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Riches
lobster
Crusty Veteran
As a follower of the six fold path (I could not afford the full package) I feel enriched:
- I am constantly receiving hand me down clothes
- My bed is so low, it is a floor
- I only eat home cooked medicinal food
- I have time to practice
How rich/poor are you?
4
Comments
My financial situation has gotten a lot better, but I still live in a run-down house with no heat or air. (I do have a couple of space heaters though.) New car in the driveway is nice. I too wear hand-me down clothes from the thrift store, but that's a choice not a necessity. I have been catching up on old debts with my new income, and am almost caught up. I still feel a little...uneasy having a bourgeois income after scraping by on breadcrumbs for so long.
Should I feel guilty for having more than some of my fellow men? Should I give it all away like Tolstoy?
poor in having a relationship but-being bold?--rich in my adult video collection of gorgios curvey ladies.yay?or nah?lol.
poor in buying new clothes ,rich in having hand out clothes.simular to lobster.
poor in making money,rich in finding coins .this one is speacial.is traditional green beens in every culture save for a rainy day.
poor in good looks,rich in how my deity woman sees me,beautiful.this ones crazy.i know.
I have a mortgage on a low end condo where the monthly payments are below what a real estate agent or mortgage broker would tell me I could qualify for. I use my work truck for personal use rather than having a second vehicle to keep up appearances. I cook my own meals rather than eating out. I wear my possessions down to the nub and use them well into outdated mode rather than getting the trendy, new thing. I don't have expensive tastes. And at the same time I work less than full time and am not in the top 1% of global income earners ($32,400 US), but because of all of the above I have retirement savings and money enough in the bank so I can pay for vehicle repairs when they arise and pay cash when essentials break down rather than relying on credit. I can use my resources to pay for quality insurance so I am not bankrupt when misfortune falls. I can afford a cheap flight out to California for a few days to attend my Aunt's wedding. So I'm not rich by relative western standards, but I have more than enough by absolute standards.
I have not always had money, but have been rich in many other ways.
However, it is also nice to have some money....
Some feel guilty for having less. That too is poverty.
Did he write for free?
Now let me consider how rich I am:
Ay aramba I am richer than the three jewels ...
I'm also rich in that I have family that I can turn to and rely on for assistance. I've received a few small loans to help with some expenses early on and an Aunt who helped me pay my bills when I was unable to work for 4 months. I might have been able to manage but I didn't have to worry about falling into a debt cycle that I couldn't work my way out of.
I'm noticing that there are two feeling states that arise thinking about this. One where I feel grateful and one where I feel guilty. Rationally gratitude is the emotion that makes most sense to me, I can't really justify to myself feeling guilty for a type of good fortune that I had no control in creating. At the most my contribution was to be the type of person that my family care about and want to help rather than being a jerk that they want nothing to do with.
Gosh, I forgot I had a family. Mostly crazier than me but still ...
Also forgot to mention ... we purchased a new inverter/flatbed combination microwave, which arrived yesterday.
All the Buddha had was an empty bowl.
Money comes and goes.
I have been well off, not so well off, but always rich in the things that money cannot buy.
Which incidentally, are not things, but beloved people, memorable moments, time to myself, books to read, lessons learned.
And far richer because I am grateful and appreciative of every little thing I have.
As I wrote in another post, some people are so poor, all they have is money.
???
No, but he tried to give all the proceeds away, to his wife's distress:
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/tolstoy-disguises-himself-as-a-peasant-and-leaves-on-a-pilgrimage
I have time to practice... 24 hours a day...I am a time rich billionaire
In fact I can afford to sit around and do nothing and live off the interest...
Relatively rich. I had a long and good career in IT and saved up a lot of money, and despite life changing circumstances and difficulty in recent years I’m still not poor. My most pressing concern is occasional ill-health and a lack of a livelihood, which means my finances will gradually worsen.
Rich in family. I have fathers, a mother, uncles and aunts I can rely on, they are lovely people who I get on well with. We have great bbq get togethers every summer when we get to see everyone, it’s a blessing.
Rich in the dharma. Recent difficulties have meant a long while off work, which has left me with free time to study dharma. I’ve found it tremendously enriching to take a path of letting go of many things, to read Thich Nhat Hanh’s books, to wander through the dharma on the web and share with you all.
Not wasteful. I’ve always lived a comparatively frugal life, I don’t tend to spend much, and so I usually have enough.
I have everything I could want so why aren’t I happy?
Because you want something more than things?
The human condition. Thank goodness for the buddhist path and meditation.
I can't imagine how much more difficult my life would be without the path.
If you have enough of everything then you have what you need to be happy. It’s not just about material things, but emotional needs and fulfilment needs. You could run down the whole Maslow’s pyramid. But in the end desire is but a dream...
There is the famous Zen story about the master who was in retreat up a mountain and was visited by a thief. Thinking that there wasn’t anything else to steal the Zen master donated the thief his clothes, since he didn’t want him to go away empty-handed. Later on that night the master sat composing poetry and looking outside and thought “how beautiful is this moon. I wish I could have given it to that thief.”
You can free yourself from desire, as that Zen master had done. Or you could look at the other klesha’s, and see what is causing your unhappiness... aversion, ignorance, torpor, many things.
Ultimately if you look deeply into these things and free yourself, a natural happiness and wellbeing will surface.
I am rich in the mind's abundant resources...often tapping into its vast wealth of knowledge....but poor when it comes to sustainable excavation techniques...I have to make do with what comes up ...( for the time being that is
)
...And in the world of make-believe....I have been rich and poor... relatively speaking .....
I see every day people who lead what to everyone else seem to be fulfilling lives, but are overwhelmed by feelings of spleen and Angst, and people financially poor and rich in hardships who go about their lives with resilience and acceptance.
Samsara and Nirvana are just one frame of mind away.
I caramba! I forgot the sea ... an ocean of riches ...
Enrichment and empowerment is the plan, independent of circumstance/karma as @Buddhadragon mentions.
Here is another drop ...
https://buddhaweekly.com/wealth-deities-generating-karma-for-prosperity-by-practicing-generosity/
I find it difficult to be categorical, but I have spent years in a deep let-go, and enrichment and empowerment seem now to me to be the path to ‘more’. I’m minded to take the path of ‘less’ and perhaps look for a yogi’s cave somewhere.
But the world is full of people, and finding a good retreat is no longer easy.
My father is currently trying to pass on his curry cooking skills to me, constantly reminding me that in order to take care of the body we need to eat decent food. I’m more of the type who will eat a simple one-dish meal made with minimal effort. For luxury I eat a small piece of chocolate.
@Kerome
Less is more. It really is.
Most serious spiritual path walkers are ascetic. Becoming a troglodyte is not required or even beneficial for many of us.
Hope you find a suitable retreat ...
The yogi cave, the full world and the good retreat is a state of imagination cushion Mind.
More riches: