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 Don't Trash
contributed
by Padma
After being a student for over a month, I came to realize that every meeting was an unpredictable event. The structure was centered around Rama and meditation. I began to understand that he, of all the people I had ever met, was the most unpredictable. He was also the most powerful and enlightened being I had run across.
On this evening I was sitting as usual, close to the front, and enjoying the waves of energy that always happened before each meeting.
Suddenly Rama came into the room. He was obviously upset. He sat down, turned off the music and glared out into the body of students. The room turned golden and my spine started to straighten on its own.
“I have observed that many of you are trashing me!” he said. “The karma is too intense for trashing your teacher! It is impossible for you to see completely why I do and say the things I do. You simply cannot see with the depth needed to understand what I do!”
“This being so, it is in your best interest to just come and meditate and not pass judgment on me or try to expect me to live up or down to your unenlightened and limited expectations!”
The silence was astounding. The energy in the room was electric. It was clear that he had struck a nerve. I wondered at how he could speak with such force and apparent anger and the room remain this intense golden color!
The following week he was once again on a rampage.
“I can't believe some of you! Now you are trashing other spiritual teachers!” he exclaimed.
“Who are you to pass judgment on any spiritual teacher! Who sat you up on the judgment seat and gave you authority to say that this teacher is right or this teacher is full of shit! You think that you are so advanced that you are above the karma of your deeds and actions,” he ranted.
“Let me tell you! You don't know the first thing as to why these beautiful individuals are doing what they are doing. You have not bothered to look deeply into the people that they have to work with. If you had, you would have a kinder, more gentler assessment of them and their place in Eternity!”
“Just as it is extremely bad karma to trash me, it is equally bad karma to trash any spiritual teacher. Don't do it! If you cannot speak with respect, then don't speak at all!”
Once again the room was stunned. How did he know that I had been discussing some of the television evangelists this week and had really trashed them? I resolved not to do that again.
The third week we were expecting Rama to once again come in a nasty mood. He didn't disappoint us.
“I am so sick and tired of this! What must I do to instill any sense of etiquette in you people?” he exclaimed in disgust.
“Now you are trashing fellow spiritual aspirants, your fellow students! I just can't believe how mean and vicious you are with each other! Don't you see that every one of these beautiful souls in here is trying to attain Enlightenment and that makes them pretty special. Just because they don't dress the way you think they should, or maybe they haven't yet read the books or know the jargon that you know, doesn't give you the right to speak of them in a condescending way. If you are so advanced that you can pass judgment on anyone in this room, then you are obviously far too advanced for this study and you should leave right now!”
The room was totally still. His point had been made.
Okay, I thought: Don't trash my Teacher. Don't trash any spiritual teacher. Don't trash any spiritual aspirants. Got it!
The next week Rama walked in, turned down the music and quietly said, “Everyone and everything is your spiritual teacher. Don't trash your teachers.”
As I meditated and journalized these meetings, I came to some rather interesting insights. I realized that the habit of “trashing” someone or something alleviated me of the responsibility of looking at that person’s point of view. As long as I could make someone wrong or misguided, then I would not have to really look at myself.
I also observed that after the first week a few students left. They figured that Rama was only trying to attack those who were pointing out his flaws and mistakes.
The second week some more left because they felt that he was “monitoring” them and really had no business telling them what or how to examine other teachers or philosophies.
The third week some left because they did not like his style. They were tired of his rampages and apparent angry attitude.
Those of us who stayed (almost everyone) saw the point in his actions and eventually saw how perfectly he had presented this important lesson of non-judgment.
So it is with a great deal of humility and “Loss of Face” that I, after almost twenty years of intense study with this Enlightened Being, am still working on this fundamental etiquette. While I had the good sense to never trash Rama, I have fallen way short on the part of trashing other Teachers, my fellow students and Life. For this, I ask everyone and everything’s forgiveness.
Padma
“If you speak only well of other’s, then you need never whisper”, Chinese Fortune Cookie
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