Unknown Buddhist

As the Huffington Post reported, it was impossible to escape news of the Kardashian–West engagement. Media covered everything from the proposal, to tweets, to Kim’s gigantic ring.  Ms. Kardashian’s ring is 10 – 15 times greater than the average wedding ring.  As one commentator noted, “It’s the size of a car’s headlight bulb.” Think about that for a moment.

Mark the budding nuptials against Kris Humphries, who sold the engagement ring he gave Kardashian at an October 15 auction. The Lorraine Schwartz creation featured a rectangular 16.21-carat center diamond and two 1.8-carat side diamonds, all set in platinum.  The anonymous buyer paid $749,000 for something originally costing over 2 million-dollars.

I remember back when Humphries and Kardashian split the profits from their wedding. Adding that, “Kim and Kris got 30 percent of the revenue from every commercial that aired. The wedding special aired in about 50 countries — they made out like bandits.” The fact they agreed to split the money they made off the wedding before the actual event makes a lot of people believe the whole thing was a scam.

At the end of the day, why should we care? Why is Kardashian so popular? What has she done? It’s not solely about looks, for there’s plenty of attractive women. Can’t be personality. Why?

Because she’s a master socialite. Kardashian was born wealthy and quickly immersed herself into pop culture, Hollywood and sports. She built a network markets, particularly reality TV.  But that’s it. She has not cured disease, served leadership to a nation in need, won any tournament, became a respected humanitarian … or respected anything outside of television reality. Kardashian is simply herself.

From a Buddhist perspective, that’s reality. Frist, Kardashian couldn’t give a spit about you or me. It was never about you or me. It was all about her. Secondly, all things are impermanent and the Kardashian clan will eventually fall into obscurity. Third, the Kris Humphries engagement ring sale foretells how quickly fall descends.

I watched a documentary where attorney Robert Kardashian (Kardashian’s father) read OJ’s supposed suicide note. Fast forward fifteen years later. Robert Kardashian is dead; no one cares about OJ Simpson; and the country appears riveted by the every move of Kardashian’s three ignorant daughters; whose notoriety arose from a sex tape and America’s unquenchable thirst for mindless television.

In truth, I feel sorry for Kardashian. For after all the fame; after all the wealth, after all the lies; all they’ll have is themselves.