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Dharma Thoughts

the laws dictated by their religion then they would be spiritual progress by waiting for a hungry farmer to be
rewarded with happiness in some heavenly state in fed before he gave his sermon.
the next life. The problem with this is that there is no The Buddha lists four kinds of happiness in the Anaṇa
way of proving empirically that there is indeed such Sutta, AN 4.62, which we can gain on a mundane level
an ideal life waiting for us. After all, has there been 1. Possessing wealth (atthi sukkha)
anyone who ever returned with the evidence? We are 2. Enjoying that wealth (bhoja sukkha)
further told that the prerequisite to enter this happy 3. Freedom from debt (anaṇa sukkha)
abode is to follow some divinely ordained laws. It seems 4. Living blamelessly (anavajja sukkha)
suspiciously like a trade- off: to demand something in
return for something else. Should the hope of going to How much wealth does one need to enjoy life? In
heaven be our only reason for obeying the moral laws Dhammapada verse 204, The Buddha says “Sanṭṭuti
in this life? The Buddha says that doing good should paramaṁ dhanaṁ” – contentment is the highest wealth.
be its own reward because it ennobles us as intelligent Really what do we need to be comfortable: food, shelter,
beings. Towards the end of the Kālāma Sutta, AN 3.65, clothing, and medicine. How much wealth do we need
he declares: to provide for ourselves and others with these basic
necessities? Needless to say if we learn to limit our
“A noble disciple who is free from greed and desires we can go a long way to protect the world’s
malevolence, who is not confused but is self- controlled resources not only for ourselves but for the generations
and mindful with a heart of compassion, friendliness, to come. As Gandhi says, ’the world has enough for
equanimity is assured of these four benefits in this life everyone’s need but not enough even for one man’s
itself greed’. We need to differentiate ‘wants’ from ‘needs’.
1. If there is a world beyond and there is a fruit of karma,
then after death I shall be born in a happy place However, as we strive to acquire material wealth and
2. If, however, there is no such place then I shall dwell free mundane happiness we should never lose sight of
from hostility and affliction, sorrowless and happy our ultimate goal which is spiritual wealth and the
3. Again, if having done evil one is destined for hell, I attainment of the Ultimate Happiness, Nibbāna, which
will not go there as I have not done any evil recognizes no self and which eliminates ignorance and
4. Finally, even if there are no effects of karma, either craving.
good or evil, then as I have not done any wrong I
hold myself pure. In the Sakka-pañha Sutta, DN 21, the Buddha tells the
King of the gods about the two kinds of happiness we
Buddhism teaches that happiness is a mental state can enjoy:
which can be experienced in this life itself as it has little
to do with wealth or material success. The implication “Ruler of the gods, I declare that there are two kinds
is that if one lives a noble blameless life here then this of happiness: the kind to be pursued, and the kind
state will continue even into the next life, if there is one. to be avoided. When I observed that in the pursuit of
If there isn’t such a life, well then, we have lived a good such happiness, unwholesome factors decreased and
life anyway! wholesome ones increased, then that happiness was to
be sought after. And when I observed that in the pursuit
Does this amount to a total rejection of material wealth of such happiness wholesome factors decreased and
and possessions? Certainly not. On several occasions the unwholesome factors increased such happiness was to
Buddha praised the possession of rightly earned wealth be avoided.”
because it gives us the opportunity to provide for the
material well-being of needy relatives, to support family The Buddha enumerates seven kinds of ‘noble wealth’
and contribute to social welfare. On one occasion the which lead to the first kind of happiness described
Buddha demonstrated that poverty is a hindrance to above: