Enlightenment, Non-Attachment and Other Toxic Spiritual… — Transcript

Today I want to do something we haven't done in a while, and that is rail against the intoxicating mirages of spiritual gurus, which is something we've touched on a few times in the past. As someone who's spent many years drunk on various gurus, it feels like my divine responsibility. The prompt for today's rant came from a book by the Tibetan Buddhist teacher and master Yi Mingur Rishi called Joyful Wisdom, presumably not a reference to Nietzsche's Gay Science, which has also been translated as Joyful Wisdom.

gurus it feels like my Divine responsibility The Prompt for today's rant came from a book by the Tibetan Buddhist teacher and Master Yi Mingo rishe called joyful wisdom presumably not a reference to n is gay science which has also been translated as joyful

But the quote goes as follows: The pleasure derived from external sources is by nature temporary. Once it wears off, the return to our normal state seems less bearable by comparison, so we seek it again, maybe in another relationship, another job, or another object. Again and again, we seek pleasure, comfort, or relief in objects and situations that can't possibly fulfill our high hopes and expectations. The suffering of change then could be understood as a type of addiction, a never-ending search for a lasting high that is just out of reach.

another job or another object again and again we seek pleasure Comfort or relief in objects and situations that can't possibly fulfill our high hopes and expectations the suffering of change then could be understood as a type of addiction a NeverEnding search for a

In fact, according to neuroscientists I've spoken with, the high we feel simply from the anticipation of getting what we want is linked to the production of dopamine, a chemical in the brain that generates, among other things, sensations of pleasure. Over time, our brains and our bodies are motivated to repeat the activity to stimulate the production of dopamine. We literally get hooked on anticipation. Tibetan Buddhist texts liken this type of addictive behavior to licking honey off a razor. The initial sensation may be sweet, but the underlying effect is quite damaging.

generates among other things sensations of pleasure over time our brains and our bodies are motivated to repeat the activi to stimulate the production of dopamine we literally get hooked on anticipation Tibetan Buddhist texts liken this type of addictive behavior to

Seeking satisfaction in others or in external objects or events reinforces a deep and often unacknowledged belief that we, as we are, are not entirely complete; that we need something beyond ourselves in order to experience a sense of wholeness or security or stability. It's the kind of quote I would have eaten up when I was 20. It combines the Western field of neuroscience with the wisdom of ancient Eastern Buddhism, then slings this meatball at decadent modern life, all while offering solutions to life's problems.

complete that we need something Beyond ourselves in order to experience a sense of wholeness or security or stability it's the kind of quote I would have eaten up when I was 20 it combines the Western Field of Neuroscience with the

Now, though, I'm older and wiser, or maybe just more jaded and cynical, and instead of feeling excited and enlightened, this quote makes me feel a little bit nauseous. I know there are hordes of souls out there lost as I was who will take this quote at face value. Little do they know their minds are being poisoned and their lives are being made worse. What grinds my gears about it isn't even super obvious. It's not there in the text, but what stands behind it, beneath it, just out of sight, and yet is written all over it—it's all over it, and you can smell it on him.

feel a little bit nauseous I know there are hordes of souls out there lost as I was who will take this quote at face value little do they know their minds are being poisoned and their lives are being made worse reines my gears about

On the surface, this passage looks like another criticism of consumerist modern life. It even includes a little dig at dopamine, the 21st century's most hated neurochemical, which, it's worth noting, he has misunderstood. But despite surface appearances, this passage isn't about consumerist pleasures and the more, more, more of modern life, but something much more radical. It's a way of taking a modern trend and using it to justify what might be the most radical solution ever: enlightenment.

the surface this pass Mage looks like another criticism of consumerist Modern Life it even includes a little dig at dopamine the 21st Century's most hated neurochemical which it's worth noting he has misunderstood but despite surface appearances this passage isn't about

Yi's passage frames human life as a marathon of unsatisfied thirst. This is standard Buddhism, the third noble truth after all being that the root of all suffering is tanha, which is often translated as thirst or desire. And I'm not here to say that Buddhists like Yi are wrong, just that they're hiding a lot of ideology behind a partial truth, as if the only thing going on in relationships is desire, as if the only thing going on in a job is desire.

life as a marathon of unsatisfied thirst this is standard Buddhism the third Noble Truth after all being that the root of all suffering is tanha which is often translated as thirst or desire and I'm not here to say that Buddhists like

There's a great Louis C.K. bit in the show Louie that does the exact same thing. It's true, everything that makes you happy is going to end at some point, and nothing good ends well. It's like if you buy a puppy, you're bringing it home to your family saying, "Hey, look everyone, we're all going to cry soon. Look at what I brought home. I brought home us crying in a few years. Here we go, countdown to sorrow with a puppy."

show Louie that does the exact same thing it's true everything that makes you happy is going to end at some point and nothing good ends well it's like if you buy a puppy you're bringing it home to your family saying hey look everyone

In the case of Louie, we can see that what he's saying is true on one level, but the humor comes from how obvious the sleight of hand is. It's almost a caricature of the Buddhist perspective. Louie knows it's a brutalizing of the truth, but he's playing the sleight of hand for comedic effect rather than ideology.

what he's saying is true on one level but the humor comes from how obvious the slight of hand is it's almost a caricature of the Buddhist perspective Louie knows it's a brutalizing of the truth but he's playing the slight of

Coming back to Yi, notice the things he talks about: relationships, jobs, and objects are the kind of things that people talk about this way. But what about parenthood? You can get away with reducing relationships and objects to desire because of cliché, but I don't know many parents who would let you get away with characterizing parenthood that way. No doubt desire is present, but so is love, so is laughter and joy and excitement and relief.

reducing relationships and objects to desire because of cliche but I don't know many parents who would let you get away with characterizing Parenthood that way no doubt desire is present but so is love so is laughter and joy and

The following is a quote from the work of psychology researcher Willoughby Britton, who specializes in adverse effects of meditation: "Meditators also reported diminished emotions, both negative and positive. I had two young children," another meditator said. "I couldn't feel anything about them. I went through all the routines, you know, the bedtime routine, getting them ready and kissing them and all of that stuff, but there was no emotional connection. It was like I was dead."

anything about them I went through all the routines you know the bedtime routine getting them ready and kissing them and all of that stuff but there was no emotional connection it was like I was dead Britain thought this was a bug

Britton thought this was a bug in meditation, but after interviewing countless Buddhist meditation teachers and presenting her findings to the Dalai Lama, she's learned that it's actually a feature. The entire gamut of life is flattened in the Buddhist example and called licking honey off a razor. But what they don't tell you is that their alternative, the Buddhist path of non-attachment, is a horror show.

what they don't tell you is that their alternative the Buddhist path of non-attachment is a horror show here's the anti-spiritual guru spiritual Guru Jed McKenna in the humorous spiritual disclaimer at the opening of his cult classic spiritual enlightenment the damnedest thing the

Here's the anti-spiritual guru, spiritual guru Jed McKenna, in the humorous spiritual disclaimer at the opening of his cult classic Spiritual Enlightenment: "The damnedest thing, the emotional upheaval attendant upon the discovery that who you thought you were is simply a fictional character in a staged drama. They temporarily result in forlorn anger, hostility, resentment, hopelessness, despondency, despair, depression, or a liberating awareness of life's meaninglessness, or in a less ironic form."

expressed later in the book this is the scariest part of all what about the good friends love dance my heart isn't all that real aren't these memories real isn't my heart real what of that what this isn't where the battle is fought

Expressed later in the book: "This is the scariest part of all. What about the good friends, love, dance? My heart isn't all that real. Aren't these memories real? Isn't my heart real? What of that? What? This isn't where the battle is fought. This is where the battlefield is first fully apprehended. The person who arrives at this point is not the person who goes beyond. In this process, resistance is conquered and non-resistance takes its place: acceptance, recognition, surrender."

sophisticated T atet between great philosophies to argue against this aesthetic nihilism like it did in the dionis versus the Buddha Episode but it's not necessary when needd only look at the much humbler and less esteemed philosopher Butters of Sou Park Fame for

Now it could invoke Nietzsche and have some sophisticated tête-à-tête between great philosophies to argue against this aesthetic nihilism, like it did in the Dionysus versus the Buddha episode, but it's not necessary when we need only look at the much humbler and less esteemed philosopher Butters of South Park fame for the counterargument to this ancient wisdom.

I'm sad but at the same time I'm really happy that something can make me feel that sad it's like it it it makes me feel alive you know it makes me feel human the only way I could feel this

"What's the matter with you?"

"Well, my girlfriend broke up with me."

"That's cool. I guess you can join up with us if you want."

"No thanks, I love life."

"Huh, but you just got dumped."

"Well, yeah, and I'm sad, but at the same time, I'm really happy that something can make me feel that sad. It's like it makes me feel alive, you know? It makes me feel human. The only way I could feel this side now is if I felt something really good before, so I have to take the bad with the good. So I guess what I'm feeling is like a beautiful sadness. I guess that sounds stupid."

forth filling ourselves up the wise men's appetites on the other hand are sealed jars sorted now and forever that's the carrot on the stick that leads people on the path to the Big Rock Candy Mountain called Enlightenment they

The point being that even with the sadness of the dead puppy, even with the heartbreak, that doesn't invalidate the value of the experience. Now this is probably because Butters' perspective on life wasn't warped through the lens of a reductionist philosophy, which flattens all life to desire and suffering.

then the second we start feeling that Banga Banga of positive sensation we're off on a trip that's because of the marketing we're told that external Pleasures are temporary and that somehow invalidates them but that's what life is it's temporary the lows give meaning to

Have we all forgotten Tennyson's great line that it is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all? This knowledge has been cliché since at least 19th-century Romanticism, and yet has somehow been c—

simplify it they want you to only focus on the negative on that pain at the end which works if your life sucks if you struggle with intimacy or or if you are after a mad Buzz unlike these gurus like

Buddha and his ilk I'm not trying to sell you on a universal path I think there are certain people for whom the path to Enlightenment makes sense if you look at the accounts of those on this path who as Jed McKenna put it have

taken the first step these people aren't to be envied but pied these are the very unfortunate select they aren't the Blessed because they reached the state of the tatata the blown out candle where desire and pain no longer rule you do

not want to be them the spiritual hell they had to go through to get there is a million times worse than any temporary pain you'd experience in the path of normal life as Jed McKenna wrote the price of Truth is everything but no one

knows what everything means until they're paying it and that's those who make it to the other side how many people are desicated before reaching that utter sight to what extent our authentic gurus a case of survivorship but friends go through and still going

through Kundalini Awakenings an experience which is for all intents and purposes hell on Earth yes there's some cool spiritual babies in there but when the bathat is a million shades of torture one isn't inclined to advocate for it and so while I'm far from a

spiritual skeptic I do suffer nausea when I encounter universalizing spiritual discourse this is the furest thing from a universal path it is comparable to promoting chemotherapy to to a person that doesn't have cancer or using nuclear war to sort LA's traffic

it is egregious Overkill the unfortunate elect should be supported and their Insight appreciated but we shouldn't pretend that this is something for everyone or desirable for anyone as sh ramach Krishna put it do not seek illumination unless you seek it as a man

whose hair is on fire seeks a pond what I'm saying then isn't that there are no benefits to meditation or yoga my point is more about this bigger cell the deeper pitch contained in spiritual texts especially in the likes of

Buddhism and Hinduism as they've been imported to the West the idea of reaching a state of being entirely complete of not needing something outside ourselves in order to experience a sense of wholeness or security or stability it's just another layer of

this spiritual nonsense what yungi is calling licking honey off a razor we call life sometimes it sucks but and here is the part that Buddhist gurus seem to be overlooking sometimes it doesn't sometimes it's actually really good sure you can focus on the bad times

and see life entirely through that lens but that is intellectually dishonest the thing is we are social creatures and we need people sure if you could go through a decade long path of meditating 16 hours a day you might begin to feel like

you don't need people except when you remember that the secure roof over your head and the food that fed you on that long journey into into your soul didn't come from nowhere but of course the material dependence isn't what yungi and

the other sages are talking about he's talking about emotional dependence you should feel fine being supported by others but that should not have an emotional hold over you you shouldn't feel anything but complete unto yourself even as you really aren't it obviously

sounds a bit more sociopathic when it's framed in this way to bit of a counterbalance to the big cell of spiritual gurom and that's where I think we can get to the last tax I've been to meditation Retreats and spent a lot of

time around spiritual communities and in my experience The Possession with the idea of Enlightenment and this becoming complete in oneself and experiencing a sense of wholeness and stability it's usually a sign of avoidance it's not playing a Brash game of cutting through

illusion but a protection against vulnerability or a seeking after Bliss without risk or else in plain one upmanship in a spiritual subcultural hierarchy whichever way you cut it it's kind of cringey and it's far from admirable Steven Gallagher who is a psychology

professor at our University here in limr wrote an article back in 2015 on the association between spirituality and depression in parents caring for children with developmental disabilities and what he found was a correlation between the most depressed struggling

parents and the most spiritual ones the parents who fared better had robust social support a community that provided emotional and material support the point here isn't that spirituality was the cause of these people's woes or isolation but that it was a life raft

they clung to in the darkness the spiritual literature tells us we can rely on ourselves and rather than licking honey off a razor we can find true contentment within such struggle shows us the opposite that reaching out for help and being lucky enough to

receive it is what we really need the danger of spirituality in my opinion is that it Whispers in our ears that we don't need anyone that we can be happy by ourselves for those of us who have struggled with anxiety and depression it

holds a promise of a happier life that doesn't require us going out into the world and connecting with people it promises a way to happiness that doesn't lie through vulnerability and relying on other people but which we can find in

ourselves we are the people most vulnerable to this sales pitch and the people most damaged by it and again I'm not universally prescribing against the spiritual path there are some people for whom it is absolutely essential and we are blessed

for them because they can blossom into wonderful wonderful people but they are the exception and their experience is more of a curse than it is a blessing until the later stages of that path some people are selected for this path and it

is wonderful that we have these Traditions to support them through it but if you are one of them then trust me you won't be able to avoid the path as Jed McKenna wrote of Arjuna in the bag of Vegeta Arjuna didn't get out of bed

that morning hoping to see krishna's Universal form he was having a bad day at the office when the universe flashed him so if you are tempted by this path and you recognize that it may just be an escape from your own vulnerability then

please change your philosophy please find loved ones to lick honey off a razer's edge with go out and love and be hurt be more like Butters and less like Buddha and next time you read some of these spiritual text and feel a yearning

in you to run away from it all maybe meet up with a friend first maybe go to the pub maybe call your mom because loneliness is a real problem in the 21st century and the answer isn't to lock

ourselves in a spiritual Ivory Tower the answer is connection with people who love you or as BR Brown Put it to dance with those that BR you that's everything for this episode of the living philosophy I'd like to thank David

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