Every spiritual practice has potential perils or pitfalls. In religious literature these perils are depicted as some type of demon attempting to seduce the avatar thru pride, greed or fear. In Christian scripture we see Satan tempting Jesus in the wilderness. In Buddhist legend we see Mara tempting Siddhartha as he meditated under the Bodhi tree. The Tempter is an archetype that we see in many stories and myths.
Although we are personifying these delusions, they are not entities; they are simply habits of mind. They are much more like a computer program than a living being. Likewise, the “ego” is not a thing or an entity; it too is just a programmed habit pattern.
An enemy of spiritual practice is believing that our practice is liberating us from our ego-patterns when in fact it may be strengthening the ego. We can believe we are making “progress” but we are unknowingly undermining our intention to be free from the ego identification. Author Stephen Levine would often say, “The ego wants to give the eulogy at its own funeral!”
Every spiritual practice has potential perils. These perils (enemies) fall into two categories. One category is the far enemy, which is very much the opposite of our practice intention. This far enemy acts in direct opposition to the intention of our practice. The far enemy is relatively easy to recognize.
The other category, is the near enemy, which is far more stealthy and cunning than the far enemy.. The near enemy can masquerade as the practice itself. It’s like a spy or a mole pretending to work for your government when he is actually working to do bring it down.
Each spiritual practice has its specific perils. I will address perils prevalent in the practice of the Buddhist Mindfulness practice. We’ll look at some individual practices and describe the far and the near enemy of each.
The most basic practice is that of awareness. The intention of the practice is to be continuously aware every moment without putting a filter, judgment or interpretation on top of our primary experience. We seek to experience everything as it truly is, unclouded by delusion.
The far enemy of this practice is to go unconscious--and to not realize it. You may have had the experience of meditating for a period of time and when the bell rings you realize that you were not really present--you were spaced out, daydreaming or caught up in some internal story. But when you recognize this you have already begun to wake up--you are no longer unconscious.. As soon as you see the enemy you have essentially defeated it!
Legend tells that even after the Buddha had his awakening, Mara would still periodically show up while the Buddha was meditating. The Buddha would open one eye, point to him and say, “I see you Mara!” Mara then immediately disappeared.
A near enemy of awareness practice is to engage in the practice, but to have a hidden agenda, such as making spiritual “progress” or resolving some emotional issue. You can think that you are just being when in fact you are really quite engaged in doing-- doing the practice for a payoff!
A far enemy can operate for minutes, or sometimes hours, before we detect it. But the near enemy can operate for months, or even years, before we recognize it. In this way the near enemy is far more dangerous than the far enemy.
Another key element in dharma practice is that of equanimity. It too has enemies--both far and near. The practice of equanimity is one of nonresistance: allowing, and accepting every experience equally and unconditionally.
The far enemy of equanimity is aversion (rejection of your present experience) or craving an experience other than the one that’s here and now. Another form of the far enemy could include judging or attempting to control your experience.
A near enemy of equanimity is spacey-ness, numbness and denial. A particularly sneaky form is that of bargaining: making an agreement to have equanimity with some experience, but doing so because you hope that this will make it go away.
When you discover one of these enemies at work be sure to not judge yourself and to not be self-critical. On the contrary, when you discover it simply delight in the fact that you now see it; This is first step toward “conquering” the enemy.
As one final example let’s look at metta practice. Metta is the practice of cultivating mental states of love, kindness and goodwill. The far enemy of Metta is cruelty, condemnation or hatred. A near enemy of metta--which can masquerade as the practice itself--is to engage in the practice as if you were doing it for someone else--and not yourself. One can (mis)use metta by wishing to fix or change another person (thereby, avoiding self-change). Another near enemy is to see someone as a victim. As such, we may use the practice as a way to save or rescue someone—which is not its intention.
To be able to identify the enemies—especially the near enemies—is one of many good reasons to work individually with a teacher whenever possible. If this is not possible then find a sangha or a dharma buddy who can help you spot the enemies of your practice.
Please don’t use this to engage in self-criticism or self-doubt. Thisteaching is not presented to sow fear or doubt in your mind but to simply help you be alert for the presence of a practice enemy. When it does arise do not see it a failure or a mistake; this is how we all learn. Welcome every apparent mistake as a learning experience.
A student asked the Zen master, “How do I acquire good judgment?” The master smiled, closed his eyes, and then said, “Bad judgment.”
The only mistake is failing to learn from our mistakes. As we learn from them, they become our friends – they are no longer “the enemy.”