Hello all, I'm a 22 year old student studying civil engineering. My life has been, for the most part, by the book. Go to school, play sports, get a degree and then a good job. Since I was a kid, I always questioned the beliefs of everyone around me and those questions have brought me to where I'm at today. I can't say that I believe in one particular religion, moreso a combination of many. Just recently I came across, Adyashanti's "True Meditation". I listened to the audiobook numerous times and tried his helpful guided meditation, and could only achieve a peaceful mind for a short period of time. Just 4 days ago I attempted my own meditation and some pretty cool things happened in the attempt. I felt of course distracted with the noises of my room, the aches and pains in my body and of course my feelings and thoughts. Soon enough I felt a powerful case of anxiety growing inside me, something I've rarely noticed in my everyday life. I allowed this anxiety to reach its peak and sure enough it vanished without a trace. I then found myself, several minutes later, feeling pleasurable spasms in the abdominal region. Next, I felt an awesome rush of energy flowing from the gut of my stomach and exiting through the shoulder kneck region. I wish I could explain in greater detail exactly what happened, but I can't. I was fully aware of everything around me, and in no way was I in a dream state. So I guess I just hope someone could help me come to understand what exactly happened to me. I know it was a necessary thing, but I cant help but be perplexed by its unknown power. I'm very open-minded, so please dont hold back your thoughts on this topic. Thank you all for your time.

Hi CivilPilot2b,

What you experienced is what you experienced. It doesn't need any more explanation than that. When we seek explanations we tend to get stuck.

There is a principle at work in generating these experiences. They come from letting go of expectations, from letting go of the attempt to control and entering into the spirit of exploration. That is how you passed from anxiety to energy rushing from the gut of your stomach and out through your shoulder neck area. You let anxiety happen, and it passed away by itself. Something else arose. As you continue to meditate, this will happen many, many times. The experiences will never be exactly the same, but there will be experiences. They will come and go. The less we hold onto them, the smoother everything goes.

Adyashanti wasn't leaving anything out in True Meditation. There isn't some secret energy handshake that we need to go through in order to realize who we are. Its true that energy stuff happens (or doesn't happen), but thats just what happens. Its great that we can have these experiences. But they aren't what true meditation is all about. They are more like hooks if we think they mean something other than what they are. When we tell stories about what happens, to ourselves or others, we are missing the amazing stuff that is happening before we tell stories about it. We are missing who we really are.

We always start out as we really are. It is the easiest thing to slip into, since there really isn't anything else going on. Its telling ourselves otherwise that takes all the energy. When we stop using all that energy to tell ourselves that we are something other than what we are, right now, right here, some funny stuff can happen. Just remember that no experience is what you are. No experience can define you. You are before all that, just beginning to explore.