TOO LITTLE MONEY

Everything I want to do take money – and I don’t have any! I wish my family was rich.

You may come from a poor family and feel frustrated because you can’t buy the things you want. Maybe your parents struggle just to pay the rent much less provide extras for you. These are not uncommon situations many young people are in the same boat as you. Often they think that money equals to happiness. But they are making a grave mistake.

Being born in a stately mansion is no guarantee of happiness, any more than being born in a shack dooms one to misery. Whether a person is happy or unhappy has nothing to do with how many material possessions he or she has. Even an affluent and seemingly enviable family can be struggling with some serious problem that may not be apparent. Often people may appear happy, but underneath they may be hiding some personal agony. No matter how together people might appear on the outside, it’s difficult to see what’s inside their hearts. So never be ashamed over you economics status. What’s disgraceful is to have an impoverished hear, to live dishonestly.

A world-renowned businessman once told me: “Even though I have achieved fame and fortunes, I felt a greater sense of purpose and fulfillment when I was poor. I had goals, and life was filled with challenge. To regain that sense of fulfillment, I realize now that I have to create a new goal: to contribute to the well-being and happiness of others.”

We often see people embroiled in bitter battles over money; people plunged into misery and depression if their popularity should fade; people ruining their lives when they let fame and power go to their heads, and people living in luxurious homes where family members can’t stand one another. Too often those who live in seemingly ideal, well-o-do, distinguished families are bound by formality, tradition and appearances. They have difficulty setting goals and achieving them since their every need is taken care of. So when you get right down to it, do wealth, fame or luxury assure happiness? The answer is an emphatic “No.

Everything depends on your viewpoint. Instead of thinking you are unfortunate just because your parents don’t have a lot of money or lack of education, adopt the view that this is a common situation. You will see that this perspective will allow you to develop into a truly humane person. You’ll realize that your hardships are the very material that will enable you to develop a big heart and become an individual of depth and substance.

The face is, it’s only by experiencing difficulties that you can become the kind of person who can understand others’ feelings. Your pain and sorrow will cultivate the earth of your inner being. And from here, you can bring forth the beautiful flower of compassion and a desire to work for people’s happiness.

Money, fame and material possessions offer only fleeting satisfaction, something that can be called “relative” happiness. Buddhist practitioners learn, however, to establish absolute happiness by transforming their lives from within. When we develop a state of mind as vast and resplendent as a magnificent palace, then nothing – no matter where we go or what we may encounter in life – can undermine or destroy our happiness.

Adapted from The Way of Youth by Daisaku Ikeda

I hope that Randolph and Keefe will read this…