Spiritual Poverty and Material Poverty

I was listening to a talk a few days ago and Zen master was talking about poverty and he was specifically referring to what he described as 'spiritual' poverty.

Spiritual poverty includes the negative qualities of greed, indifference, apathy, laziness, jealousy, anger, envy...and more. Spiritual poverty is all of the negative attributes that perpetuates the suffering of an individual or group or society. 

Material poverty is what we would define as a lack of means such as financial stability, clean clothing, food, shelter, clean water, and employment.

In considering quality of life which do you think is most important to nurturing a more rewarding life? Material growth or spiritual growth?

Spiritual growth, of course.

Let's explore this a little more so we may understand why spiritual growth is more important than material growth.

Let's consider a financially wealthy business owner. Her goal is be the number one provider of shoes in her city. There is nothing inherently wrong with having aspirations that help others in their daily life, and shoes are an important item to quality of life. As part of her aspirations she buys a smaller shoe company and immediately fires all of the previous employees and fills their positions with lower paid workers. She does this so she may save a few cents per item while raising the price. Her motivation was not to help others but increase her own greed. 

This is an example of spiritual poverty and material excess. She was more concerned about 'being number one' at the expense and wellbeing of other human beings.

Now, lets consider a different example. An elderly man of limited means who lives in an economically depressed neighborhood. Each morning he rises and expresses his gratitude for waking up and for all that he has. He walks outside and sweeps the sidewalk in front of his humble apartment and greets the morning passer-by's on their way to work. Shortly thereafter he enjoys a simple meal prepared with love and gratitude from money he earns from collecting cans and turning then into the local recycling facility. By the end of the day and before bed has offers thanks for what he does have, and not resentment for what he does not have.

Material poverty by itself does not necessarily lead to criminal behavior either, this is a common misconception. Criminal behavior is always a result of spiritual poverty. So when we have an abundance of spiritual wealth we are happy for what we have, we are happy to help others with no expectation of reciprocity, we do good because doing good is its own benefit. 

I wish you all peace, ease, and wellbeing.

Vladimir

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