sweetmangoLOVE

Yesterdays post was regarding the living of your life with this question upon your lips:

"Who do I need to become in order to live the life I desire?"

For those of you who follow the Buddhist or Hindu style of living this does not mean desire as the opposite of our commitment to non-attachment of things. This can mean the desire to help others, the desire to be more committed in our practice of loving compassion, the desire to live without judgement, the desire of reaching enlightenment.

The Western world holds too tightly to one description of a word and in particular the word desire. To anyone who follows a holistic path this word desire can stir up many negative feelings and connotations. So too can the idea of wealth and prosperity, especially when integrated with a Buddhist lifestyle. But even Buddha himself had specific views on these subjects;

The Buddha’s view on prosperity can be summarized as follows. First, one is entitled to as much wealth as one wants, as long as it is earned ethically, without harming others. We are told to “gradually increase wealth without squeezing others, just as bees collect honey without harming the flowers.” Secondly, we need to use our wealth to benefit both ourselves and others. In other words, wealth is not to be pursued for its own sake, but for the good it can do for the world. He advised his followers to use their money to satisfy family members, employees, friends, and associates.

He also said that we need to be good citizens – we should pay taxes to our government and also support the monks and other spiritual leaders who have dedicated their lives to the benefit of all. And thirdly, we need to be moderate in our way of satisfying our senses. It’s fine to enjoy good food or fine clothing, for example, as long as we don’t get greedy or overindulge. The pleasures of life are to be appreciated simply for their ability to sustain our physical and mental well-being.

(excerpt taken from here based upon the book The Buddhas Teachings on Prosperity, at Home at Work in the World by Bhikkhu Basagoda Rahula available from Amazon, link at the end of the post)

You see desire is not such a nasty word when what we desire is to be better than we were yesterday.

Desire is not such a horrible concept when applied to wealth or prosperity if we use that wealth for the good of all around us, including ourselves.

We are not all meant to be wearing the monastic robes. We can however lead an honourable life while we work and secure our futures and help create comfort in others around us. We have a vital role, even our spiritual teachers rely upon our prosperity to feed them, clothe them and house them. Even our spiritual teachers rely upon our prosperity to help others within the community who need assistance.

Underlying all of this is the knowledge that wealth and prosperity will not bring you happiness but should you seek the pursuit of happiness through teachings and lifestyle then any wealth you gain will be joyfully and easily shared.

So once again I ask you to consider asking yourself each day and throughout the day

“Who do I need to become in order to live the life I desire”