Can money buy happiness?

[Jundo]

I bet that you can guess the answer ...

But to that ultimate question: Can money buy happiness? [Researcher] Sanderson's emphatic answer is "No." The key to contentment, she says, is not how much you earn, but how you feel about earning it.

"When you talk to people who love their jobs, overwhelmingly what they say is not, 'I love my paycheck,'" Sanderson laughed. "What they say is, 'I find the job meaningful.'"
...

Research shows that once you are above the poverty line, making more money won't necessarily bring more joy, especially if you spend it on more stuff.

The reason is what psychologists call the "Hedonic Treadmill." Like hamsters on a wheel, we keep running after new stuff, never satisfied with the stuff we just got.

Sanderson said, "There's a cartoon that I show when I give a talk on this. It's somebody lying on their deathbed, and the person says, 'I should have bought more crap.' That's ridiculous, right? Because no one, at the end of their life, is thinking, 'My biggest regret is I wish I had a nicer car!'"

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/can-money-buy-happiness-hedonic-treadmill/

Now, go sit ... be content in sitting.

Gassho, J

SatTodayLAH

[Shinshi]

Thank you Jundo.

[Shokai]

gassho, shokai

stlah

[Nanrin]

Jundo, thanks for the good reminder.

I occasionally reflect on everything I have and how much of it isn't really necessary - yet I sometimes think and act like I need those things to be happy.

Similar to food, there is almost always suffering involved in creating things. To survive, we need some basic possessions - food, clothing, shelter, and medicine. It seems that the default is to let greed and ignorance dictate our choices instead of wisdom and compassion.

Just my thoughts.

Maitri

SatToday/LaH

[Jishin]

Can money buy happiness?

Hi,

The article has a lot of flaws . It does not include people that have been very poor and got very rich and stayed wealthy. It does not include wealthy people that are born wealthy and stay wealthy. It does not include people that consider making money a monopoly game. It does not include people that are born wealthy and lost everything. It does not include firemen that are happier working in finance. It simply says that he is happier making less.

It appears to have been written by a person who does not control the top 1% of wealth.

I agree that if you pick a job you love you will never work a day. Liking your job is very important but people don't have a choice how much or little they make a lot of the time . They may not have a choice on jobs. They may have to be in finance to support a family. Being a fireman would be out of the question.

Sitting is good. [emoji120]

Gasho, Jishin, _/st\_

[Washin]

Thank you.

Gassho
Washin
sat/lah

[Jundo]

Hi,

The article has a lot of flaws . It does not include people that have been very poor and got very rich and stayed wealthy. It does not include wealthy people that are born wealthy and stay wealthy. It does not include people that consider making money a monopoly game. It does not include people that are born wealthy and lost everything. It does not include firemen that are happier working in finance. It simply says that he is happier making less.

It appears to have been written by a person who does not control the top 1% of wealth.

I agree that if you pick a job you love you will never work a day. Liking your job is very important but people don't have a choice how much or little they make a lot of the time . They may not have a choice on jobs. They may have to be in finance to support a family. Being a fireman would be out of the question.

Sitting is good. [emoji120]

Gasho, Jishin, _/st\_

This is right too. We can't say everyone is the same. There are rich people who are happy and not so rich people who are not.

I do wish that people could be more content with what they have, and less unhappy about what they do not. (I am speaking of people who have their basic needs taken care us). People generally live better than kings did 100 years ago in the west, and still seem unhappy about it.

Gassho, J

SatTodayLAH

[Mp]

Thank you Jundo,

I so agree that money cannot buy happiness. That being satisfied with what we have is so important for a healthy and happy life. However, I do feel that money can bring a sense of security to one's life. Not having a roof over your head or food in your stomach can bring a great deal of fear and insecurity. Having to decide whether to pay the utilities or buy food this month is not a good feeling.

I do agree though about the meaning of what we do is so very important and this actually does extend beyond our jobs/careers. Having meaning in our lives brings richness and fullness to our lives, making us happier, which then spills over to the people around us and in our communities. But again, sadly we live in a time where a lot of us don't have that luxury of choosing a job/career that brings us this richness or fulfillment; we have to take what we can get. Yes, one can try and find meaning and contentment in that, but until one has actually been there, I do feel it is hard for them to say.

Again I do agree 100% that if we have our basic needs meet, people as a whole would be much happier all around. =)

Gassho
Shingen

Sat/LAH

[Rendulic]

Research methodology coursework comes crashing back into my head with the publication of these articles. There are usually a few questions asked on the surveys that define happiness differently -- "happiness" is usually reflective of hedonic tone, "life satisfaction" is usually reflective of long-term satisfaction. "Happiness" usually plateau's whenever folks move into the top quartile (about $86,000 now in the U.S.). "Life satisfaction" usually continues to increase until one reaches the top 5%, or $250,000 in the U.S. But, that's never broken down by age, gender, wealth (as opposed to income), and other factors in a way that is predictive and useful.

I am reminded of the article Jundo linked with 8 different definitions of "enlightenment." There are many different types of happiness, too. I spent 2 years in a mud hut and now live in a typical U.S. house, and the living conditions do not at their heart impact my happiness on a day-to-day level.

Gassho, Michael

Sat Today

[Eishuu]

Even if money can buy happiness, it can't buy happiness that is free from the need for money - it is a dependent type of happiness. If you can find happiness when you are very poor, have no security, or are even in great pain then I think you have more freedom because you can be happy in most situations.

Gassho
Eishuu
ST/LAH

[Kyonin]

Thank you Jundo.

For personal experience, I know that living in a super simple way with only the bare minimum, you can have a tranquil and happy life.

I have always liked this poem by Ryokan:

Too lazy to be ambitious,
I gradually left it all up to fate.
In the sack, three handfuls of rice.
By the stove, one bundle of firewood.
Who cares about delusion and enlightenment?
What use is fame and wealth in the world of dust?
Inside my hut, the evening rain on the thatch,
Both legs stretched out in idleness.

Gassho,

Kyonin
Sat/LAH

[Ishin]

My daughter always says, maybe not, but I'd rather cry in a mansion.

I find earning money for money's sake, or for accumulation of crap is dull, and a trap. Having more stuff does not make me happy. But, being able to support my family, be out of debt, take care of myself in my old age so the kids, or the government doesn't have to are important to me. Important! But, not the end all be all of happiness. I think if you are obsessed with having money you are stuck on dependent happiness, however, judging others for having money or assuming they are somehow flawed because they have it is also a hang up. Poverty consciousness can be just as much a source of dissatisfaction as greed.

Gassho
Ishin
Sat today/lah

[Jundo]

I think it may also be good to repost this, my comment on the many books by the Dalai Lama and other on Buddhist "happiness." I believe that, on closer examination, there is a more refined meaning ...

=============

The Tibetans tend to speak of "Happiness" quite a bit in their books and talks ... but when looked at closely, it is much the same as the subtle Joy and Peace that we speak of in the Zen corner of the woods ... a Joy that holds comfortably the happy times and sad times, a Peace that is wholly all life's many pieces.

Frankly, if somebody just wanted to be "happy happy happy", I think there are pharmaceuticals that will do the job faster and deeper than any meditation ... at least for a short time. It would also be destructive in the end.

I sometimes think that the Tibetans writers perhaps chose the word "Happiness" in their literature to impress Westerners to read the book. That is fine. The problem is that some folks may hear that and think that they are going to find the key to 24/7 "laughing gas" happiness ... and are a bit disappointed when in fact what is delivered is something much more subtle (though fathomlessly richer). I once wrote ...

Even in Tibetan Buddhism's emphasis on "happiness" ... such words might disguise the real teaching of the Dalai Lama and most Tibetan Teachers I know (same message as here at Treeleaf, in fact) that the point of this Practice is not the attaining of a happy happy ha ha happy happiness all the time (I have never met such a constantly giddy Buddhist teacher, and who would want such a state ... like only watching the comedy movies and never the drama!), but of a certain subtle Happiness (big "H") that transcends AND yet fully contains both the happy times and the sad, smiles and tears, the rainy days and sunny days, as judged by small human eyes in this life of Samsara. I do not think they are teaching people to feel happy that their mother died or tickled that there is a war somewhere in the world ... but a Boundless Joy and Buddha's Smile that shines through all that life can dish out.

A Buddha's Happiness transcends and holds small human "happy and sad".



Gassho, J

Sat TodayLAH

[Rosui]

I come from an lds background and theres sort of a belief that if you're not happy its because you're sinful. So I think there's a lot of people walking around putting a happy face on all the time to be accepted by society as good people that aren't happy. I think its okay and desireable to experience the normal range of human emtions.

Also totally agree with the as long as you've go the necessities of life covered (and I think some kind of recreation is a necessity) you're basically not going to get any happier with more money.
I'm basically okay with a tin roof that doesn't leak where i'm sitting and a straw mat and some rice and veggies and a sixteen hour work day though so maybe I'm not the best example.

Gassho
Rosui
st

[Jishin]

Hi,

It is very difficult to find out what happiness is or how much money is enough without asking all involved. Millionaires and billionaires are rarely asked about the impact that money has on their wellbeing. Same goes for psychotropics and happiness. It seems that some may assert that their way is the better way to defend their lifestyle. That goes for Buddha too.

My defensive 2 cents.

Gasho, Jishin, _/st\_ .