The happiness of buying a brand-new motorbike has gradually started fading and a question has started lingering in my mind, “Am I becoming possessive?” From my childhood days, I have been taught that the path to spiritual emancipation requires being less possessive of material things. Worldly desires are like sugary poison — sweet to ingest but lethal to digest.
World has become a market where you can get everything you want, whether that is necessary or an accessory. Decades ago, people knew little about how those at the other pole of the planet lived. Little did they know about their possessions too. But with the Internet, the world has become a giant family, with few acquainted and many unacquainted family members. We live in a world that bombards us with offers about the latest gadgets, dream homes and cars, and must-have accessories. It’s easy to fall into the vicious trap of these baits, believing that happiness is just a purchase away.
Throughout human history, there has been a tendency for individuals to display their material possessions in hopes of receiving recognition. Social media has only amplified this behaviour. The problem with this trend is that the feeling of not having some of the things is eating away at the enjoyment of the things we have.
Today’s world, with charming and glorious things surrounding us, makes our judgmental power unbalanced, incapacitating us from differentiating between the necessary and the accessory and making us buy things that we later regret. Consumers are increasingly becoming hoarders. The relentless pursuit of material possessions leads to an endless loop. A pedestrian wants to ride a motorcycle, a motorcyclist dreams of having a car, and a car owner aspires to fly in a plane.
Scientifically, happiness, like any other emotion, is the upshot of chemicals being secreted in the body upon appropriate stimulation. These chemicals called neurotransmitters, dopamine being one of them, activate the “reward pathway” in the brain that enforces pleasurable experiences and motivates us to repeat them. Materialistic possession follows the phenomenon of hedonistic adaptation — adapting to the stimulus. With time, the initial charm of new things fades away. Moreover, this unending cycle of desires costs us mental peace, giving rise to avarice.
Does this mean happiness is a trap? Someone told the Buddha, “I want happiness.” Buddha replied, “First remove the word ‘I’, which shows your ego. Next remove ‘want’, which shows your desire, which is never-ending and the root cause of misery, and finally what you are left with is happiness.”
Contrary to this are the philosophers who say life is fleeting, and there is no harm in deriving pleasure from material possessions. The real issue, however, is not in possessing things, but rather in becoming excessively attached to them. A simple way to gauge this attachment is to ask oneself, “Would I feel distressed if I were to lose this possession?” If yes, there is a problem.
We all need to know when to stop before crossing the point of no return. Over time, the philosophy of minimalism has become increasingly popular, emphasising the importance of living with less and embracing simplicity. It encourages us to simplify our lives and focus on things that truly add value and meaning to our lives. To live a socially accepted life, we must prioritise what is necessary, as the list of accessories is never-ending. The word “fulfil” should be reserved for needs, not wants.The happiness of buying a brand-new motorbike has gradually started fading and a question has started lingering in my mind, “Am I becoming possessive?” From my childhood days, I have been taught that the path to spiritual emancipation requires being less possessive of material things. Worldly desires are like sugary poison — sweet to ingest but lethal to digest.
World has become a market where you can get everything you want, whether that is necessary or an accessory. Decades ago, people knew little about how those at the other pole of the planet lived. Little did they know about their possessions too. But with the Internet, the world has become a giant family, with few acquainted and many unacquainted family members. We live in a world that bombards us with offers about the latest gadgets, dream homes and cars, and must-have accessories. It’s easy to fall into the vicious trap of these baits, believing that happiness is just a purchase away.
Throughout human history, there has been a tendency for individuals to display their material possessions in hopes of receiving recognition. Social media has only amplified this behaviour. The problem with this trend is that the feeling of not having some of the things is eating away at the enjoyment of the things we have.
Today’s world, with charming and glorious things surrounding us, makes our judgmental power unbalanced, incapacitating us from differentiating between the necessary and the accessory and making us buy things that we later regret. Consumers are increasingly becoming hoarders. The relentless pursuit of material possessions leads to an endless loop. A pedestrian wants to ride a motorcycle, a motorcyclist dreams of having a car, and a car owner aspires to fly in a plane.
Scientifically, happiness, like any other emotion, is the upshot of chemicals being secreted in the body upon appropriate stimulation. These chemicals called neurotransmitters, dopamine being one of them, activate the “reward pathway” in the brain that enforces pleasurable experiences and motivates us to repeat them. Materialistic possession follows the phenomenon of hedonistic adaptation — adapting to the stimulus. With time, the initial charm of new things fades away. Moreover, this unending cycle of desires costs us mental peace, giving rise to avarice.
Does this mean happiness is a trap? Someone told the Buddha, “I want happiness.” Buddha replied, “First remove the word ‘I’, which shows your ego. Next remove ‘want’, which shows your desire, which is never-ending and the root cause of misery, and finally what you are left with is happiness.”
Contrary to this are the philosophers who say life is fleeting, and there is no harm in deriving pleasure from material possessions. The real issue, however, is not in possessing things, but rather in becoming excessively attached to them. A simple way to gauge this attachment is to ask oneself, “Would I feel distressed if I were to lose this possession?” If yes, there is a problem.
We all need to know when to stop before crossing the point of no return. Over time, the philosophy of minimalism has become increasingly popular, emphasising the importance of living with less and embracing simplicity. It encourages us to simplify our lives and focus on things that truly add value and meaning to our lives. To live a socially accepted life, we must prioritise what is necessary, as the list of accessories is never-ending. The word “fulfil” should be reserved for needs, not wants.
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