Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism (Chogyam Trungpa)
Trungpa’s Classic Tibetan Buddhism Text
[My 3-star Amazon review (NDA) of “Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism” by Chogyam Trungpa.]
I first encountered Chogyam Trungpa and “Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism” in 1974, and a few years later I participated in Naropa (Trungpa’s Buddhist Institute) meditation groups in San Diego and San Francisco. “Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism” was contemporary with three other prominent, similar-type texts – Suzuki Roshi’s “Zen Mind Beginner’s Mind,” (see my four-star review) Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh’s (Osho) “Only One Sky,” and Adi Da’s (Bubba Free John) “The Method of the Siddhas” (see my five-star review)—and though I made it a point to participate in spiritual groups associated with each of these gurus, it was obvious to me that Adi Da’ teachings were a quantum leap above these of the other three gurus, each of whose teachings was bereft of an esoteric dimension.
Along with Osho (Rajneesh) and Adi Da (Bubba Free John), Trungpa “crashed and burned,” a victim of self-destructive behavior. In Trungpa’s case, it was alcohol (liver disease) that dug him an early grave, and in addition to his wild boozing, Trungpa was also heavy cigarette smoker notorious for wild sexing and abusive behavior of his students. His misbehavior was rationalized as “Crazy Wisdom.”
Trungpa’s hand-picked Dharma-successor was Osel Tendzin (author of “Buddha in the Palm of your Hand”). Tendzin, a homosexual, contracted AIDS, and even after he knew he had the disease, continued to have unprotected sex with some of his students, thereby infecting them.
What is especially significant about Trungpa’s and Tendzin’s behavior is that their teachings emphasize the importance of a “spiritual friend” (or guru) whom one totally trusts and serves. In “Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism,” Trungpa makes it clear that a “spiritual friend” is absolutely necessary. He writes:
“I do not think it is possible to see what is, to see yourself as you are, without a teacher. You have to have a spiritual friend in order to surrender and completely open yourself.”
Clearly, many students suffered because they accepted Trungpa and/or Tendzin as their “spiritual friend” (guru). Is a “spiritual friend” a sine qua non on the spiritual path? Hardly. For example, Ramana Maharshi, J. Krishnamurti, and Eckhart Tolle did not have a guru.
In the forty years since I first read “Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism,” I have become an unsurpassed expert in Buddhadharma, so it was with “open eyes” that I re-read it yesterday. In short, I found Trungpa’s teaching to be a mixed bag.
The good part of Trungpa’s teaching is his emphasis on “cutting through spiritual materialism.” He details the how the “Three Lords”—the “Lord of Materialism” (the neurotic pusuit of physical comfort, security and pleasure), the “Lord of Speech” (the misuse of the mind and ideologies in relation to the world), and the “Lord of Mind” (the games the egoic mind plays) obstruct spiritual awakening.
In addition to elaborating the pitfalls of the spiritual path, he also, properly, and in direct contrast to the neo-Advaitans and pop-Zennists, emphasizes how difficult real spirituality life is. He writes:
“Once we commit to the spiritual path, it is very painful and we are in for it... It will be terrible, excrutiating, but that is the way it is.”
Trungpa also, properly, emphasizes surrendering, or opening, and allowing things to be as they are as key components of a “real meditation practice.”
Another positive of this book are all the stories Trungpa tells about legendary Tibetan gurus such as Marpa, Naropa, and Milarepa. These stories are inspiring as well as enlightening.
Trungpa covers a lot of ground in this text, discoursing on, among other subjects, the Four Noble Truths, The Six Realms, Tantra, Initiation, and Sunyata (Emptiness). Although he is very knowledeable, he is not very deep, and this is also indicated by his failure to talk about the Trikaya (Dharmakaya, Sambhogakaya, Nirmanakaya) and Togal ,the all-important Dzogchen practice that complements Treckho, the meditative practice of cutting through spiritual meditation. If Trungpa had been En-Light-ened, he would have pointed out that once one cuts through spiritual materialism, one encounters Spirit, the Sambhogakaya, Clear-Light Energy, and must channel it via the practice of Togal.
Trungpa’s failure to understand Spirit is evident in his misunderstanding of Initiation. He rightly defines the term “Abhisheka” as “sprinkling and pouring,” which a true mystic understands as being Baptized by the Spirit (or Sambhogakaya), but Trungpa, pathetically, can only describe Initiation as “the meeting of two minds,” your and your “spiritual friend’s.
Trungpa has no understanding of true spiritual Bliss, which one experiences via the Sambhogakaya, the Blessing/Blissing Clear-Light Energy Body. He writes: “It is possible in the beginning to force oneself into the experience of bliss. It is kind of a self-hypnosis...” And never does he talk about the Bliss Body, the Sambhogakaya.
Trungpa’s takes on virtually every aspect of Budhadharma are weak (for example, he has no clue what Yogacara Buddhism is about), and he has a penchant for contradiction, the most egregious being his his dissing of the idea the One Mind, while then describing ultimate reality as “open space, the basic ground, what we really are...a basic intelligence.” To the discerning, he is, on the one hand, explicitly denying the One Mind, while implicitly, on the other hand, describing it (reality) as an all-pervading intelligence.
In summary, this classic text, despite its problems, is a worthwhile read for beginner-to-intermediate Dharma practitioners. It’s well-written, entertaining, and exposes the many pitfalls on the spiritual path. But if you are interested in deep, demystifying Buddhadharma, Dzogchen, or Mahamudra, you will have to look elsewhere.
[My 3-star Amazon review (NDA) of “Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism” by Chogyam Trungpa.]
I first encountered Chogyam Trungpa and “Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism” in 1974, and a few years later I participated in Naropa (Trungpa’s Buddhist Institute) meditation groups in San Diego and San Francisco. “Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism” was contemporary with three other prominent, similar-type texts – Suzuki Roshi’s “Zen Mind Beginner’s Mind,” (see my four-star review) Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh’s (Osho) “Only One Sky,” and Adi Da’s (Bubba Free John) “The Method of the Siddhas” (see my five-star review)—and though I made it a point to participate in spiritual groups associated with each of these gurus, it was obvious to me that Adi Da’ teachings were a quantum leap above these of the other three gurus, each of whose teachings was bereft of an esoteric dimension.
Along with Osho (Rajneesh) and Adi Da (Bubba Free John), Trungpa “crashed and burned,” a victim of self-destructive behavior. In Trungpa’s case, it was alcohol (liver disease) that dug him an early grave, and in addition to his wild boozing, Trungpa was also heavy cigarette smoker notorious for wild sexing and abusive behavior of his students. His misbehavior was rationalized as “Crazy Wisdom.”
Trungpa’s hand-picked Dharma-successor was Osel Tendzin (author of “Buddha in the Palm of your Hand”). Tendzin, a homosexual, contracted AIDS, and even after he knew he had the disease, continued to have unprotected sex with some of his students, thereby infecting them.
What is especially significant about Trungpa’s and Tendzin’s behavior is that their teachings emphasize the importance of a “spiritual friend” (or guru) whom one totally trusts and serves. In “Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism,” Trungpa makes it clear that a “spiritual friend” is absolutely necessary. He writes:
“I do not think it is possible to see what is, to see yourself as you are, without a teacher. You have to have a spiritual friend in order to surrender and completely open yourself.”
Clearly, many students suffered because they accepted Trungpa and/or Tendzin as their “spiritual friend” (guru). Is a “spiritual friend” a sine qua non on the spiritual path? Hardly. For example, Ramana Maharshi, J. Krishnamurti, and Eckhart Tolle did not have a guru.
In the forty years since I first read “Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism,” I have become an unsurpassed expert in Buddhadharma, so it was with “open eyes” that I re-read it yesterday. In short, I found Trungpa’s teaching to be a mixed bag.
The good part of Trungpa’s teaching is his emphasis on “cutting through spiritual materialism.” He details the how the “Three Lords”—the “Lord of Materialism” (the neurotic pusuit of physical comfort, security and pleasure), the “Lord of Speech” (the misuse of the mind and ideologies in relation to the world), and the “Lord of Mind” (the games the egoic mind plays) obstruct spiritual awakening.
In addition to elaborating the pitfalls of the spiritual path, he also, properly, and in direct contrast to the neo-Advaitans and pop-Zennists, emphasizes how difficult real spirituality life is. He writes:
“Once we commit to the spiritual path, it is very painful and we are in for it... It will be terrible, excrutiating, but that is the way it is.”
Trungpa also, properly, emphasizes surrendering, or opening, and allowing things to be as they are as key components of a “real meditation practice.”
Another positive of this book are all the stories Trungpa tells about legendary Tibetan gurus such as Marpa, Naropa, and Milarepa. These stories are inspiring as well as enlightening.
Trungpa covers a lot of ground in this text, discoursing on, among other subjects, the Four Noble Truths, The Six Realms, Tantra, Initiation, and Sunyata (Emptiness). Although he is very knowledeable, he is not very deep, and this is also indicated by his failure to talk about the Trikaya (Dharmakaya, Sambhogakaya, Nirmanakaya) and Togal ,the all-important Dzogchen practice that complements Treckho, the meditative practice of cutting through spiritual meditation. If Trungpa had been En-Light-ened, he would have pointed out that once one cuts through spiritual materialism, one encounters Spirit, the Sambhogakaya, Clear-Light Energy, and must channel it via the practice of Togal.
Trungpa’s failure to understand Spirit is evident in his misunderstanding of Initiation. He rightly defines the term “Abhisheka” as “sprinkling and pouring,” which a true mystic understands as being Baptized by the Spirit (or Sambhogakaya), but Trungpa, pathetically, can only describe Initiation as “the meeting of two minds,” your and your “spiritual friend’s.
Trungpa has no understanding of true spiritual Bliss, which one experiences via the Sambhogakaya, the Blessing/Blissing Clear-Light Energy Body. He writes: “It is possible in the beginning to force oneself into the experience of bliss. It is kind of a self-hypnosis...” And never does he talk about the Bliss Body, the Sambhogakaya.
Trungpa’s takes on virtually every aspect of Budhadharma are weak (for example, he has no clue what Yogacara Buddhism is about), and he has a penchant for contradiction, the most egregious being his his dissing of the idea the One Mind, while then describing ultimate reality as “open space, the basic ground, what we really are...a basic intelligence.” To the discerning, he is, on the one hand, explicitly denying the One Mind, while implicitly, on the other hand, describing it (reality) as an all-pervading intelligence.
In summary, this classic text, despite its problems, is a worthwhile read for beginner-to-intermediate Dharma practitioners. It’s well-written, entertaining, and exposes the many pitfalls on the spiritual path. But if you are interested in deep, demystifying Buddhadharma, Dzogchen, or Mahamudra, you will have to look elsewhere.
