One of the suttas that influenced and inspired me the most since
enrolling in tertiary school with a S$24k CPF-loanable tuition fee
debt. Feels like yesterday, yet years have passed.
"Anana Sutta: Debtless" (AN 4.62), translated from the Pali
by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. Access to Insight (Legacy Edition), 30
November 2013,
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an04/an04.062.than.html
.
Then Anathapindika the householder went to
the Blessed One and, on arrival, having bowed down to him, sat to
one side. As he was sitting there the Blessed One said to him:
"There are these four kinds of bliss that can be attained in the
proper season, on the proper occasions, by a householder partaking
of sensuality. Which four? The bliss of having, the bliss of
[making use of] wealth, the bliss of debtlessness, the bliss of
blamelessness.
"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."