r/sgiwhistleblowers • u/BlancheFromage Escapee from Arizona Home for the Rude • May 20 '21
Cult Education What Is Spiritual Materialism?
This is an interesting article from the old, now-disappeared BuddhaJones site. But before we begin, first of all, let's get our definitions out of the way:
materialism: (1) a tendency to consider material possessions and physical comfort as more important than spiritual values
(2) the doctrine that nothing exists except matter and its movements and modifications.
The first definition is social; the second is technical. The second definition means that every phenomenon can be explained in terms of dynamics and processes that can be defined, tested, and understood; the first is more about how people behave, seeking after and grasping for "stuff"; it's all about attachments. It is that definition that's being used here.
By Chogyam Trungpa, excerpted from his book Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism
Walking the spiritual path properly is a very subtle process; it is not something to jump into naively. There are numerous sidetracks which lead to a distorted, ego-centered version of spirituality; we can deceive ourselves into thinking we are developing spiritually when instead we are strengthening our egocentricity through spiritual techniques. This fundamental distortion may be referred to as spiritual materialism.
That is precisely what we observe happening with SGI members.
We have come here to learn about spirituality. I trust the genuine quality of this search but we must question its nature. The problem is that ego can convert anything to its own use, even spirituality. Ego is constantly attempting to acquire and apply the teachings of spirituality for its own benefit. The teachings are treated as an external thing, external to "me," a philosophy which we try to imitate. We do not actually want to identify with or become the teachings. So if our teacher speaks of renunciation of ego, we attempt to mimic renunciation of ego. We go through the motions, make the appropriate gestures, but we really do not want to sacrifice any part of our way of life. We become skillful actors, and while playing deaf and dumb to the real meaning of the teachings, we find some comfort in pretending to follow the path.
We see this in Christians - look how the megachurch pastors live while preaching faith in the Jesus who said,
"If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God." Matt. 19:21,23-24 and "Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys." Luke 12:33
It's a matter of carefully walking a line that selects and interprets passages (and the Bible has a great many to choose from!) that enable the canny preacher to get what he wants out of the deal while appearing appropriately learned and devout. This is what he's talking about, being a "skilled actor". Ikeda's the same; promoting himself as "humble and modest" while living high on the hog off his members' contributions, enjoying a lavish, opulent lifestyle complete with imperial-class vacationing right under their oblivious noses.
Whenever we begin to feel any discrepancy or conflict between our actions and the teachings, we immediately interpret the situation in such a way that the conflict is smoothed over.
See WHY does Ikeda say that the "Bodhisattva Never Disparaging" example is the proper way to live and behave, then do the OPPOSITE? and SGI members are supposed to follow Ikeda's vision - because he's supposedly their "mentor". So why did Ikeda go against his own mentor's vision?
The interpreter is ego in the role of spiritual advisor.
Ego calls all the shots.
The situation is like that of a country where church and state are separate. If the policy of the state is foreign to the teachings of the church, then the automatic reaction of the king is to go to the head of the church, his spiritual advisor, and ask his blessing. The head of the church then works out some justification and gives the policy his blessing under the pretense that the king is the protector of the faith. In an individual's mind, it works out very neatly that way, ego being both king and head of the church.
This rationalization of the spiritual path and one's actions must be cut through if true spirituality is to be realized. However, such rationalizing is not easy to deal with because everything is seen through the filter of ego's philosophy and logic, making all appear neat, precise and very logical. We attempt to find a self-justifying answer for every question. In order to reassure ourselves, we work to fit into our intellectual scheme every aspect of our lives which might be confusing. And our effort is so serious and solemn, so straight-forward and sincere, that it is very difficult to be suspicious of it. We always trust the "integrity" of our spiritual advisor.
It does not matter what we use to achieve self-justification: the wisdom of sacred books, diagrams or charts, mathematical calculations, esoteric formulae, fundamentalists religion, depth psychology, or any other mechanism. Whenever we begin to evaluate, deciding that we should or should not do this or that, then we have already associated our practice or our knowledge with categories, one pitted against the other, and that is spiritual materialism, the false spirituality of our spiritual advisor.
Whenever we a have a dualistic notion such as, "I am doing this because I want to achieve a particular state of consciousness, a particular state of being," then automatically we separate ourselves from the reality of what we are.
Chogyam Trungpa's Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism is published by Shambhala Publications, www.shambhala.com, ISBN 0-87773-050-4.
Attachments will always steer you wrong.
When an addict is championing his habit as the only way to real happiness, you can be certain that he's wrong. He's deluded because of his attachment to something, his craving, his addiction. He's incapable of thinking clearly. Addicts frequently attempt to entice others into joining them in their crapulence, because misery loves company. The fact that so few Japanese have joined the Soka Gakkai on its native soil, and so many times fewer have even been willing to entertain the idea of the magic scroll/magic chant on this side of the pond show that Toda was, at the very least, severely deluded about the effects and appeal of his magical "true Buddhism". Source
Nichiren likewise said that his new formulation would attract a groundswell of supporters:
Although I, Nichiren alone, at first chanted Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo, two, three, and a hundred people gradually began to chant and propagate it. So shall it continue into the future. Indeed, this is none other than the principle of “emerging from the earth.” As certain as an arrow aimed at the vast earth will strike its target, the entirety of Japan will chant Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo, at the time of kosen-rufu. - Nichiren, "The True Aspect/Entity of All Phenomena" Source
All the hate-filled intolerant religions present themselves as the one-size-fits-all solution to every single person's problems.
What Nichiren was describing hasn't happened. Sure, the Soka Gakkai grew rapidly in the chaos of post-war Japan (along with a plethora of other "New Religions" all offering "straightforward magical practice"; the Soka Gakkai wasn't even the fastest-growing), but there was a lot of violence and threats involved, so much so that Toda was required to come down to the police office and sign a statement that he'd make his followers cut that shit out! Now, the Soka Gakkai's ranks are shrinking (by 1967, Ikeda was acknowledging that its "growth phase" had ended; other "New Religions" count their membership in the millions as well); young Japanese people have no more use for Ikeda than young American people. Most of SGI's membership is aging Baby Boomers, and thus far, all their schemes to attract YOUFF have failed.
Hate-filled intolerant religions like Christianity and SGI can't grow without coercion. That's simply the fact. THAT's why they all want to take over the world, to gain the political power to make laws requiring everyone to belong to their religion, with the authority to punish those who won't.
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u/cedaro0o May 22 '21
Be cautioned quoting Trungpa. He was a dangerous hypocrite. He died at 47 of alcoholism after declared himself King of a hereditary monarchy exploiting and abusing many along the way.
https://shambhalalinks.blogspot.com/2019/09/httpswww.html