The Secret Teaching on judgement, resentment, blame

Disclaimer:
The following is traditionally, historically a secret teaching. The preserved written words need clarification and explanation to make them accessible. This explanation will be misunderstood and misapplied by a mind that is unready or unprepared. Also, a secret teaching is a teaching which, when followed, reveals secrets.

I feel ok to write it here, and not in my members-area notes, because the necessary preparation has been done by so many seekers of so many traditions and persuasions. Also, minds that could, in an unready condition, have trouble with this teaching are unlikely to misapply it any more than they do, unconsciously, anyway.

If you feel morally abused or mentally insulted by this piece, please understand that the fault is completely yours for getting sufficiently interested in Tantra to read this blog.

Required before you read on:
Some training in spiritual fundamentals a.k.a. "mind training".
That means some, just a good taste, of any of the following: freudian/jungian/encounter/TA/primal/art or even Dr. Phil style therapy, introspective meditation techniques, lgat's, corporate coaching, EQ work or even NLP, even in it's sillier varieties.

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Secret teaching to transcend blame and judgment:

We blame. We judge. We know too that on any spiritual path, we are supposed to "release" this habit of the mind.
This post is my suggestion of a method I have found useful.

Each and every one of our judgments, when deeply examined, will reveal itself as nonsense … just some old and long forgotten association being misapplied to the current situation. But this approach, one eetsy beetsy "issue" at a time is laborious, slow (never-ending) and not much fun.

The journey to understanding of specific cases/situations in your life has been necessary for you to notice and admit the possibility: "I don't truly know, in a deep and meaningful way, ultimately, the truth of whatever Right and Wrong really are".

Another way of putting this is that you are ready to consider taking a stand against your Original Sin. The core error in your perception. That which causes you to miss the truth. The original sin is eating of "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil". This sin is a common one. The ego usurping the exclusive territory of the Divine. Claiming to be able to distinguish good and evil is undoubtedly a huge sin of ego/pride. Stupendous in scale and audacity.

So the "what to do". The method:

Atisha, as one of his seven points of mind training urges: "Drive all blames into one."

Pick ONE thing. One thought-construct. Blame it for EVERYTHING. Your mind is a brilliantly fast and clever associative computer. If you give it just a little creative thought, you will soon be able, in seconds, to see "why" this ONE thing is to blame. It's fun and it is kind of silly too.

The deep wisdom of this teaching is that the very silliness of this repeated discovery reworks and transforms the way the mind does it's blaming and judging.

You have a mind. It blames and judges. Transcendence of that fact does not lie in training the mind to "not judge". It lies in the mind discovering the inherent silliness of judgment and blame and getting them into appropriate perspective.

So, blame one thing. Perhaps you already know what, for you, is the root source of all that you find wrong in the world. One thing that is behind every unpleasant look someone gives you. Behind everything dangerous, dirty or disgusting in the world. Behind every kind of unpleasantness lies … [your choice here] … It really doesn't matter what you choose as this one ultimate scapegoat. For the purposes of the exercise, most anything will do.

I suggest you take some time to consider, not just what you think you will be able to blame so completely, but also what would be fun to blame. You are taking on, as an exercise, a "forced position", which you will (hopefully) drop when you have learned what the lesson reveals/enables in you. This exercise is the taking on of a deliberate and strong bias, a true excentricity in your thinking and it will unavoidably affect your behavior and expression. There is inherent humor in that, so pick something you will have fun and enjoy blaming as the Source Of All Wrong.

Gautanorangs, Lichtensteinians, Abbasiniyans, Zorastorians, animal rights activists … human groupings of any sort, or their leaders/figureheads are good possibilities. The more obscure, or generally unknown a nationality the better. Just to minimise the risk of encountering them in large groups when sharing your opinion of them. Also, you may have fun enrolling others in your chosen "cause". Your consciously chosen obsession. This is easier if the grouping is really obscure. Bill Hicks took quite a lot on with his choice, centering his judgement on the advertising industry. A successful student of Tantra, Bill was enlightened before his untimely death, and is remembered as a Saint in this school.

Looking deeply into this choice of "what to blame" may reveal other candidates. Geography is a huge factor in wars and famines. Maybe volcanoes are a good candidate. Other species are also worth consideration … A less ready student than Saint Bill, Stephen Colbert approached me years ago for this teaching, and decided on bears (godless killing machines). His meditation progresses, although slowly, on account of his distraction over secondary wrongs, like Democrats. Come on Steve. Democrats or bears. Pick ONE!

Intelligence can produce other possibilities. Perhaps butterflies cause more than hurricanes when they idly flap about, "innocently" unaware of the trouble they cause. Also, some species of butterfly have been a source of the dye on banknotes, possibly giving rise to the chaos called a "financial system".

Ballpoint pens, and lately sms, with they way they hurry communications and increase misunderstandings ... There are many candidates for your personal Prime Evil.

When you have made your choice, stick to it and be strong. Firm in your resolve. You (I hope) currently obey the regular laws of your land, which already restrain you from vengeful or dangerous actions … but you can feel. You can know. You can even have fun sharing your view, and canvassing for it.

In and of itself, this exercise, sincerely undertaken, can teach some important deep truths.

You will know when it is complete, and can then drop your issues with that "one thing" … or not, if you find it fun to keep.

If you want to borrow mine, the "thing" into which I put "all blame" when busy with this exercise… I'm not telling. It isn't a very well kept secret, but I'm doing my bit to keep it quiet.

And for how long?
I suggest, for as long as you find it fruitful. As long as it reveals truth to you and increases your awareness of your own mind's workings, it is worthwhile. After that, I suppose, for as long as you enjoy it. Personally, I found this exercise good for a couple of years, once I managed to get the focus mostly on THE ONE. Getting all blaming driven into one was the tough bit. No second and third options allowed.

The fruits?

Juicy indeed. Live them and experience them.