I woke up early this Saturday morning and had a chance to catch up on some reading. I have a copy of Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism that my mother passed down to me from her hippie reading library. It’s an ironically beautiful book that I keep on my coffee table, not just as a visual reminder to maybe someday read it, but because it really ties the room together, in the parlance of the Dude.
So I dove in. By page 26, I found something that I wanted to share. In Buddhism there is the concept of “taking refuge in the Buddha dharma.” This is a snippet of what that’s all about:
I take refuge in the dharma—dharma, the “law of existence,” life as it is. I am willing to open my eyes to circumstances of life as they are. I am not willing to view them as spiritual or mystical, but I am willing to see the situations of life as they really are.
This is all that Buddhism is. Note the pointed lack of mysticism and spirituality. Buddhism is about reconciling yourself with the circumstances of your life as they are, devoid of meaning or symbolism or manifestation. In fact, on another page, Trungpa says “Disappointment is a good sign of basic intelligence.” Amen, brother. I guess that makes me a genius.
And those are my deep thoughts for this morning.
