The Collected Works of Chögyam Trungpa Collected Works: Volume Two (89 page)

Consciousness solidifies ego’s belief in the separateness of self and projections. This quality of separation could be seen as a wall. The wall is, of course, illusory. The problem is that we don’t see that, but we believe the wall is real and begin to react to our own projections. The direction of the reaction always seems to be toward the survival of the personal ego or the solidification of the wall of ignorance from imaginary to real. As the wall becomes more solid, we begin to feel imprisoned by it because there is no possibility of ventilation. The air within the prison of our ego becomes very stuffy. It is too much our own and has lost the freshness of the original open dance. It becomes extremely painful just being ourselves. We begin to struggle to break out of the scheme we have created, but in doing so only further entrap ourselves.

This whole problem develops out of our forgetting the fact that we made the wall in the first place. While the wall seems solid, it is never totally so because we simply cannot maintain the wall at all times. There are always gaps in it. If we could give up the struggle and look plainly at the wall, we could see its gaps, allowing us an appreciation of the open quality of the actual situation. There is joy in the energy of the wall itself.

T
HE
F
IVE
B
UDDHA
F
AMILIES

This joy is seeing the spaciousness of energy. To understand this, we must first describe energy in more detail. Energy falls into five general patterns called buddha families. Various combinations of these families constitute all of existence. Each family is a particular form of the primordial intelligence that is the basis for confusion that can be transformed into wisdom. We can find examples of these energies everywhere. They are associated with colors, elements, landscapes, seasons, and personality types. Each personality type has a sane and a neurotic way of manifesting. The neurotic manifestation is connected with the distortion of space, which we discussed in the description of the five skandhas. The buddha families are named buddha, ratna, padma, karma, and vajra.

1. Buddha

Buddha family is associated with the elements of basic space, the ground which sustains all things. The symbol of the family is the wheel. It is self-contained, not motivated to relate with things outside itself. It is limited space considering itself to be ultimate. But there are gaps in this smug situation just as there are gaps in the ego. Ignoring these gaps is similar to ignoring the gaps in the ego, which is the basis for the first skandha. This quality of ignorance in the buddha family is the basis for the confused aspect of the other four families, just as the ignorance of the first skandha pervades the last four.

There is inherent in this situation the flicker of doubt that can activate the intelligence in the buddha family by sensing the gaps and realizing the transparency of the limited viewpoint. Thus there can be a sense of existence but with an attitude of spaciousness rather than selfishness. This is the wisdom of the Buddha, which is the basis for the realization of wisdom in all the other families. It is called the wisdom of all-encompassing space.

2. Ratna

Padma and ratna families are associated with passion or the idea of attraction. Ratna is the sense of indulging yourself in those attractions. The symbol for ratna is the jewel. Ratna is associated with the element earth and a sense of solidity. This is not only physical solidity but a quality of peace. Whatever happens to earth, it remains basically the same. Whatever ratna indulges in is accepted equally without any idea of rejection. It is very generous and secure. But when the element of ignorance is present, there is the sense
of feeling
secure rather than
being
secure. This leads to pride in that security, but because of this pride there is a feeling that the security is not complete. Whatever one has, one needs more. This is the confused aspect of ratna, which is pride. Without the element of striving to become secure, this energy is transmuted into the wisdom of equanimity. There is the original security but no fear of its loss. Everything is open and free. Ratna relates to the second skandha, feeling.

3. Padma

Padma is associated with the element fire. The symbol is the lotus. It has a very seductive quality which draws things to itself. When the quality of ignorance is present, the state of
being
united is ignored, and there is a striving toward
becoming
united. In this way, passion is self-defeating. When the energy of padma is transmuted, striving is unnecessary because there is appreciation of the existence of union. This realization is the appreciation of individuality rather than its loss and is thus the working ground for real communication. This occurs through the precise seeing of “this” and “that” without the purpose of self-maintenance. Thus the transmuted energy of padma is called the wisdom of discriminating awareness. The padma family corresponds to the third skandha, perception-impulse.

4. Karma

Karma family is associated with aggression. In this case, there is not only knowing clearly, but also a desire to execute that knowledge. The symbol for karma is the sword.

Karma is associated with the element wind. Wind has the quality of naturally being active, blowing, and always only in one direction at a time. But when this natural quality is ignored, then effort seems to be required in the blowing. Once there is effort in action, there always seems to be more to do. A person not only seems unable to accomplish all he wants, but others are found to accomplish more. Thus envy develops, and in its full state, the confused aspect of karma is a sense of extreme paranoia that one will never be able to act in any way.

In the transmuted aspect of karma, there is a sense of action, but no paranoia about its accomplishment. Thus the action is like wind, which naturally blows and touches everything in its path. It always takes the appropriate course. This is the wisdom of all-accomplishing action. Karma is associated with the fourth skandha, concept.

5. Vajra

Vajra is also associated with aggression. This is a type of aggression that holds things at a distance or repels them. The result of this is freedom from emotional involvement, allowing nothing to interfere with the appraisal of the situation. Everything is seen very clearly and precisely. The symbol is the thunderbolt or scepter. Vajra is associated with the element water. Water is clear and impartial. It relates fully with the texture of a situation. But if the seeing is ignored, and there is a striving to see, then water can become turbulent, rushing currents. This confused aspect of vajra is anger. The transmuted energy is like the clear, luminous nature of water. This is called mirrorlike wisdom. Vajra corresponds to the fifth skandha, consciousness.

The five neurotic manifestations of the five buddha families relate to the three psychosomatic diseases of Tibetan medicine: the diseases of passion, aggression, and ignorance. The Buddha neurosis is associated with ignorance disease which, in a way, is the basic problem or source of the other four styles of neurosis. Ignorance disease affects the internal organs, glands, and nervous system on the physical level. Padma and ratna are associated with passion disease and psychologically with the activity of seduction. There are physical symptoms of insomnia, dizziness, and circulatory problems. Vajra and karma are associated with aggression disease, which may produce symptoms of nervousness, ringing in the ears, kidney problems, lack of appetite, headaches, or general body aches.

S
PACE
T
HERAPY

Each of these neurotic styles presents a different way of relating to space, which influences how one relates to a situation. The object of the space therapy we have developed is to increase the energy of a person’s neurosis by having a patient lie in a posture particular to his diagnosed neurotic style. The patient is asked to lie in this posture in a room designed to reflect the traits of the buddha family involved. For example, a person with a vajra neurosis is asked to lie in the vajra posture in a vajra room. The patient must remain in the room for two forty-five-minute periods each day, with a short break between periods, together with one of the staff. The result is an increase of energy which makes the neurosis more direct and easier to work with.

For example, the style of a vajra person in his relationship to space is that he wants to see everything, take in all the details. In the vajra posture, the patient lies on his stomach on the floor with the legs together and arms out at right angles to the body, palms pressed against the floor slightly, and the head turned to the side. The position tends to precipitate the basic vajra neurosis because the patient is down on the ground and his vision is very limited. The desire to be in touch with everything visually is denied by this particular physical situation. Everything you would like to see is behind you or above you where you cannot see it. The tendency of a vajra type to fragment space is accentuated by placing many small windows randomly in the room. At first this situation might seem extremely irritating or threatening to the patient, precisely because he feels threatened by his own style of relating to space.

The difference between a person whose neurosis has caused him to become dysfunctional and an ordinary person who may be neurotic but still functional is exactly this threatening quality of his own style. As the therapy continues, the patient’s relationship to space in the therapy room becomes less threatening; he can become familiar with it. This corresponds to a change in attitude to his neurosis. Thus the goal of space therapy is not a cure in the sense of a change from a preconceived notion of “unhealthy” to one of “healthy” but rather for the patient to see even his own style as workable, just as it is.

The Maitri program consists of relating to daily domestic situations in a communal environment and using the technique of space therapy. The communal environment, with a minimal hierarchical structure, cuts through the conventional role-playing of a traditional therapeutic situation. Everyone is equally responsible for the work of the community. The demands of this simple domestic situation provide an organic discipline that cannot easily be evaded. Constant reminders from the community environment and from each community member point out the necessity of mutual responsibility. Along with this sense of discipline, there is an emphasis on friendliness toward oneself. The daily routine of communal living provides a background for relating to neurosis directly, through space therapy.

Although the background of Maitri is Buddhist and the staff members are each involved in meditation practice under my guidance, Maitri is nondoctrinal in the sense that the patient is not expected or encouraged to assume a Buddhist point of view. Nor is he specifically given instruction in Buddhist psychology or the theory of space therapy. In this way, the relation with the postures and rooms is direct, not mediated by any preconceptions. We would like to discourage a dependency on the community. So when he has finished his course of training, the patient is asked to leave as soon as it seems possible for him to make independent decisions concerning his life and to function in a regular environment.

Our situation at Maitri is a unique one and, at this stage, somewhat experimental. In the history of Buddhist countries, there is no record of an equivalent to a Buddhist mental hospital. Though the first hospitals of the world had a Buddhist origin under the reign of King Ashoka in India, they were limited mainly to physical diseases. Perhaps because of the very low incidence of advanced psychosis and schizophrenia in Buddhist countries in the Orient, applications of Buddhist psychology have been limited to the scholastic study, meditation practice, and other disciplines of Buddhist monasteries. Maitri, then, is a very recent meeting point of Tibetan Buddhism and American clinical psychology.

A great deal of credit should be given here to the late Suzuki Roshi for the inspiration for a Buddhist community working with American neurosis. It was during a meeting I had with him in May 1971, at Zen Center in San Francisco, that he expressed the need he saw for this type of situation. It was a point of immediate agreement between us that we should try to develop a therapeutic community—a joint effort of our two schools of Buddhism. Suzuki Roshi’s death in December of 1971 prevented his participation in the actual work of Maitri as it exists now near Elizabethtown, New York, but he retains an important place in Maitri’s development.

Relating with Death

I
WAS BROUGHT UP
to be able to relate with people in terms of death. Since I was about nine or ten years of age, I was constantly confronted with people dying, or just about to die, or already dead. This would take place constantly, something like five or six times a week. In Tibet there is such a living quality of body and of death happening constantly that people in that culture don’t find it particularly irritating or difficult. But we in the West find it extremely difficult to relate with experience in terms of death.

It seems necessary that unless a person is in a coma or an uncommunicative situation, he or she should be told they are dying. We should let it be known that that person is actually dying. Husbands or wives may not be willing to take such a step as to tell their spouse they are dying, but if you are a friend or if you are a husband or a wife, this is your greatest opportunity to really communicate your trust. At least someone is not at all playing the game of hypocrisy, trying purely to please them. Such hypocrisy has happened throughout all of life, all the time: saying you’re good; you are beautiful; you are thin if you are fat; if you are poor you are okay, you are relatively rich; whatever. But this comes as the ultimate truth. From this point of view, if someone is going to die, tell them. It is really a delightful situation that if someone really cares for you, they are not going to tell you a lie in order purely to please you or to relate with you in a harmless way. You are willing to be a harmful person even if the person is going to react against it. Such fundamental trust is extremely beautiful. And I think we should generalize that principle: if anyone is approaching death, relate with them that they are going to die, that they are just about to die. And at the same time, telling them so is nothing very much exactly, nothing very much.