The East and the West
Perhaps the greatest challenge for the western mind in the approach to a deeper realisation of truth is the influence of eastern spiritual teachings. Although the fusion of eastern and western cultures has spawned economic growth and new creative genres in film and the arts, the difficulty now for both cultures is to reconcile the fundamental spiritual divide within the psyche.
Although helpful in the early stages, eastern teachings are unable to penetrate beyond a certain depth because of the tremendous resistance to the truth in our materialistic culture. The western cultural approach to spirituality is to formulate a circuitous route that avoids confrontation with the source of its own unhappiness. It’s in the absence of any true spiritual values that the western mind is seduced by the magical and ceremonial elements of eastern teachings. For someone who practises chanting, visualisation or reciting mantras, the subtlety of the spirit will be imperceptible. The fact is that the East cannot teach the West.
The East is symbolic of the rising sun as the radiance of eternal spirit in every man and woman. The setting sun in the West symbolises death and the demise of human virtue. The original East has now disappeared under the weight of materialism with the scramble for the western privileges of status, wealth and the consumer convenience of the modern era. The rise of western culture began as a reactionary effect of human nature in defiance to the spiritual integrity of the individual at the heart of the eastern culture. Although this divine connection is mostly inaccessible today, there’s still a discernible difference in the physical presence of the people, the eastern psyche being serene and graceful whereas the western psyche emanates a greater vibration of force.
In the early stages of the development of eastern culture, there was an acute awareness of the passage of time as karma and acceptance of the hardships endured in the sacred relationship with the elemental nature of the earth. A devotee could commit himself totally towards attainment with the Atman or Transcendent One. The eastern ethic and sensitivity to the Divinity behind the form recognised the nobility of such an undertaking and the people were united by a cultural ideal built on reverence for the spirit. Provisions for the staple needs of these truth seekers were widely available and the begging bowl was rarely left empty for long; anyone in the western culture looking to replicate this way of life will be assailed by the forces of an affronted society. Today, however, none of the original East remains. The two cultures have merged to create the first world civilisation – western civilisation.
The original eastern culture is described in the epic work The Mahabharata. The story describes the original family and the challenges of people living against the emerging pressure of the West. In those times the past, as a substantive energy of emotional negativity, was less of an impediment to the spiritual presence than today after many thousands of years of intellectual materialism. This enabled certain beings to retain their godhead as a manifested presence of their divinity in existence. Celestial beings such as Krishna and Shiva walked the earth and interacted with the people of the times.
The spiritual master appeared in the East, more as a performer of the miracles of Divine Being than as a teacher. This was because the eastern people, in their absence of not wanting anything which was not naturally provided, were already in union with God so they didn’t need to be taught the truth. The master was provided to delight the people, which is the impulse behind every entertainer who has ever been inspired to perform. Although the working of miracles or siddhis is now rare, they occasionally happen. The most famous exponent in recent times was Sai Baba, the Indian guru who famously conjured mysterious ashes and precious jewels out of thin air for amazed and adoring followers. The error was that those in attendance assumed the miracle was for them and, as so often happens, they drank the water and missed the wave of the master consciousness.
In more recent history, western imperialism began to consolidate its hold on the world. Driven by the ethic of acquisition and greed, the western ingenuity for the exploitation of the earth’s natural resources fired the desire for war and conquest of other lands. The aborigines of Australia are probably the oldest race of people on the earth. Yet even they, on the other side of the planet, were unable to escape the creeping disease of the West, which would eventually infect and decimate their culture. The East finally capitulated and became integrated into this godless and loveless existence.
The whole world has now gone West.
Brilliant. So aptly describe how miserable and self centred most of us are.
Innocence all gone and a monster appears, except for the fortunate few who can see past it all.
Dear, Lance:
Thank you for this essential and timely piece. I’ve read it now about 5 times since it resonates so deeply with my own life path. I have trained myself to read and reflect before I respond to your writings. Whether I’m in awe of some revealed truth or having an ego-based reaction to something that makes me uncomfortable, I do the same thing: re-read and reflect. May I share that reflection with you now? I pose a number of questions because they help me challenge my self-awareness. I don’t expect you to take the time to answer any or all, but am content and grateful that you allow the comments, copious though this one may be. My comments are in parentheses. Thank you!
You wrote:
Perhaps the greatest challenge for the western mind in the approach to a deeper realisation of truth is the influence of eastern spiritual teachings. Although the fusion of eastern and western cultures has spawned economic growth and new creative genres in film and the arts, the difficulty now for both cultures is to reconcile the fundamental spiritual divide within the psyche.
(What is meant by spiritual divide within the psyche? Are we saying that East and West are eternally separated through their opposing natures – or just that there is a measurable gap and the degree of that separation varies significantly depending on the individual? For example, does a western military-industrial capitalist not present a far greater divide than a dedicated student of an Eastern tradition, say, philosophy, art or literature? Many of us who practice Eastern traditions, in one form or another, are motivated to diminish that separation and at least attempt to reconcile the differences. Is that a failed endeavor of ego-self or a positive force for change?)
Although helpful in the early stages, eastern teachings are unable to penetrate beyond a certain depth because of the tremendous resistance to the truth in our materialistic culture. The western cultural approach to spirituality is to formulate a circuitous route that avoids confrontation with the source of its own unhappiness It’s in the absence of any true spiritual values that the western mind is seduced by the magical and ceremonial elements of eastern teachings. For someone who practises chanting, visualisation or reciting mantras, the subtlety of the spirit will be imperceptible. The fact is that the East cannot teach the West.
(Wow. These first two sentences feel so profoundly true. I see in myself – and the vast majority of westerners who have become followers of Eastern traditions, that uncontainable urge to do something with our newly found knowledge and skill. And however noble or refined that something is, one of the most important things is that it obscure the shadow of our unhappiness. Whether the western Buddhist who feels compelled to sell a book, the practitioner of Chinese medicine who markets their products on Amazon or the skilled disciple of Indian music who must teach and perform in a competitive climate that empowers those who have learned to sell watered-down knowledge and pretentious entertainment – they all struggle with this.
And this is just an example of the types who are actually somewhat skilled and properly initiated in their respective tradition. Then we have the hopefully well-intentioned but sadly uninformed who, having briefly dipped their toes in the water, claim access to and sometimes dominion over an entire ocean of knowledge. This self-delusion seems to, at best, inadvertently poison the very source of this sacred well; and, at worst, demonstrate a spiritual profanity that is rooted in the ego-self and oblivious to the true purpose of these disciplines.
One can never avoid this trap unless the fundamental riptide of western materialism – success, fame, etc. – is addressed. More and more, I see this particular style of unconscious awareness of the depth and nuance of knowledge rising in a wave of commercial blasphemy empowered by the ubiquitous western notion of personal freedom of expression. It is based on the misguided idea that once you discover a form, regardless how shallow or brief the experience, it is acceptable – and hopefully profitable – to make it your own.
One additional comment on the practice of chant, mantra, etc. While it is true that the subtlety is often lost, is there not a potential for awakening to the truth contained in these forms – sacred music included – if there is a preponderance of authenticity and tenacity in these practices? They do not comprise a path of guaranteed awareness in and of themselves, but they seem to have the ability – one I have personally witnessed – to make fertile ground bear more fruit.)
The East is symbolic of the rising sun as the radiance of eternal spirit in every man and woman. The setting sun in the West symbolises death and the demise of human virtue. The original East has now disappeared under the weight of materialism with the scramble for the western privileges of status, wealth and the consumer convenience of the modern era. The rise of western culture began as a reactionary effect of human nature in defiance to the spiritual integrity of the individual at the heart of the eastern culture. Although this divine connection is mostly inaccessible today, there’s still a discernible difference in the physical presence of the people, the eastern psyche being serene and graceful whereas the western psyche emanates a greater vibration of force.
(Why DOES the West have this predominant nature that reacts defiantly to the personal spiritual integrity of the East? Even when it encounters the highest mastery/authenticity and the refined serenity of the Eastern psyche, it struggles in a coarse consciousness that adores the external.)
In the early stages of the development of eastern culture, there was an acute awareness of the passage of time as karma and acceptance of the hardships endured in the sacred relationship with the elemental nature of the earth. A devotee could commit himself totally towards attainment with the Atman or Transcendent One. The eastern ethic and sensitivity to the Divinity behind the form recognised the nobility of such an undertaking and the people were united by a cultural ideal built on reverence for the spirit. Provisions for the staple needs of these truth seekers were widely available and the begging bowl was rarely left empty for long; anyone in the western culture looking to replicate this way of life will be assailed by the forces of an affronted society. Today, however, none of the original East remains. The two cultures have merged to create the first world civilisation – western civilization.
(It is a very rare case to find a Western devotee of ANY Eastern tradition who is actually content with what shows up in a begging bowl. In fact, most of the contemporary tradition-bearers from the East are similarly entrapped in the new, ubiquitous world civilization economy. There are admirable exceptions and special individuals who have partly transcended this, but most of us are thoroughly inculcated into the culture of success and comfort. We are rigorously trained, through every stage of life, to pursue material reward and personal recognition – no matter how noble our path.)
The original eastern culture is described in the epic work The Mahabharata. The story describes the original family and the challenges of people living against the emerging pressure of the West. In those times the past, as a substantive energy of emotional negativity, was less of an impediment to the spiritual presence than today after many thousands of years of intellectual materialism. This enabled certain beings to retain their godhead as a manifested presence of their divinity in existence. Celestial beings such as Krishna and Shiva walked the earth and interacted with the people of the times.
The spiritual master appeared in the East, more as a performer of the miracles of Divine Being than as a teacher. This was because the eastern people, in their absence of not wanting anything which was not naturally provided, were already in union with God so they didn’t need to be taught the truth. The master was provided to delight the people, which is the impulse behind every entertainer who has ever been inspired to perform. Although the working of miracles or siddhis is now rare, they occasionally happen. The most famous exponent in recent times was Sai Baba, the Indian guru who famously conjured mysterious ashes and precious jewels out of thin air for amazed and adoring followers. The error was that those in attendance assumed the miracle was for them and, as so often happens, they drank the water and missed the wave of the master consciousness.
(I had one true encounter with a master from the East and, recognizing the truth in their teachings, stayed as long as I could manage. Then, my Western attachment to individuation finally led to my separation from that source. Many years later, that teacher now passed, I re-learned the lesson from their son. And, even refined as that second lesson was, there was a clear difference in the generational gap. Is this perhaps a notable phenomena as the time and distance between the past and present accrue – particularly with some of the older traditions?)
In more recent history, western imperialism began to consolidate its hold on the world. Driven by the ethic of acquisition and greed, the western ingenuity for the exploitation of the earth’s natural resources fired the desire for war and conquest of other lands. The aborigines of Australia are probably the oldest race of people on the earth. Yet even they, on the other side of the planet, were unable to escape the creeping disease of the West, which would eventually infect and decimate their culture. The East finally capitulated and became integrated into this godless and loveless existence.
The whole world has now gone West.
(Indeed, and perhaps it is now the responsibility of those new awakening minds in the West to create a more refined balance with what has been assimilated when we swallowed up the East. Or maybe that belief just perpetuates the Western myth of all things being explained and reconciled rather than sublime surrender to the mystery of the other.)
Hello Richard
Thank you for your communication and I’ll endeavour to answer the questions you raised.
The spiritual divide between East and the West
The divide cannot be quantified in a material sense, but is measured through the distance that time separates the mind and emotions from the purity of being. In the true eastern culture, the mind had yet to externalise as a self-reflective function of intelligence. The creation myths, such as the Garden of Eden, the Elysian Fields and the Persian Gardens of Paradise, derive from this original state of being.
The divide between East and West began with the first thought and developed into a structure of mentalised matter in the simplicity of space within the pre-conscious. This heralded the dawning of human nature and instigated the progressive drive and construction of a world in revolt to God or the one good. This is demonstrable today any time the mind starts to reflect on negative feelings rather than the natural wellbeing in the body.
We embody both East and West as the consequence of the karma of humanity and the attempt to reconcile the cultural divide between the two. The only way to reconcile this divide is to return to the original East within the being through negation. This is the negation of everything that has been acquired as any eastern teaching. The East represents the mysticism of the psyche, which the eastern people in their original culture could handle. We of the West, however, tend to become transfixed by the glamour and magical elements of the rituals and ceremonies, which inevitably results in confusion and distracts from the necessary focus and resolve to penetrate the western mind.
The defiance of the West
The West reacts ‘defiantly to the spiritual integrity of the East’ is fundamentally because the West wants to know the truth rather than to be the living truth. The core of this defiance is independence which forms the nucleus of the western cultural identity. This extends out into the world in wanting to do things ‘my way’ and, of course, collides with someone else’s way and results in a whole world in conflict with itself.
Every new generation in the geographical East is now born into a western civilisation, so the son of the master you encountered will have a different perspective and, unavoidably, a more western approach. This will prove ineffective as a spiritual teaching to fully penetrate the western mind as it will contain the seeds of confusion. We cannot disown the West or avoid the consequences of our own making. The spirit is practical and, unless an individual can function and handle the pressures and stress of the western culture, he or she will waver in the spiritual process of self-purification.
Chanting and sacred music
As elevating as this can be, it offers no lasting solution for anyone in the West. In the original East where there was no resistance to God, the master musician played his sacred music in total selfless devotion to the inner Source. And in the exchange between the giver and receiver, the music was the bridge to the timeless state of Being. But the invoking of the muse is rare in these times; otherwise we would all be free. I’m not suggesting that someone cannot realise some deep spiritual insight through these practices, for in the spirit anything can happen at any time. But the point is that it’s highly unlikely to be an uninterrupted state of higher consciousness because the chanting of sacred music always comes to an end – at least, for us in the West.
Trust this clarifies some things, Richard. It’s always a pleasure to hear from you.