A telling remark in the Conversations is His Holiness' comment that there are two kinds of disciples attached to the ashram. One kind stays in the ashram and works there day to day, while the other goes away to live a householder's life, coming back occasionally - maybe every three months - to listen to discourses, ask questions, and so on. There is no preference for either kind, and the impression one gets is that the reason that there are two different forms of disciplehood is because they each suit different kinds of people.
There's no need to speculate further on what that might mean, but it's worth noting that our single system practice did not come from His Holiness.
With us, either a student is "in" or "out", and there is no latitude for coming and going, as in the Indian model. We seem to have followed the Gurdjieff-Ouspensky schools, which so far as I know demand strict attendance. Can it be that Indians are different from us, that they are more disciplined people? I'd suggest this is wrong. We're all from the same stock, and Shantananda said to us that we could come to see him whenever we pleased. He set no timetable.
Should we persist in regarding a practice as sacrosanct, merely because it has been done in the past? No, we have to judge whether it is a wise practice, especially when it does not fully accord with the ancient time-honoured traditions. This might be an apposite moment to quote Ralph Waldo Emerson's most famous line, from Self-Reliance:
A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Different Disciples
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
This is an interesting point. An experimental group has been set up here for ex-students who don't wish to commit to regular attendance at any school activities, but wish to have some contact. It's a Friday evening meditation group, held at the school. "Staffed" by a tutor and group assistant, the group meets, pauses, hears some (brief) material, meditates together, then takes refreshments together.
It's going pretty well thus far, for what it is. "The discipline" could do with some frank and open discussion, I think, especially as it relates to (plainly expected) time sacrifices to prove devotion.
I put this point to Mr Lambie recently and he didn't dismiss it. There is a plan to hold a party at Waterperry next year for former members of the School who put in the years, which is probably a good first step.
Interestingly, there is an experimental Part 1 group that uses no material - it's "philosophy of lived experience".
Post a Comment