Here I am sharing my passion. A talk at the Harmony Center for the Joyful Spirit on August 3, 2014. I discuss the process of unveiling and encourage listeners to give up both negative and positive identities in order to reach enlightenment.
In my Pharmacology of Addiction class we recently studied the history of inhalant use. Before 1959 there was no media mention of sniffing glue. That year a report of several children in Arizona and Colorado being arrested for intoxication from smelling glue was made in the Denver Post. This article included detailed information on how the glue was inhaled and the effects.
Within the next year Denver police, who had never heard of deliberate glue inhalation, had investigated around 50 cases. By 1961, they were seeing 30 cases a month of glue sniffing and that year they arrested 278 people. The publicity of the media, and the dire warnings they were broadcasting, had the effect of increasing curiosity and the spread of the glue inhalation trend. Indeed, by 1962 the Hobby Industry Association of America invested $250,000 to combat the spread of glue sniffing. This of course did not slow down the trend.
Now, why can’t we do this with meditation? Certainly tales of the mind and body bliss experienced in the jhanas should be sufficient to lure people into meditative concentration. The ancient masters of China used this technique to obtain internal art students. Demonstrations of great power and the promise of secret techniques are always sure to hook people.
Yet, I never hear people talking about the absolute blissful states that can be obtained in meditation. Perhaps this is because people dedicated to the path see the bliss as a consolation, but not really anything to lust after. However, I’d much rather see people approaching meditation with wrong motivation than going after an addictive drug with the same motivation. The truth is the practice will weed out people with wrong motivation and/or convert people to truly seeking a spiritual lifestyle.
Indeed, most meditation instructions fail to really discuss the stages of meditation. People begin to meditate without having a clear vision of what they are doing, how the practice changes the mind, and at what stage they can expect bliss to arise. I know that I decided to meditate because it was part of the Twelve Steps. I continued to do it because it was part of the Noble Eightfold Path as well as Tibetan Lam Rims.
I think we are seeing this with Yoga. In record numbers people are practicing yoga and most of them have no idea what they are doing. Actually they know what they are doing, but it is not the original intention of the practice.
In Tibetan Buddhism, yoga is a secret teaching. After 20-25 years of study one graduates from the open or sutra teachings and then is taught yoga and other secret subjects in small private classes. Now, we have people practicing these deep methods with rarely a clue to what they can really do. I love it! Certainly, meditation is similar. Many people start doing it, like me, without really a clue to why or what. I only knew it was something good for me. Perhaps we can be more vocal about the bliss in order to attract more people?
REFERENCES
McKim, W.A. (2007). Drugs and Behavior: An Introduction to Behavioral Pharmacology. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
The standard dictionary definition of renunciation (the formal rejection of something, typically a belief, claim, or course of action) does not adequately describe the process of a spiritual renunciant. In fact, as we shall see, it actually is contrary to true renunciation in one subtle way.
The actual state of renunciation is better expressed in positive terms, because this is how a spiritual renunciant experiences it. A renunciant has decided that the only thing they want is liberation or enlightenment. They spend every moment of their day focused on that and carry in their heart a sweet wish for their goal. They are centered on the goal of spiritual fruition and from that place they often experience a peace that comes with surety.
We can also describe renunciation from the negative point of view. I used to call it “disgust with the world” but that seemed offensive to many people. Another way of talking about it is that it is having no interest in worldly things. This is less harsh.
Renunciation is a natural outcome of investigating the things of the world and finding they are less than satisfactory. I know my job, my garden, and even my great friendships do not completely satisfy me, so I have turned to a path that offers me and end to dissatisfaction. Renunciation is simply shifting ones attention to the one thing that promises satisfaction, peace, and bliss.
I, perhaps like most people, originally thought renunciation was about giving up things in the material world. The idea was that one had to renounce or reject worldly things in order to gain spiritual attainments. This is an old school belief that is not true. While the spiritual renunciant has no real interest in worldly things, they also do not consider them evil. You do not have to clear out your house (although this actually does benefit your practice). Disengaging your energy from material objects is a natural outcome of engaging in spiritual practice.
When I first came upon the teachings of enlightenment I was extremely excited. I was so ready to get out of here and began to work wholeheartedly for liberation. I was driven by severe childhood trauma and did not want to take a chance that anything like that would happen again. Since it seems cyclic life (samsara) is unpredictable, my only option was freedom from cyclic life. I was rejecting cyclic life, and since that is the only life I know, I was rejecting life.
Rejection is the part of the dictionary definition that I believe may be inaccurate. While I believe I did have renunciation when I was rejecting the world, I now believe that my renunciation has matured. Or perhaps my world view has matured. With enlightenment comes an abiding in non-duality. If I am rejecting anything I am reenforcing duality.
With my mature renunciation I have the same preoccupation with enlightenment (I think about it day and night) but I no longer have the same drive to reject or escape life. Perhaps my calming down is due to a shift from wanting enlightenment and knowing it is imminent.