Invigorating exploration
January 31st, 2024
Quote
After all, the more grounded we are in our convictions, the more able we are to explore differing views. The greater our faith, the greater doubt we can tolerate. Like a securely attached child, we don’t need to look anxiously over our shoulder every moment to make sure our mom is there watching. We venture out, trusting the world and what it has to offer us. Exploration doesn’t feel dangerous, but invigorating.
McConkie, Thomas Wirthlin. Navigating Mormon Faith Crisis: A Simple Developmental Map .
The source for this quote is one of the best explications of Kegan’s model of adult development I’ve read. The author is trying to outline a way for the Mormon faith to handle doubts among it’s youth. We tend to think of faith and doubt as opposites - but when you can hold both views lightly (ah, another practice tension) something beyond the dualism of faith and doubt can emerge.
Links
A friend sent me a link to the most recent This American Life episode about the power of language in shaping reality - specifically the second story about a daughter of Russian immigrants whose parents discount her depression as an American invention. It’s complicated though because you can read this story as pushing back on the notion that linguistic differences circumscribe reality as well. One undercurrent that resonated for me personally was the unbridgeable gap in understanding between the Russian parents and the American child and the sadness/yearning for that connection.
More on bigness/smallness - another fantastic essay by Erik Hoel about how hard it is to know if you’re actually helping, focused on one of Effective Altruists’ favorite causes - bed nets to prevent malaria. Once again underscores the point that you may be better served focusing on helping the people in your immediate vicinity since the likelihood that you will succeed is much higher (though in many cases that’s very difficult too!).
Apropos of last week’s discussion of jhanas, someone sent me this open letter a Theravadan teacher sent his student about the flaws in his practice stemming from an excess grasping after states and meditative experiences, and the centrality of moral discipline in attaining stream entry. Plus there’s a bunch of shade thrown at Western Buddhist modernists along the way. Overall I agree with the point that conduct is crucial - Padmasambhava said “Though the view should be as vast as the sky, keep your conduct as fine as barley flour.” Furthermore I would agree that maybe the student’s media habits could be detrimental to their practice. However, I don’t think that you have to make yourself feel bad or go to war with a part of yourself in order to get to stream entry1. In fact, I think that could be a hindrance. Which brings me to a point I want to make…
You can start by pulling on any thread…
Some people in their spiritual practice have the belief that they have to finish the conventional self work (trauma work, therapy etc) in order to make progress on the spiritual path. While it’s true that it definitely helps, and in some cases (specifically where you lack a strong sense of self due to trauma) it really is a pre-requisite, it’s also true that this can function as a limiting belief that itself can preclude spiritual progress. I firmly believe that you can start either on the process of awakening (letting go, accepting things as they are) or conventional psychological work (trying to change things) and make progress either way. In fact, the two perspectives are mutually enabling - by learning to accept things as they are, you gain an equanimity that allows for difficult mental content to come into awareness and thus allows you to heal. On the other hand, by doing conventional psychological work you can clean up the mind and make the spiritual path progress more smoothly / enable concentration etc. Better still is to do both at once — but there are absolutely cases where conventional psychological cleaning up happens post-awakening. Don’t worry that you aren’t perfect or are making mistakes in your conduct - if bodhicitta firmly takes root then the desire to do harmful / unwholesome things will quiet all on its own.
The highest form of practice is where the so-called “bad” parts of us can themselves be harnessed for the benefit of others.