Upāsaka

For the longest time, my focus in life has been accumulating wealth in the form of money. However, I feel this is not compatible with the Buddhist path.

I am not against having a lot of money, if it happens to be that way. Throughout history, wealthy people have supported the monks and nuns so that they can dedicate their lives to studying, practicing, and teaching the Dhamma. There is no harm in having money as long as you do not cling to it.

Studies have shown that beyond a certain income level, happiness does not increase significantly, if at all. People disagree about what this income level is. I have seen anywhere from $75,000 to $200,000 per year. But the point is that there is no upper bound. If my only goal in life is to make a lot of money, I will never reach that goal because I can always get more. It is like an addiction. Once you have a little, you need a bigger dose to achieve the same pleasure.

The authors of a book I recently read, The Time Paradox, said this:

Time spent working is considered productive, while time spent being happy is considered wasted. Industry and economic success are prized over happiness in the minds of futures. But income in excess of what is required to meet basic needs does not bring happiness…Yet what is more important in life is more than skin-deep. It is a spiritual inner happiness that does not diminish over time.

This made me think about my priorities, and I realized that activities such as meditation were lower on my list of priorities than working a second job to make even more money.

This obsession with money is yet another aspect of my life that I can improve upon.