Feeding the Mind: The Dangers of Spiritual Materialism

1 of 3 photographs ever taken of Ajahn Mun.

On the way to work this morning, I was reading 'The Spiritual Autobiography of Acariya Mun," who was one of Thailand's greatest monks, and came across some words that stopped me dead in my tracks. Instead of continuing to read on, I found the highlighter tool on my tablet, highlighted the words, and proceeded to recite them over and over again until my bus journey had come to completion. The words, written by Luang Ta Maha Bua, a disciple of Ajahn Mun and highly revered monk who passed away just a couple of years ago, struck a chord in my heart that is still resonating some twelve hours later.

Before I tell you what words I found to be so powerful, I think a little bit of backstory is in order.

Thailand has a history of Dhutanga (Tudong) monks that creates a sort of platform for very intensive views on the practice of Buddhism and meditation. Dhutanga monks are those monks who live in forests, mountains, and caves, without any possessions other than a bowl for food and an umbrella, and wander around on an inward journey to find the true meaning of the Buddha's Dhamma. In the west, these sorts of views, which might be called hard-core, wouldn't be able to thrive because the history and foundation isn't there to support them. If they were in the west, practitioners would be deemed crazy and the Buddha's teachings would lose what little support they have.

The Buddha, in a way, taught something for everyone, but he reserved the real teachings on the path to liberation for his noble disciples, the monks. When he was talking to house-holders, or lay-people as they are called, he would give teachings suitable for those living in the world and dealing with worldly affairs. When he taught monks who were eager to break free from the cycle of samsara, or continued rounds of birth, old-age, sickness, death, and rebirth, he would give teachings on the correct methods to employ to do exactly that.

Since I no longer live in the west, I don't feel obliged to filter out any of the more austere teachings of the Buddha so as to customize the Dhamma to allow it to fit into my life more easily without changing things around. I don't want to point any fingers, but there is this tendency to dilute spiritual teachings until we think they are speaking to what we already are instead of looking at the reality of the work that still needs to be done. Attitudes such as "you can have your cake and eat it too" and "it's all about the balance" don't seem to come from enlightened teachers, they come from ordinary people who want to justify their own choices in life without losing the ability to see themselves as "spiritual." Just as the original proverb states, you can't eat your cake and have it, or in other words, you can't have the best of both worlds. 

The two worlds I'm referring to are the material and spiritual worlds. As it turns out, one requires an identity and the other only a way of being. In the spiritual world, there is only being without clinging. In the material world, there is only identification, craving, and attachment, and we are left always wanting more.

by digitalart @ freedigitalphotos.net

Spiritual Materialism in today's modern world is the trend of looking to benefit from the world, by accumulating worldly things such as wealth, fame or status, and possessions, all under the guise of being "spiritual." The fact that this trend uses the law of attraction to both gain our attention and then to support its worldly pursuits means that we're left unsure of what it really means to be spiritual.

Anyway, this problem isn't something that they have over here in Thailand. The Buddha's liberation teachings, although still mostly ignored by the majority of Thai Buddhists, have been preserved and respected through a lineage of enlightened masters, and the whole country seems entirely accepting of this. So even if the average person isn't on a mission to become enlightened, they still believe it's possible, and they have the utmost respect for those who choose to pursue that path. Additionally, when these enlightened masters expound the Dhamma in its truest form, the teachings are supported in a way that allows them to remain available for those who wish to put them into practice.

Probably the biggest difference is that Buddhist monks in Thailand, although supported entirely by lay-people, don't need to make a living in order to survive. All they technically need is food and water, and there is more than enough support to receive that, even to the point that it seems to come regardless of how genuine the monks' efforts are to attain enlightenment. What this means is that monks don't need to try to sell anything. They aren't looking for a way to offer up the Buddha's teachings that will enable them to make their mortgage payments and put food on the table, like many western Dhamma teachers are.

I don't mean to say that western Dhamma teachers are guilty of selling spiritual materialism, but just that westerners in general aren't ready for some of the more austere teachings that the Buddha taught, and the teachings are therefore being softened, as they should be, to meet the specifications of those whom it is being offered to. Just as the Buddha did, when offering teachings to house-holders, western Dhamma teachers are also giving teachings that are easy to swallow, that will prove to make a difference.

I just want to make a note that not all monks in Thailand have pure intentions and that there are monks who use their status and power for personal gain.

I guess I've always been a bit extreme, and I still can't decide whether that's been a good thing or bad thing for my spiritual practice. Either way, I've rejected a lot of the advice that's been offered to me about moderation and living a balanced life. Even though I can't claim to have walked away from those ideas completely, I see a path in front of me, I see what I need to do, and there isn't much room for indulgence or western concepts of moderation. So finally, I offer to you those words that said it all so clearly for me, in hopes that it may also be of service to you.

"He resists any temptation to follow his usual self-indulgent tendencies." 

- Luang Ta Maha Bua

So there you have it. It should be related that he was speaking of "the attitude of a monk who is truly committed to training himself under the guidance of a good teacher," but I believe that this is for anyone who is serious about waking up. If we want real peace, understanding, wisdom, happiness, and freedom, we need to resist the urge to feed our cravings.

If you want to know the nature of the mind, don't give it what it wants.