Crazy Wisdom « Blog. Non-Silk Road Crazy Wisdom

Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche. Mad Wisdom

American publisher's preface

In December 1972, Venerable Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche held two seminars on "mad wisdom". Each lasted about a week. The first workshop was held at a usually empty resort hotel in the Tetons, near Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The second was held in the gymnasium assembly hall in Barnet, Vermont, not far from the Karme Choling Meditation Center founded by Trungpa Rinpoche, then known as the Tiger's Tail.

About two and a half years earlier, in the spring of 1970, Rinpoche had arrived in America. He saw a country seething with social change, driven by such phenomena as the hippie movement, LSD, and the opening of a "spiritual supermarket." Rinpoche continuously gave teachings that were direct, transparent, and practical, resulting in a group of devoted disciples gathering around him that grew larger and larger every day. In the fall of 1972, Trungpa Rinpoche took his first tactical break, going on a three-month retreat in a secluded house in the Massachusetts woods.

It was a visionary three months. Apparently, Rinpoche was thinking about the direction of his work in America and the means available to carry it out. Important new plans were drawn up. On the last night of the retreat, Rinpoche did not sleep. He asked several disciples near him to prepare a formal banquet using everything they had at their disposal. Rinpoche himself spent several hours preparing for the banquet - only at two in the morning he appeared before his students: impeccably looking, beautifully dressed and radiating extraordinary energy. The night passed in conversation. Rinpoche spoke non-stop for two hours, vividly and in detail describing a dream he had the night before. At dawn, Rinpoche left the retreat house and spent the next day on his feet. Without getting any sleep, he delivered the first lecture of a seminar on "crazy wisdom" at Jackson Hole that evening. Perhaps that morning he was inspired by the feeling of the beginning of a new stage in his work. Some features of this new phase are described in the last lecture of the Jackson Hole seminar.

After the first Vajradhatu Conference planned in 1972 during a retreat and held in 1973, Trungpa Rinpoche's teaching style changed. His explanations became more methodical, designed to guide students through the progressive stages of the path. Thus, the “mad wisdom” seminars date back to the end of the first period of Rinpoche's teachings in North America, during which he demonstrated a remarkable ability to speak about all levels of the path at the same time. This period was filled with a sense of the fruitfulness of what was happening and promised opportunities that opened up on the instantaneous path. This atmosphere arose because Rinpoche gave the foundational and more complex teachings in a single stream of profound instructions, ruthlessly cutting off the ubiquitous tentacles of spiritual materialism.

Perhaps these two seminars should be considered in the context of the fight against spiritual materialism. Although the workshops were scheduled in response to a request for a teaching on the eight aspects of Padmasambhava, Trungpa Rinpoche shifted the focus slightly and brought crazy wisdom to the fore. Both "experienced" students of Rinpoche and novices showed an unflagging interest in clearly articulated methods of spiritual practice and principles that would be understandable and close to them. If the exotic iconography of the eight aspects of Padmasambhava were described with complete certainty, it would become bloody meat thrown into the water, infested with sharks of spiritual materialism. This partly explains why the full, detailed biographies of the eight aspects were omitted, and instead a raw and unvarnished understanding of the essence of "mad wisdom" was given.

For greater readability, the original oral lecture material has been edited. However, the sequence of presentation remained unchanged, and nothing was omitted. We have gone to great lengths to translate Trungpa Rinpoche's words in a common, accessible manner, while maintaining the peculiarities of his language and not distorting his style of speech. We hope that the reader will be able to enjoy Trungpa Rinpoche's sayings that penetrate through the drizzle of our thoughts where ordinary conceptual clarity cannot penetrate. We hope the reader will also appreciate that the passages, the meaning of which remains vague after the first reading of the text, become clear and understandable after the second.

This is the mighty roar of the great lion of Dharma. May he put to flight the heretics and robbers of hope and fear. May Trungpa Rinpoche's wishes continue to be fulfilled for the benefit of all beings.

WORKSHOP FIRST

Padmasambhava and spiritual materialism

The topic we are going to discuss is incredibly complex. Perhaps some of you are very confused. Others, perhaps, will understand something. We will be talking about Guru Rinpoche, often called Padmasambhava in the West; we will look at his nature and talk about the different approaches to lifestyle that he developed in the process of working with students. This is a very delicate topic, and some of its aspects are very difficult to put into words. I hope no one will consider my humble attempt to portray Padmasambhava as an exhaustive description of him.

Probably, for a start, we need to find out at least who Padmasambhava was, what is his place in the Buddhadharma (Buddhist teachings) in general, and why he is so loved by all Tibetans.

Padmasambhava was an Indian teacher who brought the complete teachings of Buddhadharma to Tibet. Even now and here in the West, he remains a source of inspiration for us. We have inherited his teachings, and from this point of view, one can probably say that Padmasambhava is alive and well.

I guess that The best way to characterize Padmasambhava for people with a Western or Christian cultural outlook is to say that he was a saint. We will talk about the depth of Padmasambhava's wisdom, his way of life and his skillful methods of communicating with his students. The students he had to deal with were Tibetans - incredibly wild and uncultured. Padmasambhava was invited to Tibet, but it turned out that the Tibetans have no idea how to meet and receive the great guru who arrived from distant lands. They were very stubborn and rude - very down-to-earth people and put up all sorts of obstacles to Padmasambhava's activities in Tibet. But it was not only the Tibetans who created the problems - the peculiarities of the climate, landscape and social situation also interfered with Padmasambhava. In some ways, his situation was very similar to our current situation. Americans are hospitable, and yet American culture has its wild and rough side. When it comes to spirituality, American culture does not encourage people to easily accept the bright light that is revealed to them.

So there are some similarities between these situations. In terms of this similarity, the Tibetans personify the Americans, and Padmasambhava personifies himself.

Before discussing the details of Padmasambhava's life and teachings, it seems to me useful to consider the concept of a saint in the Buddhist tradition. The concepts of holiness in the Christian and Buddhist traditions are in some ways contradictory. In the Christian tradition, a saint is usually considered someone who has direct contact with God and, probably, being completely intoxicated with divinity, is able to bring people some comfort. People may see in a saint an example of a higher consciousness or a higher stage of development.

A rather complicated topic in order to designate it within the framework of words-concepts or ready-made philosophical topics, but I will try to do it all. After all, there are many speculations and speculators who, knowing nothing, show such crazy wisdom.

In the West little is known about crazy wisdom(or about crazy lamas, yogis and tantriks), yes, this is almost exotic. You can probably mention what is madness only in the context of the three schools of Tibetan Buddhism: Sakya, Nyingma and Kagyu, someone will probably say about Zen, they say there is also a lot of spontaneity and monks (kheshans) who go beyond ordinary behavior. But about my precious friends, today we will not talk about them, but we will talk about specific people and traditions.

I would like to focus specifically on the crazy sages from the Kagyu tradition. And first, let's designate in several positions the madness and crazy wisdom of the yogis and tantriks of Tibet.

Go beyond the totem and conventions!

First of all, insane wisdom is going beyond the totemic ideas of our near and distant ancestors. Totems, nihilism and extreme views in general, stereotypes, taboos and fears of marginality, puritanism, complexes, stereotypes and bone views on things - all this and more (not included in the list so as not to spur bold experiments of people outside this tantric tradition) that so sometimes it is very important for our life and what helps us to live in society so much actually makes us slaves and hostages of society and many hopeless situations.

Practicing Crazy Wisdom

Stress and pain, narrow-mindedness and indulgence in fears, insecurities and worries - all this does not arise when practicing crazy wisdom. Renunciation as an effect and complete bodhichita is something without which it is difficult and impossible to imagine any practice of crazy wisdom and any crazy practice (yogi, tokden, drubchen, naljorpa, nyonpa, etc.).

Complete compassion is like fuel for the practice of the secret types of channel yoga, for the sake of one sincere goal: “May all sentient beings achieve the cessation of suffering!”

We can mention several practitioners of crazy wisdom among them the main ones:

Tilopa, Naropa (and other Buddha lions), Marpa the Interpreter, Milarepa,
Kongtrul Rimpoche,
Chogyam Trungpa,
Drukpa Kunley,
Canyon Heruka,
U Nyon Kung Zangpo (White Elder) and many other lamas and their students.

No shame and no complexes!

As he mentions in his songs Jetsun Milarepa many times talking about myself as a madman, a mad yogi, but is it really so? Yes, this is true, because he repeatedly showed his genitals in front of his students, despite the indignation of the villagers, he went naked. (Of course, just walking naked and promiscuous sex does not make a person a highly spiritual person like a crazy yogi or a sage! This is not an indicator of spirituality at all.)

This suggests that he had neither complexes nor shame about his own body, since the body in Tantra is only “the dwelling of the deity.” Can we say that there is no room for shame and other things? Yes. BUT there is one but, because we should be ashamed, but not of the body, but of our harmful or non-good deeds, and everything else is not!

Take her tightly by the labia, and take him tightly by the balls!

This phrase is about always being vigilant and taking full attention, otherwise control and control over the mind will be lost!

It is probably difficult to imagine such a situation, even theoretically, when someone grabs you by the genitals?? Is not it? And for yourself, this is probably the worst thing that could happen to you. For women, it is not so scary, but for men it will not be sweet.

Sexual debauchery or yoga practice?

Sometimes insane yogis are considered alcoholics and sexually promiscuous (sexually free) people, but this is just a protective social stereotype or part of myths that have nothing to do with the reality of tantric development and the stages of deep yoga.

Usually, those who come up with such myths about the fact that crazy yogis are dissolute and fuck everything that comes to hand (be it a nun or an old woman) usually do not know the whole background, are not familiar with the essential teachings of the higher tantra (tummo, karma- mudras and maha-mudras, maithunas). And the creation of such myths can only be mentioned in connection with their own desires, puritanism, complexes and sexual fears and passions, envy and negative feelings that arise in the stream of consciousness and are not controlled by them. This is somewhat different and distinguishes the practice from the fantasies of individuals who are in no way connected with the spiritual tradition. There is a strict limit for debauchery (not much ritual).

Sex as an integral part of insanity

Sex is a good and rather pleasant part of the methods of Anutara Yoga Tantra (highest tantra), where yoga (not unknown) of the central channel is practiced, which means that sex is simply necessary for yogis and yoginis to practice and realize the completion stage, remember at least such tantras as Chakrasamvara, Guhyasamaja, Hevajra in them it can be the norm or even an obligation.

To see the truth, look at everything around you as a lie. Thaganapa

Everything you know is wrong. Firesign Theater

Because the wise will not be remembered forever, nor the fool; in the coming days all will be forgotten, and alas! The wise one dies on a par with the stupid... for everything is vanity and vexation of the spirit! Ecclesiastes

Crazy wisdom is the voice of the skeptic within us that questions our worth in this world and questions our belief in our higher destiny. It is a haunting suspicion that both our motives and our motivations are wrong.

Crazy wisdom laughs at our absurd habits and sympathizes with our torments resulting from these habits. It opens up a wide panorama of what is happening around us, and also gives us the opportunity to effortlessly pass through it.

Crazy wisdom is the overwhelming consciousness of the immensity of the cosmos and the inevitability of change and transformation, which will eventually destroy all our achievements.

This is the sly grin of death and the rolling sound of our questioning: “Why?”, echoing back to us from the void.

If you understand the meaning of what is happening, things remain the same as they are. If you don't understand, things remain the same. Zen Buddhist saying

ALL A LITTLE HISTORY

Although we do not have the necessary written evidence, most likely, crazy wisdom originated in prehistoric times. There is no doubt that some ancient sage must have told his kindred that the mastery of fire would create problems no less than solve them. Crazy wisdom is probably as old as traditional wisdom. There were always those who believed in some god, and those who did not believe in him. True and false always side by side with each other.

Although clear examples of insane wisdom can be found already in the early writings of Indian philosophers, it would be more correct to assume that an approach to life from its positions was formed among a certain category of people no earlier than the 6th-5th century BC in China. It was there that the insane wisdom of the Tao arose - full-bodied, enlightened and full of mischief.

In order to stay whole, let's "squeeze" ourselves.

To become straight, let yourself be bent.

To be filled, empty yourself.

"Tao Te Ching"

Constantly faced with the paradoxes of life, the ancient Taoists only shrugged their shoulders and admitted with a sigh that they could not solve all problems. Born from that breath, indifferent to chronology and cause and effect, crazy wisdom has spread throughout the planet, taking on many different forms over the centuries. It remains wild and elusive in nature to this day.

The most important music cannot be heard.

The most important form has no outline. "Tao Te Ching"

Those ideas and views that we call crazy wisdom have many sources.

The fullest expression of the crazy wisdom viewpoint can be found in Taoism, Zen, Tibetan Buddhism, and Sufism. The tradition of crazy wisdom is inherited primarily by independent teachers, each of whom has his own version of the truth and knows how to convey his "recklessness" to others.

These "mentors of insane wisdom" do not require their followers to adhere to any specific religious dogmas, but only offer them their own methodology that allows them to develop their own view of the truth.

If you think you know a lot, it proves that you know very little.

Kena Upanishad

Mad wisdom also finds expression in the works of artists, writers and philosophers, both East and West, each of whom gives his own interpretation of crazy wisdom.

There is nothing more real than non-existence Samuel Beckett

Who is the one dragging this corpse around? Zen koan, spiritual exercise

The artistic side of insane wisdom concerns, first of all, the creation of individual images of the world, united by a certain common spirit. Crazy wisdom is also widely represented in folk art and mythology, where characters such as the clown, trickster, joker and fool play the comedy of mistake - side. These popular characters are great teachers of crazy wisdom.

Molecular psychology is the most "fundamental heresy" that has ever existed in science, and we must accept it. We are forced to look in the mirror, discard all illusions and come to terms with the fact that we are looking at the car. John Franklin. "Molecules of the Mind"

Mythology breaks the integrity of life, turning the latter into an endless, terrifying Divine Comedy. Joseph Campbell

They show the nature of man in all its extreme manifestations - from wisdom to madness. Recently, crazy wisdom has found a strange, at first glance, ally in the face of modern science, the recent discoveries of which have turned many of our ideas about what we previously took for indisputable facts. results scientific research recent years testify both to the incomprehensible emptiness of the Universe, and to the close interconnection of all processes occurring in it. Many of our seemingly unshakable beliefs about our own personality do not look so unshakable from the standpoint of crazy wisdom.

Crazy wisdom is not recorded in any historical book, and such a property as continuity is not noted behind it. In our book, we give a name and a definite form to this unconventional understanding of life, which in some cases implies, in addition, a certain way of life. We will extract "mad wisdom" from scientific and spiritual sources, both ancient and modern, and from the culture of East and West - and show that it is the core of many esoteric teachings and plays an essential role in the development of mankind.

PRINCIPLES OF CRAZY WISDOM

The principles of crazy wisdom are not the "ten commandments" or the "four noble truths". We offer the following principles only as a starting point to help you navigate through some of the "hard to navigate" areas of consciousness as you search for insane wisdom.

Some of these principles may seem contradictory or even set you back, but you must always remember that crazy wisdom does not always lead forward and that sometimes you do not need to move at all.

While some followers of Mad Wisdom accept some of these "principles", others refuse to follow them. If you are determined to move forward, it would be wise to leave behind all your preconceptions and prejudices, as well as your overly rational mind and your "too-civilized" face. Stop holding on to all this - and go!

To be a Sufi means to throw out of your head everything that is in it - imaginary truths, prejudices, conventions - and face what may happen to you. Abu Said

challenging

Current page: 1 (the book has 18 pages in total)

Wes Nisker
CRAZY WISDOM
10 TEN SPEED PRESS BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA
Wes Nisker
CRAZY WISDOM

Saint Petersburg

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Series "Your own psychologist" Translated from English by S. Rysev

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Dedicated to my parents

Jack and Esther Niskeram,

whose wisdom made possible

mine is "madness" and whose love

I will never forget.

FOREWORD

It always seemed to me that I was standing on the ground with only one foot, while the other was looking for a foothold in some other world in which wider prospects could open up before me.

This desire to be both a participant and an outside observer of life first appeared in my early childhood years, which I spent in a small town in Nebraska. I was the only Jewish child at school. Now I remember that in those years I constantly felt like an outcast, kept aloof from my peers all the time and thought about my bitter fate.

This feeling of isolation from other people, sometimes turning into immersion in one’s inner world, sometimes turning into a feeling of alienation, accompanied me all my life, forcing me to look for other similar outcasts who look at the world from an unusual angle. The first thoughts about writing this book came to me when I started looking for people who could become my like-minded people.

As I grew older, I became more and more puzzled and horrified by the reality around me, especially those manifestations that in the fifties of our century distinguished the life of the "average" Americans in the Midwest, where I lived at that time. It seemed to me that human existence is sheer absurdity and that the tasks that the church, state and school are trying to impose on people are completely meaningless, if not ridiculous.

Towards the end of my second decade of life, I began to read the works of existentialist philosophers and beat poets and found that the views of both of them coincided in many ways with my own. I heard my own indignation and sadness in the diatribes of Nietzsche and in the pessimistic statements of Camus, and in the poetry of Allen Ginsberg and the novels of Jack Kerouac I found consonant with my thoughts about the desire for some all-encompassing grace, for the release of my immortal spirit from the shackles of materiality. These writers strengthened me in the idea that it is possible to look at the world from a different point of view, that it is possible to live in a different way.

No less strong impression was made on me by modern satirists and humorists. Lenny Bruce and Mort Saul seemed to speak for me, mocking accepted norms of behavior, and Alfred E. Yoiman's goofy smile seemed to me the most appropriate reaction to our life. His “What should I be worried about? Never!" in no way inferior to the best philosophical ideas.

My desire to become a literary critic and humorist led me to work in 1968 as a Breaking News announcer and commentator for KSAN-FM in San Francisco, the main mouthpiece of American anti-culture.

Because the station aired the voices of anti-war and drug proponents, I was allowed to show all my political radicalism and arrange the material the way I wanted. I began presenting the news as sound collages—mixing the words of politicians with sound effects and excerpts from poetry, rock songs, and street interviews. I cut into parts of Richard Nixon's speech and composed these parts in this way, [ 7] that Nixon ended up telling the truth as I saw it; I then overdubbed this edited version over the Beatles' "Everyone's Got Something to Hide Except Monkey and Me," after which the voices of people in the street talking about the bombing of Cambodia would be heard on the air.

In addition, I accompanied the summaries of the latest news with my own comments, giving historical and cosmological interpretation of the events taking place. America seemed to me like another Roman Empire, and the Earth was like a planet flying somewhere through space, or, perhaps, some kind of bundle of matter and energy in the Universe, in which entropy rules the show. In this way I tried to reflect in these broadcasts my considerable skepticism about the authenticity and genuine significance of what was presented to radio listeners as daily news. The phrase I came up with, with which I ended each report, reflected both the content and style of my reporting: "If you do not like this news, go out into the street and become the creator of events yourself."

My continued focus on the work of beat writers and personalities such as Alan Watts and Ram Dass, as well as my own experimentation with various mind-expanding methods, have increased my interest in the spiritual traditions of the East. In 1970, I decided to take a break from the hustle and bustle of the radio station and go to Asia, where I hoped to find a spiritual mentor, or at least learn something about Hinduism and Buddhism firsthand. After a few months of my travels, I ended up in Bodhgaya, India, where I started practicing Buddhist meditation just a few hundred yards from the tree under which the Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment. During these exercises, I invariably found myself in the role of both meditator and observer. At the same time, I did not stop asking standard journalistic questions: “who?”, “What?”, “Where?”, “When?”, “Why?”, “How?”. True, now the subject of my research was myself. I realized with horror how confused and subject to the influence of stereotypes my mind is.

Sitting still, I found that I was unable to control my own thoughts and feelings - it seemed that someone else was directing my consciousness. It became clear to me that an untrained psyche is a source of great delusion and suffering both for myself and for those around me. I began to consider Buddhist meditation as a way to resist the hustle and bustle, as part of a universal teaching that offers a different understanding of the world, a different form of being in it.

I first came across the expression "crazy wisdom" when I was studying Buddhism and Taoism, where it is used to describe the insights and teaching methods of those sages of the East who went most far in their thinking. I saw that there is much in common between the beliefs of my idols, representing the culture of the West, and the spiritual traditions of the East. I have found that 20th century existentialism, beatnik philosophy, and anecdotal expressions of Western psychologists are in good agreement with the ideas of Eastern preachers of crazy wisdom. At the same time, books such as The Tao of Physics and Li's Dancing Teachers, thanks to their picture of the universe, which seems to have its own crazy wisdom, aroused my interest in physical sciences. I started reading posts about the latest discoveries in such fields of science as evolutionary biology, genetics, and astrophysics.

All these ideas, intertwined in my mind, became the fabric of a book called Crazy Wisdom. In addition, this book has two direct sources. In 1984, along with my friend Paul Krasner, a satirical writer and editor of The Realist magazine, I began to teach "crazy wisdom" seminars. Paul has a truly exceptional sense of humor, he does not spare anyone's authority and is one of the most witty and spontaneous people on the planet. Some of the ideas in this book came from research and preparation for our workshops.

That same year, I became co-editor with Barbara Gates of The Inquiring Mind, the journal of the Buddhist Vipassana Meditation Society in the West. I began to explore the issues to which this book, in my editorial column titled "Dharma and Drama". It was my work in the magazine that half-lived the impetus for writing Crazy Wisdom.

Such is the history of this book. Before proceeding with the presentation of the material, I want to make a couple of remarks. If anyone does not like that his idols and favorites are called "madmen", he must understand that my use of this word bears the stamp of the deepest reverence. In addition, I am aware that female voices are clearly missing from the pages of the book. This is more the fault of the chroniclers than a lack of my research. It's not that women have nothing to say - it's just that very few historians have bothered to reflect their words and deeds in their writings. Perhaps in an updated edition of the book, in the next century, this disproportion will be eliminated, especially considering that in many ways the crazy wisdom of our days reflects precisely the position of a woman who, very likely, will play a leading role in the search for truth in the future.

Lastly, although this book covers the realms of art, science, philosophy, and religion, I am not an expert in any of these areas. My knowledge in each of them is perfect as far as it was dictated by my interest. I see myself more as a person with a wide range of hobbies, and Crazy Wisdom as a kind of mind game, an attempt to find some general scheme - philosophy, if you like - in the synthesis of my intellectual and spiritual interests.

Oakland, California January 1990

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I express my sincere gratitude to all those who have contributed to the writing of this book. I send my deepest love and gratitude to my daughter Rose, who constantly encourages me and brings me nothing but joy in life; my faithful friend Terry Vandiver, whose love and support always inspires me; and Mudita, my dear companion, with whom we have traveled many roads.

I give special thanks and great respect to my first meditation guide S. N. Goenka and my close friends and spiritual teachers Joseph Goldstein, Jack Kornfield and Sharon Salzberg, who are my inexhaustible sources of wisdom and love.

It is clear that this book would have been much different and less complete without the wonderful advice and guidance from my friend and editor Sosana Tembek Alexander. I am deeply indebted to her for her insight. For the practical and emotional support given to me, I also express my love and gratitude to Jan Buffum, who showed great organizational talent; Katherine Ingram, on whose heartfelt concern I could always count; to Perry Garfinkel for his brotherly help with so many issues, and to Ariana Garfinkel for being and still a great friend to Rose; Barbara Gates and all the staff of the Inquiring Mind for their love and assistance; Robert Fraser for scientific advice on nothingness, which he gave me free of charge; June Odgard for her enthusiasm; To Jeff Greenwald for his sharp mind and relentless but kind criticism, and to Dan Clerman for keeping my computer running all this time and for his comments on the text.

I give my heartfelt thanks to Phil Wood of Ten Speed Press for his faith in me and for giving me the opportunity to write the book I really wanted to write.

I also express special gratitude to Maria Bier, whose editorial advice I have found extremely helpful. Her kind humor and patience made my job much easier. Thanks also to Sal Glynn and all the staff of Ten Speed Press for their kind assistance, and to George Young for his efforts in bringing my manuscript into book form.

PART 1
WHAT IS "MAD WISDOM"

THE BEGINNING IS THE MIDDLE

Where can I find a person who has forgotten all the words? I would like to have a word with him. Chuang Tzu

There is one kind of wisdom in the world that is difficult to categorize and does not want to obey any laws. They call her crazy wisdom. That is what it is - both insane and wisdom.

Crazy wisdom is the wisdom of saints, Zen teachers, poets, scientists obsessed with their science, jesters. Mad sages see that we live in a world full of illusions, that the king is naked, that much of a person's beliefs and behavior is nonsense turned into a ritual. The mad sages know what the anti-worlds are and understand the poetry of the Sufis; appreciate paradoxes and puns; they like to arrange jumble and laugh at politicians. They try to turn the world upside down and turn it inside out so that everything becomes absolutely clear.

As you read this book, you will discover that an underwater river of crazy wisdom flows through the history of mankind, breaking through the surface here and there, showing that it is possible to look at the world in a different way, urging people to treat everything with philosophical calmness and opposing self human self-confidence.

From Taoists to Dadaists; from the Book of Ecclesiastes to Mark Twain's Letters to Earth; in the parables of Chuang Tzu and Baalshem Tov; in the violent whirlpool of Rumi's poetry and in the sophisticated absurdity of Samuel Beckett's novels; crouched under the tousled hair of Albert Einstein and between the bushy brows of Groucho Marx; heard in the howling voice of Allen Ginsberg and seen through the tatters of the "pouch lady" Lily Tomlin - no matter whose voice she speaks and no matter what mask she puts on - crazy wisdom raises its head again and again, showing us itself and reminding us of before the impossibility of the strange nature of our work here on earth - life.

To see the truth, look at everything around you as a lie. Thaganapa

Everything you know is wrong. Firesign Theater

Because the wise will not be remembered forever, nor the fool; in the coming days all will be forgotten, and alas! The wise man dies along with the foolish... for everything is vanity and vexation of the spirit! Ecclesiastes

Crazy wisdom is the overwhelming consciousness of the immensity of the cosmos and the inevitability of change and transformation, which will eventually destroy all our achievements.

This is the sly grin of death and the rolling sound of our questioning: “Why?”, echoing back to us from the void.

If you understand the meaning of what is happening, things remain the same as they are. If you don't understand, things remain the same. Zen Buddhist saying

ALL A LITTLE HISTORY

In order to stay whole, let's "squeeze" ourselves.

To become straight, let yourself be bent.

To be filled, empty yourself.

"Tao Te Ching"

The most important music cannot be heard.

The most important form has no outline. "Tao Te Ching"

Those ideas and views that we call crazy wisdom have many sources.

If you think you know a lot, it proves that you know very little.

Kena Upanishad

Mad wisdom also finds expression in the works of artists, writers and philosophers, both East and West, each of whom gives his own interpretation of crazy wisdom.

There is nothing more real than non-existence Samuel Beckett

Who is the one dragging this corpse around? Zen koan, spiritual exercise

The artistic side of insane wisdom concerns, first of all, the creation of individual images of the world, united by a certain common spirit. Crazy wisdom is also widely represented in folk art and mythology, where characters such as the clown, trickster, joker and fool play the comedy oshi-bok. These popular characters are great teachers of crazy wisdom.

Mythology breaks the integrity of life, turning the latter into an endless, terrifying Divine Comedy. Joseph Campbell

They show the nature of man in all its extreme manifestations - from wisdom to madness. Recently, crazy wisdom has found a strange, at first glance, ally in the face of modern science, the recent discoveries of which have turned many of our ideas about what we previously took for indisputable facts. The results of scientific research in recent years testify both to the incomprehensible emptiness of the Universe, and to the close interconnection of all the processes occurring in it. Many of our seemingly unshakable beliefs about our own personality do not look so unshakable from the standpoint of crazy wisdom.

Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche. Mad Wisdom

American publisher's preface

WORKSHOP FIRST

Padmasambhava and spiritual materialism

Probably, for a start, we need to find out at least who Padmasambhava was, what is his place in the Buddhadharma (Buddhist teachings) in general, and why he is so loved by all Tibetans.

I think the best way to characterize Padmasambhava for people with a Western or Christian cultural outlook is to say that he was a saint. We will talk about the depth of Padmasambhava's wisdom, his way of life and his skillful methods of communicating with his students. The students he had to deal with were Tibetans - incredibly wild and uncultured. Padmasambhava was invited to Tibet, but it turned out that the Tibetans have no idea how to meet and receive the great guru who arrived from distant lands. They were very stubborn and rude - very down-to-earth people and put up all sorts of obstacles to Padmasambhava's activities in Tibet. But it was not only the Tibetans who created the problems - the peculiarities of the climate, landscape and social situation also interfered with Padmasambhava. In some ways, his situation was very similar to our current situation. Americans are hospitable, and yet American culture has its wild and rough side. When it comes to spirituality, American culture does not encourage people to easily accept the bright light that is revealed to them.

So there are some similarities between these situations. In terms of this similarity, the Tibetans personify the Americans, and Padmasambhava personifies himself.

A saint in the Buddhist sense - such as Padmasambhava or the great Buddha himself - is someone who proves by his own example that perfectly ordinary, deluded human beings can come to awakening; they can come together and wake up due to this or that event in their life. Pain, all kinds of suffering, grief and chaos that are part of life start to wake people up, shake them up. When shaken, people begin to wonder, “Who am I? What am I? Why is all this happening?" Then they move on and realize that there is something in themselves that is asking these questions, something that is really intelligent and does not seem to be completely confused.