We practitioners in 2022 have access to a vast array of teachings.
Some are old.
Some are new.
Some are common.
Some are obscure.
Some are supported by millions of beneficiaries.
Some are supported only by the person preaching them.
How can we tell for sure which of these are the real deal?
There are two important qualities present in any teaching that leads to realization of one's true nature.
The first of these is that students are encouraged to investigate what's taught in their own direct experience.
This is opposite to the typical cult indoctrination method of promising rewards only after the taking up of blind faith in whatever the leader is preaching.
In the ancient Buddhist texts,
The Buddha explicitly instructed people to not simply believe the things he said,
But instead test them in their own direct experience.
This point of direct experience is vitally important.
It took me a couple of years of intensive practice to fully apprehend what was meant by this term,
Because sadly,
We're all trained in childhood to undervalue our direct experience.
What do I mean by this?
We all begin our experience of this world as undifferentiated awareness.
We're completely open,
With no sense of separation between self and other.
But as we transition from baby to child,
The great conditioning begins.
We're told that we have a name,
And that other people have names,
And that these represent their fundamental separateness to us.
We're over here,
They're over there,
And they have qualities and characteristics that make them different to us.
And it gets worse.
If we want to remain in favour with these other people,
These bigger people,
Then we must adhere to certain ways of thinking,
Feeling,
And behaving.
When we think,
Feel,
And behave in ways that others agree with,
We're praised.
When we think,
Feel,
And behave in ways that others disagree with,
We're punished.
But it may not be natural for us to be agreeable.
And so begins a years-long battle between nature and nurture,
A battle we often take to our deathbeds.
Now,
As an aside,
I'm not suggesting that socialisation is all bad.
Of course,
Our parents do us a great service by teaching us to avoid oncoming traffic.
What I'm pointing out is that we're trained to place higher importance on what is prescribed,
Believed,
And enforced than we do on our raw,
Unadulterated,
Direct experience of what's going on.
And this training is so thorough that we tend to forget altogether that realm of experience that precedes description.
But in the game of realising one's true nature,
Direct experience is vital.
A description is to reality what notation is to music.
Notation symbolises music,
But it is not music.
We get so,
So good at describing our reality that we take our descriptions to be reality itself.
Then we describe our descriptions.
For example,
When we talk about a school of thought.
We even describe our descriptions of descriptions.
For example,
When we talk about the merits of a particular school of thought.
So those couple of years of intensive practice,
For me,
Were about peeling layers off the onion,
So to speak.
First I learned to stop describing descriptions of descriptions.
Then I stopped describing descriptions.
Then finally,
Gradually,
I was able to stop describing altogether.
What was left was raw,
Unadulterated,
Direct experience.
Now there's a subtle trap here.
When we read of the Buddha saying that we must test his teaching in our direct experience,
And yet we feel unsure regarding what our direct experience is exactly,
We might have the impression that we're unable to practice.
This is not the case.
We must start where we are,
Since there's nowhere else to start,
And allow for our understanding to mature over time.
The second important thing that will be present in any authentic teaching is that those who follow it naturally become exemplars of mutual benefit.
In a recent talk,
I demonstrated that reasons to be unkind must be contrived,
Must be made up.
If what we're interested in is truth,
Then of course we're interested in giving up all contrivance and fabrication.
In the absence of fabrication,
Naturally arising mutual benefit is unobscured.
The only alternative to this is the possibility that our natural state is in fact unkind.
Good news.
Everyone who's investigated this for themselves has discovered that the more they relax,
The more they exemplify the quality of compassion,
Kindness,
Mutual benefit.
Now we may acknowledge the stories of abusive gurus.
These are outliers among the millions of good-natured practitioners.
There are many cultures where kindness is just another should,
Ought or must.
Whether we grow up in street gangs or among monastics,
Each of us must investigate thoroughly and honestly to cut off selfishness at the root.
It helps greatly to have access to a teaching that shows us how to do this,
And so I give this talk for the purpose of helping others to situate themselves wisely.
To summarise,
When considering a teaching,
Look for these two points.
The encouragement of direct experience.
Evidence of great mutual benefit among existing practitioners.
Investigate teachings for as long as it takes to satisfy discernment.
A good teaching will encourage all questioning.
Remain open to the possibility of moving on.
If a teaching and practice is appropriate,
Then it's one we would choose to engage with freshly in each new moment.
May we all enjoy the great fortune of encountering genuine wisdom teachings.
May we all trust our direct experience.
May we all be of great benefit to ourselves and to each other.
