Life Questions: Where to Find Happiness either with or without Money? Answered by Ven. Chang Deng

Sometimes we might see that our have-it-all classmates from the university are again posting on social media to show off their extraordinary lives, such as traveling to Scandinavia to see the Northern lights and spending tens of thousands of dollars to learn the tea ceremony in Japan. By contrast, as a loser, we can only say to ourselves, "Well, I'm spiritually rich!" But is that really what we think? Why do our feelings still get hurt in a subtle way?
 
Interview with Ven. Chang Deng (常燈法師), the Supervisor of the Academic Publication Office of Dharma Drum Sangha University (DDSU)
   
 
 
Q1: I have a strong sense of financial inadequacy, what can I do?
 
Most people in the world are not too poor to sustain themselves. Rather, it is their mind that fuels a sense of inadequacy. Thus, it is more important to ask ourselves: Is my pursuit of a specific goal too lofty? Or am I simply envious of other people's lives? In the end, we will find that this suffering comes from comparing ourselves with others, which is a by-product of our desire to get hold of something.
 
The young have infinite hope and ought to bravely pursue their dreams. That is why I always encourage young people to "Go for it!", provided that they are able to take the accompanying responsibilities, being clearly aware of the cost behind every choice, and being prepared to feel hurt during the process. After pursuing your dreams, ask yourself: Am I happy? What do I really care about, and am I achieving it? If you find someone else's life worth emulating, you must set goals, move towards it step by step, and be patient in the process. In fact, many "winners of the game of life," who live a life that everyone envies, are not content with what they have. As long as they are chasing power, fame, and fortune, they will not be relieved of their worries.
 
 
Q2: Did the Buddha also teach people wealth management? Can he teach me to become rich and live in affluence?
 
The fundamental concept of financial management taught by the Buddha is about allocating existing resources rationally. He suggested that the wealth of a layman should be divided into four parts for the following purposes: (1) basic living expenses; (2) savings for a rainy day; (3) investment, and (4) generosity.
 
Generosity is a kind of investment. Master Sheng Yen once said, "Those who give are blessed" because they are not only able to do so, but they are also willing to share. In doing so, they are setting a virtuous cycle in motion. In addition to the giving of wealth, Dharma, and fearlessness, the Buddha also taught the six kinds of giving that the poor can practice as follows: an amicable countenance, gentle and caring words, a mind that takes others' interest into account, an eye contact that expresses friendliness, a practical action that helps others, and yielding a seat to someone in need.
 
In the Buddhist scriptures, there is a story of the "poor woman making an oil lamp offering," which is about a poor woman, Nanda, enduring starvation in order to make an oil lamp offering to the Buddha. The amount of money she had begged for the whole day was only enough for the minimum oil amount for making a lamp offering. Moved by her sincerity, the oil vendor added a few more ladles of oil for her. Despite the little oil amount, the poor woman joyfully used it to make an oil lamp offering to the Buddha with veneration. All the lamps went out during the night, but only the poor woman's lamp still shone brightly the next day. This shows that the point of generosity lies in the giver's intention.
 
Moreover, if one understands the law of karmic causality, they must know that their wealth in this life is the fruition of generosity in their previous lives. Therefore, in this life, we must extensively build amicable karmic affinities with others as well. In addition, and since everything we have in this life is made possible by the dedication of many people, we ought to be grateful for it. With such a mindset, even if we live a simple and humble life, we can derive great mental affluence from such simplicity.
 
 
Q3: I need to release my vexations arising from life's moments of frustration. . But the spiritual void grows bigger after I treat myself with shopping, dining out, and partying. How can I break away from this cycle?
 
Before my monastic renunciation, my life seemed to be glamorous. I owned designer label pieces, perfumes, and over one hundred pairs of shoes. It felt so good to swipe the credit card for a purchase! However, such happiness usually wouldn't last long because I would start to suffer from the result of my immoderate purchases, getting overwhelmed by the revolving credit. Despite my good income, I lived paycheck to paycheck.
 
The Buddha always reminded people to stay "clearly aware," which is, in fact, to settle down our mind and think: What do we do these things for? Can it bring me happiness? Is this happiness sustainable or will it turn into suffering? Have I made any effort to transform such suffering? Just take everything back to the basics, and keep looking inward with a sense of simplicity. In addition to recognizing the suffering, we must also be willing to get ourselves exposed to wholesome influences. It might be a book, a person, or a piece of information we learned by accident that helps us break away from our preconceived perspectives.
 
 
Q4: Do I have to give up worldly enjoyment and little joys while pursuing spiritual liberation?
 
Being born into a royal family, the material pleasures that the Buddha could have enjoyed were beyond the average. However, one day, he realized that there is something common to all: aging, illness, and death. He also saw that many people, in the course of aging, illness, and death, were constantly chasing after something that they could not control. Realizing the nature of suffering in birth, aging, illness and death, the Buddha gave up his sumptuous life and began to seek the way to liberation.
 
Many people mistakenly think that spiritual cultivation involves abandoning material aspects of life. In fact, after leaving his palace to live a life as an ascetic, the Buddha consumed only one grain of wheat a day. He became so skinny that he became just skin and bones. But he eventually realized that if he could not take good care of his physical body, his mind would not be settled, either. Thus, he gave up austerities and accepted an offering of milk-rice porridge from a shepherdess.
 
Modern people love to create "little joys" by rewarding themselves after completing something. There is nothing wrong with that. However, when pursuing these little joys, we must be clear about whether it will bring suffering, or whether it will induce more afflictions after we enjoy it.
 
How can we examine if we are achieving genuine little joys? First of all, such little joys will not bring about suffering; moreover, we are filled with gratitude while doing it. That might be just a simple meal with a friend. Thinking of the company of our friend and the food to enjoy, we will feel thankful for everything and be joyful.
 
In contrast to the little joys that people can have in hand, for the Buddha, be it meditating under a tree, walking in meditation, imparting the Dharma to people, it all brought him a "sure sense of happiness." No matter how trivial a thing might be, if we can break out of the cycle of our attachments to it, we are taking a small step towards liberation.
 
Compiled by Chiang Yin-chih (江胤芝) based on the interview.



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Resource: Issue 443 of Humanity Magazine (July 2020), Dharma Drum Publishing Corporation
Translation: Li Siang-ling
Editing: Keith Brown, Christine