The Myth of Freedom
The Myth of Freedom and the Way of Meditation by Chogyam Trungpa
🚀 The Book in 3 Sentences
Explores the true meaning of freedom, showing us how our attitudes, preconceptions, and even our spiritual practices can become chains that bind us to repetitive patterns of frustration and despair.
He also explains how meditation can bring into focus the causes of frustration, and how these negative forces can aid us in advancing toward true freedom.
Trying to divulge the true meaning of freedom and what that looks like.
🎨 Impressions
The author has a unique ability to express the essence of Buddhist teachings in the language and imagery of contemporary American culture makes this book one of the best, most accessible sources of the Buddhist doctrine ever written.
It really takes you on a spiritual journey through the choice of words used and the way it is written - when reading it you feel calm and content.
How I Discovered It
I have been wanting to read more spiritual related books, and am interested in the concept of freedom, so this book was a great fit.
Who Should Read It?
If you are interested in spiritual meditation, Buddhism or just generally becoming more content, this book will help.
✍️ My Top 3 Quotes
Becoming "awake" involves seeing our confusion more clearly.
Delight in itself is the approach of sanity. Delight is to open our eyes to the reality of the situation rather than siding with this or that point of view.
When you relate to thoughts obsessively, you are actually feeding them because thoughts need your attention to survive. Once you begin to pay attention to them and categorise them, then they become very powerful. You are feeding them energy because you are not seeing them as simple phenomena. If one tries to quiet them down, that is another way of feeding them.
📒 Summary + Notes
According to Buddha we must begin to seeing the experience of life as it is. We must see the truth of suffering and the reality of dissatisfaction. If one searches for a promised land, then the search only leads to more pain. We cannot reach such islands, we cannot attain enlightenment.
Driven by uncertainty, we seek to prove our own existence by finding a reference point outside of ourselves, something with which to have a relationship, something solid to feel separate from.
We continually jump from one thought to the next. The whole development of ignorance, feeling, impulse, concept and consciousness is an attempt on our part to shield ourselves from the truth of our insubstantiality.
Buddhism promises nothing. It teaches us to be what we are where we are, constantly and it teaches us to relate to our living situations accordingly. That seems to be the way to proceed on our highway without being distracted by the sidetracks and exits.
Your suffering is truth, it is intelligent. The path involves developing an attitude of richness and generosity,. Confusion and pain are viewed as sources of inspiration, a rich resource. Furthermore, you acknowledge that you are intelligent and courageous, that you are able to be fundamentally alone.
Quite possible there is no such thing as a spiritual practice except stepping out of deception, stopping our struggle to get hold of spiritual states. Just give that up. Other than that there is no spirituality.
Aloneness is fundamental freedom. Aloneness is described as a wisdom in which your perception of aloneneess suggests the needlessness of dualistic occupation.
The whole point of the spiritual path from the Buddhist point of view, is an organic one of natural growth: acknowledging the ground as it is, acknowledging the chaos of the path , acknowledging the colourful aspect of the fruition. The whole process is an endless odyssey. Having attained realisation, one foes not stop at that point, but one continues on, endlessly expressing buddha activity.
One must transcend the ego's strategies - agression, passion and ignorance - and become completely at one with these energies. We do not try and remove or destroy them, but we transmute their basic nature.
Every texture of the universe or life should be seen as a beauty of its own. Nothing is rejected and nothing is accepted by whatever you perceive has its own individual qualities. Because there is no rejection or acceptance, therefore individual qualities of things become more obvious and it is easier to relate with them. Therefore discriminating wisdom appreciates the richness of every aspect of life.
