Wrong Wishes Cause Sentient Beings to Suffer
(English below)
Someone shared that in his youth, he only thought about one thing: "How to make money from others' pockets become money in my pocket." He believed that wealth was simply money from others' pockets flowing into his own. But his life only encountered failures. Why was that?
We see that in every society there exists a certain amount of money. If suddenly money concentrates in a few people's hands, then certainly those people become wealthy. No one denies that! But let us reconsider. If in society there is only money but no rice, no grain, no houses, no cars, no services, no goods, etc., then having money cannot buy anything. There must be an entire social system operating—with production, consumption, and services—for that money to have real value. Let's say money in society flows into your pocket, but you must create products, goods, and services corresponding to society. That money must correspond with what you contribute to life, not trying by any means to make money from others' pockets flow into yours (perhaps through schemes) and call it wealth. Therefore, "finding ways to make others' money flow into your pocket" is a mistaken belief. Your failure also came from this mistaken belief.
We too have many wishes in life, but sometimes all of them are already wrong. Fundamentally, everyone wants more assets, success, glory, and love. We could list millions of human desires. We seek very much and also become very tired because of what we want. And sometimes we exhaust ourselves our whole lives seeking glory, fame, and wealth. When we finally achieve them, we are astonished to realize there is no happiness in them at all. And to achieve them, we have shed too much sweat, tears, bitterness, and sometimes our hands have been dipped in sin.
Therefore, truly the things we want and desire, even if we achieve them, are not necessarily happiness, because our desires may be mistaken, and our actions are not founded on merit and virtue. What truly makes us happy is: the merit we have created from the past and correct understanding about life and our way of living.
Excerpted from: "Standing to Observe Happiness" (pages 22-25) – Ven. Thích Chân Quang.
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Wrong Wishes Cause Humans to Suffer
A man told us that in his youth, he only thought about how to make others' money become his. He believed that it was a simple way of becoming rich. Unexpectedly, his life was just a failure. Why is that so?
There's a fixed amount of money in every society, and if some of which belongs to a few people, then these people will inevitably become wealthy. But what if there is only money but not rice, houses, cars, service, or goods, etc.? Money is useless for sure. All the system of society must operate: production, consumption, and services, then money has a value. You must create products, goods, and services for the community equal to the amount of money you own. So, "finding a way to make others' money becomes yours" is a misconception which caused the man mentioned above to fail.
We have many wishes for our lives, but maybe all of them are wrong. Everyone wants to be admired and loved, and become wealthier, successful, and famous. There are millions of our wants which cause our tiredness and bitterness. We may spend all our lives struggling to find glory, fame, and wealth. And when we achieve them, we will be surprised to realize that they are not our happiness. But to reach them, we have to go through blood, sweat, and tears, and even we have to sin.
So, achieving our desired things doesn't warranty we will be happy, because those things may be wrong if they are not based on our blessing. What makes us happy is our blessing from the past, correct view about life, and lifestyle.
(WATCHING HAPPINESS – by Ven. Thích Chân Quang).
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