I want to have nice things. I want to feel marble floors under my feet, caress a wife who exceeds my expectations of a perfect ten, and have available a wide selection of opportunities to keep me occupied. And I don’t understand why I shouldn’t want these.
Buddhism suggests that life is suffering, and to embrace poverty. But to do so creates a battle that I must
continuously choose to fight – desire against will. I must then suppress what it is that I want most, because of the belief that those desires really only lead to superficial happiness. While deep down those desires were born because of the ability I have to recognize comfort, and pleasure with happiness.
The Bible suggests that God created man to be like him, and to subdue the earth and all of its inhabitants. Where God comes from God
is wealth.
Revelation 21:18 describes Gods dwelling place:
18 The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass. 19 The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth onyx, the sixth ruby, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth turquoise, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. 21 The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass.
Being made in the image of God leaves me as heir to the desire for this wealth. So why then is there a penalty put on all things I enjoy in life? Why is the purpose of my life to embrace the opposite of what I really want?
If
superficial happiness is the crime, then the objects themselves aren’t. And if the objects themselves aren’t then I am the one responsible for the intent that is given to my happiness. This is a game of incomplete information. What is life really trying to say to me? The penalty isn’t in the objects desired the penalty is THE REASONING I have for wanting what I want. And my reasoning comes from the knowledge I have available to put together; knowledge I have collected through experience over the years.
If this knowledge is corrupt in any way it will lead me to an inaccurate view of what this happiness in its purist form really looks like. So my ability to acquire what it is that I was intended to have will never take place because the vision needed to uphold this responsibility isn’t mine. This vision needed to manifest itself and somewhere along the way I interrupted the process. My question now is can I get it back?