Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism

by Trungpa, Chögyam

• ISBN13: 9781570629570
• ISBN10: 1570629579
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-10-22
• Publisher: Shambhala

Summary

In this modern spiritual classic, the Tibetan meditation master Chouml;gyam Trungpa highlights the commonest pitfall to which every aspirant on the spiritual path falls prey: what he callsspiritual materialism.The universal tendency, he shows, is to see spirituality as a process of self-improvement-the impulse to develop and refine the ego when the ego is, by nature, essentially empty. "The problem is that ego can convert anything to its own use," he said, "even spirituality." His incisive, compassionate teachings serve to wake us up from this trick we all play on ourselves, and to offer us a far brighter reality: the true and joyous liberation that inevitably involves letting go of the self rather than working to improve it. It is a message that has resonated with students for nearly thirty years, and remains fresh as ever today. This new edition includes a foreword by Chouml;gyam Trungpa's son and lineage holder, Sakyong Mipham.

Author Biography

Master of meditation, social visionary, author, artist, poet—Ch÷gyam Trungpa (1939–1987) founded Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado, the first Buddhist university in North America; the Shambhala Training program; and Vajradhatu, an international association of meditation centers (now known under the name Shambhala International).

Table of Contents

Foreword	xi
Introduction	3	(10)
Spiritual Materialism	13	(10)
Surrendering	23	(8)
The Guru	31	(22)
Initiation	53	(10)
Self-Deception	63	(14)
The Hard Way	77	(14)
The Open Way	91	(20)
Sense of Humor	111	(10)
The Development of Ego	121	(17)
The Six Realms	138	(13)
The Four Noble Truths	151	(16)
The Bodhisattva Path	167	(20)
Shunyata	187	(20)
Prajna and Compassion	207	(10)
Tantra	217	(27)
Index	244