Pleasures from external objects
Are wombs of suffering.
They have their beginnings and their
ends;
No wise person seeks joy among them.
Bhagavad
Gita.
More
and more people are giving up organized religion. As I often say in this blog, that is a
very good thing in so many ways, for then those people are free to explore more
enlightened, rational and less exploitative forms of spirituality. That is happening to some extent, but not as
respects the majority of people---and that's a real pity.
I
can speak only for the West, although I will say that I've witnessed this
same phenomenon in Japan where I have spent some time. Interest and
participation in organized religion wanes, only to be replaced by a new
religion---consumerism. When I was growing up in Sydney, Australia, almost
every kid in my street went to Sunday School on a Sunday morning. Then there
was youth fellowship, CEBS, and other like activities. Not all my friends' parents went to church regularly, but many did. Few go down that route
today. Instead, the family is much more likely to spent Sunday
shopping---buying things. Well, at least they are more likely to be together---at
least some of the time. Maybe.
Consumerism
is, of course, good for the economy, even if it’s not so good for the planet.
(Stupid neoclassical economics, with its malignant obsession with increasing economic
growth each year!) However, whichever way you splice it, consumerism is bad for the ‘soul,’
for, as the Bhagavad Gita rightly
points out, external objects are ‘wombs of suffering.’ They can never fill the
void within. They are little, finite, transient things that do not last---especially these
days, when most of the things we buy are, well, crap. It was the late American philosopher Eric Hoffer who said, 'You can never get enough of what you don't need to make you happy.' That's brilliant, and it gets to the heart of the problem, for we do indeed get caught up in a vicious circle of spending and borrowing, only to be followed by more spending and borrowing, and so on.
Wise people look within to meet their psycho-spiritual needs. Yes, Jesus was right when he said, '
Wise people look within to meet their psycho-spiritual needs. Yes, Jesus was right when he said, '
True
religion binds people together---even people of different religious or spiritual traditions---and binds them all back to their ‘source.’ True
religion empowers people---regardless of class, caste, race, gender, or station in life---to be the very best people they can be. True religion stands in objective contradistinction to consumerism, attachment, and materialism of
all kinds. True religion brings joy and peace of mind---that is, spiritual 'goods.' That is the only sort of consumerism worth pursuing.
Having said all that, I dare say few
really care about what I have to say about the matter.
Now,
where’s my shopping list? 'Coming, dear!'
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