When I was a younger man, say, about 30 or so (I am now 73) I realized that the American Dream actually was not going to work that well for me, even though I was a very privileged, white, American, well-educated male. I even had a well paying job as a lawyer. But - I was miserable. I tried a few things to feel better - broke up my marriage - got a new girlfriend (we later broke up too), developed a wicked "drinking problem" - which grew into full blown alcoholism, etc. Finally, at the end of my rope, I figured I'd give "spirituality" a try. I stumbled into a Tibetan Buddhist group and for 5 years devoted myself to it. There were many troubles with the group, but my main problem was that I kept on looking for the Rinpoche and the senior teachers to give me the "key" that would unlock enlightenment and remove my pain. Never happened. So, I moved on. Christianity, Vedanta, Taoism - you name it and I have tried it. Again, I kept on waiting for that teacher to give me the keys to the Kingdom, until I finally realized that it was up to me and most likely, there was no key.
When I was a younger man, say, about 30 or so (I am now 73) I realized that the American Dream actually was not going to work that well for me, even though I was a very privileged, white, American, well-educated male. I even had a well paying job as a lawyer. But - I was miserable. I tried a few things to feel better - broke up my marriage - got a new girlfriend (we later broke up too), developed a wicked "drinking problem" - which grew into full blown alcoholism, etc. Finally, at the end of my rope, I figured I'd give "spirituality" a try. I stumbled into a Tibetan Buddhist group and for 5 years devoted myself to it. There were many troubles with the group, but my main problem was that I kept on looking for the Rinpoche and the senior teachers to give me the "key" that would unlock enlightenment and remove my pain. Never happened. So, I moved on. Christianity, Vedanta, Taoism - you name it and I have tried it. Again, I kept on waiting for that teacher to give me the keys to the Kingdom, until I finally realized that it was up to me and most likely, there was no key.