Materialism as a Spiritual guide, an American paradox.  

I want ten million dollars and I know it will be great to have it. And this desire can teach me about myself. All desires are symbols representing aspects of yourself that you have forgotten. Call this an American approach to enlightenment. In America we are rich, we will not give up our material luxuries, we will continue our mad pursuit of everything all the time. Lets face it. We will not still the mind, or take the Buddha’s advice and give up desire, we will seek and acquire, shop till we drop, we’re American consumers and that’s our spiritual path. So lets work with that… 

Here is an interesting process you can do. Think about something you want and use a few questions to get at the core of your beliefs, your values and the direction of your life. What do you want?  I want $10,000,000.00. Why do you want that? Because then I will have all the toys, I will be free to play and not work. What will that  give you? A sense of ease, security, fun, the ability to create more, I can give more, I can help people, I can start an organization to help kids etc…OK and when you have all that, what will that give you? I will feel complete, I will feel powerful and good about myself. OK and what will that give you? I will be happy because I am making a difference in people’s lives Ok and what will that give you? A sense of peace. 

If you keep asking the “what will that give you?”  question, all the things you truly want will stand revealed in layers. What you want is a state of mind. So start with that state of mind and work your way back to the symbol. There’s nothing wrong with the symbols, but many people give up what they really want because they believe in the symbol. People chase after the money and success (symbols) and give up their quality of life in the pursuit. Remember this: the pursuit is an affirmation that you don’t have it. The pursuit is proof of lack. And this is why pursuit causes stress and unhappiness, it is a state of mind that is lacking. 

Start by being the state of mind and let the world arrange itself around you. To use the above example, be the peace, then make a contribution to people, let that give you joy, feel good about yourself, give more, help more, play more. All successful entrepreneurs know when you live this way you make more money. Maybe even ten million, but it won’t matter because the ten million was just a symbol for what you really wanted, which was a joyous life. Do this exercise with each thing you desire, it will be very interesting and revealing. 

Material desires represent a state of mind that you want because you know it is good. And how is it that you know it is good? It is because you have experienced it before. These states are within you. They are your qualities, they are your essence, otherwise you wouldn’t remember how they feel.  

So everything you want can be a reminder to be joyous now. So be the quality of what you want first, the rest will follow, get the benefits before you get the stuff. This should appeal to us because it’s faster than instant gratification, and as Americans we are obligated to having it fast.