Awakening isn't a feeling — it's a recognition

Adyashanti is careful to distinguish awakening from the blissful states people often chase. States come and go — a peaceful high fades by morning. Recognition of your true nature, by contrast, is a shift in identity: seeing clearly that you were never only the separate self you took yourself to be.

Because it's a recognition and not an experience, it can happen in the middle of ordinary life, without fireworks. And because states are impermanent, clinging to them actually pulls you away from the stable, ever-present awareness inquiry points to.

This is why he warns against turning spirituality into state-collecting. The goal isn't a better experience but a truer seeing — one that holds up whether you feel good or bad.