Monthly Archives: August 2010
CTSM 9, 10, 11: Opening to Oneself is Opening to the World • 29 August 2010
Development of Ego This section of the book “examine[s] the path from beginner’s mind to the enlightened one” – this examination is the foundation of Buddhism. CT concludes this chapter by apologizing that it’s “not especially beautiful”, but introduces it as an effort to see ego-psychology as it is: “soil good enough to cultivate; we […]
CTSM 6, 7, 8: pain, warmth, tickles • 14 August 2010
The Hard Way This chapter repeats the argument that it is crucial to take responsibility for one’s own work, making hard, individual effort (87) and relentlessly unmasking, staying open, surrendering the self-defensive tendencies of the ego. What is new in this chapter is an attitude of religious fervor and use of (it seems) Christian language. […]
CTSM Chapters 4-5: Hard Intelligence • 13 August 2010
Initiation This chapter extends the method of cutting-through to any efforts to find a teacher, guru or “spiritual friend.” The first few pages could be nailed to trees outside ashtanga shalas. But maybe all seeking looks pretty much the same: a search for the perfect teacher. Someone wiser, better, more right about everything, more insightful, […]
CTSM Chapters 1-3: Transcendental Common Sense • 8 August 2010
Introduction: Buddhism “begins with suffering and confusion” and then works by “unraveling” them to their origins. Accordingly, Trungpa introduces CTSM, the methodology, as what one might call a wisdom path – a kind of jnana yoga, we might say. He introduces three main types of delusion—the lords of form, speech and mind—and writes that CTSM […]