a school i traversed, some years back
had a funny take on the Golden Rule, namely:
“Be nice to me, & I’ll be nice to you”.
Er, that’s approximately 180 degrees out of whack.
The real Golden Rule says:
“Be nice to everyone as you’d like them to be nice to you”.
iow, be nice first.
instead, this ‘new, improved’ version takes all the personal responsibility out of the equation, & seems to proffer a spiritual challenge, a psychic ‘prove-it’, if you will: “Be nice to me, or else.”
…funny enough, this very same school had a real issue with ego. Or rather, an incredible difficulty ever mentioning the word. Which is really ironic, b/c every single meditation school in the East (including this school’s spiritual ancestors, by way of Egyptian mystery schools, theosophy, & the like), puts primary focus on the ego.
It turns-out, there is an incredibly important reason to address the ego in spiritual practices. And it’s a very simple reason, b/c it cuts right to the heart of the matter: the more you meditate, the more your willpower increases.
That simple.
But that dangerous, if you will.
“Dangerous? Huh?!”
Sure.
Because if your ego isn’t refined, your “I want” and esp. “I want now” not put under leash, and then you gain a strong willpower, some rather not-great things can happen… to other ppl, if not your own spiritual growth.
We’ve all seen this happen to “overnight sensations”, eg. rock-stars, who become “too full of themselves”, charismatic politicians, or cult figures etc. etc…. all who are finally brought-down by an avalanche of excess. And all because they’ve lost their perspective & truly felt they “could do no wrong” or “it was all for the best”. And all that was fine when they were ‘nobodies’, b/c they could do little harm. But when they suddenly become focal points for cheering throngs of adherents, that can test the equanimity of a saint… & most ppl aren’t very saintlike.
So for the (traditional, Eastern) spiritual aspirant, there’s lots of ‘warnings’ built-into the training, alerting them to this pitfall. This is what Trungpa is talking about with his description of “the golden chain” … not only will your over-developed ego hamstring your own spiritual growth, but it will also lead you to ‘messing’ with other people.
There’s a fascinating description of this phenomena in “The Empty Mirror”, by Janwillem Van De Wetering. He’d been practicing in a traditional Japanese Zen monastary for several months, his mind had stilled quite a bit, & he had to ride a train to get his visa fixed. He saw a young cute Japanese girl on the train (the first girl he’d seen in months), & was immediately overwhelmed with lust. Casting about, he found that by focusing his intent on her, [he] got her to come over, sit by him, & even start to rub her leg against his… all w/o him saying a thing! And yet she “kept rubbing”, even though it was clear she was uncomfortable! Finally he came to his senses, relinquished his ‘mental focus’ on her, & she immediately got-up & hurried away.
Sounds crazy? I’ve seen much more dramatic displays, myself.
There’s a concept in martial arts, that the ‘yellow belt’ (couple of years intense training) has all the power of a black belt (four years plus of intense training)…. but none of the control. Bruce Lee liked to chide strong enemies in his films, pointing-out that no matter how strong they could punch, it didn’t mean much if they didn’t hit their target.
Or in other words, it doesn’t take too long for someone doing meditation to start building-up their willpower. But that doesn’t help their ego at all, esp. if their “Golden Rule” encourages a ‘me-first’ sensibility.
The fundamental pitfall of meditation (other than not doing it at all) is increased mental abilities, including willpower, visions, etc. etc. Many zen masters will say, “ignore the visions, they will go away”, & emphasize clearing the mind. Other practitioners, such as Raja Yogis (or western theosophists), instead work with those ‘visions’ to manipulate the esoteric energies in their bodies. But in the end, both [types] of practitioners focus on ego (or “attachment”, or “desire”, or “being stuck”), & how to unravel & release the ego’s effects, called “karma”.
And that’s kinda hard to do w/ the wrong “Golden Rule”.
Tags: meditation
[...] So back to why the discussion of “ego” has been ‘programmed-out’, if you will, in many of the western intuitive/meditative disciplines today. [...]
Your encouragement to “be nice first” is most appropriate. Thanks.