The Path Is the Goal (Dharma Ocean)

Rating:
Summary: Buddhism will not make your life easier.
Review:
Naropa obtained enlightenment after his teacher, Tilopa, asked him to perform countless grueling tasks, many at the risk of death. One day, Tilopa smacked Naropa on the head with his sandal and that was it, enlightenment.

Milarepa, after killing 12 people, was asked by his teacher, Marpa, to build a temple before he would receive the teachings. When he finished the temple, Marpa found it unsatisfactory and had him rebuild it. It went on and on and on, with Milarepa nearly dying and Marpa treating him brutally. But all along, Marpa loved him like a son. Because of the negativities Milarepa accumulated, this was his ngöndro, his púrification. Milarepa then went into 12 years of solitary retreat, eating barely nothing.

The 84 mahasiddhas displayed outrageous behaviour in order to benefit beings.

The Buddha himself, in a previous life, killed the captain of a boat. Compassion? You may not think so, unless you knew the captain was going to kill his entire crew.

Buddhism will not make your life easier. It is not about having a safe place, but about being homeless. It is not about gathering about you the clothes of bliss, but about going naked. It is not a peaceful journey (until the later stages) but an ardous task. If you feel lonely, discouraged, depressed because of the teachings, it is not the teachings that have depressed you, but your ego which has chosen to respond to them. THAT is what you can work with.

Remember, the working basis is this defiled mind. If we were already enlightened, we wouldn't feel depressed, or discouraged. Everything is workable.

Please keep these things in mind.

For the record, the Karma Kagyü tradition does not permit its fully ordained monastics to engage in alcohol abuse or sexual misconduct. Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche gave up his vows as a monastic, TO GREAT DANGER TO HIMSELF, so he could better relate to his western students.

Pema Chödron, the western nun who many describe as loving, compassionate, and ethically unsurpassed, was one of Trungpa's students and can best talk about his approach. I invite any and all to read this interview with her.

http://www.buddhistinformation.com/no_right.htm



Rating:
Summary: He doesn't pull any punches
Review: Another reviewer harshly criticized Chogyam Trungpa's lack of compassion with respect to the meditation practices and the non-dualism that they promote. While I would concur that the Rinpoche's style is very straightforward, I do not believe that is the result of a lack of compassion or any extra "harshness" on the his part.

His writings are direct, and concise. I find that his writing style very much belies his primary language and the translation is almost exact, phrase-for-phrase. This often leads to difficult reading because the subject-verb-object relationships and sentence structures do not map well between Tibetan and English. Additionally, he spends much time discussing the failures of language with respect to non-dualism. The use of any language to describe concepts inherently opposed by language leads to several tricky sections where I was forced to rigorousely parse each section in order to understand his point. The rewards of better understanding and a much diminished ego were well worth the effort.

All in all, this book is an excellent building block that doesn't treat meditation in the same feel-good, "New Age" style of so many other authors. It is definately built upon the underlying structures of Kagyu-style Buddhism. If Trungpa hurts your ego and makes "you" feel virtually non-existant... Well that's kind of the point of non-dualism in the first place.

Rating:
Summary: He doesn't pull any punches
Review: Another reviewer harshly criticized Chogyam Trungpa's lack of compassion with respect to the meditation practices and the non-dualism that they promote. While I would concur that the Rinpoche's style is very straightforward, I do not believe that is the result of a lack of compassion or any extra "harshness" on the his part.

His writings are direct, and concise. I find that his writing style very much belies his primary language and the translation is almost exact, phrase-for-phrase. This often leads to difficult reading because the subject-verb-object relationships and sentence structures do not map well between Tibetan and English. Additionally, he spends much time discussing the failures of language with respect to non-dualism. The use of any language to describe concepts inherently opposed by language leads to several tricky sections where I was forced to rigorousely parse each section in order to understand his point. The rewards of better understanding and a much diminished ego were well worth the effort.

All in all, this book is an excellent building block that doesn't treat meditation in the same feel-good, "New Age" style of so many other authors. It is definately built upon the underlying structures of Kagyu-style Buddhism. If Trungpa hurts your ego and makes "you" feel virtually non-existant... Well that's kind of the point of non-dualism in the first place.

Rating:
Summary: Rinpoche does not engage in "idiot compassion."
Review: Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche does not engage in "idiot compassion." This book will not gratify any of the desires of your ego. Instead it has (as the foreward says) an "iron hook" of compassion, which will attempt to cut away your ego & expose you to the hard lonely reality of practice.

In his first exposition of the nature of meditation Rinpoche tells us to sit without pretensions, "like a disused coffee cup." He describes the feeling of spaciousness that comes from abandoning the ego as a reference point as "boring" & "suffocating." He does not give us any room to use meditation as an ego toy.

I recommend this book highly to anyone who is seriously interested in the hard, confusing road of spirituality. After many years of meditation, feeling very confident & special, reading "The Path is the Goal" and "Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism" was a kick to the gut.

When you're done having fun pretending to meditate, come to "The Path is the Goal" & be cut open by Chogyam Trungpa's absolute unwavering compassion.

Rating:
Summary: Rinpoche does not engage in "idiot compassion."
Review: Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche does not engage in "idiot compassion." This book will not gratify any of the desires of your ego. Instead it has (as the foreward says) an "iron hook" of compassion, which will attempt to cut away your ego & expose you to the hard lonely reality of practice.

In his first exposition of the nature of meditation Rinpoche tells us to sit without pretensions, "like a disused coffee cup." He describes the feeling of spaciousness that comes from abandoning the ego as a reference point as "boring" & "suffocating." He does not give us any room to use meditation as an ego toy.

I recommend this book highly to anyone who is seriously interested in the hard, confusing road of spirituality. After many years of meditation, feeling very confident & special, reading "The Path is the Goal" and "Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism" was a kick to the gut.

When you're done having fun pretending to meditate, come to "The Path is the Goal" & be cut open by Chogyam Trungpa's absolute unwavering compassion.

Rating:
Summary: Somewhat misnamed, and a little short on compassion
Review: I don't consider this a beginner's ("Basic") guide to meditation. Many of the topics seem more appropriate for experienced meditators: boredom, loss of self, Vipashyana meditation, etc.

The author does a fair job describing methods for beginning meditators, but explains almost nothing for those who feel they're ready for insight meditation, simply stating that the path is very lonely. Actually, I thought much of his advice was discouraging, given his emphasis on the negatives of meditating practice.

This "book" is actually a transcription of two seminars, and I didn't find the student question & answer segment at the end of each section to be very helpful. And, I was surprised at the lack of compassion Chogyam Trungpa showed to one student who felt threatened by his teachings on loss of self. He appeared to be mocking the student as he/she left the teaching.

I'll give this book another chance after a few more months of meditation, but I don't recommend it for idealistic beginners.

Rating:
Summary: Well, Actually The First Reviewer Makes a Good Point
Review: The thing we have to understand when discussing Chogyam Trungpa, is that he was and still is considered to be a very controversial figure within Buddhism. The things said about him range from "great teacher" to "drunken womanizer." Pema Chodron always writes well of him, speaking of how much he influenced her life in positive ways; yet at the same time, there are a plethora of books out there dealing with Chogyam's "less than pleasing" side.

I must agree with the initial "put out" reviewer whom felt there was a lack of compassion in Trungpa's style; while "Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism" was a great book, this one leaves a lot to be desired. To be frank: Trungpa was notoriously abusive and behaved in particularly disturbing ways when he got drunk. Now many people who love him are aware of this, and others simply are not. I will give you an example of how "not so compassionate" he became when drunk, which was often. Where he was "breaking down ego." Unlike most Buddhist sects, Trungpa's lineage was allowed to drink, have sex, and generally carry on like maniacs; which many schools in the 70's relaxed monastic rules, et cetera. My own lineage had done this as well, Kwan Um Zen. But Trungpa was later involved in a scandal for ordering two students to be stripped nude at a seminar, against their will. Frankly, I'd feel threatened by such a teaching, as well. I just would maybe like to see people acknowledge occasionally that Trungpa was kind of not practicing what he preached; and I must say I often find myself put off when I hear an author praise Trungpa or dedicate a book to him. It raises unbelievable doubt within me about their legitimacy to teach (and their entire outlook on teaching in general).

So look: this book can help people if they are aware of this vital information (that's everywhere on the web if you don't believe me) in their spiritual practice; retaining awareness that Chogyam Trungpa was a "flawed individual" much like the rest of us. Do I recommend this book? Not particularly. Do I not recommend this book? Not particularly. I'm pretty indifferent to it, because like him or not he had helped a lot of people. It depends on who you are.