"I'm the king of the castle, and you're the dirty rascal!" Who doesn't remember that from childhood. It's a game where you vie for the top of the hill. It's one of the many ways we introduce children to the world of competition - be better than the other.
Consumerism in our society has a smilier dynamic. Have the better house, car, TV, clothes - whichever. Even if you can't afford it, aspire to it. In consumerism, our society determines human worth based upon external measures. Beauty becomes defined by comparison to models, actors and actresses.
This same type of consumer competition can creep into meditation and spirituality. It might be called "guru shopping". In some of my trips to India, I have come across this. Sitting in a chai shop, seekers compare which ashrams, temples and gurus they have been to. It too becomes the "king of the castle" moment.
Here in the west, it might be thought of as which meditation seminar, leader, groupie have you been hooked up with. It is the meditation self help business.
This is not to say that most of the meditation teachers are not genuine. It is about how we approach the work. Is it about gathering stickers for you star chart or is it about the search for understanding the self? As we approach meditation, our purpose matters as "success" can only be measured by what is going on internally and only you can determine it.
There are times I certainly don't like that truth. I would much rather have some way of having a goal chart that I could tick off and measure improvement - oh - and show it around. Then I would also know how much farther I need to go. I have come to understand that there is no end just the journey. I could gather a million stickers for my chart and still not be there. Understanding the self cannot be a finished journey as the self is always changing. Who we were yesterday is not who we are today.
Consumerism in our society has a smilier dynamic. Have the better house, car, TV, clothes - whichever. Even if you can't afford it, aspire to it. In consumerism, our society determines human worth based upon external measures. Beauty becomes defined by comparison to models, actors and actresses.
This same type of consumer competition can creep into meditation and spirituality. It might be called "guru shopping". In some of my trips to India, I have come across this. Sitting in a chai shop, seekers compare which ashrams, temples and gurus they have been to. It too becomes the "king of the castle" moment.
Here in the west, it might be thought of as which meditation seminar, leader, groupie have you been hooked up with. It is the meditation self help business.
This is not to say that most of the meditation teachers are not genuine. It is about how we approach the work. Is it about gathering stickers for you star chart or is it about the search for understanding the self? As we approach meditation, our purpose matters as "success" can only be measured by what is going on internally and only you can determine it.
There are times I certainly don't like that truth. I would much rather have some way of having a goal chart that I could tick off and measure improvement - oh - and show it around. Then I would also know how much farther I need to go. I have come to understand that there is no end just the journey. I could gather a million stickers for my chart and still not be there. Understanding the self cannot be a finished journey as the self is always changing. Who we were yesterday is not who we are today.
Beauty Beauty Beauty
How are thou defined
I see a dying tree reflect on the pool
And I see beauty
But others might see only the dying tree
We are obsessed with you oh beauty
Yet we really don't know you
For you are a changeling who is manipulated
We are told what you are by those who would sell you
How can you tolerate the lies
Told about you
As there is no truth about you
But that which each of us holds to be so
© Peter Choate, 2016
No comments:
Post a Comment