| Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism | |
|---|---|
| Author(s) | Chögyam Trungpa |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Tibetan Buddhism |
| Publisher | Shambhala Publications |
| Publication date | 1973 (1st ed.) |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| Pages | 227 pp (first edition) |
| ISBN | 9780877730507 |
Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism is a book addressing many common pitfalls of self-deception in seeking spirituality, which author Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche coins as Spiritual materialism. The book is the record of two series of lectures given by Trungpa Rinpoche in 1970-71 and is considered one of Rinpoche's seminal works.[1]
In Psychology Today, Michael J. Formica writes, "Spiritual materialism is that process by which the ego grasps at the accomplishments and progress of the self upon the spiritual path; an act by which its very nature denies the Self."[2] Hence, spiritual materialism is the act of seeking spirituality for the sake of being spiritually accomplished, so that this spirituality acts to secure the ego more, rather than to help see through it.