In a number of suttas such as AN 4.61 the Buddha speaks of the benefits of obtaining wealth in an ethical way. Now science is finally catching up.
14 Likes
The greatest wealth is knowledge of the dhamma 
2 Likes
"And what is the bliss of having? There is the case where the son of a good family has wealth earned through his efforts & enterprise, amassed through the strength of his arm, and piled up through the sweat of his brow, righteous wealth righteously gained. When he thinks, ‘I have wealth earned through my efforts & enterprise, amassed through the strength of my arm, and piled up through the sweat of my brow, righteous wealth righteously gained,’ he experiences bliss, he experiences joy. This is called the bliss of having.
"And what is the bliss of [making use of] wealth? There is the case where the son of a good family, using the wealth earned through his efforts & enterprise, amassed through the strength of his arm, and piled up through the sweat of his brow, righteous wealth righteously gained, partakes of his wealth and makes merit. When he thinks, ‘Using the wealth earned through my efforts & enterprise, amassed through the strength of my arm, and piled up through the sweat of my brow, righteous wealth righteously gained, I partake of wealth and make merit,’ he experiences bliss, he experiences joy. This is called the bliss of [making use of] wealth.
"And what is the bliss of debtlessness? There is the case where the son of a good family owes no debt, great or small, to anyone at all. When he thinks, ‘I owe no debt, great or small, to anyone at all,’ he experiences bliss, he experiences joy. This is called the bliss of debtlessness.
"And what is the bliss of blamelessness? There is the case where a disciple of the noble ones is endowed with blameless bodily kamma, blameless verbal kamma, blameless mental kamma. When he thinks, ‘I am endowed with blameless bodily kamma, blameless verbal kamma, blameless mental kamma,’ he experiences bliss, he experiences joy. This is called the bliss of blamelessness.
"These are the four kinds of bliss that can be attained in the proper season, on the proper occasions, by a householder partaking of sensuality."
AN4.62
1 Like
At some point, though, one’s possessions become a burden when the mind is filled with anxiety regarding their safety. A very nice essay by Bhikku Bodhi on the torment that plagues the mind regarding the unpredictability of the past, the future and ownership in general:
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/bodhi/bps-essay_37.html
Just the concluding lines of the Buddha’s pithy verse manage to convey so much:
Not apart from relinquishing all,
Do I see any safety for living beings.
1 Like
It is a well known fact that wealth creates a safety net when things go wrong in life. The Mahamangala sutta, Singalovada sutta, dhigajanu sutta all talk about making wealth in a harmless manner and using it for one’s and other’s needs. These are blameless acts of metta. As long as we don’t make the pursuit of wealth the single overriding issue in our lives, if we can see it as tool and not let it blind us regarding our wellbeing we can see that it isn’t inherently ‘evil’. How can it be - it just stuff. This renunciate material makes us think wealth is more ‘evil’ than material things at some level but it is all aggregates arising and passing away. Nothing is ultimately better or worse.
With metta
Matheesha
Thank you for sharing this lovely article! I often only see the scholarly side of Venerable Bodhi, and forget that he is equally gifted as a writer. A beautiful piece indeed!
2 Likes
Well, no - I don’t think that wealth is evil in any way. But, it is a burden, nevertheless. And the realization that wealth is not the safety net that can provide succor is the point when people turn away from futile wordly pursuits and choose monkhood.
Owning things gives rise to attachment in the mind and in the Dhamma, renunciation of everything is declared to be the only refuge that could bring anxiety to an end. All actions that deepen the mind’s withdrawal from the world are classified as skillful compared with wordly activities which are considered as unskillful, so I think we can’t say that “nothing is ultimately better or worse.”
I was pleasantly suprised too when I read this essay. 
All of his essays hosted on ATI are like nutritious Dhamma snacks. 
1 Like
You’re welcome! 