Letting go of the 'blankie'
Most of us remember Linus from the comic strip "Peanuts" which, by the way, lasted until 2000. Some of us remember Linus sucking his thumb and carrying around his security blanket. Psychologists call Linus' blanket a "transitional object" because it helps him to make a transition from complete dependence on his care providers to relative independence. Such transitional objects might include a pillow or a stuffed toy. Such objects also help to soothe a child under times of stress. It is all quite normal for children to use transitional objects. In fact it is quite healthy. It shows the child is willing to go beyond his immediate surroundings and explore.
As a child matures the transitional object becomes inwardized. When the child becomes an adult after their frontal lobes fully mature around 18 years of age, the child's transitional object becomes something for thought. It is recognized, for example, as a system of beliefs, basic assumptions, presuppositions, and prejudices, to name just a few. All this is necessary, for it helps the individual to meet the challenges of day to day life.
Those new to Buddhism who might decide to join a local Zen center come to it with their own kind of Linus blanket, only it is completely inwardized as it should be. By it the beginner can submit to a limited transformative relationship with Buddhism. But it also needs to be brought to our attention that the transformative relationship involves a crossing over from a limited all-too-human view of reality to the transcendent in which all transitional objects have to be dumped. And this also includes, eventually, the Zen center, itself, which in most cases is a transitional object. When the beginner joined a Zen center it was somewhat like a toddler upgrading his 'b! lankie&# 39; for a big Pooh Bear.
Of course it dawns on us that exchanging one set of transitional objects for another is not really going to work if we expect to reach the transcendent as mentioned earlier. Real spiritual maturity begins when we go into the mountains, as Buddhist practitioners still do in China, to become hermits or become urban hermits. There are no transitional object allowed because such a life is for going beyond the Five Aggregates that make up our individuality. Hopefully, our mind can then reach the unconditioned (visankhara), i.e., nirvana.
