[Buddha-l] crazy wisdom

[Stuart Lachs]

Lance wrote:
> For the record, I recall Trungpa in the latter part of the 60s,
> referring to a teacher who had used alcohol successfully, although
> his chief pupil (using the same method) went mad. This was in
> response to a question about drugs and meditation.

Trungpa may have used alcohol successfully in the '60s, but I believe in the
'80s he crashed his car into  a telephone pole  while driving drunk at high
speed and never really recovered. There is also the well-known  "Naropa
poetry war" that took place at their Boulder Center during Shambala
training. The well known poet W.S. Merwin and his girlfriend, refused
Trungpa'a invitation to join a drunken party by barracading themsleves in
their room.
When Trungpa's guards finally broke in, Merwin cut one guard in the face
with a broken bottle.  Trungpa being quite drunk had Merwin's Japanese
girlfriend forcibly dragged down from their room and  stripped by his
"guards" before a large crowd. Trungpa came on to her using racial language
to try and separate her from Merwin. There is a pamphlet describing the
affair.

I think one should also consider Trungpa's choice of heir and what he taught
or transmitted to him. His heir to the throne, Osel Tendzin, a guy from New
Jersey, took what I assume, Trungpa had transmitted to him, at face value.
Tendzin acted like spoiled entitled royalty complete with servants and
unreasonable demands.  Tendzin knew he had AIDS, but continued to have
unprotected sex with both male and female students. I believe at least one
person became infected with AIDS from this. When later questioned about
this, Tendzin replied that he thought the dakinis would protect people.

Traditions stressing wisdom like some forms of Tibetan Budd. and Chan/ Zen
talk of "crazy wisdom." It is however, a large hole through which just about
anything can pass.  It certainly should be viewed with extreme caution. For
example, what an outsider might call self serving or just plain crazy,
adoring students often dub as "crazy wisdom." There is a long history of
this in American Buddhism.

Stuart


> Lance Cousins
>
>
> >I have a question for anyone familiar with Tibetan Buddhism.  Was
> >Trungpa's "Crazy Wisdom" dharma his own invention?  Clearly one
> >could look to the Marpa/Milarepa relationship and say, in a vague
> >way, that there is a precededent for unorthodox teaching methods.
> >But in terms of drinking and smoking and having vajra guards? I'm
> >not asking "Did it happen?" but rather, "Is such 'Crazy Wisdom', as
> >some of Trungpa's students will claim, a respected/recognized
> >tradition? Whether or not such methods were skillful is another
> >matter, but I'm hoping to have a better sense of whether or not the
> >"lineage" was, as I suspect, invented to suit 1970s Americans.
> >
> >Ditto Shambala Training.
> >
> >All best,  John Whalen-Bridge
>
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