Alan Watts: The Secret of the Golden Flower [CONSCIOUSNESS]

Summary

The transcript discusses Carl Jung's commentary on the adoption of Eastern spiritual practices by Westerners, particularly yoga. It critiques Jung's historical theory, influenced by 19th-century Darwinism, which posits a linear progression of human consciousness. The speaker argues that while Eastern disciplines like yoga and Vedanta were designed to liberate individuals from 'social hypnosis' and cultural constructs, Westerners often adopt these practices without understanding their liberating intent. Instead, they embrace the very illusions these practices aim to dispel, such as reincarnation and karma. The summary also touches on the esoteric nature of these Eastern disciplines and the traps set by masters to guide students towards true liberation, which involves seeing through societal constructs and the fundamental unity of opposites.

Takeaways

• 📚 Carl Jung's commentary on 'The Secret of the Golden Flower' discusses the potential dangers of Westerners adopting Eastern spiritual practices like yoga.
• 🧘 Jung suggests that yoga might be unsuitable for Westerners because it is a discipline designed for a much older and more spiritually advanced culture.
• 🤔 The speaker disagrees with Jung's reasons for discouraging yoga, arguing that Jung's historical theory is outdated and rooted in 19th-century Darwinism.
• 🌏 The speaker emphasizes the importance of cultural context, noting that what works for one culture may not be suitable for another, like taking medicine without a prescription.
• 🔄 The concept of 'social hypnosis' is introduced, which refers to the rules and beliefs that hold a society together, akin to the rules of a game.
• 🪄 Eastern disciplines like Buddhism and Daoism are seen as ways to liberate individuals from the confines of 'social hypnosis' and the cultural constructs of their society.
• 🔮 The speaker points out the irony of Westerners adopting Eastern spiritual practices and simultaneously embracing the very cultural constructs (like reincarnation and karma) that these practices aim to transcend.
• 🕉 The esoteric nature of Eastern disciplines is highlighted, with masters using traps and skillful means to guide students towards true liberation, which involves seeing through societal illusions.
• 🌐 The fundamental unity of opposites, such as yin and yang, is discussed, suggesting that societal rules often obscure the underlying interconnectedness of these seemingly opposing principles.
• 🌟 The ultimate goal of spiritual liberation in Eastern traditions is described as the realization of the illusory nature of the ego and the cosmic game of life, leading to a state of being unmotivated by fear, competition, or the need for external validation.

Q & A

What is the main concern expressed by CG Yung regarding Westerners adopting Oriental spiritual practices?

CG Yung expresses concern about the inherent danger in Westerners adopting Oriental spiritual practices, such as yoga, due to the potential mismatch between the cultural and spiritual development of the East and the West.

How does the speaker critique Jung's theory of history?

The speaker criticizes Jung's theory of history as a hangover from 19th-century Darwinist ideas, suggesting it implies an orderly progression from primitive to civilized man, which was convenient for Western cultures to justify their dominance over others.

What does the speaker suggest is the real reason Jung discourages Westerners from practicing yoga?

Jung discourages Westerners from practicing yoga because he believes it is a discipline for a much older culture that has progressed further along certain lines, and Westerners may not have mastered the necessary prerequisites for such practices.

According to the speaker, what is the role of wandering thoughts and imagination in Western culture?

The speaker suggests that wandering thoughts, imagination, and fantasy are essential for Westerners to get in touch with their unconscious, which is a process that the unconscious will not leave them in peace until achieved.

What does the speaker compare the adoption of Eastern disciplines by Westerners to?

The speaker compares the adoption of Eastern disciplines by Westerners to taking medicine without a prescription, emphasizing the need for discrimination and caution to ensure the practices align with the Westerner's actual needs.

What is the concept of 'social hypnosis' as mentioned in the script?

'Social hypnosis' refers to the collective beliefs and rules that a society or culture imposes on its members, which are often internalized as if they were natural laws, even though they are man-made constructs.

How does the speaker describe the function of liberation in Eastern disciplines like Buddhism and Daoism?

The speaker describes the function of liberation in Eastern disciplines as a means to free individuals from the social hypnosis or the constraints imposed by the cultural rules and beliefs of their society.

What is the concept of Maya as discussed in the script?

Maya, in the context of the script, is described as a playful construct or a social institution, rather than a mere illusion. It refers to the illusory nature of concepts such as karma, reincarnation, and the individual ego that are part of certain cultural cosmologies.

Why do some Westerners who adopt Eastern spiritual practices also adopt the very concepts those practices aim to liberate from?

Some Westerners adopt the concepts of reincarnation and karma because they find them consoling, not realizing that these are the illusions that the practices of Buddhism and Vedanta are designed to help one overcome.

What is the role of the teacher in the process of liberation as described in the script?

The teacher's role in the process of liberation is to guide the student through a series of traps and skillful means (upaya) to help them see through the illusions of the ego and the cultural cosmology, ultimately leading to a realization of the fundamental unity and the illusory nature of societal constructs.

Outlines

00:00

🧘‍♂️ Cultural Appropriation of Eastern Spiritual Practices

The speaker begins by referencing CG Yung's commentary on the potential dangers for Westerners in adopting Eastern spiritual practices like yoga. Yung's ideas are critiqued for being influenced by 19th-century progressive theories of history, which saw Western culture as the pinnacle of human development. The speaker disagrees with Yung's discouragement of yoga for Westerners, arguing that the unconscious mind in Westerners may require different approaches to spiritual exploration compared to Eastern cultures. The speaker suggests that the real issue is not the adoption of practices like yoga but the need for Westerners to exercise caution and discernment when engaging with Eastern disciplines.

05:00

💊 Selective Adoption of Eastern Philosophies

The speaker compares the adoption of Eastern spiritual practices to taking medicine without a prescription, emphasizing the need for a tailored approach. Eastern disciplines like Buddhism and Daoism are seen as liberation tools from 'social hypnosis,' or the cultural rules that shape a society's communication and behavior. These practices are designed to free individuals from the confines of their cultural norms, not necessarily to address the same issues faced by Westerners. The speaker argues that Westerners must be cautious and selective in adopting Eastern philosophies to avoid misapplying them to their cultural context.

10:01

🔄 The Illusion of Karma and Reincarnation

The speaker delves into the concept of karma and reincarnation as understood in ancient Indian culture, where it was a common belief that one's current life is shaped by actions from past lives. This belief system was used to maintain social order and encourage ethical behavior. However, the speaker points out that some individuals, through disciplines like Buddhism and Vedanta, sought liberation from this cycle of rebirth and the illusion of the separate ego. The ultimate realization for these individuals was that the concepts of karma, reincarnation, and the ego were themselves illusions, or 'Maya,' and not literal truths.

15:01

🕉️ The Misunderstanding of Eastern Doctrines by Westerners

The speaker humorously notes the irony of Westerners adopting the very concepts of reincarnation and karma that Eastern spiritual disciplines sought to liberate their practitioners from. This adoption is seen as a misunderstanding of the true purpose of these disciplines, which is liberation from cultural illusions rather than the acceptance of them. The speaker suggests that many practicing Hindus and Buddhists may not take these concepts literally, but Westerners often do, missing the point of the teachings entirely.

20:02

🔮 The Esoteric Nature of Eastern Disciplines

The speaker discusses the esoteric nature of Eastern spiritual disciplines, explaining that masters of these traditions made their teachings difficult to understand for outsiders. They used 'skillful means' to guide students through a series of traps and realizations, ultimately leading them to see through the illusions of the ego and the cosmological constructs of their culture. The goal was not to reinforce cultural beliefs but to liberate individuals from them, allowing them to see the interconnectedness and fundamental unity of all things.

25:04

🌐 The Interconnectedness of Opposites in Social Constructs

The final paragraph discusses the fundamental unity of opposites, such as 'yes' and 'no,' which are often presented as being in conflict within social constructs. The speaker argues that these opposites are not truly in opposition but are interdependent, like the yin and yang symbols. The realization of this unity is a key aspect of liberation in Eastern spiritual practices. The speaker also touches on the role of conflict and competition in social dynamics, suggesting that the true liberated individual is not driven by these forces but sees through them to the underlying unity of existence.

Keywords

💡Oriental spiritual practices

Oriental spiritual practices refer to the various methods of self-cultivation and spiritual development that originated in the East, such as yoga and meditation. In the video, the speaker discusses the potential dangers for Westerners in adopting these practices without understanding their cultural and historical context. The speaker suggests that these practices are deeply rooted in Eastern philosophies and may not be directly applicable to Western mindsets.

💡Yoga

Yoga is a physical, mental, and spiritual practice that originated in ancient India. It involves breath control, meditation, and specific body postures. The video mentions yoga as an example of an Oriental spiritual practice that Westerners might adopt but may not fully understand, potentially leading to spiritual or psychological challenges due to cultural differences.

💡Carl Gustav Jung

Carl Gustav Jung was a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who founded analytical psychology. The video references Jung's commentary on the integration of Eastern philosophies into Western culture, particularly his caution regarding the adoption of practices like yoga without a deep understanding of their origins.

💡Social hypnosis

Social hypnosis is a concept used in the video to describe the collective beliefs and behaviors ingrained in a society or culture that often go unquestioned. The speaker argues that Eastern disciplines like Buddhism and Daoism offer ways to liberate individuals from the confines of their cultural 'social hypnosis,' allowing them to see societal constructs as they truly are, rather than as absolute truths.

💡Liberation

Liberation, in the context of the video, refers to the spiritual freedom attained by transcending the limitations imposed by one's culture and societal constructs. The speaker discusses how Eastern spiritual practices aim to liberate individuals from the 'social hypnosis' of their culture, enabling them to perceive reality beyond the confines of their cultural conditioning.

💡Karma

Karma is a concept in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism that refers to the spiritual principle of cause and effect, where intent and actions of an individual influence the future of that individual's soul. The video discusses how the belief in karma is a fundamental part of the 'social hypnosis' in Indian culture, and how spiritual practices are designed to liberate individuals from the cycle of karma and reincarnation.

💡Reincarnation

Reincarnation is the philosophical or religious concept that an individual's soul or consciousness is reborn in a new body after death. In the video, the speaker explains that the belief in reincarnation is used to maintain social order and ethical behavior in certain cultures, and that liberation from this belief is a goal of some Eastern spiritual practices.

💡Maya

Maya, in Hindu and Buddhist philosophy, refers to the illusion or deceit of the physical world. The video uses the term to describe how the constructs of karma, reincarnation, and the individual ego are seen as illusions by those who have attained a state of liberation in Eastern spiritual practices.

💡Vedanta

Vedanta is one of the six systems of orthodox Indian philosophy based on the Vedas. It teaches that the individual soul, or Atman, is identical with the universal soul, or Brahman. The video mentions Vedanta as a discipline that aims to liberate individuals from the social constructs of their culture, including the illusion of the separate ego.

💡Buddhism

Buddhism is a religion and philosophy that originated in India with the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, known as the Buddha. The video discusses Buddhism as a path to liberation from the 'social hypnosis' of cultural beliefs, including the illusions of karma and reincarnation.

💡Cultural appropriation

Cultural appropriation is the adoption of elements from one culture by members of another culture, often without understanding their original significance. The video touches on the issue of Westerners adopting Eastern spiritual practices and beliefs without fully grasping their cultural context, potentially leading to misunderstandings and misapplications.

Highlights

The inherent danger of Westerners adopting Oriental spiritual practices such as yoga is discussed.

Jung's commentary on the adaptation of Eastern ways by Westerners is critiqued for its historical theory.

The 19th-century progressive theory of history, influenced by Darwinism, is mentioned as a cultural bias.

Jung's view that Westerners might not be ready for yoga due to cultural differences is analyzed.

The importance of not forgetting one's cultural background when engaging with foreign philosophies is emphasized.

The idea that Eastern cultures may have progressed further in psychic development is explored.

The caution needed by Westerners in adopting Eastern disciplines is compared to the careful selection of medicine.

The concept of 'social hypnosis' and its role in cultural communication is introduced.

The necessity of cultural rules for societal cohesion, similar to the rules of a game, is discussed.

The liberation from social hypnosis through practices like Buddhism and Daoism is explained.

The illusion of karma and reincarnation in Eastern cultures and its psychological impact is analyzed.

The irony of Westerners adopting the very illusions that Eastern disciplines aim to liberate from is highlighted.

The esoteric nature of Eastern disciplines and the difficulty of initiation for outsiders is discussed.

The use of skillful means (upaya) in Buddhism to guide students through traps is explained.

The realization that the division between the controller and controlled is illusory in the path to liberation.

The fundamental fellowship between opposing principles (Yin and Yang) and its societal implications.

The importance of seeing through societal constructs to achieve a state of liberation.

Transcripts

I suppose that some of you have

read very fascinating work that was

written many years ago by CG Yung a

commentary that he wrote to a

translation of a Chinese classic by

Rickard vilhelm called The Secret of the

Golden

Flower now you may remember that in that

commentary he takes up the very

fascinating

problem of the danger

inherent in the

adoption of uh Oriental ways of life by

westerners but more particularly the

adoption of Oriental spiritual practices

such as

yoga and I remember I learned a great

deal from that essay and appreciated it

very much in ever so many

ways because even in my own f

ination with forms of Oriental

philosophy I've never been tempted to

forget that I'm a

Westerner but as I think this essay

over I'm not sure that Yung

discouraged the practice of yoga by

westerners for quite the right

reasons I find so often the difficulty

in yung's ide

ideas lies in his theory of

History which is I feel a

hangover from 19th century theories of

History uh encouraged by

Darwinism namely that there's a sort of

orderly

progression from the

ape through the

Primitive to the Civil ized man and of

course naturally at that time that was

all hitched in was a theory of

progress and it was highly convenient

for the cultures of Western Europe which

were then a one up on everybody else to

consider themselves in the van of

progress and when they visited the

natives of Borneo and Australia and so

on to be able to feel that they were

perfectly justified in appropriating

their lands and dominating them because

they were giving them the benefits of

the last word in evolution

and uh therefore under the influence of

that sort of theory of History which is

felt in the work of both Freud and

Yung one gets the feeling of there

being a kind of

progressive development of human

consciousness and Yung is charitable

enough to assume that because the

Chinese and Indian civilizations are

immeasurably older than

ours they've had the the possibility of

far more

sophistication in psychic

development even though he feels and

probably rightly that there are things

they can learn from

us but the reason why he discourages the

Westerner from the practice of yoga is

that he says this is a discipline for a

far older culture than

ours which along certain lines has

progressed much further and has learned

certain things that we haven't mastered

at all yet thus he points out that when

somebody Embraces uh vant or theosophy

or any yoga School in the west and tries

to master a discipline of

concentration in

which uh they have to OU from their

Consciousness all wandering thoughts he

says that this for a Westerner may be a

very dangerous thing indeed because just

exactly what the Western may need to do

is to allow free reign to his wandering

thoughts and his imagination and his

fantasy because it's only in this way

that he can get in touch with his

unconscious and uh that his unconscious

will not leave him in peace until he

gets in touch with it he assumes the

members of Oriental cultures have done

this long before they went in for yoga

practice now I don't think this is quite

true but I do think there are other

reasons

why Western

people need to exercise a good deal of

discrimination and

caution in adopting Eastern disciplines

and ways of

life in other words it's rather like the

problem of taking

medicine you know if you don't feel very

well and you go to a friend's medicine

cabinet and you sort of look it over and

see bottles of medicine in there and uh

you say I'm sick I need medicine so you

take some medicine any medicine will do

well it

won't and uh according to what's the

matter with you so the medicine has to

be

prescribed and I don't think that the

things which some of the Eastern

disciplines are designed to cure are

quite the same things that we need

now it's fundamental to my view

of the nature of such forms of

discipline as Buddhism and

Daoism that there are ways of Liberation

from a specific kind of

confinement that is to say their ways of

Liberation from what I've sometimes

called the social hypnosis

in other

words every culture every

society as a group of people in

communication with each

other has certain rules of

communication and from culture to

culture these rules differ in just the

same way that languages

differ and a culture can hold together

on very very different kinds of rules I

won't say any kinds of rules but very

different kinds of rules always provided

that the members agree about them

whether they are forced to agree whether

they agree tacitly or whatever the

reason may

be and these rules are in a way very

much like the rules of a

game in other words uh take a game like

chess you can have the kind of Chess we

play with an eight square board or you

can have a kind of chess that the

Japanese play with a nine square

board uh doesn't make any difference so

long as you both play on the same board

and by the same

rules but since this

is a chess is a

game and in the same way the development

of human cultures is also in a way a

game that is to say it's the elaboration

of a form of

life and the fun of it in a way is the

fun of elaborating it in just some

interesting

form that's the same as the fun of a

game the fun of a game is it has a

certain

interest but it doesn't

follow that the rules of the

game

correspond to the actual structure of

human

nature or to the laws of the

universe but because in every culture

it's necessary to impress Upon a

especially its younger members that

these rules Jolly well have to be

kept they are usually in some way or

other connected with the laws of the

universe and given some sort of divine

sanction and there are indeed cultures

in which the senior members of the group

realize that that's a hoax that that's

as if it's made up and is done to

terrify the young and when they uh

become senior members of the culture

themselves they see through the thing

but they don't uh let on they keep it

quiet they don't let out to those who

are supposed to be impressed that this

was really a hoax to get them to

behave well

anyway after a great deal of careful

study I've come to the

conclusion that the function of these

ways of

Liberation is basically

to make it possible for those who have

the

determination and we'll see why in a

while to make it possible for those who

have the

determination to be free from the social

hypnosis in other words if you were a

member of the culture of

India that almost any time between maybe

900 BC

and 1800

ad it would be for

you a matter of common

sense about which everybody

agreed that you were under the control

of a process called

karma not exactly a law of cause and

effect but a process of cosmic Justice

whereby every fortune that occurred to

you would be the result of some action

in the past that was good and every

Misfortune that occurred to you would be

the result of some action in the past

that was evil and furthermore that this

action in the past might not have been

done in this present life but in a

former life it was simply axiomatic to

those people that they were involved in

a long long process of

reincarnation reaping the rewards and

punishments

and there were not only there was not

only the possibility of being

reincarnated again in the human form but

if you were exceedingly good you might

be born in one of the heavens the

paradises and if you were exceedingly

bad you might be born for an

insufferable period of years not forever

in a purgatory

uh and the purgatories of the Hindus and

Buddhists are just as ingeniously

horrible as those of the

Christians well of course everybody

knows I I mean anybody seems to be

having a sense that all

this uh imagination of postmortem courts

of

justice is a way of telling people well

if the secular police don't catch you

the celestial police will catch you and

therefore you had better behave

and it's an ingenious device for

encouraging ethical

conduct

now but remember that for a person

brought up in that climate of feeling

where everybody believes this to be true

it seems a matter of sheer common sense

that it's

so and it's very difficult for a person

so brought up not to believe that that

is the state of

Affairs take an equivalent situation in

our own

culture it's still enormously difficult

for most people to

believe that space may not be Newtonian

space that is to say a three-dimensional

Continuum which extends indefinitely

forever the idea of a

four-dimensional curved space seems

absolutely fantastic and can't even be

conceived by people un in the

mathematics of modern

physics or again as I've often pointed

out it's very difficult for us to

believe that the forms of nature are not

made of some

stuff uh called

matter uh that's a very unnecessary idea

from a strictly scientific point of view

but it's awfully difficult for us to

believe it believe in other words that

there isn't this underlying stuff

and uh not so long

ago it was practically

impossible for people to

conceive that the planets did not

revolve about the Earth encased in

crystalline

spheres and it took a very considerable

shaking of the

imagination when astronomers began to

point out that this need not necessarily

be so

so all right so now let's go back to the

problem of somebody living in the

culture of ancient India here it is as a

matter of common sense you see that he

is going to be

reborn now there's some perhaps

exceedingly intelligent

person who for one reason or another

discovers that this

idea is not so

after all when uh you get such

disciplines as vanta and Buddhism they

say that the ultimate goal of the

discipline is release from the rounds of

rebirth and incidentally also which is

fundamental to it release from the

illusion that you are a separate

individual confined to this body

but so far as both of these things are

concerned they also say that the person

who is liberated from the round of

rebirth as well as from the illusion of

being an ego sees when he is

liberated that the process of rebirth

and the whole cosmology of reincarnation

and Karma as well as the individual ego

are in a way illusions

that is to say he sees that they are

Maya and I would like to translate Maya

at this moment not so much illusion as a

playful

construct a social

institution so he sees you see that

those things are not

so they are only pretended to be

so and you see he ceases to believe in

karma and reincarnation and all that in

exactly the same way that a modern

agnostic no longer believes in the

resurrection of the body at the day of

judgment I I know this to be so

because although you will get very many

Hindus and Buddhists who say that they

believe in

reincarnation and come over here and

teach it as part of the doctrine of

vanta or Buddhism

the the most sophisticated and the most

profound I'll say perhaps profound

rather than un

sophisticated Buddhists that I have

known have said that they don't believe

in it literally at

all

and so I could say that those who do

believe in it believe in it simply

because it's part of their C culture and

they've not yet been able to be

liberated from

it and so it seems to me very funny

indeed when Western

people who become interested in Vidant

or

Buddhism that is to say in forms of

discipline to liberate Hindus and uh

Chinese people from certain social

institutions

Western people adopt it and then also

adopt the ideas of reincarnation and

Karma from which these systems were

designed to liberate

them h of course they adopt them because

they feel it's consoling that one will

go on living and that wasn't the point

at

all or that it explains something that

why one suffered in this life was not

because the universe was unjust because

you committed some misdeed in the

past and

so westerners who take up the Oriental

doctrines in that

Spirit unfortunately take up the very

Illusions from which these doctrines

were supposed to be ways of

Deliverance now that may be difficult to

see just

because so many practicing Hindus and

Buddhists say they believe in

reincarnation and this whole process of

the cycles of Karma and so

on and

uh they after all are practicing it and

they should

know well now look here there's a

certain good reason why they

shouldn't of course I'm making an

exception of the Indian or Chinese who's

been educated in western

style and he ceases to believe maybe in

the cosmologies of his own culture but

he's not liberated in the Buddhist sense

because in receiving a western education

he's become a victim of our social

institutions instead and me he's just

exchanged as it were one trouble for

another but uh when you

take the situation

as it stands or as it did stand in India

isolated from Western

culture obviously no Society can

tolerate within its own borders the

existence of a way of Liberation a way

of seeing through its

institutions uh without feeling that

such a way constitutes a threat to Law

and Order anybody who sees through the

institutions of society and sees them

for as it were creative fictions in the

same way as a novel or a work of art is

a creative fiction uh anybody who sees

that of course could be regarded by the

society as a potential

Menace

but then you may ask well if if Buddhism

and and Vidant and so on were indeed

ways of Liberation how could Indian or

Chinese Society or Burmese Society have

tolerated their

presence well the answer lies simply in

the much misunderstood esotericism of

these

disciplines in other words that those

who taught them the masters of these

disciplines made it incredibly difficult

for uninitiated people to get in on the

inside

and their method of initiating them in a

way

was to put them through trap after trap

after trap to see if they could find

their way

through in other

words

uh such a master would not dream of

Beginning by

disabusing the neoy and saying well you

know all these things you heard from

your father and mother and teachers and

so on were fairy tales oh no indeed

uh he

would do what is called in

Buddhism exercise the use of upaya it's

the Sanskrit word meaning skillful

devices or skillful means sometimes

described as giving a child a yellow

leaf to stop it crying for

gold after all

when you approach one of these ways of

Liberation from the

outside it looks like

something very very

fantastic here you are

literally going to be

released from a literally true and

physical cycle of endless

incarnations in Heavens and Hells and

all kinds of

States therefore naturally to do that

what an undertaking that must be what a

wonderful extraordinary person you've

got to

become and so the neoy is ready for

almost

anything and the

teacher because the the fundamental

problem in this whole thing is for

him

to get rid of the illusion you see that

he's a separate ego if there's no

separate ego or sort of Soul then

there's nothing to be

reincarnated so all the teacher really

in he has all kinds of complicated ways

of doing it but all that he really says

to him is but now

um if you will look deeply into your

ego you will find out that it is a

non-ego that your self is the universal

self as he might say if he were a

vedantist or if he were a b

he might say if you look for your ego

you won't find it so look for it see and

really go into

it and so he gets the man

meditating and trying by his ego to get

rid of his

ego well that is a beautiful trap it

could last

forever until one sees through

it in other words this is like trying

to uh you know sweep the darkness out of

a room with a

broom or it's like it's worse than that

it LS a drun rather had a nice figure

for it beating a drum in search of a

fugitive that's to say you know when the

police go out because they've had a

telephone call that was a

burglar they uh come racing to the house

with the S full blast and the burglar

hears it and runs

away because of course to try and get

rid of the ego for one's advantage in

some ways an egotistic Enterprise and

you can't do

it so of course the student gets to the

point where he begins to realize that

everything he

does to get rid of his ego is egotistic

and

uh this is the kind of

trap in which the teacher gets

him until of course he comes to the

point of

seeing that uh his supposed division

from himself into say I and me the

controller controlling part of me and

the controlled part of me the knower and

the known and all that is is

phony there is no way of standing aside

from yourself in other words and as it

were changing yourself in that way he

discovers this

finally at the same time he discovers uh

almost at the last minute you might say

the

fallacy or rather the fantasy nature the

game like

nature of the system

of

cosmology which has

existed

to as it were

underpin or give the basic form of the

social institutions of his particular

culture or

Society in other words you may put it in

in in another way one of the basic

things which all social rules of

convention conceal

is what I would call the fundamental

Fellowship between yes and

no say in the Chinese symbolism of the

positive and the negative the Yang and

the yin you know you've seen that symbol

of them together like two interlocked

fishes well the great game I mean the

whole pretense of most socie is that

these two fishes are involved in a

battle there's the up fish and the down

fish the good fish and the bad fish and

there's out for a killing and

white fish is one of these days going to

slay the black

fish but

uh when you see into it clearly you

realize that the white fish and the

black fish go together they're twins

they're really not fighting each other

they're dancing with each

other that you see though is a difficult

thing to

realize in a set of rules in which yes

and no are the basic and formally

opposed terms

when it is explicit in a set of rules

that yes and no are positive and

negative of the fundamental

principles it is implicit but not

explicit that there is this fundamental

bondage or Fellowship between the

two the fear is you see that if people

find that

out they won't play the game anymore I

mean supposing a certain social group

finds out that its enemy group

uh which it's supposed to fight is

really uh symbiotic to it that is to say

the enemy

group Fosters the survival of the group

by pruning its

population we'd never do to admit that

we'd never never do to admit the

advantage of the enemy just as George

Orwell pointed out in his uh fantasy of

the future

1984 that uh

as dictatorial government has to have an

enemy and if there isn't one it has to

invent

one and

uh by this means by having something to

fight you see having something to

compete against the energy of society to

go on doing its job is stirred

up and what the Buddha or bodh SATA type

of person fundamentally is who's one

he's one who's seen through that who

doesn't have to be stirred up by hatred

and fear and competition to go on with a

game of life