Are You A Material Girl In A Material World?

Of course, you are.  After all, in 1984 Madonna declared that: 

"You know that we are living in a material world; And I am a material girl"

Sometimes, profound truth is uttered by pop stars in the form of song lyrics that are put music which resonate through the culture for years and years.  

Or, is it truth?

Approximately ten years earlier, Buddhist author Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche in his book entitled, Cutting Through Spiritual Materialsm shared teachings on what he referred to as “the Three Lords of Materialism": 1) The Lord of Form, 2) the Lord of Speech, and 3) the Lord of Mind. On a very basic  level, these aspects of materialism deal with the challenges of everyday life: fulfilling one’s needs for food and shelter, as well as intellectual and spiritual sustenance.  Taken to an extreme level,  these "Lords" enslave us.

As a trained materials scientist, I am keenly aware that modern physics teaches that matter is energy and energy is matter (Einstein).  I am also aware that the material world we perceive as people, places, and things is more akin to the vibrations of particles (or waves) dancing to the orchestra of form (quantum physics).

So, when you get a little caught up, or hooked by Three Lords, it may be helpful to recall Matthew 6:19-21: 

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”