This Yearning for More Has No End

In striving for wealth, our attachment to it can become so great as to eclipse time with family, time for enjoying life, and time to be of benefit to others. Even when we are with our loved ones, we may not want to talk about our feelings or share our experiences—our focus always goes back to material things or the money we made. We can lose consciousness of how much time we are spending gaining things and how much we are sacrificing to attain that goal. Our peace of mind may be lost because we have become consumed by desire for material comforts and fear of losing them. Even our sleep can be disturbed, food loses its flavor, and there seems to be no rest or pleasure in our mind.

It is common for people’s expectations and sometimes unrealistic goals for achieving wealth, and their dread of suffering, to cage them into an endless cycle of striving. But if we pause and take stock of our aims and wishes, it may dawn on us that this yearning for more has no end. Even if our goal is accomplished, the glow of success may quickly fade because it becomes commonplace, and there are many more goals stacked up right behind it. What was once a glowing aspiration becomes ordinary and insignificant once achieved.

Excerpt From
Loving Life As It Is
Chakung Jigme Wangdrak

Image: Hungry Ghost Scroll, artist unknown