Try free for 30 days

A 30-day trial plus your first audiobook free.
1 credit/month after trial—to buy any title you like, yours to keep.
Listen all you want to a selection of thousands of Audible Originals, audiobooks and podcasts.
$16.45 a month after 30 day trial. Cancel anytime.
Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism cover art

Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism

By: Marvin Casper - editor, John Baker - editor, Chögyam Trungpa, Sakyong Mipham - foreword
Narrated by: Jim Gimian
Free with 30-day trial

$16.45/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $26.99

Buy Now for $26.99

Pay using voucher balance (if applicable) then card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions Of Use and Privacy Notice and authorise Audible to charge your designated credit card or another available credit card on file.

Publisher's Summary

In this modern spiritual classic, the Tibetan meditation master Chögyam Trungpa highlights the commonest pitfall to which every aspirant on the spiritual path falls prey: what he calls spiritual materialism. The universal tendency, he shows, is to see spirituality as a process of self-improvement - the impulse to develop and refine the ego when the ego is, by nature, essentially empty. "The problem is that ego can convert anything to its own use," he said, "even spirituality."

His incisive, compassionate teachings serve to wake us up from this trick we all play on ourselves and to offer us a far brighter reality: the true and joyous liberation that inevitably involves letting go of the self rather than working to improve it. It is a message that has resonated with students for nearly thirty years and remains fresh as ever today. This new edition includes a foreword by Chögyam Trungpa's son and lineage holder, Sakyong Mipham.

©1973 Chögyam Trungpa (P)2015 Audible, Inc.

What listeners say about Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    40
  • 4 Stars
    7
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    1
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    34
  • 4 Stars
    9
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    32
  • 4 Stars
    6
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Incredible

Contains pretty much everything you need to understand for waking up to a better way

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

So so so wonderful

The perfect book for a difficult period in your life
Enlighting for all... Thankyou chogyam

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Superb, profound, clear

The content is truly absorbing - Trungpa has a way of incorporating complex, profound & millenia of Eastern practise and knowledge into a comprehensible and clear synthesis. The only 'downside' was the monotone of the voice - but perhaps that could be attributed to listening for hours and hours. Will relisten many, many times.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful treatise on Spirituality

I loved this book as it explores the challenges that face a seeker who wishes to commit to a spiritual path. This book is especially relevant in the current era where it has become fashionable to be "seen" as spiritual!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

An eye opener for any seeker.

I am very grateful that this book exists. The narrator was able to transmit the serenity and wisdom of the words. Thank you :)

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderfully astute and relatable.

Perfect as an audio book, Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism makes core Buddhist teachings approachable and outlines the common pitfalls of our spiritual practice.

Very.... Wise, relevant.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

I wanted to like this book

It is rare that I do not finish a book. I was hoping for an insightful experience. I found the content quite boring, repetitive and the constant use of the same metaphors tedious. I listened to about half of the book. Perhaps the writing style was just not for me.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.