Rushing Ahead
In Tibetan Buddhism it is often said that intellectual understanding of the teachings is “like a patch that soon falls off,” and that meditation experiences are “like smoke” that disperses—only true realization is lasting. Alan Wallace’s article “Within You Without You” (Winter 2009) makes it clear why such realization may be rare among Westerners. Western students of the dharma are naturally anxious to attempt the highest, most advance practices as soon as possible—sometimes from the very start. It is a cultural imperative that we “go for the gold.” In that regard, I have often heard Asian teachers of Buddhism comment that many of their Western students gloss over the preliminaries.
But despite the existence of an abundance of scriptural evidence—from which Wallace supports his assertion—we are rarely warned that without achieving shamatha we may be condemned to practice that is either patchy or as fleeting as smoke. This is a critically important issue that has not been addressed adequately in contemporary Buddhism in the West. I hope that teachers of dharma will comment on Wallace’s hypothesis.
Brian Hodel, Rio de Janeiro
