Chade
newsguy.com> writes:
> Hello all.
>
> Guys and gals of talk.religion.buddhism, a group of us in alt.magick
> are going through "Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism" by Chogyam
> Trungpa. We're not all Buddist over here, but as we go through the
> text we'll learn more about it and hopefully draw wider lessons.
Interesting. I've still got to catch up on the discussion you've had
so far, so I this post might contain stuff that's been covered.
> CtSM is a series of talks given in Colorado in the 1970's bound
> together. They deal with the problem of spiritual paths being
> distorted by ego.
Never read the book, though I keep hearing good things about it by
people I respect.
> --------
>
> Chapter - Spiritual Materialism (a summary)
>
> ***My observations***
>
> Trungpa warns that ego is constantly trying to apply the teachings of
> spirituality for it's own use. The ego treats them as being external,
> something to be mimicked not identified with.
>
> "We go through the motions, make the appropriate gestures, but really
> we do not want to sacrifice any part of our way of life. We become
> skillful actors...we find some comfort in trying to follow the path"
>
> ***The magic, and pagan communities are replete with examples of this,
> from armchair magicians on up.***
>
> Any discrepancy we feel is rationalised away, something it's not easy
> to deal with as we always view things through our ego.
>
> Trungpa's solution is to avoid evaluating 'should or shouldn't' as
> it's a complication of who we are.
Some fairly random stuff, in the order it occurred to me:
The Buddha's teaching is to view experience in terms of the four noble
truths, instead of measuring it up along the lines of of "me, mine,
myself", or in terms of "good or bad, right or wrong, what should and
shouldn't be".
The Buddha never took a position on whether there was a "self" or not,
instead, he maintained that holding views on that question was a
useless approach: don't try to figure out what or where the self is,
but rather, figure out suffering, its origin, its cessation, and the
way to its cessation - the four noble truths again.
> "Whenever we have a dualistic notion such as, "I am doing this because
> I want to achieve a particular state of consciousness, a particular
> state of being" then automatically we separate ourselves from the
> reality of what we are...The simplicity of meditation means just
> experiencing the ape instinct of ego."
Craving for becoming (including becoming someone else, bigger, better,
more refined...) is one of the three kinds of craving. And craving
is a cause of suffering, the second noble truth.
> ***Easier for some activities.***
Certainly :) Meditation, being such a simple activity, is a very
useful "lab environment" for this kind of observation.
> The main point of any spiritual path is to step out of the bureaucracy
> of ego. Otherwise, we are warned, we become collectors of spiritual
> teachings. We value these collection and draw comfort from them but
> they are just in the ego's display case.
>
The Buddha's teachings are not often noted for their beauty, or the
comfort they give - they are more like tools, and tools which are not
put to use quickly turn into a pile of junk.
> Our collection is a pile of junk rather than beautiful objects. To
> appreciate them you must completely identify with one at a time.
>
> ***Even if you have been identified, but are not currently, you can
> only look back on a fading memory that was distorted in the first
> place.***
>
> "...if we regard knowledge as an antique, as "ancient wisdom" to be
> collected we are on the wrong path."
>
> "one teacher experiences the truth of the teachings, and he hands it
> down as inspiration to his student. That inspiration awakens the
> student, as his teacher was awakened before him...The teachings are
> always up to date. They are not "ancient wisdom," an old legend."
>
> You aren't trying to become a replica of your teacher.
>
> An example given is fresh bread. You must apply the knowledge of how
> to make bread, then cut it yourself and taste it warm.
There's also the image of the rusty key to the prison door. It's there
to be thrust into the lock an turned, with both hands if necessary. To
hang it on a wall and worship it is quite pointless.
> "Q: Could you say something more about the way in which meditation
> short circuits the protective mechanisms of the ego?
>
> A: The protective mechanism of ego involves checking oneself, which is
> a kind of unnecessary kind of self observance. Meditation is not based
> on meditating on a particular subject by checking oneself; but
> meditation is complete identification with whatever techniques you are
> employing. Therefore there will be no effort to secure oneself in the
> practice of meditation."
>
> --------
>
> Trungpa says we always view things through the ego, but isn't the
> point of states like KCHGA that we don't view things through the ego?
"WE don't view things through the EGO" - see?
There's more where that came from: "I am unenlightened, and must
practice hard to become enlightened" (Ajahn Sumedho)
"Do not entertain hopes for realization, but practice all your life"
(Milarepa)
> What does the phrase "bureaucracy of the ego" mean?
Not familiar with that one, though it has a certain something to it.
All those ulterior motives, needs, desires and habits have quite some
momentum, and it takes work to get things done efficiently through all
the red tape.
> What is the executive part of a person?
It's done by committee. Really. Millions of monkeys, admittedly
without keyboards, and thus entirely unlike Shakespeare.
> Netizens of talk.religion.buddhism, how do you define spirituality?
Exploring the mind by means of the mind.
Cheers,
Florian
--
Every man passes out of life as if he had just been born.
-- Epicurus (Vatican Sayings 60)
