The "fetters" include things like anger and sensual desire. In other words, the belief is that you won't get angry, horny, or even hungry if you get enlightened enough. 2/
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A useful heuristic for evaluating the competence of your Buddhist teacher is how literally he interprets the "ten fetters" model, and how much he clings to the hope that he will eradicate the fetters, or the belief that he already has. 1/
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Does that sound unlikely to you? That's because it is. The ten fetters model is not grounded in observable reality. It's based on an overly literal interpretation of ancient Buddhist texts, aka fundamentalism. 3/
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If a teacher is talking about the ten fetters with a straight face, he may be useful as an inspiration or a religious leader, but he will not be effective in helping you with your own practice. 4/
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You, like everyone else who has ever walked upon the Earth, will fail to eradicate your anger and desire. If you want to wake up, avoid teachers who believe (or profess to believe) things that aren't true. 5/
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If you want to know what's true, look around you and see what you see. Then look within you and see what you see. 6/
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I've used the masculine pronoun "he" throughout this thread because I've never met a woman who took the "ten fetters" model literally. That particular flavor of blindered fundamentalism seems unique to men. 7/
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It's important to understand that religious figures will always be more popular than teachers who are grounded in observable reality. That's not a bad thing in and of itself... 8/
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...but you'll want to be aware of it so you can avoid the mistake of thinking someone is an effective teacher because they have a lot of students, or because they can serve as an inspiration. 9/
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10/ This next thread further explains why no one is served when teachers seduce themselves:https://twitter.com/KennethFolk/status/982899504272826368 …
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You’re just making excuses for your own failures as a yogi, Kenneth.
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And, for anyone not familiar, I’m teasing Kenneth here. I think he’s 100 percent correct.
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this passage has always been my guide.
#hardcoredharma “And when the shadow fades and is no more, the light that lingers becomes a shadow to another light. And thus your freedom when it loses its fetters becomes itself the fetter of a greater freedom.” http://www.katsandogz.com/onfreedom.htmlThanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. UndoUndo
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spot on.
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Right On! Much traditional nonsense comes from having been clueless about the genetic code and its behavioral adaptations from natural selection. If you are in a DNA body, which humans and other animals are, such reflexive stimuli are not going away.
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