Chapter 6

THE STINK OF ENLIGHTENMENT

 

 “There is little to choose between a man lying in the ditch heavily drunk on rice liquor, and a man heavily drunk on his own ‘enlightenment’!”

Japanese Zen master Oda Sesso

 

In the Chan and Zen Buddhist tradition, the ‘stink of enlightenment’ is sometimes referred to as a ‘stench’, and usually applies to someone who has just had an insight, a glimpse, an awakening experience (satori in Japanese), or a ‘oneness experience,’ such as merging with a sunset or the Grand Canyon. Additional terms for a more or less superficial awakening experience might be ‘being in the flow,’ or ‘in the now,’ or having a ‘peak experience’ and then interpreting these experiences as being ‘fully enlightened’ like an arhat or saint.

The problem is this: there is much more to this awakening than meets the conscious mind. There are also the psychic imprints of one’s shadow self and the unconscious mind. If these have not been integrated, purified, or completely understood, they can re-emerge in a new self-deluded, ‘enlightened’ character or a so-called ‘teacher,’ thus dropping one's older ego identification and replacing it with a brand new spiritual persona. This is what is known as the ‘stink of enlightenment,’ the phrase of which comes from the Zen Buddhist tradition.

What happens is that the ego (lingering and festering habits, conditioning, ambition, greed, and desires) hijacks the early stages of enlightenment and attempts to make a big deal out of it. This is usually for the ego’s own profit, reputation, and personal gain. It begins thinking in terms of “How can I use and benefit from this knowledge? How can I market and make a living from this? Stepping out of the frying pan and into the fire.”

This way of thinking—“What’s in it for me?”—can happen when desire and greed are still binding, and when the clarity and understanding are not fully there. The ego will co-opt this newly ‘enlightened’ persona and find ways to justify its lingering cravings and bindings to this world to money and to sensory objects. The unconscious or shadow self will rush in and claim it for itself, while one remains only partially free and enlightened, and unconscious cravings, ignorance, and aversions continue to run the show.

I have spoken with some who were influenced by Nisargadatta Maharaj, who also tend to display characteristics of distancing themselves from their inclinations and own incongruous actions and words, and do this primarily by non-dual double speak.

In other words, they say one thing and do another and call this a ‘paradox’ or a non-dual enigma, and claim that they have no sense of self.

When recently speaking with Timothy Conway about this issue, he said “both Nisargadatta and his teacher Siddharameshvar were very clear about how an authentic sage does not misbehave in a licentious way. As Siddharameshvar not infrequently urged, "Realize the Self and behave accordingly!" When people came to Nisargadatta and claimed some sort of "enlightenment," often the first thing he asked them was, "What are you doing about fears and desires?”

THE NEO ADVAITA BIBLE

The neo-advaitins Bible is also the Ashtavakra gita. Thomas Byrom, creator of a translation of the Ashtavakra Gita entitled “The Heart of Awareness,” also gives a warning for those who read it without adequate practice or meditation.

From the translation:

“It would be perverse and humorless to suppose that just because Ashtavakra, with his irreducible nondualism, considers meditation merely a distracting habit, he means us to abandon our practice. Of course, from the perspective of unconditional freedom, where nothing makes any difference, meditation seems a comically self-important waste of time. But Ashtavakra makes it plain.

The moment a fool gives up his spiritual practices, he falls prey to fancies and desires.

God help the seeker who presumes that since he is already and always fulfilled, he can give up trying. It is all a matter of knowing. We are all indeed already perfect, but until we know it, we had better deal with our ignorance, and that can't be done just by listening to words. It requires sadhana, effort and doing what we do not wish to do. It means long, hard, self-effacing work.

The heart of Ashtavakra's advice is not to give up our practice, but to abandon our strenuous indolence.”[1]

This teaching would not pass the kalama sutta test for this reason, because it’s only for some, not for all, and if in the wrong hands, those whom are lazy, those who have so self-discipline, self-shame, or conscience, and so are not ripe, it’s a very serious problem.

THE RAMANA ARGUMENT

The ‘Ramana argument’ is also what many of the neo-advaitins use, which is the perception that Ramana Marahshi was a lay person, not a monk, who attained self-realization, so then they can as well by simply asking “Who Am I?” and nothing else. The problem is, what they usually end up with is what they ask for and it doesn’t end their suffering, or their delusion at all. 

However, in the Theravada Buddhist model, the stages and insights that occur have been clearly mapped out.

But if you know them beforehand, it’s quite easy to wrongfully let the mind play tricks on overestimating where you are, or to gauge someone else on the path, especially if you’ve haven’t gone through them yourself, but simply read about them in theory.

However, if you don’t know the stages or the insights, or are still deluded, sometimes the only way to know this will be through some kind of fall from grace. You will discover that there still remain unresolved, unconscious desires, cravings, and motives, fetters, or defilements, so to speak. What seems to happen is that a glimpse of truth, an insight, or an experience of some kind carries the person away while unanswered questions and confusion persist. The new enlightened ego wants to share this with others, but what is communicated is often truth muddled with ignorance.

The impression created is that one is enlightened in a personal sense. Meaning the ‘person’ is enlightened, while not understanding that a person cannot be enlightened. There is no such thing. It’s a subtle and clever sort of co-optive mind trick, a hijacking of the ego from one identification to another. If one is not careful, one can end up believing they have intellectually transcended the ego and its fetters and defilements, but in actuality the ego has only transformed itself into an enlightened ego, unaware that a spiritual ego still exists. It is a mental blind spot, a subtle form of self-denial and suppression, and this blind spot itself becomes an affirmation or mantra to convince oneself that ‘there is no sense of separate small self.’ Thus, this delusion and denial can have the adverse effect by actually sustaining a spiritual ego in the process.

At this stage I have seen that it’s also very easy to get dogmatic, or only believe that you, or your school, sect, or tradition are enlightened and, everyone else is not. Then this advocacy of, or defending your school, sect, or wrong view, will only strengthen your ego: “I’m right you are wrong, I’m enlightened, you are not.”

So it’s best not to get into any debates with others about this and keep your views to yourself. This type of attitude can lead to religious fundamentalism, fanaticism, and partisanships. Some unfortunately never get past this phase and go about bashing others. You find this especially on the Internet forums, many of which are preoccupied with doctrinal controversy.

Another elephant in the living room is that many neo-advaitins say that they have ‘no sense of Self,’ or no free will, although they will love and lap up any type of limelight, adoration, fame, and praise. The reality is that there is always a degree of a sense of self and a limited free will.

When asked “How much ego do you need?” Shunyru Suzuki replied, “Enough to not get run over by a bus.”

There is also always a subtle sense of self or physical boundaries. For example, the reason you would not put your hand in a fire is because you know what would result from this. Also, if you look into a mirror, you don’t see a reflection of your next-door neighbor.

The other dimension to this involves the sub-conscious mind. You can’t get rid of your mental dispositions and deep psychic imprints in the body, such as karmic residues, unconscious propensities, dispositions, habit energies, habit formations, and habitual thought, by ignoring them. And neither can you get rid of your unconscious shadow self by repressing it or denying it or giving it a conceptual non-dual label—a self with a capital S. It’s just semantics and word play. You can even call yourself Mr. Oneness, but you can’t get rid of your spiritual ego. The spiritual ego will rear its head as the new enlightened persona.

At this point, certain temptations arise. This newly enlightened person may think they are special in some way. You will know this when the first thing they do is begin sharing or teaching instead of taking their time to get clarity. You will see that most of what they say is simply parroting others: “I’m not the doer, I am That, you are awareness, there is no sense of a person,” and all the rest of the non-dual clichés. There may be the temptation to spread the news or make a Broadway extravaganza or career out of it by traveling around the world, or spreading the news and charging for meetings and satsangs and wanting to become a renowned teacher.

The problem is that if you were already ambitious, you will carry these ambitious traits over into your spiritual arena. Being a spiritual teacher is very appealing for ego gratification. The downfall to it is that one could end up causing more harm than good, no matter what one’s intentions are.

So, if you think you are enlightened and are filled with great excitement and wanting to share it with others, this is a probably a clear sign to hold off from teaching.  First of all, it can alienate friends and family, because if you’re not careful you will begin to look delusional or even deranged. You should keep it to yourself and not spread it or try to convert or save others with ‘your’ enlightenment. Instead, during this stage, use it to meditate, practice mindfulness, study scripture, or find a competent traditional teacher who will guide you about all the elements of enlightenment.

Another thing you often see is the person comparing or assessing, validating or measuring themselves against others. They may compete with other enlightened teachers, or you may see them making their awakening into a business of sorts, resorting to one-upmanship and debates in order to invalidate others while raising themselves up. The subconscious is a real problem.

If the stink is there, it means the person is oblivious to it. It’s like having bad breath or body odor, you may not be aware of it but others around you are.

The problem with not knowing or ignorance is that one does not know they are ignorant. If you do see it in others, the odds are it is because you have this in yourself and it could be a projection of sorts. So don’t be quick to judge or criticize others when you smell it. Doing so will not get you anywhere. What it may do is create more egoic defenses. It may set you back even more than you already were. Explaining this to someone who thinks they are enlightened may raise their defenses, and they may attack you out of fear in an attempt to make you go away or shut up. However, if you have the awareness to even see this odor in yourself and not just in others, observe it, investigate it, and witness it. Meditate on it. Don’t identify with it. See it for what it is. Test it and see for yourself.

If the ego or spiritual pride pops up, don’t try to suppress it, deny it, stop it, or bully it away. Be gentle with it. This can be quite effortless; it just takes shifting your awareness and mindfulness practice through right effort and meditation. That’s really all it is. With right speech and practice, you can even control what you think.

Some say that one’s ego is the subtlest and cleverest thing in the universe, while paradoxically it doesn’t even exist. One’s ego is a mistaken case of identity, a false notion—the ‘I maker.’ This is the problem and the solution. Knowing and seeing that one is not one’s ego can sometimes be enough to sever parts of its roots.

Another method the Buddhists use is to cease watering it, feeding it, or giving it sunlight through being in your natural state of awareness. The problem that arises is that the spiritual pride of a person will do anything to sustain itself. It will disguise itself using false humility, piety, holiness, false enlightenment, flattery, ingenuity, sincerity, lies, jokes, humor, manipulations, intellect, self-delusions, and even honesty and truth. Just keep watching it at all times. Observe it and pay close attention to it when you interact with other people.

Notice when someone flatters you, how does it make you feel? How do you respond? Ask yourself who is it that is feeling and responding?

When someone reprimands you, how do you react? How does this make you feel? Do you feel wounded, hurt, ashamed, defensive, belittled, patronized? Ask yourself who is this ‘I’ that is feeling these emotions?

These are perfect times and tests to find out where and what your ego is. You can use almost anything to gauge it during the day. Measure it and see if you can trace yourself back to it. Once you are able to see this, you have the leverage to observe it without blinders on, because now you see it for what it is. It’s not an ego death; it’s more like an ego correction, a sublation, as a result of the knowledge or understanding since reality is ineffable. What you see is how it was mistakenly and innocently formed in the first place out of ignorance—how it was born, what sustains it (through one’s cravings and actions), and how it defiles the mind. Also, how it plants seeds to keep itself renewed to do the same over and over again.

You begin to see clearly how you were led to believe that this is who you are, how you came to misidentify with it, and how this conditioning and hypnosis took place over time. How your parents shaped it from the time you were about two and a half years old by the way they spoke to you, mirrored you, loved you, disciplined you, and told you who you were. How your interactions with your siblings and early childhood friends also shaped it. How school indoctrinated you. How society and peer pressure shaped you by approving certain types of behaviors and beliefs and disapproving others.

You begin to understand and see that much of what you think about yourself was imposed on you externally and drummed into you like a false mantra; a form of societal voodoo through the power of persuasion, suggestion, and hypnosis.

Whatever you think about yourself is also a self-delusion.  You realize that in essence you have been barking up the wrong tree, watering the wrong plant.

You will begin to see that all of these things are there to nurture and stroke the ego; to keep this ego inflated and puffed up or to create walls and defenses around it. To construct barriers and obstacles so that the ego hears only what it wants to hear and whatever will make it feel good. To block out anything that brings the egoic sense of self down, threaten it, question it, depress it, or deflate it. You begin to see that it is like an automatic thermostat that regulates itself, but also has built-in defense mechanisms to hinder anyone from getting anywhere near it, especially since getting too close to it could mean shutting it off, and this would mean death.

You see all of the self-deception, the dishonest behavior, the stupidity, and the sheer nakedness of how you were unconscious. You see the falseness in your words and actions. You notice the reasons and stimuli for your behavior. You see the hidden motivations and the ulterior motives that you could not even admit to yourself existed. You see the ugliness of this false person. You see all the masks that you wear.

And you can’t just let go of the ego, because there is no one there to let go of it, nor any ‘thing’ to let go of. Trying to let go of something that doesn’t exist is impossible and will have you spinning in circles, chasing a phantom that doesn’t exist except in your mind. The way to see this is to use your awareness, to use the consciousness that witnesses what is arising in the mind—thoughts, feelings, sensations, emotions, and so on.

The way to clear a puddle of murky water is to not mess with it or to stir it up but to leave it alone, to step back, to observe it, and to let it clear up by itself. It works the same way with the mind. The mind is like a wild beast. It is chaotic and uncontrollable and cannot be easily tamed. Sometimes all you can do is put a boundary around it. Let it run its course and wear itself out, but do not engage it or ride it, otherwise you will be thrown off over and over again. Doing this is the insanity of it all. It’s like going along for the roller coaster ride and then identifying with the roller coaster ride, believing that all the ups and downs, the disappointments, the satisfactions, the gains and losses, are you.

None of this is who you are. The self-identified mind is cunning and subtle. It will pretend to you that it has let go of itself. It will act as if it is now humble and pure. It will put on an act of false humility that will reveal itself in self-deprecation, such as Hollywood actors who poke fun at themselves when winning an Academy Award. All it is doing is hiding out and waiting for the first opportunity to rear its ugly head.

Humor is also often used as an egoic defense or a way of deflecting or a shield. The danger of using humor is that it can hurt others as it is usually at someone else’s expense.

A way to test this is to see if you are aware of being humble; then you know the ego is there. If you are aware of being holy, you should know the ego is there. If you think you are some kind of saint, the enlightened ego is there.  Continue to Part 7