This was a very interesting read to say the least.
In the first paragraph, "The Hard Way" is described as "a simple meeting of 2 minds". Trungpa states that if you "open your mind then the teacher will open his as well". This means that both you and the teacher need to be willing and open to learn.
"the idea that we do not have to do anything on our own is extremely wishful thinking"
The above quote means that people generally believe that someone or something else will take care of them. All they have to do is "make a commitment to the organization, pay the initiation fee, sign the register and then follow the instructions given". This paragraph is saying that this is not how things really are in the real world.
"One must be willing to stand alone, which is difficult"
You need to be an individual and find who you are. You don't need to be a "hero" to do so either. Being "heroic" in today's society is "false heroism". Trungpa states that "the only one who is heroic in this way is ego".
"We cannot escape what we are, we carry it with us all the time"
All the "magical potions" that we use in order to help cure us in some way are inevitably a waste of time and money. To truly understand ourselves completely and to truly know "the hard way" is to give up everything, and not expect anything in return. According to Trungpa, "We must really surrender, give something, give something up in a very painful way".
"It is an extremely narrow path with no escape, a painful path"
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Surrender. That is another primary concept within Alcoholics Anonymous (to continue my path from my posting): surrender to win. Surrender in A.A. is about ego, humility and acceptance. Here is an article on A.A., surrender and ego: "The Ego Factors in Surrender in Alcoholism" by Harry M. Tiebout, M.D.. It follows the same path as the reading.
ReplyDeleteSorry, the URL didn't work in the comment, so here is the link to the above-mentioned article:
ReplyDelete"The Ego Factors in Surrender in Alcoholism"
http://www.barefootsworld.net/aaegofactors.html
Surrender is an essential part of Christianity as well. One must choose to lose their life in order to save it.
ReplyDeleteI'm finding the idea of needing a teacher to accentuate pain along the path to enlightenement as an interesting concept. I do believe that it's essential to utilize the resources of others around us who have knowledge and experiences that we'll never have on our own.