In and of itself, money is nothing more than paper and metal to which societies have assigned great meaning. Yet it has become a necessity for most of us. We need money to survive in the modern world. Regrettably, the human tendencies toward greed and jealousy often turn money into a source of suffering.

We are constantly fed messages about how money equals happiness. But money never equals true happiness. It affords us comfort and pleasure, but that is all—and pleasure isn’t the same thing as happiness. The proof, should we need it, is that rich people suffer too.

As with everything else, money is not the problem; it is our relationship to money that causes us to suffer.

This Buddhist Dharma Talk is based on 'Against The Stream: A Buddhist Manual for Spiritual Revolutionaries'. We’re making all of 'Against The Stream' available for free on our blog (one piece at a time). LINK in episode notes.