Joi

“As a young child I felt a little left out, like I really didn’t belong. I was sensitive, intelligent and very confused. At a young age, I was aware of an unseen Presence that I perceived as soon as I put my attention on it. This perception made me long for something that felt unreachable… When I reached my teens and early twenties I started doing a lot of drugs… It never worked though… When I was in my mid-twenties, I woke up one day and my desire to have any experience through drugs was completely gone. I was done with it…


I went down to the river and sat down and closed my eyes. Immediately there was a tremendous flow of energy entering into me, and I started to lift up out of my body. I was ecstatic. But in the next instant a big force, like the hand of God, came and slammed me back into my body. My eyes popped open, along with the immediate recognition that I was not what I thought I was. I also recognized that what I longed for was meant to happen in this body, not in some “other” place. This initial awakening was the first step on a journey of intense seeking …leading me to places I could never have dreamed of...


I had no clue that the honeymoon was soon going to end… And then the shoe dropped. Driving down the main street in Sedona in my little jalopy, I was overcome by a grip of intense angst. Pure rage. The car in front of me was going too slow, so I screamed at it to get out of the way, which it did. I went home to my room and closed the door. I had no idea what was going on. I sunk to the floor, leaning up against the wall, and as soon as I did the room turned dark. I was terrified. I was no longer in my room, but standing on a cliff somewhere. I was looking over the edge, getting ready to jump. My heart was filled with a gut-wrenching grief—a despair too bottomless to live with. I was a Native American, and all my people had been slaughtered. There was no reason to live. I didn’t want to live--so I jumped...


When Amma walked in…she walked right up to me, and put her hand on my head, and pushed down really HARD!.. This began my new relationship with the Divine Mother on the “outside,” which led to a deeper relationship with Her on the inside… My time with Amma in India was very challenging… She pushed me quite hard… With Amma’s blessing I spent two years at Ramana Maharshi’s ashram in Tiruvannamalai… Then one day I knew I was done with India… when I did come back for good, I was very disoriented…


When I first listened to Adyashanti in 2005, I knew that he was someone that I could benefit from, as he seemed to come from a very clear place. When I sat with him during my first retreat a little later that year, I chose to sit in the front row. I was in meditation when he walked in, but I could sense his strong presence. We sat for a while in silence, and then he spoke, “A complete loss of the personal self—that is what has happened here.”


My eyes spontaneously opened, and Adya was looking right at me. I knew what he said was true. Only there was no-one left to own it. I spent a lot of time with him for the next five years, as he spoke to my mind, so that it could grasp what was happening to its previous reality. It was an extremely powerful and important time in the unfoldment. He also let me know that he could recognize that I was “delivered” to him by Amma, like on a conveyer belt. I am deeply grateful for his guidance. He helped me tremendously, and not all of it was pleasant either!


I received Dharmic Transmission from both Amma and Adya in 2005, which is the authorization to teach... Amma told me to “Wear my own pants.” I have always felt that teaching comes from sharing from my own direct experience… I don’t ever hold back.”






~ Joi Sharp has a deep interest in the embodiment process of living the truth that has been realized, as she has recognized that this is a process that needs extraordinary care and attention. Joi offers satsang, intensives and retreats, and has free satsangs on her website: www.joisharp.org





Photos ~ Joi Sharp, Joi in Buckskin Gulch