Saturday, March 16, 2024
The Buddha called dissatisfaction with the circumstances in our lives dukkha. Our emotional wellness seems to be affected and fluctuates with the outer condition. Jesus puts it in a slightly different way. He says, “Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.”
To the degree that we are entangled in our situation is the degree to which our emotions fluctuate. Are you as joyful to spend money as you are to receive it? When you understand the circular nature of all things, that the essence of who you are cannot be affected by outwardness, and that you are mainly spiritual, then you can be free from such emotional entanglements when things in your life move in and out.
Most humans are entangled in form. You can’t totally disassociate from the physical because you are physical. But to what degree are you physical? Well, we look to the universe for answers. The universe is 99.99% space. What constitutes matter is .01%. So how can loss and gain by way of external fluctuation have such a profound effect? It can’t, unless we are possessed by our possessions, and we are so completely entangled in matter that we are simply unaware of our spiritual wholeness.
To those who have, much will be given means that the sensation of having and not having is within you. How much is in you? Everything. What’s your worth? Priceless. You have everything already because you are everything. If you feel fundamentally poor, you will be poor by external measures. If you feel fundamentally incomplete, the outside simply won’t add up. If you feel fundamentally flawed, the outside will always be imperfect. If you feel fundamentally whole, life becomes full, complete, perfect, and it contains everything and much more. How much does matter matter? Apparently, no more than .01%.