How Much Is Enough?
One of my most dearly held beliefs is that the soul is encumbered by the pursuit and ownership of material objects. I have long thought that having less and keeping life simple are important spiritual practices.
But in fact, I do own an awful lot of things, more things than I can manage really. I live in one of the wealthiest countries in the world. From this population, I would guess that I am in the top 20% of households income-wise. It seems that, without really meaning to, I have gotten quite immersed in stuff, both physically and mentally.
I think there are all sorts of reasons for this, good and bad. I think we inevitablely measure "enough" by what we see around us. Our parents were happy to have a color television; we also want a DVD player, a playstation, and an iPod. It's almost like swimming upstream to detach from the material progress we are immersed in.
A second reason, one less compelling to me but surely understandable, is the relationship between owning material goods and status. We are judged by the home we own and the car we drive. And of course, the clothes we wear. How much of what we buy is for display for other people? And is this a diminishment of ourselves spiritually?
One thing that I have recently been trying to keep in mind is the boggling extent of world poverty. Something like 1 billion people live on less than $2 a day. This shames me. But at the same time, I do not believe in asceticism. Live is to be lived, and the mission of compassion is not to snuff out all joys, but to share in the vibrancy of life.
So this is my question - how do we know what is enough, what is too much, and what is too little? How do we measure our own needs, distinguish needs from wants, and distinguish wants from frivolity? How do we keep in mind the great hunger of the world, while still living our own lives fully?
I think this is an essentially spiritual question, one that takes great and perhaps continuing discernment. Reason alone cannot tell us what is enough, nor can custom. Nor can we obey the arbitrariness of our own desire, nor can we deny ourselves everything but the barest necessities. I think it requires a continuous alertness to many things - what it is we desire, whether having what we desire makes us happy, our ability to ameliorate suffering in the world with our material resources, our relationship with the things we own.
I think my belief is that if we have a positive and appreciative relationship with what we own then our consumption will tend to moderate itself. About my possessions, I ask myself, is this something I use? Is this something I enjoy? Is this something that takes away from my relationships with friends and family, because it exacerbates my consuming nature? Is this something that has come to own me by occupying a disproportionate share of my time or my effort?
It often strikes me that the things which bring me the greatest happiness are rarely owned. I take this as a lesson to place the proper value on owned things.
But in fact, I do own an awful lot of things, more things than I can manage really. I live in one of the wealthiest countries in the world. From this population, I would guess that I am in the top 20% of households income-wise. It seems that, without really meaning to, I have gotten quite immersed in stuff, both physically and mentally.
I think there are all sorts of reasons for this, good and bad. I think we inevitablely measure "enough" by what we see around us. Our parents were happy to have a color television; we also want a DVD player, a playstation, and an iPod. It's almost like swimming upstream to detach from the material progress we are immersed in.
A second reason, one less compelling to me but surely understandable, is the relationship between owning material goods and status. We are judged by the home we own and the car we drive. And of course, the clothes we wear. How much of what we buy is for display for other people? And is this a diminishment of ourselves spiritually?
One thing that I have recently been trying to keep in mind is the boggling extent of world poverty. Something like 1 billion people live on less than $2 a day. This shames me. But at the same time, I do not believe in asceticism. Live is to be lived, and the mission of compassion is not to snuff out all joys, but to share in the vibrancy of life.
So this is my question - how do we know what is enough, what is too much, and what is too little? How do we measure our own needs, distinguish needs from wants, and distinguish wants from frivolity? How do we keep in mind the great hunger of the world, while still living our own lives fully?
I think this is an essentially spiritual question, one that takes great and perhaps continuing discernment. Reason alone cannot tell us what is enough, nor can custom. Nor can we obey the arbitrariness of our own desire, nor can we deny ourselves everything but the barest necessities. I think it requires a continuous alertness to many things - what it is we desire, whether having what we desire makes us happy, our ability to ameliorate suffering in the world with our material resources, our relationship with the things we own.
I think my belief is that if we have a positive and appreciative relationship with what we own then our consumption will tend to moderate itself. About my possessions, I ask myself, is this something I use? Is this something I enjoy? Is this something that takes away from my relationships with friends and family, because it exacerbates my consuming nature? Is this something that has come to own me by occupying a disproportionate share of my time or my effort?
It often strikes me that the things which bring me the greatest happiness are rarely owned. I take this as a lesson to place the proper value on owned things.
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