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Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism

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Chogyam Trungpa, often referred to as one of the few oriental, Buddhist lamas who truly understood the Western mind, here transcends East and West by addressing simply and eloquently, the processes of the mind and ego. Trungpa illuminates how some of these processes can undermine an otherwise wholesome relationship to ourselves and our basic goodness (buddha nature) and our relationship with others. These processes can cause our suffering and the suffering of others and disrupt our efforts to be decent and skillful. The non-theistic text, transmitted by this extraordinarily gifted meditation master, is presented freely without prostelytizing and is offered clearly without judgment, blame, guilt, hope or fear. Cutting Through is an important stepping-stone towards developing self-awareness, fearlessness, friendship and loving kindness. A 'must-read' for any diver or warrior of heart and courage. Also recommended are Trungpa's: Shambhala, Path of the Warrior and/or Meditation in Action.

A no-nonsense, firm, but gentle warning note to those of us committed to the so-called path of self-development. Trungpa patiently brings into fresh air the dangerous and destructive method by which we typically approach the notion of spirituality: i.e. as something to be developed, learnt through discipline or otherwise achieved much as we seek to aquire the prizes in our everyday material life. Trungpa's message was ideally suited to that aspect of ourselves - the Eastern mind as much as the Western - which is constantly looking for something external through which we hope to secure our sense of self and make us happy. Exposing this tendency with great skill and clarity, he outlines a more open, direct and yet infinitely more challenging way to experience Mind beyond the self through correct meditation. Even amongst Buddhist literature this is wonderfully refreshing and at once destroys all hope of bettering oneself and yet points to a far brighter fact: that true liberation inevitably involves letting go of the self rather than working to improve it. The often rather painful process of spiritual awakening is made sense of in this book if we begin to see that our emotions and thoughts cloud our direct experience of reality. An apt message befitting an enlightened being who wore his suits 2 sizes too small as a constant reminder of the irritation and dissatisfaction of the samsaric world.

"Spiritual materialism is the belief that a certain temporary state of mind is a refuge from suffering. " In other words, for a 'spiritual materialist', a state of mind can exist inherently on its own (i.e., "Ego") apart from the chains of cause and effect that cause suffering. Classical Nagarjuna & Mahayana. Yet this became one of the towering issues for Chogyam Trungpa's Naropa University community, a perfect concept to flog guilt-ridden Westerners with. It basically means "you are not doing it right". It means "your motives are not pure". It means you need a 'real' guru.

Unfortunately, the guru in question created a personality cult, parading about in expensive robes (brocade, silk, cashmere) in front of his impoverished hippie audiences while women bodyguards in black dresses and high heels, packing automatic weapons, served him saké. Trungpa, having vowed celibacy to his superiors, caroused with female students and nuns, eloped from England with an underage girl, tolerated abuse and exploitation of students by assorted inner circle henchmen while hobnobbing with beatnik superstars and ultimately drank himself into delirium, cirrhotic liver and death. One of his cardinal, and unforgivable, sins is promotion as a successor of Osel Tenzin (aka Thomas Rich) who knowingly passed HIV during unprotected sex to (hundreds?) of his students. Here is the excuse:

"... Rich first swore us to secrecy (family secrets again), and then said that Trungpa had requested him to be tested for HIV in the early 1980s and told him to keep quiet about the positive result. Tendzin had asked Trungpa what he should do if students wanted to have sex with him, and Trungpa's reply was that as long as he did his Vajrayana purification practices, it did not matter, because they would not get the disease." Hmmm... "if students wanted to have sex with him..."... Like Rajneesh, the two guys called this debauchery .... "tantra" :) ! Or crazy wisdom. I call it addiction and the epitome of spiritual materialism!

How good are Trungpa's words in SM? Does it matter who speaks? Do precepts matter? If a brilliant, highly accomplished tulku who trained at Oxford and at the famous Surmang (Sarmung?!) Kagyu monastery, someone who mastered the intricacies of philosophical-energetic exercises that constitute lojong ("mind training"), falls under the sway of the Ego, what chance do we have, you and me? How does spiritual practice unlock the fundamental goodness in us? Does inventing a new concept help or does it represent yet another way to throw sand into the eyes of unsuspecting Westerners?

I believe that 'spiritual materialism', while legitimate and innocuous as a concept in itself, was used as a tool, a not so subtle technique of mind control to instill fear and dependence into Trungpa's cult. This can, in fact, be considered the negative side of satipatthana ("mindfulness"). It is easy for a spiritual teacher entrusted with intimate personal details to take advantage of the disciple by slowly wrapping him/her into a net made of shame and guilt that only the teacher himself can unwrap. To tell the student that their attraction to spirituality is inauthentic and needs to be 'realigned'. I imagine that falling under sway of someone like that is like growing up in an abusive family - perpetuating a fundamental ignorance and lack of integrity which need to be exorcised eventually. The worrisome detail here is that the Tibetan hierarchy, like the Catholic church of today, refused to condemn the wayward tulku despite ample reports about goings-on at Naropa. Sadly, when it comes to spirituality we are on our own, depending on our own moral compass, gut feelings and integrity. I'd suspect that the more one strays from simple ethics-based practices towards the 'energetic' end of the spiritual spectrum, the more dangerous the territory. Anyways, at least one person seems to have escaped with her skin and inner compass intact - Pema Chodron, whom I respect deeply. She to this day refuses to discuss Trungpa's misdeeds which i guess is a credit to her... and him.

Psychologically speaking, Trungpa's behavior is easy to understand. We're talking about a young boy, taken away from his mother and family and raised in the highly misogynistic all-male environment of the monastery. Indoctrinated by the belief in the "power of divine incarnation". Tulkus are raised through cognitive dissonance: women are polluting, they are an obstacle to practice, at best women can serve others and at worst they are a nuisance - yet women are also transformed into dakinis, female aspects of being that men must associate with in order to reach enlightenment. Right there is the recipe for abuse, as explained so eloquently by June Campbell. As a semidivine Being, the tulku can do anything he wants. And Trungpa did.

This book is worth reading because it represents one of the milestones of Tibetan permeation of the Western spiritual landscape and may have interesting (hypothetical) connections to ideas discussed by Gurdjieff and Castaneda. It also points at a dead end, as "an attempt of an overgrown child to reconstruct for himself a kingdom according to whim" (Marin, 1995). There are/were other, true, beacons of light in the Tibetan community like Tarthang, Mingyur, Chagdud, Tenzin Wangyal and HH Tenzin Gyatso. It is the Who, not What, that matters.

Trungpa lets loose with his cannon in this book. Christianity, Islam, and Judiasm are totally false because they are "eternalists". They believe in a permanent soul that just goes on and on and on. Hindus are eternalists. Theravada Buddhists are what Trungpa calls "atomistic eternalists". They don't realize that an ant sees a flower as a jungle. Or a spot of dirt as a mountain. The obsever of phenomena is left out. Enlightenment consists of a Self observing impermanence, suffering, and selflessness. The Self is indicated from the fact that the observer is not dealt with. And there is no observer. So Trungpa states that "atomistic materialists" are "half right". Zen speaks of a Big Mind. There is no "Big Mind". And he isn't done with us yet. The spiritual path is horrible! All pain. My collecting of spiritual teachers is called "Spiritual Materialism". My examaning self-help books AND doing reviews on them is called "psychological materialsim". The last is "Physical Materialism". And Trungpa seems to indicate that this last form of materialism is the least harmful! He states that the Guru will cut through your suit of armor. He will keep at you until you are exposed naked. You will try and struggle to keep your armor intact. But the Guru will see your pretense and expose whatever you are hiding. He will strip you clean of all three forms of materialism. WOW! Please remember that this book is composed of his lectures to his students. It is simply brillant beyond belief in it's ability to destroy illogical assumptions made by people. It is a classic. Trungpa always had a way of examining the American Mind and striking at our delusions. It is a great read. Like seeing us all excited about our spiritual journey and kicking here and there until we fall. A must read. Buy it and read it three times like I did. Trunpa always cuts. See what you can do with this book. Thank you.

THIS BOOK IS IDEAL FOR SOMEONE WHO HAS READ A NUMBER OF BUDHIST BOOKS AND BELIEVES HIMSELF TO UNDERSTAND THE INNER MEANING OF THE TEACHINGS. It will cut through your arrogance like butter and will help to keep your mind open and your spirit humble.

The book is a great and well rounded look at spirituality and the problems encountered. It gives a brief view of the proper attitude towards spirituality, then gives detailed account of how our attitudes obscure and constantly attempt to manipulate spirituality for personal gain. Also included are good overall views of the most basic budhist truths..ie. the Four Noble Truths and the Six Realms.

This is a classic of Western Buddhism, by one of the most influential Tibetan Buddhist teachers in the West. Some of the stuff about relating to a guru may be justifiably off-putting to many Western readers, but don't let that keep you from seeing all the wonderful teaching in this book. I've read parts of it again and again over the past decade (especially the introduction and the first chapter) as the simple but elusive point has finally started to sink in that spiritual practice is not about getting anywhere or achieving anything.

This book is best for readers who are already involved in Buddhist practice. I also highly recommend Trungpa's "The Myth of Freedom," which is a better place to start if you're new to Buddhist practice, and "The Wisdom of No Escape" by Pema Chodron, a student of Trungpa.

This book should be one of the first to buy for anyone involved in any form of meditation, self developement, or spiritual exploration.

Trungpa shatters the naive illusion of the New Age instant enlightenment scam. This is an essential antidote to the confusion created by the Aquarian Conspiracy and its unfulfilled promises.

In the process, he exposes the ego driven "Gurus", and shows us how to avoid being duped by the many spiritual megalomanics out there.

Do you think you're becoming a better person?

Trungpa's book is a reality check for wide-eyed spiritualists, mystics and "believers" of all kinds. He makes a clever back door assualt on the ego and its overwhelming tendency to hijack the spiritual process. While I found some parts rather arcane, it's generally an economical text. I would especially recommend it to anyone with an interest in self-development who is exploring the spiritual path (is that what it's called?). Read it before committing yourself any further to may be just more BS. For me, this book brought years of self-gratifying meditation practice to a sudden halt. Rather like waking from a warm happy dream, and I have not looked back.

This book strips the varnish right off of the concept that enlightenment can be viewed as another form of self improvement. The first two chapters of this book will literally have you scratching your head and wondering how anyone could ever escape the ever complex and ultimately entangling web created by a mind that approaches spiritual development as a means to an end. Only in later chapters does one begin to understand that the process of trying to better oneself is exactly the same process that has created all of our uneasiness and dissatisfaction in the first place.

This book is one of my favorites and I highly recommend it to anyone that is seriously interested in spiritual pursuits, whether they are Buddhist, Christian or any other. Another Trungpa volume, The Myth of Freedom, is an excellent sequel, though not for the faint of heart that would be best read after this book.

The best? Why? First, because Trungpa Tulku was a genius. So he cuts to the heart of things with clarity and precision, and builds up a clear picture of a very complex subject. Also, he's got style; he was a great writer. Third, from an quite early age, he had one of those unbelievable educations where mind, memory, concentration, endurance, discipline, method, respect for subject matter and environment came together with devoted teachers, good companions and travel, to forge an educational experience we can only guess at. The book is a worthy result. In this dark period of the world (it will pass!), many high things have been well-nigh destroyed. One of these has been Tibet. But the magnificent achievement of the Tibetan monks has been to plant the seeds of Buddhism in North America and Europe (and Argentina, South Africa, etc.), during the very same years that their own country was being destroyed. That is the greatest tribute imaginable to the Buddha. And this book, Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism, is one of the cornerstones of this spiritual rescue. Nowadays, 30% of Americans have meditated or done something similar (NY Times). This astounding result has come about in some measure through the efforts of the great Buddhist movement. To end: Buddhism is a vast subject, and any one book merely waves in the wind of the mind--one of thousands of prayer flags. But what an elegant wave does this one make!