Money

I am absolutely convinced that no wealth in the world can help humanity forward, even in the hands of the most devoted worker in this cause. The example of great and pure personages is the only thing that can lead us to find ideas and noble deeds. Money only appeals to selfishness and always irresistibly tempts its owner to abuse it. Can anyone imagine Moses, Jesus or Gandhi with the moneybags of Carnegie?

~Einstein

I know where you are going but keep in mind Einstine, one of my heros, wasn't so bad off. Not dirty wealthy but lived well.

From a journal entry of mine:

Money is a tool that is used to represent value. Money itself is nothing, it is used to show the value that we place on goods and services.

So can money buy happiness? Yes it can.

Would money buy my happiness? Yes. It would buy me not having to work to pursue what I wanted and spend time with those I wanted. It would buy me the books I wanted to read, the land I wanted to walk upon and enjoy, the music I would want to listen to and the computer and internet connection to share what I wanted and talk to those I want.

Money is value, but in a form that is easy to express. We could throw away our notes and coins, but we would still value that which we had, except we would find it hard in how we swapped what we valued less for what we valued more (trade).

Money buys happiness, because money is value. It is a tool and nothing more. If it's evil it's because someone uses it in a bad way, not because the tool is bad. A gun can be used for an ornament on a mantelpiece just as it can be used to kill.

Where there is value there can be a monetary value attached to it. We just don't have to pay for that which many value as being the most important goods in their lives.

If money doesn't buy you happiness then you're buying the wrong things.

Perhaps what makes you happy is more abstract than a new item of clothing?

It certainly is for me.

There is no such thing as 'no wealth' except in a universe where no value is ever placed on anything, abstract emotions of personal possessions. Absolutely nothing must ever have any value placed on it, because that's all money is; an expression of value.

I believe Einstein worked very hard all his life so he earned what he got: remembrance as an example of a great personage that can lead us to ideas and noble deeds.

I'm personally indifferent to money as an object but it's pretty clear that money is NOT indifferent to you and I. I think we can all safely say that our lives are dictated by money.

Perhaps a good question for this thread would be:
What would you do if you lost all your junk? No money, no savings, no land, no car, no job, no unemployment insurance, etc. Just one backpack with a few days of clothes.

Whyte Horse wrote: What would you do if you lost all your junk? No money, no savings, no land, no car, no job, no unemployment insurance, etc. Just one backpack with a few days of clothes.

It's a romantic idea, but the asetic appeal would be lost on me as soon as my daughter got sick and I need medical attention for her with no insurance or money to cover her medical needs.

In Christian literature there is a commandment by God which reads (paraphrasing): "Love me before all other Gods". I think that each of us build our own "gods" throughout our lifetimes: money, power, social status, family, etc, which becomes our number one priority over all other things, and defines who we are and why we act the way we act.

The problem is not loving money. The problem is loving it MORE than you love God (or the Tao, or the Force, or whatever concept you have of the Eternal), because suffering comes from attachment to a fleeting thing (or so say the Buddhists). :lol:

Like money, even family is fleeting - people who love their families more than anything else and then lose them, are usually unable to recover emotionally and move on with their lives.

So don't put the blame on money. The blame should be placed on unhealthy attachments, on our human nature of not seeing the forest for the trees.

Manu wrote:

Whyte Horse wrote: What would you do if you lost all your junk? No money, no savings, no land, no car, no job, no unemployment insurance, etc. Just one backpack with a few days of clothes.

It's a romantic idea, but the asetic appeal would be lost on me as soon as my daughter got sick and I need medical attention for her with no insurance or money to cover her medical needs.

In Christian literature there is a commandment by God which reads (paraphrasing): "Love me before all other Gods". I think that each of us build our own "gods" throughout our lifetimes: money, power, social status, family, etc, which becomes our number one priority over all other things, and defines who we are and why we act the way we act.

The problem is not loving money. The problem is loving it MORE than you love God (or the Tao, or the Force, or whatever concept you have of the Eternal), because suffering comes from attachment to a fleeting thing (or so say the Buddhists). :lol:

Like money, even family is fleeting - people who love their families more than anything else and then lose them, are usually unable to recover emotionally and move on with their lives.

So don't put the blame on money. The blame should be placed on unhealthy attachments, on our human nature of not seeing the forest for the trees.

I tend to agree that attachment causes suffering. Why is losing all your junk a romantic idea?

Whyte Horse wrote: I believe Einstein worked very hard all his life so he earned what he got: remembrance as an example of a great personage that can lead us to ideas and noble deeds.

I'm personally indifferent to money as an object but it's pretty clear that money is NOT indifferent to you and I. I think we can all safely say that our lives are dictated by money.

Perhaps a good question for this thread would be:
What would you do if you lost all your junk? No money, no savings, no land, no car, no job, no unemployment insurance, etc. Just one backpack with a few days of clothes.

Personaly I'd love the adventure! Sadly, my wife would have to pay all the bills.

We live in a world where we are depedent on others and that involves trade.

I'm already in that position...no job, no money, no unemployment, no car...I live at my mom's...having nothing may free you from attachment, but not fully from suffering...not when bills keep coming, and food is needed...or healthcare...what frees you from suffering is how you choose to cope...do you dwell on it? Or do you let it go?

Personally I would love to live in a world with no need of money...money leads to greed, greed leads to suffering...

Until a month ago I had been unemployed for a year and a half...

I always thought that I was quite attached to money and what money brings, but I found that I was oddly happy living with my Dad, having my food paid for whilst unable to buy too much else...it gave me time to focus on what was really important, and Jediism and journeying on my own personal spiritual quest was more than enough to fill the financial void...

We need money for food, shelter, and all the other basics of life...but beyond that I've realised that it IS possible to be relatively content without it.

Now that I have SOME money, it's much more difficult not to feel "I could just do with a little more..." - whereas when I had none I wasn't thinking like that, I was thinking "life without money is actually not so bad..."

Funny how that works isn't it....