Hey Tobias, thank you for the feedback. I don’t think I mentioned Daniel Ingram in the post, though I have included some of his work in my curriculum. I’m not a huge proponent of his Mahasi-style vipassana. I’d agree with L. Ron Gardner in saying that he hasn’t “cracked the code” on enlightenment is. As Ramana Maharshi, Adi Da, and Mr. Gardner have defined it, it is the complete obviation of the self-contraction mechanism, the “I” feeling in the hadaya-vatthu which fuels our resistance to reality. Adi Da called it “the avoidance of relationship”.
On the surface, the premise of Human Ideals seems to be the attachment to worldliness over liberation, but it’s deeper than that. Our mission is to transcend the attachment to both worldliness and anti-worldliness, where all of existence is affirmed. The means to this affirmation can be embodied through worldly activities, but we don’t need these activities for the affirmation. It’s something that comes within.
Dr. David R. Hawkins mentioned that, as you strive for enlightenment, very challenging dualities will arise, similar to this one. I believe the phrase, “to be in the world, but not of it”, is a huge insight into surrendering either position. As he puts it, the ultimate question is, “Is there an opposite to God (ultimate goodness, absolute reality…not an anthropomorphic creator God)? The answer is no.” Even he said that the final attachment preventing enlightenment is to surrender life itself.
I don’t fully know how this would play out in action. You know, I’ve asked myself this question repeatedly, “If none of your goals would come true in reality…if Human Ideals would never come to life, would you still believe in its goodness, the goodness of humanity?” Even with my attachments, I find myself saying yes to that question, every time.
I understand the grave samsaric consequences that could arise if I’m wrong, i.e. going to avici hell, but I’m not trying to cause a schism in the Buddha dhamma. I just believe that the answer to this question, whether to affirm existence or escape it, or if there’s an answer that transcends this dichotomy, is crucial to humanity’s future.