你是在变穷照样变富？.doc

Are You Getting Richer Or Poorer? 你是在变穷还是变富？ It goes without saying that a certain amount of material wealth -- for example, those things related to food, clothing and shelter -- is a necessity to sustain our life. Every individual has to work to survive, but when earning a living becomes the exclusive focus and priority of ones life, problems can arise. When we live to earn rather than earn to live, there can be problems of excess and greed. However, there are also other forms of wealth, required not just to sustain the physical body, but to sustain and develop our mind. In this perspective, it may be interesting to look beyond the traditional ideas of financial wealth and really reflect on why our human species, among the many different types of existence, is so special and valuable. As a Buddhist practitioner and teacher it is my hope and belief that Buddhism may have some interesting and valuable input to offer in this area. First of all, when trying to identify the causes for the present crisis from a Buddhist perspective, the root problems are certain human traits such as greed and laziness, all of which arise on the basis of ignorance. It is one thing to cultivate just enough crops for your day-to-day needs. But when you start to collect crops, and start to stock up with the idea that youll have less work and more money, this can sow the seeds of unchecked greed. So it is really important to be aware of certain human traits which bring a lot of unnecessary problems. Sometimes when we think we are getting richer, from a different perspective we are becoming poorer. Though I never went to school myself (as the head of a lineage, I had a special type of education), I had the good fortune to learn about all this from my parents. Later on, when I got into Buddhist studies and teachings, I learned more and more about the faults and qualities of humanity, and that helped me to learn about life. The inner wealth is our mind, our consciousness. I believe that this mi