The Evils of Desire

"There are two ways to get enough.  One is to continue to accumulate more and more.  The other, is to desire less."

 

To walk this path, it takes a certain change in mindset--an anti-modern American mindset, if you will. It started for me three years ago--recognizing that not only did I already have everything that I truly needed, but that my possessions do not define me, as I had once thought. Truly, it is the opposite--they hold me back and keep me tied down.

 

I do not wish to be tethered by possessions. Less is more and equals a happier existence, overall. Sometimes I still slip and see useless things that I think I must have, but overall, I would rather use the money that once was wasted on possessions and use it for experiences, such as travel and time spent with distant friends.

 

My family and many of the people in my life really fought me when I first started getting rid of my possessions--it led to conflict and turmoil that I can't even begin to describe--from me being on drugs and getting rid of my possessions to support my meth habit (because this also explained my weight loss) to me preparing to commit suicide (because according to THEIR calculations, I should be depressed over my recent break-up, not happy--as they were seeing).  Apparently, change is threatening on many levels. Thankfully, with that change also came the reduction of many people in my life that I thought were my friends but were actually sucking me dry and were bent on my destruction.

 

"The Buddhist gazes into the empty bowl and sees that it contains everything and that it always has.

The Nihilist gazes into the empty bowl and sees that it contains nothing and that it always has."

 

Just some thoughts as we enter this holiday season when possessions and the increased accumulation of material items becomes the main focus of many...