Many people seek enjoyment to gratify their five sense bases (sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch). This brings temporary moments of mundane happiness which satisfy the craving for pleasurable sensations. Eventually a person will have a stronger desire to have more and more which leads to clinging (attachment). This forms a strong habit (addiction) to propel a person to a continous cycle of rebirth due to the strong energy stream of consciousness. I would like to point out that it is absolutely okay to harbour ambitions to be successful in life to acquire wealth and enjoy material comforts. However, the balancing act is to know how to enjoy wealth and comfort without being soiled by them. In fact, it is a great blessing to have both material and spiritual wealth at the same time. Why ? So that you have no financial worries (burden) to pursue spiritual development. In addition, you can also put your wealth to good use in doing service and tithing to generate good karma for yourself and your family members. During the time of the Buddha, there were kings and noblemen that managed to attain the first stage of spiritual enlightenment without having to renounce. So there is hope for us all !
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