By: arnie

arnie — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:06:00 +0000

Hi Darren, Just about half way through your book. Congradulations! I like it a lot and will recommend it to people in my 12 step community here in Victoria, BC. I'm surfing your website toady (which is also very good and packed with material - must have been some work putting it all together) and wanted to respond to a comment. The following caught my eye in the article - What I learned While teaching in Colorado, you wrote : "But the bit that really blew my mind wasn’t clear until today. Everyone knows Trungpa was a hard core drinker and a super bad-ass teacher. Some say a genius. If he were alive today, I feel that we would have a relationship. I know how to be sober, and many of his students to this day still struggle with addiction. I was told that they misinterpreted Trungpa’s behavior to assume that it was OK to drink and use. In my opinion, a teacher of this caliber may even have been torturing himself to show us our own attachment." I've been around a few spiritual teachers that had active addictions (sometimes very visible). I didn't recognize back then, as I wasn't into recovery myself and didn't have the understanding I do today. But, I do think we should not be deluded by the fact that even spiritual persons and teachers (no matter how high we place them on the pantheon of spiritual greatness), can at the same time be utterly human and have addictions that not only harm themselves, but also others. I am a recovering sex/lust addict and I recognize that this is an addiction rampant in many spiritual communities and amongst teachers, just as it in the greater society. (One could argue Trungpa may of also qualified for an S-program as well.) This get's me to your last line "In my opinion, a teacher of this caliber may even have been torturing himself to show us our own attachment." I think this is BS, and just a way to NOT diminish a teacher's place in our imaginary spiritual pantheon. Can't we simple accept that Trungpa's problem was real, it did lead him to an early grave, and that his disease affected the attitudes of those around him. One of my teachers said: "Every saint has a past, ever sinner has a future." I'd like to think of this in relation to each moment, each breath, and of all those I know. We are all utterly human and yet so precious. Thanks again Darren... I look forward to meeting you sometime. Arnie

Comments on: What I Learned While Teaching in Colorado

By: arnie