Mastery and Ego

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Glenn Smith 

Auckland, New Zealand 

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Hi Peter, 

Something I have been intrigued by in the last few months is the apparent contradiction I feel between being brutally honest and wanting to be good at certain things. The latest Cheng Hsin newsletter has brought it up again for me - by the way I laughed out loud when you talked about being a master egg poacher. 

To be brutally honest, what set me off on a conscious path of personal growth 4 years ago was a frustration at wanting to be able to attract and bring beautiful women into my life at will. I wanted to feel powerful. I wanted the ego boost that "skill" would bring me. I wanted to ensure I wouldn't be alone. I was frustrated at thinking most other people had things that I didn't. All the usual stuff, which I am sure you have seen umpteen times before.

Now for my agony: how does one reconcile pursuing mastery or even simply up skilling when the motivation for that appears to come from the ego?

For example -- let's say you Peter had events in your childhood that forced you to one day as a teenager say I want to be a black belt and more, but the motivation came from wanting to be respected and to fill a void you felt inside. Or say for your world title -- I understand the motivation for that was to get the respect needed to have people take notice when you wanted to teach what you had discovered for yourself -- but let's say you wanted the title for egotistical reasons. You may have wanted it to feel important and thought it would bring you self esteem etc. It seems to me at this stage, the place a person is coming from is important, not just the pursuit of mastery but the reasons the pursuit is taking place. Because for now anything I want to be good at has a lot of ego attached to it for me. Even pursuing what is real has ego motivation behind it for me at times. Although other times there is genuine curiosity. 

Have I explained that clearly enough? Let me know if I could expand.

Glenn 

Glenn, 

Obtaining mastery in some area doesn't mean that the whole person is changed. Usually the whole person is at least influenced, since it requires a large shift in so many ways. Someone can become very adept or masterful at something (playing the horn, a martial art, billiards), but this doesn't mean that ego has gone at all, or that they have fundamentally changed as a person. If the mastery is about mastering some aspect of themselves, for example, becoming conscious of what emotions are and mastering them so that they are no longer an unconscious force that runs daily life (which they always are) then some very central aspect of that person will no longer be the same and therefore they will be as if a different 

person. 

The motives for achieving mastery aren't all that important as far as I can tell, since the original motive, or at least the outlook and perspective one has to begin with, is likely to change as you progress. When it doesn't, people usually quit. What seems to have to happen is your "goal" or motive for achieving mastery has to change as you grow. The perceived reality you are working with will change and so the original goal becomes obsolete within the new reality. Often people get bogged down in some fixed perspective and seem to plateau, they don't appear to be progressing any longer in mind or body. This is when most people who were serious to begin with will quit. Those that go on, find a way to make a breakthrough, and then recreate their goals to match what is now apparent. 

I guess the short version is, it just doesn't matter. Just master it. If you want to overcome the ego, you need to master the ego. Mastering something else may change the ego somewhat, and alter your presentation and self-concept, but not as much as you might think. The change is rather superficial, unless you master your self and that is very hard. In any case, the experience of mastery is worth it no matter what is achieved. No matter how you cut it, it's about your experience of self and life. 

Strangely, my motivation for doing the world tournament had little to do with fame and such, since for some reason I was already quite sure of my abilities and understanding. I didn't need to prove it to anyone, it was already so for me. But I did want others to recognize it, and didn't mind getting some acknowledgment for myself. We should be clear that an achievement doesn't mean all that much about the person doing it. It only means they can do it. What the person's motives are, etc., will determine in their mind what it is they have achieved. It is self-referential. No matter what someone does, their experience of it will make it what it is for them -- they can't get outside themselves. So achievement doesn't really change anything. It only makes a point, demonstrates some ability or understanding. 

Since mastery requires that a person surrender his or her personal bias in some matter, it also requires a significant change in the person. They can no longer have things their way, their opinions don't matter, how they want things to be is irrelevant, etc. They must get what is true in some area, and surrender to that. It can be simple or complex, superficial or deep, but the direction is the same. That's why we call it mastery -- a "true" understanding, or "real" relationship is established with some aspect of life, and this can be demonstrated. 

The main thing you should hear is this: No matter what your beginning motives, in order to stay on track you will need to change them as you continue down the road toward mastery. They must reflect each new level of your newly evolving understanding. As far as I can tell, this isn't a daily thing, more like every few years or so. After significant progress has been made, a new relationship to your pursuit will confront you. At this point you may lose interest, or feel like you can't get any better, or you stop caring about that pursuit anymore, or find your motive is no longer applicable -- like you see the pursuit isn't going to work for what you wanted. Such things will either stop you (as it does most people) or you will change the

purpose for your pursuit. 

I suspect this is a bit more of a reply than you expected, but I intend to use it in the next newsletter since I think others would also benefit. 

Hope this helps some.

Peter 

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Enlightenment and Internal Martial Arts

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Jan Bloem 

Holland 

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Dear Peter Ralston, 

In the world of the internal martial arts I see people being busy trying to reach some kind of spiritual enlightenment. I have the impression that most of this group of people skip some very important developmental stages.

I think when you want to reach the stage of internal power and enlightenment, you have to work through three stages: You must confront yourself with 'animal like instincts'. You must fight. After that you come to a stage of reflection (human). And after that there is the stage of confronting yourself with concepts like 'emptiness'. I think when you start at the last stage, you will never reach the full monty. Because of one reason or the other, most people are not willing to go through the three stages, but start direct at where they should end.

Do you agree with this?

Jan 

Jan, 

I do respect the sentiment that much too much "spiritual" fantasizing takes place within certain spheres of internal martial arts. "Consciousness" work and martial work are not the same, nor do they necessarily find each other. Studying the internal martial arts DOES NOT lead to spiritual awakening. 

In the physical world and in the world of mind, structure exists and process occurs. Here we can speak of stages or processes, but when it comes to Consciousness itself, no such process can be defined. It is true that certain things cannot be bypassed, but it is not a linear process as you indicate (one and then another). Insight and breakthrough occur when they do. This may be related to intention, or readiness, or openness, or perhaps grace, but it does not occur as a cause and effect that can be produced by following a formula or set of rules. As is the case with all such matters, people are prone to think of "reality" as if it is some way (and it isn't really), and more to the point, that we, with our incredibly limited awareness, know or can imagine what this might be (we can't). I think the most important aspect in such things is honesty, and getting past the fantasies that surround all such work, regardless of where one 

starts or what their interests. 

I do agree, however, that the basic primal nature of being human should not be overlooked or bypassed. It is more than likely exactly where we need to look if a grounded understanding of our own being is the goal. 

One more thing, "emptiness" is not a concept. Certainly we would start with the concept -- our discussion right now is conceptual. But this can be done without any direct experience. A real experience of such matters is a real experience of such matters, the concept is unimportant. Absolutes such as Emptiness or Nothing are beyond concept. We may play around or even seriously consider ideas about such matters but the idea in no way can match the experience. 

I hope this is helpful. Thanks for bringing it up for us to look at. 

Peter 

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