Where the Desire for More Money Might Not Serve Us
How much money you have, whether you have enough money, whether you are secure, whether you have "financial freedom" are all questions that buzz around so many people's minds.
"It's what money can get me," people say.
While many of us might think that money can't buy happiness, there are lots of others that think it comes as a result, backed up by a lot of surveys that show that the wealthier tend to be happier.
An odd mix of contradictions! To a yogi, the pursuit of more money is an aspect of desire, an ego characteristic where we are never satisfied with what we have.
We are, according to this line of thinking, wanting and wanting and always wanting.
It's like an addictive cycle.
We want, then we get and then we want again.
The getting doesn't satisfy, or not for long.
It's seen by yogis as a major trap on the spiritual path, for example where our minds in meditation get caught up in thinking in some way connected with desire.
By contrast the sadhu cultivates non-attachment to desire, but instead equipoise, balance, evenness of mind, patience, allowing, and letting go.
Desire introduces unevenness of mind, anxiety, fear, anger, frustration, jealousy, and off we go into some pit of unease.
To the yogi this is how happiness is lost, in among other things addiction to desire.
Of course there's more than one side to desire.
We could also say that there's a positive wanting, where you set yourself a goal that you intention to achieve, and here you have something you want to do.
You might be positively motivated in this.
Also you might want to earn money to put food on the table in the sense that it is a need, a fundamental to living.
Maslow is well-known for his " hierarchy " of needs, all considered natural to the human being.
We could debate these but at least it gives one perspective on the value of needs.
"Need" and "want" overlap, as you will see if you consult the dictionary definitions, and it depends on which meaning of each you are using.
So at one end a need might imply a requirement or a necessity, while at the other end a want could be a wish.
Take your pick! Whichever word you are using, it can be useful to enquire into what you mean when you are pursuing a need, want or desire.
Because the other side to desire is the wanting that suggests a deficit need, the sense that one is really driven by a lack or a fear of a lack, or by some compulsion or addiction to wanting, or some ego attachment in which the sense of identity is wrapped up with wanting.
So the need or want for money might be ego-driven.
For example, my sense of who I am is that I have worth if I have enough money, and I might see myself as worthless if I'm so badly off without it that I'm destitute.
Interesting that we use "worth" to include both a financial value and also a human value! This is where the pursuit of more money becomes an unhealthy driver than harms us ourselves and/or others around us.
"It's what money can get me," people say.
While many of us might think that money can't buy happiness, there are lots of others that think it comes as a result, backed up by a lot of surveys that show that the wealthier tend to be happier.
An odd mix of contradictions! To a yogi, the pursuit of more money is an aspect of desire, an ego characteristic where we are never satisfied with what we have.
We are, according to this line of thinking, wanting and wanting and always wanting.
It's like an addictive cycle.
We want, then we get and then we want again.
The getting doesn't satisfy, or not for long.
It's seen by yogis as a major trap on the spiritual path, for example where our minds in meditation get caught up in thinking in some way connected with desire.
By contrast the sadhu cultivates non-attachment to desire, but instead equipoise, balance, evenness of mind, patience, allowing, and letting go.
Desire introduces unevenness of mind, anxiety, fear, anger, frustration, jealousy, and off we go into some pit of unease.
To the yogi this is how happiness is lost, in among other things addiction to desire.
Of course there's more than one side to desire.
We could also say that there's a positive wanting, where you set yourself a goal that you intention to achieve, and here you have something you want to do.
You might be positively motivated in this.
Also you might want to earn money to put food on the table in the sense that it is a need, a fundamental to living.
Maslow is well-known for his " hierarchy " of needs, all considered natural to the human being.
We could debate these but at least it gives one perspective on the value of needs.
"Need" and "want" overlap, as you will see if you consult the dictionary definitions, and it depends on which meaning of each you are using.
So at one end a need might imply a requirement or a necessity, while at the other end a want could be a wish.
Take your pick! Whichever word you are using, it can be useful to enquire into what you mean when you are pursuing a need, want or desire.
Because the other side to desire is the wanting that suggests a deficit need, the sense that one is really driven by a lack or a fear of a lack, or by some compulsion or addiction to wanting, or some ego attachment in which the sense of identity is wrapped up with wanting.
So the need or want for money might be ego-driven.
For example, my sense of who I am is that I have worth if I have enough money, and I might see myself as worthless if I'm so badly off without it that I'm destitute.
Interesting that we use "worth" to include both a financial value and also a human value! This is where the pursuit of more money becomes an unhealthy driver than harms us ourselves and/or others around us.
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