any concept or story.”In The Most Important Thing, Adya (as his students call him) presents an anthology devoted to the search for the most resonant truths that exist beyond the reach of storytelling. In a series of deep explorations unafraid to delve into the realities of the spiritual path, this celebrated teacher encourages you to question the limits of your own stories, open to the possibility of grace, and embrace those aspects of life that call you to serve.In the end, the most important truths are ones that propel us toward our highest calling. With The Most Important Thing, Adya offers a path toward discovering your deepest intentions in a way that only he can—direct, intimate, and alive with the possibility of awakening. "In The Most Important Thing, Adyashanti, long known as a kind teacher of embodied being, shares stories of his personal awakening as a way to surface insights that can help us discover the most important thing for ourselves. Central to his journey and ours is the question he offers as our constant guide: ‘How can I be a living expression of what I love?’ This book is a spiritual resource for the necessary arts of dedication and release, immersion and surrender, and the courage to be and love."

Mark Nepo, author of More Together Than Alone and The Book of Awakening

Adyashanti, author of The Way of Liberation, Falling into Grace, True Meditation, and The End of Your World,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.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.”Based in California, Adyashanti lives with his wife, Mukti, Associate Teacher of Open Gate Sangha. He teaches throughout North America and Europe, offering satsangs, weekend intensives, silent retreats, and a live internet radio broadcast.“Adyashanti” means primordial peace.24.95