From: kish@kish.rutgers.edu (Kish)
Newsgroups: soc.religion.eastern
Subject: Re: Effort vs clinging on the spiritual path
Date: 19 Nov 1992 09:55:28 -0800
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In article <1ebq2eINNs40@sandman.caltech.edu>, RADAMS@cerritos.edu (Roger Adams) writes:
 
> Yes, we want to be at a level of realization where we need to no longer
> seek. But it is faulty logic to equate "not seeking" with "finding".
> Christ understood the dilemma of the ego-rule that most of us are slaves
> to. Even though he said that the kingdom is within, he also said "seek, and
> you will find". He did not say that since the kingdom is already within us
> that we need not do anything in order to abide fully in it. He said that
> "harvest is plenteous but the laborers are few". He is saying that the
> treasures are within us, but most do not make the effort to find it within
> (ie. remove the obstructions covering this kingdom such as our own 
> indifference or laziness) so they go on being deluded. The ego-consciousness
> is actively obstructing our realization of who we really are - it works
> full time, 24 hours a day (if you let it) to maintain this delusion. If
> you go with the flow, you will remain deluded. A diamond covered with mud
> looks like a mudball, acts like a mudball, and for all intents and purposes,
> _is_ a mudball. One must do what is necessary to remove the mud from the
> diamond that is preventing the diamond from fully manifesting itself.
> 

	For the most part I agree with your assessment of the power of
delusion, but I think you may have actually understated your case.  I
agree with you that it is wrong to say that "not-seeking" and
"finding" are equivalent under all conditions and circumstances, but
it is equally wrong to say the same about "seeking" and what I will
refer to as "right effort".  Which is not to say that we don't need to
seek, but that in seeking we need to use care and be aware of how
easily a spiritual quest can become just another hoplite in ego's
army.
	It is very possible, and perhaps even probable, that exertion
in yoga practice and meditation can become a source of pride (1), a
reinforcement for the very edifice of ego consciousness which you seek
to uproot.  When this happens, "effort" only winds up making your
mudball more impenetrable. Chogyam Trungpa has referred to this as
spiritual materialism.  On an increasingly subtle level, it is also
possible to become attached to various forms of mental absorption, and
to have a strong sense of yourself as a "spiritual being".  This is
where involvement in "maya" can become a very effective source of
teaching.  Nothing can shake you free from mental absorption like
dealing with demanding, neurotic people !  When you realize there is
no place for ego to perch, even in "maya", then the teachings of the
lazy man don't seem so heretical.
	If the issue of spiritual materialism is old hat for you, then
my only criticism is that it is conspicuously absent from your
arguments thus far.  I think any discussion of effort-on-the-path
needs to take such issues into consideration in order to be a balanced
discourse.  Would you be willing to address this point directly ?
While I am not versed in the writings of Paramahansa Yogananda, I
would be surprised if he didn't talk of such things, even if he didn't
refer to them as spiritual materialism.

Yours in Dharma,
-Bill


(1) This is not directed at you or anyone else in a personal manner -
I am just citing what I know to be a potential pitfall along a
particular path.
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