Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism

(Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The usefulness of this book lies in Trungpa's uncanny ability to cut right to the heart of the matter and presents his understanding of Buddhism and the way of life it teaches in a manner that is applicable to his students' living situation."— Journal of the American Academy of Religion

Product Description

In this modern spiritual classic, the Tibetan meditation master Chögyam Trungpa highlights the commonest pitfall to which every aspirant on the spiritual path falls prey: what he calls spiritual materialism. The universal tendency, he shows, is to see spirituality as a process of self-improvement—the impulse to develop and refine the ego when the ego is, by nature, essentially empty. "The problem is that ego can convert anything to its own use," he said, "even spirituality." His incisive, compassionate teachings serve to wake us up from this trick we all play on ourselves, and to offer us a far brighter reality: the true and joyous liberation that inevitably involves letting go of the self rather than working to improve it. It is a message that has resonated with students for nearly thirty years, and remains fresh as ever today.

This new edition includes a foreword by Chögyam Trungpa's son and lineage holder, Sakyong Mipham.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Shambhala (October 22, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1570629579
• ISBN-13: 978-1570629570
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #201,903 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #14 in

  Books > Religion & Spirituality > Authors, A-Z > ( T ) > Trungpa, Chogyam

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

69 of 76 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Read Crtitically, March 24, 2006

By	Pentachi (USA) - See all my reviews

Trungpa displays an impressive and lucid grasp of Tibetan Buddhism in this book. As far as an intellectual discussion, it is interesting. However, Trungpa wields his sharp mind harmfully. With nuanced rhetoric and - to his credit - some warning, Trungpa discusses "cruel compassion", "crazy wisdom", and even violence as if he were able to Buddhistically live and teach these things. But the documented fact is that in practice Trungpa and some of his followers were just reckless.

Yes, a spiritual teacher will expose your ego and your ignorance to point you toward enlightenment. And so this book gets some stars for dispelling many illusions harbored by would-be students. However, a responsible teacher will balance ego-whittling with respect for spiritual limits (i.e. the Law) and for your wellbeing. In contrast, Trungpa and some of his followers harmed themselves and others. With cultic decadence they flaunted their disregard for the Law, and so serve as great negative examples.

In praising this book, one spotlight reviewer reports Trungpa's message as "The spiritual path is horrible! All pain." That is worse than false, for such thoughts justify spiritual abuse. Progress on the Buddhist path is challenging to be sure; but if your spiritual life is "all horrible" and "all pain" then you are in hell, and in dire need of help.

The truly "horrible" and "painful" fact for those eager to worshipfully submit to a guru is: a human being can exposit spiritual truths, yet repeatedly clobber the moral principles on which those truths depend. And so, if a spiritual teacher can't exemplify the way, then how does a student protect herself? How does a student - being relatively ignorant of the way - know the quality of his teacher or teaching? How does one judge what one does not know?

But judge we must, for we own our choices and their consequences. So by all means DO NOT leave your intelligence at the door; rather, be lamp to yourself as the Buddha says, and read critically.

31 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It does what it says on the tin, May 1, 2002

By	"hungryghost" (London) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism (Shambhala Dragon Editions) (Paperback)

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.

31 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A clear and eloquent transmission of how the mind works, March 10, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism (Shambhala Dragon Editions) (Paperback)

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.