New research reveals that reminders of wealth impair our capacity to savor life's little pleasures.
American families who make over $300,000 a year donate to charity a mere 4 percent of their incomes. The statistic should not be surprising, as studies by University of Minnesota psychologist Kathleen Vohs and her collaborators have shown that merely glimpsing dollar bills makes people less generous and approachable, and more egocentric.
Now come a new set of studies that reveal yet another toll that money takes. An international team of researchers led by Jordi Quoidbach report in the August 2010 issue of Psychological Science that, although wealth may grant us opportunities to purchase many things, it simultaneously impairs our ability to enjoy those things.
~Excerpt from an article in Scientific American by Prof. Sonja Lyubomirsky, author of "How of Happiness"
From a talk by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Human life has two purposes. One is how much you take, and second is how much you give.
What is that you can take in the world? You cannot take all the money out of this world. You may earn millions of dollars, but you will have to leave it here. It cannot go with you. The millions of dollars or euros you earn come to help to take care of your food, clothing, a little comfortable bed and room to sleep, and travel a bit here and there. That is all. It cannot bring happiness.
We should not expect money to bring us happiness. If we do it, we are not intelligent. If we think money is going to bring us happiness, it is like saying, “I can eat coins and get rid of my hunger”. You need edible food to get out of your hunger, and not Euros or coins. That is all. It cannot bring happiness. You should not expect money to bring you happiness.
Become aware of your goals, ideas, dreams and at
the same time know that money cannot be the final
goal. I'm not saying that you shouldn't accumulate money. Do it, but
don't be obsessed with it. Don't do it for one-upmanship over
others.
Ultimately, happiness cannot be bought by money. We must know this very well. So, get all this comfort in life. But what is it you should get? Comfort is a small thing. But what is it that you can take with you? What can go with you is knowledge. What gets imprinted in the consciousness is knowledge. So, how much knowledge have you gained? Knowledge is not what you read in a book, but it is awareness. How much awareness you have gained? How much broadness in your mind has come up? And in giving, how much love have you given back to the world.
So, how much love have you given?
And how much knowledge have you taken?
These are the only two things that will be asked, and that makes life more fruitful. So, as long as we grow in knowledge and are useful to others we are all on the right track.
A short conversation of some wealthy enterprenuers with Sri Sri is here
Does happiness have a price tag?
Researchers from Stanford and Wharton Business Schools report on CBS's moneywatch on how money is related to people's minds. They also give tips on how to handle financially induced stress.
As people age they react more calmly to economic downturns, younger people tend to be emotionally more volatile to financial matters.
Money creates a false sense of independence
The Times of India, 30th September, 2009
H.H. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Money gives one a sense of freedom and ownership. We believe that with money we can own anything, that we can put a price tag on anybody's services.
Ownership of something means total control of its existence. When we buy a piece of land, we feel that we own it, although the land continues to exist even after the owner is no more. How can we own something that outlives us?
Money also gives the idea that we are powerful and independent, blinding us to the fact that we live in a world of interdependence. We depend on farmers, cooks, drivers and the services of so many people around us. Even an expert surgeon cannot operate by herself. She depends on others. Because we pay for their services, we overlook the fact that we depend on them.
If we look at why most people with money are arrogant we will find it is because of the feeling of independence that money brings. The awareness of dependence on the other hand makes one humble. The basic human quality of humility is taken away by a false feeling of independence.
Can money really reflect the worth of a person? We cannot put a value to human life. Wealth can be attained through one's skills, abilities, inheritance, or through corrupt means. The means of attaining wealth brings its own consequences. The very motive for corruption is peace and happiness. Yet peace and happiness remain elusive when the means are corrupt.
As possession of money creates the illusion of independence, money is often referred to as maya. A Sanskrit phrase sums it up: Miyate anaya iti maya - That which can be measured is maya.
On the other hand, some people blame money for all the ills in society. There are others who even consider it an evil. Just as possessing money brings arrogance, rejecting it too makes one arrogant. Some people who renounce money take pride in their poverty to draw attention and sympathy.
However, ancient sages honoured money or maya as a part of the divine and transcended the grip of its illusion. They knew that when we reject or hate something, we can never transcend it.
They honoured wealth as Goddess Lakshmi, the consort of Narayana. She is born out of yoga. It is yoga that transforms the bad karma and brings out latent skills and talents. It also brings up ashtasiddhis, the eight perfections and nav nidhis, the nine wealths.
Yoga helps one move from arrogance to self-confidence, meekness to humility, dependence to interdependence, from craving for freedom to the recognition of unboundedness and from a limited ownership to oneness with the whole.
When people lack faith in the Divine or in their own abilities or in the goodness of society they suffer from a deep sense of insecurity. As a result all that appears to provide security is money. They rely on something that is not certain, and end up getting upset. Uncertainty causes craving for stability.
The world is of change; the Self is of non-change. We have to rely on the non-change and accept the change. This is like perceiving the real as unreal and unreal as real. In fact, all miseries are unreal. A wise man knows that happiness is real, as it is our very nature. Unhappiness is unreal because it is inflicted by memory. When we see everything as a dream, then we abide in our true nature - love, joy and peace. We then understand that money is not all-important. Values, sense of belonging, love and care are more important.
