By Dr AK Srivastava
“These days, in our materialistic culture, many people are led to believe that Money is the ultimate source of happiness. Consequently, when they don’t have enough of it, they feel let down. Therefore, it is important to have people know that they have the source of contentment and happiness within themselves, and that it is
related to nurturing our natural inner values.” –
The Dalai Lama
Since the beginning of civilisation, people have always pondered this question: “What
is real happiness in life?” Different scholars and philosophers have tried to interpret this question, which seems quite easy, but it is really intricate and can be explained or understood on various levels of human understanding. Sages have
spent years in search of true happiness. Hence, that money can buy happiness in the
real sense, seems to be a misleading statement. It is true that money can buy many things in life, and it can make life convenient and comfortable for us. But it is not the final or supreme answer to the human quest for happiness and affirmation.
Money can buy a beautiful bed but not sleep; it can buy medicines but not health; it can buy food but not appetite; it can buy a house but not a home; it can buy all the luxuries of life, but not contentment. It is the mental satisfaction mixed with the real understanding of human life. Our aim is to explore the spiritual heights that can lead us to the authentic taste of happiness, not the
material gains.
Happiness is related to our state of mind. It is beyond the physical attractions or achievements of life. It is true that we need plenty of finances to make our lives comfortable, smooth and have time for ourselves. There are many valuable pursuits in life, and we need to have enough time to follow them. Besides so many other comforts,
time is the most precious thing that can be bought with money. We can assign many inferior goals to others in order to buy time for ourselves. This is to achieve the optimum and most meaningful pursuits of life.
Moreover, it is impossible to say that “This is everything in life” or “We can buy
everything in life with this”. We cannot find many individuals in the world who don’t wish to have money. Hence, money is a big factor that governs our lives. Its significance can be measured at the time of a medical crisis or many other serious crises. But money provides only that pleasure, which is always temporary. It turns into pain as soon as we lose it. Money can amplify our pleasure many times, and it is not always restricted to any gender, class, creed, or section of society. It is equally helpful to everyone.
It is said that money is helpful in fulfilling worldly desires. But human nature is such that there is no end to our desires. As soon as we achieve one desire, another desire pops up in our minds.
Money can give us more and more happiness if we share it with our fellow human
beings. In history, we always study that the mightiest kind like to help artists,
sportspersons, singers, and distinguished achievers from diverse fields of life. The idea
is to get maximum happiness and contentment by sharing something that others find useful.
The sharing of money is associated with the moral values of our lives.
The concept of sharing money with fellow human beings is associated with high morals and the integrity of human life.
“Happiness comes from spiritual wealth, not material wealth… Happiness comes
from giving, not getting. If we try hard to bring happiness to others, we cannot stop it from coming to us also. To get joy, we must give it, and to keep joy, we must scatter it.” – John Templeton
Human life is a combination of, both, beauty and brainpower. Here, beauty refers to
physical attractions and the brain refers to higher pursuits in life. We need to
meditate to explore the brighter or more sublime aspects of human life. Many saints and scholars have spent years of penance in search of real happiness and mission of human lives Money has a limited role in this direction. Lord Buddha
renounced the power and luxuries of the world to explore real happiness.
Money is a commodity that cannot be precious all the time and in all circumstances. Human virtues like patience, trust, common sense, commitment, and courage, etc., also have an important role to play in our lives. The role of such virtues and qualities can be determined according to the prevailing circumstances and needs. We can earn a lot of money overnight, but it takes ages to develop patience, trust, and a sense of commitment. These qualities also bring a lot
meaning to our lives.
In life, our relations with family and fellow human beings are significant and crucial. No one can enjoy life in isolation. We are social creatures and need to share our joys and sorrows with others. This relationship is the lifeline of humans.
It cannot be bought with money. It needs understanding, patience, and perseverance.
In life, everything cannot be purchased solely with money. On the contrary, it is seen that money power takes us towards many flaws in life.
Finally, we can safely say that money is really a very important commodity in our
lives. It makes life liveable, smooth, and comfortable. It is needed most of the time.
Moreover, there is no other thing in life that can buy everything. Life is a game of relative and comparative circumstances. Many times, money is important, more important, if not the most important. Sometimes, it is a race against time. But it is also not true to say that everything in life is governed by money. Human life is a
complex phenomenon, and several factors play a major or minor role from time to time.
“It’s good to have money and the things that money can buy, but it’s good, too, to check up once in a while and make sure that you haven’t lost the things that money bought can’t buy.” – George Lorimer
