I understand what you are saying and I agree with you. I think I did a piss poor job of saying what I meant. I did not mean to give you the idea that on our spiritual quest in life we should place no personal value on the immaterial. The value I meant had to do specifically with the phrase "spiritual leader" as if we could assign a ranking to immaterial things. You know like if you said Tenzin 14 is number one and named him leader allowing you to call yourself a follower. This implies you will not make your own footprints in the sand but walk in his and assumes there is a greater value in the "leaders" path than your own. Teacher or advisor or source are better than leader but my point was "spiritual leader" is a stupid combo and allows people to say "I don't need to find my own way I can follow the leader" thus relieving them of responsibility for themselves. I'm not saying you or Mickey MacTastic & the Fur Ball Five see it that way but the whole reason I brought it up in the first place was in an attempt to shave that dad blasted furry forked tongue of his. Which I think you'll agree needs shaving.

Personally, I don't ever want to seem like or give the impression that I'm looking down on or diminishing anybody's spiritual journey...some people meditate, some pray, some go to church, some wash their feet, some make a pilgrimage, some flog themselves, some don't eat pork, some have orgies, some strap explosives to themselves, some give the right-of-way to cows...how do you measure who or what is more holy or brings you closer to the divine...and how do I know what madness might come from standing too close to that flame for some? We know there are mad men out there and that they are moths to the flame in this arena.

Also how do I know that the work of a contract killer or carpet bomber does not do more to aid and abet somebody on spiritual journey than a priest, lama, or book filled with pretty words...tragedy and the spiritual being so closely aligned to so many people...signs & wonders, we seem programmed to look for them...like faces on the surface of Mars...

I know, I know...it's not all intellect and ego...I accept it all and I say yes because I must...and I will not doubt and I will not judge and I'm a peaceful man and I don't hold a grudge...sha la la...

Once again, Mick's rah...rah...rah...rah...right. I'm one of you, blech! Boy, do I hate saying that fuzzy little fucker is correct.

And now our choir would like to present a song: