180°

"At the core of so much of our suffering is separation, a separation that was caused by literally turning away from our own innocence and completeness very early in life as a coping mechanism to deal with painful and overwhelming situations. By turning away from our own completeness we try to become who the people around us want us to be. For a while it helps us to cope and get by to some extent, but later leaves us with the sorrow and/or rage of being disconnected from our own self.

We can either blame ourselves or others for our turning away, but that simply disempowers us and leaves us depressed, anxious, and angry. We need to see that we were all simply doing the best that we could to cope with the challenges we faced, and have some compassion for such an innocent action.

We also need to intuitively turn back toward the innocent completeness that we turned away from. For our completeness never goes anywhere and can never be taken away from us. It is exactly where we left it. When you feel the sting of separation inside, simply turn inwardly and intuitively around one hundred and eighty degrees and there will be your innocence, your beauty, your completeness. It may seem impossible, but give it a try until you reconnect with what in truth you never lost."

~ Adyashanti, from "The Way of Liberating Insight (Q&A)"