Everything Counts

   Whatever we have done with our lives makes us what we are when we die. And everything, absolutely everything, counts.

Sogyal Rinpoche

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   Another famous show business personality was taken out by substance addiction. His friends, and people in the industry of the sublime narcissism of fame, were taken aback and some even expressed shock. Others took on the onus of Job’s councilors by trying to make sense of it… the dissolution of his marriage and etc. When someone we know falls it is a natural response to try to figure it out without grasping the reality of the delusion that has most of us bound by one desire or another unfulfilled… of never having enough or knowing what we want out of life.

    This leads me to think about spirituality that is as delusional as any substance addiction. Some very intelligent and aware people I know of have this idea that they can attain ecstatic states of consciousness and perform miracles. Some gurus or preachers exploit this spiritual materialism and have also convinced followers that by merely sitting in the presence of the “master” they can become enlightened. But, what is enlightenment if it doesn’t transform and tame the ego? If enlightenment doesn’t result in loving-kindness and thereby free us of our addictions, it is delusional. No matter how many disciples we gather around ourselves we die alone with the ego as our only companion. The Carpenter had it right when he said that the fulfillment of the law is The Heart of Compassion; compassion for myself, and for all others.

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