Can money buy happiness?

[Joyo]

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

I totally agree. The sad thing is, where I live, it has become so expensive to live, a person could easily have to work 2 jobs just to put a humble roof over one's head.

I too, like you, live a pretty bare-bones life. My husband also makes a good wage. And yet, I still have to work part-time to help pay the bills because the cost of living goes up and up. From taxes (which have almost doubled in 3 years), to utilities, groceries, it's crazy!

I've found the best way to look at this topic is contentment. Yes, I'd like more money, a newer car and a bigger house, but I am content with what I have and that in itself brings a lot of equanimity and happiness to one's life.

Gassho,
Joyo
sat today/lah

[Jika]

I think the connection between money and happiness is often not just buying stuff we desire, but avoiding fear:

Maybe you are young and healthy and have many skills, so you trust you will find some kind of work the next day to earn enough for that day.
Maybe you have friendly neighbours who will give you some bread if you have run out, because you do the same for them.
Maybe you have a garden, are healthy enough to work in it, and a climate that gives you some nice veggies.
Maybe there is a small store or bakery at the corner, family-owned, and they've known you for years and will let you pay later if you must.
Maybe your landlord knows you personally and knows you are a friendly person and waits for the rent a week without throwing you out.

My grandmother experienced all of this.
Nobody had much, and people were helping each other because everybody had to make ends meet.

Where I live, society is different.
Everyone has much more, but cares less about others.
The people working at the bakery, even if they wanted they were not permitted to let me pay later or give me bread for free.
There is an "everyone fight for themselves" mentality.

Money becomes a substitute for a security society does not provide.

I love Ryokan's poetry, but he had wealthy friends/admireres who helped him if need arose.
So, describing what you do when suddenly the tax collector appears outside your hermitage and asks for the tax on land and buildings does probably not go so well with poetry.

Gassho
Jika
sattoday, lah

[Joyo]

Exactly, Jika. As I was saying about the economy, much of it is to do with greed. For example, in the public schools, teachers and support staff are being cut all the time, yet the big CEOs and superintendents of the school divisions make a hefty 6 figure salary. Many teachers do not even know if they will have a job from year to year anymore. I've pulled my youngest son out of school, because he struggles and much of the support he was receiving has been cut.

Wages have not even come close to competing with the cost of living. There is most definitely an "everyone fight for themselves" way of thinking.

Gassho
Joyo
sat today/lah

[Jishin]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q21U6TxveU0

Depends who you ask.

Gassho, Jishin, ST

[Jika]

What if Ryokan had needed a flight to Washington he could not afford?

Trusting that friends will provide is not a bad thing.
But it only works as long as not everyone is a hermit with just enough for the day.

People often try to raise funds over social media for unexpected medical bills and crisis.
In my view it's the exceptionallity of the situation that makes people want to help.

Posting 'Well, I always told you it sucks to hoard money, but you others probably did anyway, so now I need it, would you please help?' is honest, but not so appealing (to me).
But then, I'm probably jealous.

Deep bows,
Jika

[Kotei]

What if Ryokan had needed a flight to Washington he could not afford?

What if I have enough money to buy Ryokan the flight. ;-)
Or pay all his friends in Washington the flight and pay for a big surprise party?
I'd be happy, Ryokan would probably be happy and all his friends, too.

Yes, money can buy happiness.
You just have to spend it for the well-being of others, not for yourself.

edit: I too think, that money for oneself, above a certain level, is more about contentment. About knowing whats enough.
In the german version, a sign in the money-bin of old Scrooge McDuck (Dagobert) roughly translates to:
"Money alone does not make happy, but it’s extremely soothing".

Gassho,
Kotei sat/lah today.

[Shinshou]

Perhaps I'm mistaken, but isn't Buddha's teaching that the source of suffering isn't the stuff of life, but attachment to the stuff? If so, then in my mind it follows that happiness is not the result of giving up things, but instead giving up attachment. Others might see this as an excuse to become opulent. I don't, although struggling to live a decadent life seems not much different to me than struggling to live a simple life. Both are struggle, and neither is the middle way. I work hard, I make money. I spend some, I give some away. If that changes, that's okay. The idea that no one lies on their deathbed wishing they'd "bought more stuff" surely feels true to us, but is oversimplified - I'm sure there are those that wish they'd had less anxiety, worry, and struggle to survive related to money.

Just my view.

Shinshou (Dan)
Sat Today

[Rendulic]

From the Maslow hierarchy, one has to afford the basics to get past attachment to them. If I have enough food, it's easy not to become attached to where my next meal comes from. As one moves up the hierarchy, our attachments become less materialistic and more ethereal. It's not so much "keeping up with the Joneses" as it is a craving for attainment in work, skills, or even spirituality. I think that, practically, it is easier to work with my attachment to more ethereal concepts than hard material facts. Therefore, there's some baseline subsistence and safety need that's helpful (not essential) to realizing any insight.

Gassho, Michael
Sat Today

[Jundo]

From the Maslow hierarchy, one has to afford the basics to get past attachment to them. If I have enough food, it's easy not to become attached to where my next meal comes from. As one moves up the hierarchy, our attachments become less materialistic and more ethereal. It's not so much "keeping up with the Joneses" as it is a craving for attainment in work, skills, or even spirituality. I think that, practically, it is easier to work with my attachment to more ethereal concepts than hard material facts. Therefore, there's some baseline subsistence and safety need that's helpful (not essential) to realizing any insight.

I am a big fan of Abraham Maslow, and believe that the Buddha and other Buddhist folks structured the Sangha for priests, and also their guidance for lay folks at home, to cover the basic needs of the hierarchy such as food, shelter, safety and good companionship. It is hard to devote oneself to practice, let alone to anything in life, when those basic needs are not met.

Of course, we live in a world today when folks are craving excess food, shelter and other material goods (most folks, especially in the west, have access to the basics), and do not feel "safe" as much because of what is happening between their own ears as any real threats outside (which, by the way, are less than they have ever been in human history).

That said, we are also failing to provide a sufficient social safety net, healthy food, access to medical care, education for so many. We could do better to make to basics available to all.

Perhaps I'm mistaken, but isn't Buddha's teaching that the source of suffering isn't the stuff of life, but attachment to the stuff? If so, then in my mind it follows that happiness is not the result of giving up things, but instead giving up attachment. Others might see this as an excuse to become opulent.

Yes. The Buddha, Dogen and others had many wealthy and socially powerful followers. They generally advised not being attached to wealth, not being a prisoner of wealth, using it for good and healthy purposes to benefit family, business and the wider society, and also living simply and not in excess. Wealth is not a problem so long as one is not addicted to wealth, and uses it in wise ways. The rich built the temples and monasteries that our ancestors lived in.

Gassho, J

STLah