05 Jan How Do We Get the Good(ie)s?
How do we get the good(ie)s? Like this luscious bowl of ripe tomatoes juicing our daily lives and our spiritual lives. Image: Deniz Altindas.
We all want peace, serenity, and we all want abundance. How do we get the good/ies?
Instructions!
These instructions tell us how to get the good(ies):
Focus and not wasting, husbanding (storing & sparing use of resources) = flow.
It’s not about stockpiling or hoarding. That is fear-based, and seldom results in lasting security or serenity.
It is about our conscious use of resources.
The goddess of abundance Lakshmi likes respect. Deepak Chopra tells a story at the start of his little A-Z book Creating Affluence about the two goddesses we are all most in love with–the goddess of knowledge Saraswati and the goddess of abundance Lakshmi. He advocates paying more attention to knowledge so that abundance gets jealous and follows us. I like this approach…
…And I don’t believe we are guided to ignore Lakshmi. We are guided not to obsess over abundance to the exclusion of focusing on greater knowledge. Of ourselves in particular.
And since, being human, we are wont to obsess, we are guided (if we must obsess) to obsess over Saraswati, the divinity of knowledge, rather than Lakshmi, the divinity of abundance.
Contentment = Abundance
Another name for the goddess Lakshmi is Santosha: “contentment.”
Enoughness. This seems so objectively right to me.
It brings us right back to the Great Awakenings: don’t mess around scattering your minds, monks! Stay focused on what will bring you stability and serenity. Keep practicing. Consistently. Stay focused.
Stay focused.
Wanting Comfort is Human
Everyone wants comfort. Including monks. Notice Buddha does not denigrate our human desire for comfort. He merely says, don’t have too many desires.
Have only the desires you can sustain with serenity.
Don’t have desires that knock you off that primary focus.
Don’t let desires take over. And certainly, avoid discussions about these things that are sterile, useless, self-perpetuating, and seemingly never-ending. (Never-ending mostly because we don’t let them die or get resolved simply).
Resolution means we can move on.
Abundance is Great: What are We Doing with It?
Yes, abundance is awesome. What are we aiming to do with it?
RAISING CLARITY helps us raise clarity about our aims so that our means are aimed at something clearer and higher.
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