I took a few of Noah’s classes, and was very unsettled by the fanaticism around him, as well as the intimidating charm he seemed to cultivate. When I met real experts later, I always sensed a humility and awareness of limits, awareness of history/greats that came before, and a fearful respect of how easily things can go south when fame/finances swell.
I wonder if it would help if spiritual teachers warned students of these temptations and pitfalls and guided them on how to deal with them. Like, "Someday, if you're a teacher, at some point you might be tempted to think that you're entitled to sexual contact with your students" or whatever. If students were warned, they'd know how to handle these temptations.
Interesting question! I always assumed that that sense of discretion was always built-in with the process of formal study and becoming a teacher. But then again, the teachers at my temple were 3 psychologists and a lawyer, so maybe their professions did that training for them. 😅 There are sects that have famously blurred those lines (and I’m not a fan of it); look up the Shambhala scandals - or as I like to call it, the Shambhacalypse.
People are people, and you third point about focus on systems vs individuals hits the nail on the head. I used to teach martial arts and I was always shocked by how many people neo-deify their instructor. It's always, "Well my Sensei said..." were people never question the infallible nature of their instructor. Yet the reality is that we are all fallible, which is a major teaching in both Christianity and Buddhism.
Brad, I know this is an old video but I wanted to say that I always appreciate your thoughts. Very sane. Are you familiar with the psychological concept of the shadow? If not, it is essentially the phenomena you described here, how disowned aspects of self form a sort of subconscious shadow. Shadow aspects are seeking the light of awareness (to be free, to be healed). You may know, but if not, that many Buddhist teachers are beginning to integrate an understanding of the psychological wounding and how to heal these disowned parts, into their teaching, and also into their communities. Many teachers I have heard (and now am working with), actually see this process as a natural next step of realization, awareness wanting to be known through the heart, in the gut. My zen teacher would say something to the effect of, knowing the truth "down to your bones" - but in my experience Zen folks tend to lack a lot of practical knowledge to help navigate these messier areas. This process, of different parts of ourselves coming up for light, seems to be a big issue among many people these days (not only teachers, but people with initial awakening experiences that force enormous amount of content up over the course of many difficult years).
Thanks. I have heard this term. My only beef with the approach that you're describing is that I've seen it be abused a lot. People accusing others of not being aware of their shadows and so forth. I often get to enjoy the pleasure of having complete strangers tell me about my shadows. I don't think it's possible to understand another person well enough to determine such a thing. On the other hand, it may be useful for a person to investigate their own shadows.
In old Japan there was a young man. Great zen talant and his teachers gave him gold medal for his zen practice at only 20 years age. This young man then decided to leave the temple and to live like ultimate bad ass. Just be free, doing all kind of shit like eating, drinking, listening music, party every night, women and so on. This young man was a true zen practicioner, but just took different path. I read this story in some book about Japan, so such things happen every day. Every day Buddha becomes just another bad human and some bad human becomes Buddha. The circle of life.
Two words: Great. Big. Ego. --sums up Noah, and all those (mostly) guys in "spiritual high places" who use their position of power to take advantage. ...because they (he) CAN. Stay safe, Brad. The 4th Precept, man. The 4th Precept.
Hi Brad, thanks for your honest and sharp analysis of why teachers go bad. Great that you address these issues, which are very recognizable and actually pretty obvious if you think about it, but are almost never being discussed, especially not by teachers themselves like you. Thanks for being reminded again to take good care around buddhist teachers. Best wishes from the Netherlands.
What Brad is describing here is a kind of half-baked realization, where the adept is not able to hold the absolute developed in Zazen while interacting in a world with a thousand distractions and temptations. This corresponds to stage 2 of the Zen doctrine called 'The Five Ranks' established at the end of the Tang Dynasty. With time, the ideal is to progress to stage 4 and 5...when one's activity becomes like a "lotus blooming in the fire".
Thanks Brad, nice video! Yeah, I can see how these psychological issues might indeed turn up and effect western teachers. I think though that the Christ problem isn't really a western issue, it's more of a human problem of putting people on pedestals. One sees the same syndrome in early -- pre-Christian -- Buddhism, where the earliest texts tended to include various human aspects of Gotama's behavior (having pains, getting sick and irritable, and so on), while later texts tended towards hagiography. The history of the Bodhisattva Ideal and Mahāyāna descriptions of the Buddha took that farther to the point where the Buddha became much like you describe Christ: someone who was more god than human. Then we have to face the question as to whether the Buddha ever really suffered (as some texts question) since suffering is a kind of imperfection. Viz., your own headaches. Influential humans tend to get deified by their followers. It's an unfortunate fact, but people seem to like to puff up their gurus, perhaps to their own apparent benefit but to the detriment of the greater movement. BTW I followed this video over from my friend Justin Whitaker's Patreon page where he highlighted it. Cheers!
Thanks. You're right. The earlier Buddhist texts made him seem more human than the later ones. Also, India has the guru tradition, which encourages folks to see their spiritual teachers as superhuman. So it's not just a Christian thing.
This very honest and a great vlog. I think it also applies to anyone caught up in trying to fulfill an image other people have about them...rock star...goody two shoes...academic....etc
The problem is some teachers have half the spokes missing from the Dharma Wheel. Those hand movements ...some call it, "Crouching Tiger Hidden Donut Tai Chi." ^^
If you don't project an image, you don't have to protect an image. When you present yourself to the public as a Guru or a Spiritual Master you are going to be held to a much higher standard. You can longer be human, fallible, or full of imperfections. Don't allow yourself to be placed in that position, unless you are capable of perfect conduct, especially with regard to the 5 precepts. Make it abundantly clear that you are not that, and refuse to be placed on a pedestal. Otherwise you will eventually be unmasked as a fraud, and you will be disgraced. Not being a guru, and not having to live up to every bodies expectations is very freeing. Try it, you might like it. (Smile)
Very interesting. Shinzen Young also in some interview talked about how he had to look out for the "danger" that comes when you are first an unsocial and unpopular person and suddenly you can seriously "get some" (in terms of women). What you speculated about unconscious pattern where someone might "want" to become revealed... I had thought about that myself! It seems to happen so often with so many similar cases! Genpo Roshi, Maezumi Roshi, Sasaki, Levine, that one guy from the book Leave your shoes at the door or whatever... so many cases.
It would explain a lot! And I know I have done it myself, that is I have tried to do things that would relieve me of the burden of being a public figure. I managed to see myself doing this in real time, though. I imagine a lot of folks don't see it at all.
By the way…I have had romantic and sexual interactions with people who, for various reasons - late bloomers, folks on the spectrum - were “bad at social skills”, and none of them went Mr. Hyde on me when I said no or otherwise put up boundaries. It’s not only not an excuse, it’s also not an explanation. Maybe that wasn’t your intention. But the emphasis on socialization, e.g. “not knowing what to do”, in light of several credible assault allegations as in Noah’s case, reads as apologetics. It also suggests that sexual assault is a “whoopsie-daisy!” thing that can happen for people who are “bad at social skills”, like people on the spectrum.
I dunno... Yes, people who have the teachings are certainly still human. And OF COURSE, there is pressure to live up to following the teachings. I don't know if there is a severity clause in Buddhism, but I know there isn't in Christianity (sin is a sin type thing) which I don't agree with and never have. I do remember hearing the story about a monk who was given the choice between drinking a bottle of booze or sleeping with a woman. He chose to drink the bottle thinking it was the less severe of the choices. Next day, he woke up to an empty bottle and a naked woman at his side. I think that was more of a parable to warn against the severity of taking intoxicants... BUT if we are told the way to enlightenment is through these particular actions and our own gurus don't follow them while they are teaching and leading people, they should step down. Lineage holders or not, I think that's rubbish. They may hold the teachings, but giving them the power (at least in Vajrayana) is pretty ridiculous. Levine doesn't follow the Vajrayana path, and though it's still devastating for his followers, it is not the same kind of guru power situation Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche or Sogyal Rinpoche were placed in. They abused practitioners, their power, and the Dharma for their own purpose. I don't care about making someone Christ-like, I care whether they understand their actions are hurting those who follow them - which is 100% against one of the very main tenets of Buddhism. If they cannot take their position, they should not be gurus. Lineage holders, sure. Gurus, no. But, of course, in the moment, when a worldview is skewed by the poisons of greed, anger, and confusion, all of this may not be seen. In short, I hope to find a guru or someone to learn from I know has taken these teachings to heart in their lives. Just like in Christianity and Catholicism, there are bad players. This is no different. But there are also very good players. The big thing is to really scrutinize a guru's intentions and methods prior to learning from or taking refuge in them.
Your videos are an extremely good metaphor for mediation. I often find myself drifting away from the conversation and looking at your book collection, and have to work on bringing my attention back to the conversation. This sounds like criticism but actually I think this is what makes your videos work so well. Thanks for continuing to deliver this content.
I ought to do a video just about my book collection. You're only seeing about 1/3 of that shelf. Plus I've got two other full size bookshelves. It's a disease, I tell you!
I really like your take on this. I believe it is actually good that peoples projections onto teachers are beeing crushed from time to time. When i read that buddha himself died from eating rotten meat that kind of killed my idealised, godlike image of him. Literally left a bad taste. When I read a page you wrote about how boring zen is, that made me really angry and confused. Who the hell is this Brad guy that talks bad about my new found supreme meditation style? My understanding now is that all teachers are simply expressions of buddhamind. They are limited and imperfect on the surface. What else could they be? Only buddhamind meets the "perfect" criteria. If there is any. Its so in your face, so incredibly close that we often dont see it (eventho its actually impossible not to see it). Instead we continue to focus on self-intensified and selected expressions of it like teachers, masters and holy men. All of them change and die tho. So, where is buddha now?
i think it also comes down to how people expect enlightenment to be actualized in the world. If you read the Buddhist sutras enlightenment is a really big deal and leads to a radical transformation of the personality. Therefore if someone claims to be enlightened then their behaviour should reflect what the sutras say about enlightenment. I think that these teachers probably had an enlightening experience but not enlightenment in the sense that the Buddha is said to have achieved. I mean I've had insights through meditation but I'm still pretty much the same person with all my flaws. I remember putting one of my teachers on a pedestal because I believed he had achieved what the sutras talk about and I asked him a question expecting this profoundly transcendent answer and he ended up giving me really shitty advice in retrospect. If enlightenment really is possible I don't see anyone today that is an actual living embodiment of what it means to be a realized being according to sutras like the Diamond Sutra, the Avatamsaka Sutra etc.
A lot of those old stories about famous masters of the past are highly idealized. I don't believe most of them. You can learn from those stories, I think. But when they talk about these masters that were the embodiment of perfection, I don't really believe that stuff.
Froomite, I think you got that twisted. Actualizing enlightenment has no followup of any kind. Yes, people might become nice, wise and glowy. These are just possible side effects however. Nothing about your personality has to change at all after, before or during. The person, as it already is, is simply seen. Do you think space cares if it is empty for light or darkness?
@@maxomnicast6010 I'm just talking about how enlightenment is talked about in the scriptures. Knowledge of past lives, clairvoyance, perfection of moral conduct etc.
Thank you for sharing your thoughtful perspective. This is a conversation we must have. We need to listen to each other. We also need to afford people, all the people involved, an opportunity to be heard. Some people are not looking for the dharma, but for a christ, a guru, a savior, and when they turn out to be human - wow! how the dharma goes right out the window, forgiveness practice flying out first.
Brad you mention the headaches, if you still have them, try microdosing with magic mushrooms if you can. The dosage found to be effective in dealing with such recurring and also extreme headaches, is, from what I've seen, so small that it has very little deleterious effect but, for some at least, has given near instant relief.
I agree that the intospection does tends to come with social skill depletion. But also for many a lot of intense long term meditators that I have met, this 'isolation' happened long before Dhamma practice began, ie family and school, being the 'odd' kid. This can lead to using meditation as a way to 'justify' themselves rather than transcending their inability to interact fluidly with others. The danger is that they may be unaware that they are just wearing a mask, being 'phoney holy'.
As a person who has issues with fluid interaction and social skills due to ADHD, (as well as being the odd kid and loner), meditation and mindfulness are helpful in improving. Being attentive and focused on the moment by and large improves your social skills and makes you more pleasant to be around. I find it hard to fathom that a person with poor social skills, who probably already prefers being alone, would get worse from meditation. Levine's issue is likely not poor social skills but another, much more dangerous issue, antisocial personality disorder. In other words, he was likely using Buddhism as a means to scam people and gain personal power, and he's doing so knowingly.
that's why it's better to be a rock star or pop star or whatever - which is in this category of hedonistic way of living... then everyone is surprised when You are talking something wise, you are helping others and you are generally a nice person... :D the problem with religion will be always the problem of extreme authority... this authority comes "not from this world" and it allows master or priests to do almost anything with people which believe in some philosophical system and illusory hierarchy... "killing the buddha" should be giving up this authority on the first place... but it's a complex cultural phenomena... it's inscribed deep into the culture - that there are some better people. there is no but we will not remove this in a few years... there will be many victims of this social structure until people will realize that there is no absolutely morally correct teachers, or always truthful people... web is one of the most important tools for us to realize this...
TR 0: Confronting [ Sit with eyes open for hours, not moving or twitching, "confronting" coach. For the two TR 0 drills, some hours without any reaction is a pass, 2 hrs recommended. ] FLUNK! Body Movement. Start. FLUNK! Talking. Start. FLUNK! Eye movement. Start. FLUNK! Non-confront. Start. FLUNK! Not in Present Time. Start.
The jesus figure point was so interesting. It reminds me of how sometimes I think I get viewed by others because I’m apparently more mild mannered than usual or something. It does create a lot of pressure on people, no doubt. I guess sometimes we even start to see ourselves as christ figures, but never admit to it, for fear of sounding egotistical 😛 Nice video Brad, keep up the good work ! 😊
This vid reminds me of the story of the master who told one of his monks to clean up the yard. The monk did his very best three times, and in the end the yard was pristine, but the master wasn't happy. So the monk asked the master what to do? The master went over to a tree and shook it so some leaves feel on the pristine grass, and said, now that's better.
I think relative perfection in social understanding is only necessary if you need to be an official person or a preacher. This might be the only reason to justify people's expectations. If you do not have such a burden, I think it's better just to live naturally. The fact that people accuse you of imperfections speaks only of how people's minds work in a similar way. If you are not master Rinzai to show them their place in old fasion way, then it's enough just to deal with your own mind, I think.
I like story about one monastery cook, who became abbot. He showed his understanding and got caught. As another teacher commented: "he changed easy work to difficult one, poor guy".
Oh come on. Most people have been acquiring "people skills" since starting school, and by the end of college are able to negotiate with ok social skills. How about being super intense on meditation attracts more nerds (I say that as a person who meditates a lot.) Also, this happens in Christian religions also. I was just reading an article about a man who broke away from the Catholic Church after Vatican II, declaring himself "pope." Tons of people followed him, and he ended up being raided by police due to drugs, molesting young people, and embezzlement. The people who followed him said, "we don't care what he does, he tells us the TRUTH." It sounded so Buddhist-- "awakening doesn't change the personality yada yada yada." How about examining how sexism works in religious communities Brad????
I just found your channel as I was looking for things around this Noah Levine debarcle.I look forward to checking out more of your content as I enjoyed this.I think what you were referring to was spiritual bypassing as it is commonly referred to when a person has failed to address their emotional and psychological issues/wounds or healing and has instead passed onto certain spiritual phenomena or truths, failing to address certain other basic developmental phases such as social or sexual development lets say.I have seen one interview with Noah Levine and I cannot see how a man who is supposed to have been as conscious or aware as him could have not read signals that showed consent was not really being given or that the women involved were not OK with what he was doing.I just do not buy what he is saying about how he did not realise he was overstepping consensual boundaries.I think the issue is not so much to do with Buddhism but with power relations maybe within these organisations or communities.It all sounds very suspect when he talks about how he was basically being scapegoated by other community members who saw it as a opportunity to discredit him in some way.I agree with your analysis in that this celebritisation of spiritual teachers is problematic.I think Noah Levine appealed to this "rock god" kind of status and probably even cultivated this,just like certain musicians pick up a guitar and join a band to get laid,I reckon Noah may have done a similar thing with Buddhism,maybe not at first but when he started getting "famous".Oh well,I just hope Jack Kornfield doesn't become another fallen hero because he was my first spiritual teacher if you like, though his books.Please Jack,don't f it up!!
But Vajrayana Buddhism requires you see the guru, especially your own root guru, as the perfect buddha. And that if you don't like something, or question or doubt him there is some impediment within you yourself.
1) Definitely more hands. The more the merrier. 2) Like your take and generally agree with it. Isn't it also a symptom of the dumbing down of the planet and the rise of the cult of celebrity?
Maybe. I think celebrity spiritual teachers are always a little less spiritual and a little more celebrity. The bigger you get, the less authentic you can be. It might be impossible to balance both. This is why, whenever someone tells me, "I want to study with you, Brad!" I tell them to look for someone else. They're much more likely to find a better teacher who is completely unknown.
Hey brad, what's the relationship between "enlightenment" and these scandalous behaviors. Because some people would denounce Soto altogether based on these scandals. For instance, hypothetically speaking, how would you feel if you found out one of your teachers was abusing their position of power? It would probably make you question alot of things, because your insights in zazen are probably quite relatable to your teachers insights. Does "enlightenment" have an effect on morals? Did Suzuki find enlightenment? Or is that just the problem with how people see "enlightenment", that it's supposed to be some ideal state that makes you an ideal person?
I'm not sure what you mean when you say people might "denounce Soto altogether." The Soto school of Zen Buddhism hasn't had a whole lot of scandals that I'm aware of. There was Richard Baker who had an affair with his friend's wife and may have played favorites when allocating money from the San Francisco Zen Center (see the book Shoes Outside the Door for details). There have been scandals in the Maezumi lineage, although whether they can properly be called "Soto" is debatable. If one of my teachers was abusing his position of power I'd be upset. I'd also be confused since neither of them really exercised much that could be called "power." But maybe that's why it never got abusive. As far as whether "enlightenment" affects morals, it depends what you mean by "enlightenment." The phenomenon that often gets called an "enlightenment experience" won't necessarily affect anyone's morals any more than a really good acid trip would affect anyone's morals. On the other hand, you could call someone who has established a firm grounding in ethics an "enlightened" person. I have no idea if Suzuki (which one, it's a very common name, like Smith or Jones) found enlightenment. Ideal states and ideal persons are impossible.
I actually used to get headaches like that many years ago. I started going to a chiropractor and cut dairy out of my diet. I have worked on my own health in many ways.
Thank you, Brad! Warning people about the problems of teachers, pupils and possible problems by their relationship is important! There is a video of a 2008 talk by Buddist Nun Robina Courtin on the Google campus. It's called 'How to be your own teacher.' Audience question 32:34 "What do you think are some good gateway to learn more about Tibetan Buddhism here in the Bay Area?" Mrs Courtin answer is longer. It contains these sentences (and that was before all the scandals!): 33:23 "Be very careful. Do your due diligence checkup because a lot of wackos around. You know like you do your due diligence when it comes to even just anything. Definitely do it with the spiritual practice. Go down do your research, check things up, listen carefully they say, check the teachers, check the steps, use your intelligence, use your common sense and it'll unfold." ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-nasIq4E9nNg.html
Maybe I've been sitting on pillows in the dark too long or not long enough or just haven;t been paying attention but I don't think I've ever heard the sexual license thing discussed in this way before. It makes sense. It's good cause it leaves room. So much of the talk of these things is meant to corner and bludgeon any alternative or even The christotypology argument and why teachers go wrong is good too. It's a good example of how ideology damages lives. It also makes me think of the case of the "Buddha Boy" from a few years back. He freaked out when he was disturbed during one his astounding long meditations. I think he actually slapped somebody and berated others. He didn't want to be disturbed. People thought his practice, if you can call it that, had something to do with them. I was shocked. Wasn't he a buddhist? Ha! I thought finally that just because he's a good meditator doesn't make him anything other than that and if he's not teaching then even if he's has attained some interesting state of even awakened what does it mean? Who is he and why should I be shocked or disappointed if he does something untoward? It actually helped me become clearer. I like the Psychedelic Furs lyric from Into You Like A Train: ~ If you believe that anyone, like me within a song, is outside it all then you are all so wrong. If you believe that anyone, like me within a song, would try and change it all then you have been put on ~ Imagine that. The dharma of Richard Butler? Maybe it's not right thinking. I spent a lot of my youth clinging to heroes or making heroes of those I clung to for other reasons. To me it's about untangling the yarn. That's just a matter of time and effort. It isn't even that complicated. It's straight forward. Why do we look for transcendants anyway when a good mechanic is what's needed?
I agree with a lot of what you said. And an explanation dismissed as an excuse is a Hallmark of 2 kinds of minds....either immature, or otherwise from explicitly hypocritical ones. I say this as I have observed this since childhood. Attention..is like alcohol. Give it to a jerk or a saint....given enough (as each may have a varying threshold and capacity) alcohol will take effect. And when it does...the changes in behavior one can observe from the outside are so universal you can safely predict the outcomes and types of outcomes. No one is immune to the effect of alcohol. Alcohol does not become milk inside of a body of an important or revered person. But the monumental hysterical stupidity of society at large about this is funny, not amusing. I think a lot is said about how teachers stray..not enough is said about many so called victims luring them for years..into a culture of permissing that kind of conduct and letting them get away with it. Some victims are genuine and get my fierce protection and advocacy... primarily kids , esp non-teenage kids. Rest...I won't summarily assume every alleged victim is a victim of blameless for the whole drama that kept going. I keep silent...because in my mind I do not buy into (nor I think anyone honestly does) every woman is a victim blah blah. It's just crap. A lot of people keep giving attention to a degree not needed by anyone....go cling to them and fawn on them and claim to be in a "relationship" for very long until it stops being one and they start being the exploited victim. Today because of the suffocating landscape of leftist liberal hypocrisy also known as Political correctness...people may find it harmful to state the truth they think and feel..but make no mistake everyone knows, thinks and feels their own version of the truth which is never the "collectivist" version of it. Go to a teacher for the teaching they can help u understand..but when u start treating the teacher as some divine being whose every action is above scrutiny....shame on you for being a fool.
To be fair, reading about Noah Levine's extreme childhood behavior, him having some degree of antisocial personality disorder or psychopathy would not be at all surprising, perhaps an unfortunate result of being the child of two drug addicts. It can be very dangerous to give such people positions of power. It's sad to have to judge people based on this, but the negative repercussions of leadership with this type of mental illness are everywhere and damage practically every institution and religion.
@@HardcoreZen Yeah, Levine's parents were both drug addicts at one point, per interviews with him. All the sources are on Noah Levine's wikipedia article. I tried linking them previously but my post kept getting deleted.
Yeah about this waving the arms around. Scientologist refer to that kind of stuff is social tricks. In fact some of their TR drills one of them is actually doing zazen . A little bit jabber to be just still Wow, confronting another human being looking at them when you're talking to them. Most people start flipping out all over the place.
Why is it that I'm willing to debate with so called buddhist on the Internet but they won't mind you I'm asking them a million pounds to do it now you may ask that is a unbelievable amount of money but to me it's not I'm pissed off with these con artists sitting on there chairs wearing the finest robes and telling everyone life is suffering when they haven't done a day's work in their life
Not judging, but maybe when you have an expectation of standards, if there is a mutually consenting break of those standards someone has to blame the other to save face. Sense of approval sucks.
Lack of accountability, too much power, ego, its a well worn trope. Same thing happens in other faiths, in politics, in business, in entertainment etc etc. There is nothing new under the sun.
Your comment about the Jesus image is true. But I would extend beyond the Christian faith. Human beings want to believe in a leader. Just consider the number of cults (such as Manson and Jim Jones) that have ended in deaths. Why would a grown man cut off his genitals at the request of a someone like David Koresh and let him father the children? Many of these cult followers are educated. Then there are the Jihadist who are willing to die for a leader. It is a flaw in human nature to believe the truth is out there (a little joke at the expense of the X-Files) We know we are part of everything in the universe so one might say *out there.* But rather than looking inward these people have chosen to look to someone else. All of us, even good teachers, are just human. I hope this makes sense.
Yeah... And in India there's a lot of guru worship that's unconnected with Christianity. That notion of the teacher as the living embodiment of God just invites abuse.
I had to laugh when you tried to explain that Jesus wasn't as perfect as Christians make him out to be because the 20th century Protestant theologian Paul Tillich addressed this same thing. He even mentions in one of his books that Jesus probably accidentally spilled his drink all over the dinner table as a child.
I am pro-arm waving. I wish you didn't have to qualify your explanations as being explanations and not excuses so much, but that's the world we live in. There will always be people who want to get outraged and who have zero interest in understanding 'why' these things happen (which is critical if we want to actually fix the problem). I think your thoughts on this are solid. We may never know for sure why these things happen but it's important for us to try to understand why so we can prevent it as much as possible. Good video, Brad! Thank you :)
Thanks! I wish I didn't have to keep saying that too. But I've had some experiences where people think any time you try to explain why something happens, that means you're condoning it.
noah's father stephen was very strongly influenced by Neem Karoli Baba (Maharaj-ji) who was a mixed bag shall we say, but now i think about it, noah operated more like a hindu guru than anything else and honestly whether its buddhist or hindu nonsense doesn't matter, its about about the social control techniques that come with hinduism hinduism is more personal and suave with sex and money always simmering below the surface, zen social control is outright fascism past stupidity, noah seems to have straddled the two systems in a form that doesn't work brad is an apologist for social control systems that always excise him , he never seems to get that does he ?
i think its symptom of depression to always expect to be be badly treated and be uncomfortable when you are not that's what i picked up when you were at tassajara, you were about the only zen teacher they ever had who had any sort of real understanding of zen and yet they treated you like the usual moron to have their life bled for manual labour and their financial bottom line
If you are truly meditating and gaining insights, you will know not to rape. Social awkwardness is everywhere. Not a good arguement. Being free of the original structure as you call it, is irreverent. This is pathetic and lame.
I have little respect for Noah Levine as he chooses to eat meat despite being aware of the cruelty that this condones. I have met a few of these spiritual teachers and have found the whole celebrity!groupie dynamic pretty sickening, which led to me moving away from Buddhism.
