Kyabje Dagpo Rinpoche related in the 2010 Lamrim retreat:
There is a story about Drukpa Kunley. Once he said: I seem to have misplaced my pride. I can't find it anywhere. I've looked hi and lo. And then I found it among the Geshes.
What a perfect and skillful instruction.
"Geshes" here can be substituted by "intellectuals" or "know-it-alls."
Don't get me wrong. I value and treasure the study Geshes undergo. Too bad though when it doesn't serve to tame one's mind and and lead to authentic humility and the boundless compassionate presence of a true realizer. I treasure learning and understanding, I treasure the ideas of the many systems of Buddhist thought and the commentarial reflections by dedicated practitioners that have come down to us through the centuries. Some like to dismiss the commentarial traditions as not being "pure Buddhism". Fundamentalism can be found anywhere. Commentarial traditions are expressions of ideas evolving and effecting changes within individuals.
And I have met my share of those who find philosophical or any form of mental rigor irrelevant to Buddhist spirituality, preferring to make up what they believe Dharma consists of and disregarding the "traditions" of Buddhism as irrelevant to us today. I think that's as much a misinformed approach as the acquisition of knowledge in the absence of careful integration. But when either learning or refusal to learn leads to or issues from what I like to call MSE (monstrous spiritual ego), all I can say is, thanks but no thanks.
