I came across a good read online, The Gospel Of Non-Possession. In it Mahatma Ghandi said:
When I found myself drawn into the political coil, I asked myself what was necessary for me in order to remain absolute untouched by immorality, by untruth, by what is known as political gain… I came definitely to the conclusion that, if I had to serve the people in whose midst my life was cast and of whose difficulties I was a witness from day to day, I must discard all wealth, all possession…
I’ve been giving considerable thought to the idea of giving up possessions or as we hear now days, living a minimalist lifestyle. I must say I’m not quite at the point where I’m ready to throw all my stuff away, but It is something to consider.
Ghandi said after giving up ” it became a matter of positive joy to give up those things. And, as I am describing my experiences, I can say a great burden fell off my shoulders, and I felt that I could now walk with ease and do my work also in the service of my fellow-men with great comfort and still greater joy.” The possession of anything then became a troublesome thing and a burden.“
It’s hard to imagine that giving up things can make you feel good, especially since it’s typically the things we posses that give us a good feeling. Perhaps that feeling of good when we obtain possessions isn’t a truth, maybe we are only fooling ourselves, maybe that is why we continue to want more and nothing seems to satisfy the cravings for more things.
The buddha speaks of Clinging or attachment and non-attachment in the Upadana Sutta below:
Dwelling at Savatthi. There the Blessed One said to the monks: “In one who keeps focusing on the allure of clingable phenomena (or: phenomena that offer sustenance = the five aggregates), craving develops. From craving as a requisite condition comes clinging/sustenance. From clinging/sustenance as a requisite condition comes becoming. From becoming as a requisite condition comes birth. From birth as a requisite condition, then aging & death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair come into play. Such is the origin of this entire mass of suffering & stress.
“Just as if a great mass of fire of ten… twenty… thirty or forty cartloads of timber were burning, and into it a man would time & again throw dried grass, dried cow dung, & dried timber, so that the great mass of fire — thus nourished, thus sustained — would burn for a long, long time. In the same way, in one who keeps focusing on the allure of clingable phenomena, craving develops. From craving as a requisite condition comes clinging/sustenance. From clinging/sustenance as a requisite condition comes becoming. From becoming as a requisite condition comes birth. From birth as a requisite condition, then aging & death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair come into play. Such is the origin of this entire mass of suffering & stress.
“Now, in one who keeps focusing on the drawbacks of clingable phenomena, craving ceases. From the cessation of craving comes the cessation of clinging/sustenance. From the cessation of clinging/sustenance comes the cessation of becoming. From the cessation of becoming comes the cessation of birth. From the cessation of birth, then aging, illness & death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair all cease. Such is the cessation of this entire mass of suffering & stress.
“Just as if a great mass of fire of ten… twenty… thirty or forty cartloads of timber were burning, into which a man simply would not time & again throw dried grass, dried cow dung, or dried timber, so that the great mass of fire — its original sustenance being consumed, and no other being offered — would, without nutriment, go out. In the same way, in one who keeps focusing on the drawbacks of clingable phenomena, craving ceases. From the cessation of craving comes the cessation of clinging/sustenance. From the cessation of clinging/sustenance comes the cessation of becoming. From the cessation of becoming comes the cessation of birth. From the cessation of birth, then aging, illness & death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair all cease. Such is the cessation of this entire mass of suffering & stress.”
The similarities in what the Buddha said and what Ghandi described feeling are striking. It seems the knowledge is our there, it has been told many times over, yet we continue to refuse to listen and put it into practice. Why is that, and do you think you could give up your possessions?