Many people believe that to be on the
spiritual path, they need to live very simple lives and to have as little
material possessions and belongings as possible. The danger is that it might
breed poverty consciousness, with the mistaken belief that money is the root of all evil. On the other hand, renunciation is for spiritual disciples who
are seeking full enlightenment. Hence they join the monkhood or nun
order. However for the majority of us, we have family and other responsibilities. Instead we need to cultivate a prosperity
consciousness mindset. This is because the more money we have, the more we can
provide a decent standard of living for ourselves and our families. And the
more we have, the more we can use the wealth to do good deeds, such as service
and tithing to generate positive karma.
We need balance and moderation in our lives. The important thing is not
to have strong attachment to our money, wealth and status. Remember that during Lord’s Buddha time, there were many noblemen and women who managed to attain the third stage of enlightenment without
renunciation.
