Monks in Disguise

"A monk may be stained with defilements, bereft of self-control and awareness of reality. 

Such a monk, though he may wear the'stained cloth’ (the monk’s robe, which has been specially coloured with dye obtained from wild plants), is not worthy of such a saintly garb."

Many of you wrote back to me about my article on Mr. Huberman.

So I went back to my study to see if I could find something useful. 

The quote above is from the Dhammapada.

I go back and read the Dhammapada as often as possible. It tells you a lot about human nature. 

We pick and create godly creatures out of the masses of humanity. So it became with Mr. Huberman. Becoming a Buddha or even something remotely close is a very difficult task. 

Most human beings simply have too many flaws to become monks or be idolized.

However, once we create these images of the person, perpetuated no doubt by the person, we lose objectivity and take sides. 

Once we take sides, it is hard to make us see reason. We are too deeply committed to our view. 

So, what can you do?

As the Buddha said, life is difficult. We have a short time on earth. In that limited time, we work to achieve our purpose. 

So awareness and knowledge of what your purpose is and what will help you achieve it are vital. 

I found good health to be an enabler to whatever your purpose might be.

Going from being sick all the time to being healthy is a transformation that is hard to describe. 

I spend a disproportionate amount of my time separating the monks who wear robes from those who are monks. Trust me, there are many.

So should you. Good health is so vital that you simply cannot afford to outsource the knowledge to anyone.

Learn from others. But learn to recognise a monk in disguise. 

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