In a Q&A exchange, Adyashanti picks up on a Jack Kornfield story about a butterfly that died after being helped out of its cocoon. He uses it to make a point about how the most damaging outcomes often follow from good intentions paired with the urge to control.
Transcript
There was a Jack Kornfield story that I got very fond of too about trying to control an outcome. He on this tape he talks about he sees something emerging from a cocoon. So he takes the little creature in the cocoon and he starts breathing on it like, "Oh, I'll help it. Speed it along." He's breathing on it, breathing on it, and the butterfly emerges and it starts to fold its wings and then they crumple and it falls to the ground and dies >> because it didn't have the challenge of breaking open the cocoon on its own. >> Mhm. >> And I thought that was a beautiful story about a good intention. >> Yeah. >> But horrible outcome. >> Yeah. Yeah. Well, look, the the most horrible outcomes are always the things almost always the things that have some good intention behind them, right? More people have died in holy wars than all the other wars put together. Those are hol those are wars with good intentions. And it doesn't seem to be changing recently, does it? >> It really doesn't. >> No. In fact, it's shocking when you see everybody when you get into them, inside of them, when you get to feel where they're coming from, whether you think it's wonderful or absolutely rotten evil, when you get inside of them, they think they're doing the right thing. That's how they feel. Even when they're doing rotten things, you get inside of them, they really feel like they're doing something that's really necessary. I had that insight with Hitler too. >> I think he really felt like I'm doing the right thing. >> Absolutely. >> Very few people have had the kind of conviction he had. Wouldn't you say? >> That's for sure. >> Unfortunately, but still this feeling I'm doing the right thing. This is good. In other words, see this is good. This is for the good of humanity. And that's when you and I, we we are no more dangerous when than when we think we know the good of humanity. Then we become very dangerous. That's what was going through my mind on Sunday night when the when the insight came about praying for an outcome. It was some of that was stirring around in there, too. Like, oh, gee, because I'm in the truth, >> I know what's good for the planet. >> Yeah. See, that's that's the that's the danger. >> Very seductive. >> Very seductive. It's it's the danger of realization. And it's exactly as you said. I've seen it many many times. And there's many people walking around that with big big followings that are doing exactly that, right? They might get to the realization by realizing every there's that thought itself isn't true. And so that it opens them to come into what's true. And then they they then the mind goes, well, since I'm enlightened and everything, since I'm so cool and totally awake, then now my thoughts must therefore be true, right? How come they're true? Because I know the truth and I'm awake and I'm enlightened. I can't have thoughts that aren't true, right? And it so it's this it's a total illusion that somebody could have a very profound awakening. We think if they have a very profound very deep awakening, they can't go totally off the beam. And oh yeah, they can. We we very much can if we don't stay in that state of uh it's just that it's innocence, but it's not innocence. That's stupid innocence. It's innocence. That's wisdom. That's synonymous with with wisdom that can actually perceive the harmony of how things unfold. I loved your analogy at the retreat of following the flow of the river of what what I term now what wants to happen. >> That's it. What wants to happen. >> What wants to happen. And it's it feels so impersonal to me now. It's it's shocking. Right? So if let's say if what's wants to happen at a particular time is to pray for a particular outcome. If that's what wants to happen then you go ahead and do that. But the difference is you don't do that thinking that is what needs to happen. That's the best thing to happen that I know what the outcome should be. All that's just more interpretation isn't it? All you know is what seems to want to happen. And so you do what seems to want to happen and no extra nothing extra is added. You see what I mean? >> Well, they're both feel like two sides of a coin almost. The one side is the the arrogance again. I know what needs to happen versus >> there is something the impersonal, you know, there is something that wants to happen. >> Right. Right. >> It's actually quite simple.