Sunday Talk 2021 #21.Lojong 6:36. Don’t Misuse the Remedy. Don’t Act with a Twist.

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Lojong 6:36


Don’t act with a twist.


Acting with a twist means that since you think you are going to get the best in any case, you might as well volunteer for the worst. That is very sneaky. You could act with a twist in dealing with your teacher, your students, your life situation – everything. You could pretend to be a completely benevolent person who always takes the blame, realizing all along that you are going to get the best. It is quite straightforward, I think.

Acting with a twist is a form of spiritual materialism. It is always having the ulterior motive of working for your own benefit. For instance, in order to gain good results for yourself, you may temporarily take the blame for something. Or you may practice lojong very hard in order to get something out of it, or with the idea of protecting yourself from sickness. The practice of this slogan is to drop that attitude of looking for personal benefits from practice – either as an immediate or a long-term result.

— excerpted from “Training the Mind and Cultivating Loving Kindness” by Chögyam Trungpa