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Today's
Meditation:
Reject
the material things in life, some say, and life will become
much better for you: much simpler, much more
fulfilling. After all, it's those material things that
are holding you back, keeping you from finding your higher
self! Few things are further from the truth.
This is very similar to the argument that "money is the
root of all evil"--a saying that's been warped from the
original "the love of money is the root of all
evil."
Thomas
makes an extremely good point, and that's that we cannot
find our higher selves through rejecting things.
There's a huge difference between rejection and discernment,
and where material things are concerned, discernment is
probably our most valuable ally in not giving ourselves up
to their allure. I like having material things, but I
need to be able to give them up at a moment's notice if I'm
not going to let them control me. A real estate agent
once told me that she was with a couple who fell in love
with a house, but who turned it down because there was no
place for their 60-inch television set.
In that case, a major decision was made in part because of a
material thing that in the long run really has no importance
in our lives.
Do
you have material things? Then enjoy them, love them,
use them! People who reject them are doing what they
want to do, but you do not have to do what they do.
You won't be a better person for running from them, and your
life won't be immediately better. On the other hand,
if you can minimize their influence on you and live your
life knowing that you could leave them behind at any moment
without a problem, then you've struck a nice balance between
liking them for what they can do for you and needing them
because you find fulfillment in them.
Any changes in our lives happen inside, and our outer lives
tend to reflect what's going on inside. Those who run
from material things are trying to change the inside by
changing the outside first. And while there's
something to be said for creating a healthy environment for
spiritual and emotional growth, there's also a lot to be
said for recognizing just what things are and just how they
fit into our lives, and accepting them for that.
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