Yesterday we talked a little bit about
working with fear in health situations.
I thought it might be good to touch on
working with fear in economic situations.
Because people seem to be getting quite
tight about the state of the economy.
First of all, just one comment is,
I think the more we get tight and afraid,
the more it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy.
So the more, as a country, everybody goes
"Aaah, the economy!"
then the more they act in ways
that actually make the economy worse.
So I think that's one thing to be aware of.
And then a second thing is to really ask
ourselves because we tend to get frightened
"Oh, I'm not going to be happy
because this and this and this are going to happen
because the economy is not so good".
First of all to ask ourselves: is it really the case
that those things are going to happen?
Second to ask ourselves:
what resources do I have,
internal and external,
to deal with things that could happen?
Because usually they aren't as bad
as we think they are going to be.
Usually they aren't as bad as we think they are going to be.
And even if things should be tight,
then there are always options and ways
to deal with it.
But, most of all, the question
really is to ask ourselves:
does my happiness depend on
the state of the economy?
That's really the question to ask ourselves.
And if we say yes,
then, we need to ask ourselves:
what's the meaning and purpose of my life?
Because if we are linking our feeling of happiness
to the state of the economy,
we are putting ourselves in a situation where
we have no power over our own happiness.
Because we're saying it all depends on
something external.
Personally speaking, I think that
internal happiness shouldn't and doesn't
depend on the state of the economy.
We can actually be happier with less.
And we have fewer problems if there's less.
And there's also going to be more
equitable economic distribution
across the planet if, as a country,
we have a little bit less and save some things
and don't over consume and so on.
And I actually think it's a very good training
to work with the mind that unfortunately
has gotten habituated with
"I want it, okay let's just go get it".
Because that mind is just feeding
so many unrealistic expectations,
so much attachment,
and the fact that as a country
we've gotten into that habit of
"I want it, well let's just go to the store and get it"
because credit is so easy.
That mental state of greediness,
because it's not just
the greediness of the CEO's,
it's the greediness of the consumers
who are saying
"I want it. Let's go get it."
and
"I want it now even though I don't have the money".
It's that kind of greed in our mind
that has caused the situation.
And to realize that we can actually be
happier with much less.
Because if all those things
that we got in the past
were actually the cause of happiness,
then once we got one thing we liked
we wouldn't have had to get a second thing.
Because we would've been perfectly happy
and content and satisfied with the first one.
If it were actually indeed the cause
of lasting happiness.
But our whole experience shows us
that those things aren't.
That's why we have to go get the next one
and the next one and the next one.
So we become a country of consumer addicts.
And it doesn't bring happiness inside.
And isn't good for the society as a whole.
So, I think it's very good just to
look at our lives and see how often
we can be much happier with less
and especially if everybody has less.
Because they've done psychological studies
and we judge our happiness
in comparison to everybody else's.
Or we judge things, you know,
how much we have, is it enough,
in comparison to everybody else.
So, if everybody else has a little bit less,
then everybody still feels like
they have enough because we evaluate it
in comparison to other people.
Because we don't get jealous and envious
unless somebody has more than we do.
So if we all kind of go down a notch together,
nobody gets jealous or envious.
And they've done so many studies
that shows this is in fact the case.
So, I think we get this through our
sometimes very thick skulls,
that we actually can be happier with less,
We have fewer problems.
And sometimes much more contentment.
And I think also by not consuming so much,
we become more creative.
And we do more things with our family.
And we do more things with our friends.
We help each other much more.
And so this creativity and
this thing of working together,
doing things together
actually builds stronger relationships.
And I think those stronger relationships
amongst sentient beings bring
much more happiness
than filling our living spaces
with a lot of stuff we don't need
and then getting fearful
because we can't get the next new thing
that we don't need.
Okay? Getting what I'm talking about? Yes?
So, instead of getting afraid
about the economy, then just
be satisfied with what we have,
because anyway we have
so much more than most people
on this planet do.
And working on cultivating
that internal feeling of happiness,
and so sharing things
and giving things away
and building relationships
and being creative in how
we find entertainment.
So, I've noticed that many of the people
in the abbey have been sharing their things
some more since the talk I gave
about freeing ourselves from possessions
and how they create our identity.
So, people have been giving things away,
and sharing things more
and divesting themselves of things.
And that brings a lot of happiness doesn't it?
When you can give something
to somebody else and share things
and then not be so encumbered
by having so much.
So it's a very good antidote to the mind
that just gets fearful and frightened
about the economy
because our happiness really
doesn't depend on all of that.