It seems most of what I do here is comment on others' blogs, so I thought I'd put a comment here. :) Finally!

The road to hell is paved. :) Whether you are actually nonjudgmental is not as important as your recognition that being so is where you wish to go, and your making a continual effort to understand why.

I think that playing Jesus Christ or Buddhist can be done in America, but not by hypocrites. One needs to give up materialism and vanity, without giving up self-esteem or true worth. That may--may--mean giving up expectations about how one lives, giving up a nice home, car, cosmetics, clothing, etc.; but actually only requires that you give up *needing* or *demanding* these symbols of materialism. Forcing yourself to give up these things when you still crave them only leads to a fractured mind, a broken personality... you become false, a hypocrite.

Most people that try to give up materialism, or ego, or even alcohol or other addictive elements for that matter, do so by attempting to *reject* it. Paul taught that kind of behavior in the bible. Jesus did not. We need to learn to first understand the thing we wish to control, by embracing it, becoming it; until we see its cravings, its needs and dependencies, and where it finds fulfillment in ourselves. If we fear that, it will always control us even as we try to reject it. As Luke Skywalker learned in Star Wars, you do not *fight* the dark side. You must love it.

Of course, you must also love the path of light, or you become a pawn of darkness.