Forever Poor

Most people go through life with one main aim or goal, and that is to enrich them self. Unfortunately due to the way most of us have been programmed, i.e. brought up, we mainly focus on financial and material aspects, and occasionally also knowledge wise, but invariable only towards attaining an education which will hopefully enable us to access financial and material things easier in our lives. It is very seldom that one gets an individual who is focused on developing her- or himself spiritually.

And essentially there is nothing wrong with somebody being materially or money driven, provided it does not get done at the exclusion of all else, or otherwise to an extreme. There is also nothing wrong with someone being extremely or filthy rich. Never begrudge somebody their wealth, provided it was attained legally and legitimately, and that that individual is also neither greedy nor stingy. Many people feel that part of the problem in society, or in the world as a whole for that matter, is due to the imbalance between the haves and the have-nots.

Well that is not what karma says about the whole saga. If in a past lifetime you created the causes and conditions to accumulate unwholesome karmic retribution now, then that is your own doing. Don’t expect others to now be responsible for your existence, to feel sorry for you, or to be made to feel guilty because of your perception that you have been given a raw deal this time round. Just because you cannot remember what you did in a past lifetime does not exonerate you from your karmic inheritance, and it is best to embrace the situation and get on with life.

But most people who are less well-off do not see life as such, and they go through life feeling that they have been done an incredible injustice, and that life is unfair and others must be made to ‘pay’ for their ‘misfortune’. That way they obviously not only never learn from their actions, and accordingly perpetuate their karmic retributions, but they also do not accept responsibility for their actions. And accordingly they remain intricately ensnared in their little circle of miserable existence of life and death, within the bigger wheel of Samsara.

There are also many who do not fall within this category, but who still do not make the most of their lives because they continually keep moving the goal post. Can you remember when you were a kid you would always think “if only”! “If only I had a beautiful/handsome girl/boy friend, then I would be happy”. “If only I had the latest album, jeans, book, poster, etc. then I would be happy.  But no sooner did you have that girl- or boyfriend, or that poster or jeans or whatever, and then you had your sights set on something else.  “If only I was finished with school, then I would have it made”. And once you finished school “if only I was at college or university then I would be content”. No sooner were you studying, and then you would think “if only I had a car or a motorbike, then I could drive around, visit all my friends, give people rides, and then I would be happy.” Eventually you got that bike or car, and then it was “if only I was finished studying and had this or that job, then I would be happy”. And soon you graduated, and you got a job, and then it was “if only I had my own place, apartment, house, then I could really enjoy life”. And no sooner do you leave home and have your own ‘place’ and then you thought or wished “if only I was married and had children, then I would be content.” Soon you were married and had your own family, and now it became “if only I could afford a bigger/better house, or a second home as a holiday place, or timeshare for vacations, etc. and then life would be great.” And over time you also attained that goal, and you kept on chasing after the next dream or illusion.

Just stop for a moment and ask yourself why this is an illusion, and also why do you do the things you do, or engage in the behaviour you allow yourself to get caught up in? Most people spend their entire life amassing material things, either money, or shares, or property, or cars, or clothes and jewellery and all sorts of other stuff, like titles, degrees and positions in society, which they believe they absolutely most have in order to be happy or to make their lives meaningful, but which very quickly loose their appeal. So why do they do it?

Even worse, come the day that they die, and that day definitely will come, just how much of that amassed stuff, whether material or financial, whether status or position in society, do they get to take with them? And the more physical things you own, the more you have to worry about in life in general, but more specifically in terms of not loosing it due to theft, damage, or gradual and natural decay. All your life you have to worry about insurance, security, maintenance, and on and on and on. What for?

So you begin by making yourself unhappy by desiring things you do not have, possibly even getting quite distressed if you can not get what you desire, and then once you have them you worry about losing them again by whatever means. That is really suffering! But, it is also part of the whole illusion we call life. Most people are so busy accumulating things which they believe they must have in order to live, that they never really get a chance to actually live.

Whatever became of wanting what you have, and not having what you want? There are precious few people who are quite happy with what they have in life, because most are too busy chasing after what they think they must have, to actually realise what they are doing to themselves. There is this misguided belief that in order to be successful you have to have something to ‘show’ for yourself. And what better way to ‘show’ (off) then to have a big house in an expensive suburb, with a big fancy luxury car or two in the driveway, being married with a couple of kids who go to posh private schools (even if they are not doing very well at school, so what, the main thing is that they are at a private school), having a position of standing at some big or well-known business, owning timeshare or a holiday ‘cottage’ somewhere at the beach or in the mountains, being a member of various ‘exclusive’ clubs or organisations, and blah blah blah.

We have been programmed to believe that the only way that you can be a success, the only way of gauging somebody’s ability to make something of their life, is on hand of what they can show materially. Accordingly society has come to accept that success is intricately linked to something material, financial, or status or position in society. If you do not somewhere or somehow fall into at least one of these categories, then you have failed with your life. Sad but true!

The more material wealth you have, the more successful you are in life. Essentially, the richer financially you are, the more successful you are. All else is secondary. And what else is there? Well, there is health, there is happiness, or content-ness, there is being at peace with life or having tranquillity in your life, essentially the whole aspect of being able to just live. So very few people are able to just live and let live, because there is always something to worry about. And the Buddha already spoke about the eight forms of suffering just under 2600 years ago, namely four which nobody can escape from being the suffering of birth, the suffering of sickness, the suffering of old age, and the suffering of death. And then there are the four sufferings which we can exercise some degree or measure of control over, namely not getting what we want, loosing what we have, being separated from those that we love, and encountering those that we dislike, or fear. 

Since society mainly recognises material wealth as success or achievement, it is also quite easy to see why there are so many poor people in the world. Few people realise that many of these people are only poor in terms of modern human made criteria, particularly in terms of the so-called advanced modern society. And somebody who has very few material possessions, but has extremely good health, or is at peace with life, or content with what they have, will most likely also be considered to be poor by virtue of not really having anything much to show for themselves.

So where does that leave us? It would appear that when you finally die -- and as I said before, we all WILL die some day -- but on that day the more material possessions you have, the more successful you were in life! At least that is the premise in many societies nowadays. Has anybody ever stopped to consider that you cannot take any of those wonderful and expensive material items with you to wherever it is we go hereafter? No seriously, you leave everything behind! No matter how much you accumulate in your lifetime, if it is in a material form, you do not get to take an iota of it with you. Not a fraction of anything – everything stays here for somebody else. Quite possibly for the family to fight over, or otherwise for the next person to worry about! Well at the very least somebody has to be executor of your last will and testament.

And since you have to leave it all behind, you could very well be asking yourself “what was this all about?” Why did you spend you entire life chasing after rainbows, and reflections in some mirror, window or pond? Were all of your life’s efforts in vain? Did any of what you did, said and thought matter much, or make any difference at all? That is seriously an important question you should be asking yourself! But you should be asking yourself that question now already, and not only when your current life has come to an end. You may want to argue that in terms of the Buddhist teachings you will be reborn again in any case and you will thus have a another chance to make amends or to improve matters. Possibly, but why waste valuable time? Why not make the most of the limited time you have available at your disposal right now, and move towards enlightenment with leaps and bounds? 

The only things you can take with you, are the things you learnt and experienced, as well as the results of all of your thoughts, speech, and actions or deeds. And that is why it is so important to be mindful at all times. Be very clear about all of your thoughts, about all of your speech, and most importantly all of your actions. The things that you do and say are the easiest to monitor and control. But everything originates as a thought.

Obviously we need certain material things in order to live comfortably, and in some cases just to live per se. We need food, clothing, shelter in various forms, transport, at times medical care, and many more things which could be considered necessities, depending on where you live and what you do for a living. But as long as you allow yourself to get caught up in materialism, as long as you are focused on material things at the exclusion of all else, so long you will remain forever poor.

(Originally written December 2005)

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