Is Wealth the Way to Happiness?

With money you can buy a house, but not a home.
With money you can buy a clock, but not time.
With money you can buy a bed, but not sleep.
With money you can buy a book, but not knowledge.
With money you can buy a doctor, but not good health.
With money you can buy a position, but not respect.
With money you can buy a blood, but not life.
With money you can buy a sex, but not love.

When I received a powerpoint slide of the above Chinese proverbs, it reminded me of a talk I have attended at Sungai Long Buddhist Society by a monk, Ven. Dhammavuddho. The topic he spoke about was, "Is Wealth the Way to Happiness?”

He said that, while wealth can provide a good lifestyle, when people are unhappy it is caused either by greed, anger, hatred or delusion. We are living in self-delusion when we become angry on hearing words, that are perceived wrong, said about us. We can become outraged and live in hatred because of the ego aspects of self. And when we have abundance but still yearn for more, we are living like hungry ghosts. We give others an impression of wealth but on the inside we behave like paupers. We live on high expectations and greed for more as we are not contended with what we have.

Is it possible to be happy living in wealth when there are no other blessings in your life? Amassing wealth becomes fruitless when you do not have the blessings of life to enjoy it fully. So, wealth is one of the blessings but not the most important one to accumulate towards happiness.

Many things in life happen only once in a life time, example, you can be a "sweet 16" only once in your lifetime. You cannot recapture the joy of bring up your children and have them always by your side when they are all grown up and have families of their own. If you are lying on your death bed, recalling your past, think about what it is that you will regret not having done. Reflect on this as your “second chance” and work towards all the blessings that you should now acquire to give you a happy life and a better rebirth.