I don’t want to grow up

After listening to the roast of Brad Warner, I didn’t see the ‘intervention’ as dramatic as the rest of the blogosphere made it out to be, but then again, I wasn’t there.

I must say though that I was more critical of the questioning of Brad being in a state ‘perpetual adolescence’ as this seemed a bit wonky to me as it seemed to be a projection that many try to put on spiritual teachers (or spiritual practitioners in general) that need to transcend the world of ‘frivolity’ and have an aura of seriousness around them. Perhaps because spiritual teachers are more likable when they’re not displaying their inherent goofballness and when they are similar to our more traditional Western-style schoolmarms? Perhaps they need to be less human than us who are stumbling along the journey without the blessings of our lineage masters. Meh. Who are we to point fingers?

I was just reading a bit of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche’s recent book,  “Work, Sex, Money” in preparation for an upcoming review of it for this blog and was struck by this passage that I wanted to share.

When a person’s behavior is based on expressing something genuine and human, there is always dignity involved. It doesn’t matter what you are doing, even if the activity is sleeping or defecating.

You don’t have to conceal your frivolousness and pretend it’s not there. First there’s the act of being frivolous. Then a sudden awareness, a double take about being frivolous brings you back to seriousness. Then that leads to developing the real, ultimate sense of humour.

The alternative of trying to rule out frivolousness altogether could lead to a very static attitude - like very orthodox parents who don’t allow their children to enjoy themselves or play at all… frivolousness could also be purely an expression of enjoyment or spontaneity…frivolousness can ignite a sudden understanding of the situation, and that could lead to a sense of humor.”

 

and 20 years later - the song stays the same…