Good Cop, Bad Cop

 

The enemy of spiritual awakening is duality.  First of all, the idea that here I am and out there is everything else, is a mind trick.  I am rereading Chögyam Trungpa’s “Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism”.  The book deals a lot with suchness vis-à-vis ego,  the misconception of seeking the self as a form of personal enrichment rather than finding reality as it is, through honest compassion.  In my understanding of the mixture of Zen and philosophy and neuroscience, there can be no duality of mind, for the simple reason that we only have one brain.  The idea that the self has control over itself is in itself, rather dicey.

Q:  Who’s in  control            A:  Me

Q:  Who am I controlling      A:  Me

This is where the compassion comes in.  Is the good part of you correcting your bad habits?  The good guy in you and the bad guy in you are the same guy, that one person who is me.  Compassion is acceptance and with that acceptance comes a better understanding of … everything.