#Wealth September 12

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For September I am participating in the 30-Day Literary Lesson Coach4aday Challenge with the focus today on WEALTH.

Last week I was sharing with friends the things I learned about the Mormon faith on my trip out west. Many religions warn that pursuit of WEALTH without some guidelines will not lead to happiness. Traveling exposes you to people who have different views and expands your perspective.

As a Chrisitan and I often have to stop to remind myself that there are many different faiths in this world including Mormon, Hindu, and Buddhism.

Literary Lessons

Not all of what I read is in a book. Recently I read a post written by Suvimalee Karunaratna that was titled Prosperity and Happiness The Buddhist View.

One quote from that article is found below:

However, the Buddha was very much alive to the fact that economic stability is essential for man’s welfare and happiness.

In the Anguttaranikaya (A.II. (69-70) the Buddha mentions that there are four kinds of happiness derived from wealth. They are:
1) Atthisukha – The happiness of ownership.
2) Anavajjasukha – The happiness derived from wealth which is earned by means of right livelihood, i.e. not dealing in the sale of harmful weapons, not dealing in the slaughter of animals and sale of flesh, not dealing in the sale of liquor, not dealing in the sale of human beings (e.g. slavery and prostitution) and not dealing in the sale of poisons.
3) Ananasukha – the happiness derived from not being in debt.
4) Bhogasukha – the happiness of sharing one’s wealth. This kind of happiness is an extremely important concept in Buddhism.

Later in the article we get a summary

Wealth is to be sought not as an end in itself but as a means to an end, for attaining various objectives and fulfilling duties.

Buddhism professes a person engaged in profit-making should not deceive or harm customers or any others involved. I love the analogy of PROSPERITY and HAPPINESS working together “like a bee collecting honey without harming or killing the flowers.”