426. Rick Archer on the“Ethics of Enlightenment” - a podcast by Rick Archer

Presentation at the Science and Nonduality Conference.

Many well-known spiritual teachers and gurus have been accused, credibly, of sexual, financial, and behavioral abuse, despite their own spiritual attainment having seemed significant, and their teachings beneficial. As a result, some people have concluded that higher consciousness and ethical behavior are not correlated, that we are governed by our genetics and conditioning, or by"nature", and that we have no free will and thus no control over or responsibility for our actions. That logic has been used as an alibi by some misbehaving spiritual teachers.

Others have become cynical about the motives of all gurus and teachers, and some have even lost faith in spirituality altogether.Yet, every spiritual tradition includes codes of ethics that apply to both teachers and students. Ethical behavior has been regarded not only as a reflection of spiritual development but as a prerequisite to it.

To some extent, ethical values vary from culture to culture. But perhaps the contemporary spiritual community can agree upon some universal values. Can we agree that it's not all right to misrepresent ourselves? If we claim or imply that we have realized our true nature, and are offering to help others do the same, is it consistent for us to behave deceitfully, perversely, selfishly, or cruelly?

Is it possible to be an enlightened scoundrel? Are purity and saintliness characteristic of higher levels of spiritual development, or unrelated to them? These are important questions. Because we need spiritual teachers and teachings in this critical time in humanity's maturation, we need to understand what genuine spiritual attainment should look like, irrespective of personality differences. If such understanding were more commonplace, most abusive teachers and cults would be unable to get much traction.

I discuss these points and others in this talk.Discussion about this talk in the Batgap Community Facebook Group.

Transcript of this interviewOther talks by or interviews of Rick on BatGap:

SAND 2019 - Knowledge/Reality is Different in Different States of Consciousness2018 SAND Conference Q&A and Interview by Shakti Caterina Maggi
Talk at Berkeley Open Circle CenterTalk at SAND 2015
Interviewed by Fax GilbertInterviewed by Richard Miller

Recorded October 21, 2017.Video and audio below. Audio also available as a Podcast.


Chapters:00:00:00 - Introduction to the Ethics of Enlightenment
00:01:20 - The Ethics of Enlightenment00:02:33 - Understanding Ethical Behavior
00:03:50 - Relativism and Ethical Standards00:04:56 - Female genital mutilation and ethical behavior
00:06:08 - The inclusive perspective in enlightenment00:07:12 - Shocking Behavior and Misunderstanding of Maya
00:08:26 - Different Perspectives on the World00:09:25 - Spontaneous Right Action and Ethical Moorings
00:10:55 - Questioning Hypocrisy00:12:09 - Ethics and Regulations in Ayahuasca Practices
00:13:09 - Evaluating and Enforcing Teacher Behavior00:14:15 - The correlation between higher consciousness and ethical behavior
00:15:53 - The Continuous Journey of Self-Realization00:17:07 - Development and Awakening
00:18:10 - The Illusion of Enlightenment and the Asura Titan Syndrome00:19:15 - The Deflected Rising of Kundalini
00:20:21 - The Search for a Teacher of Supreme Truth00:21:36 - Enlightened behavior and discernment
00:22:45 - Compassion and Confronting Wrongdoing00:23:47 - Challenges of Assuming the Role of a Spiritual Teacher
00:24:44 - Thich Nhat Hanh and his Teaching Philosophies00:25:57 - Holy Fools and Crazy Wisdom
00:27:07 - Living Nonduality and Ethical Guidelines00:28:23 - Observations on Higher State of Consciousness and Unethical Behavior
00:29:09 - The Holistic Development of Enlightenment00:30:25 - Unintentional Harm in Enlightenment

Further episodes of Buddha at the Gas Pump

Further podcasts by Rick Archer

Website of Rick Archer