"When I had no money, nor the means to get anything, that was
the time when all my wishes were fulfilled.
Buddha never asked people to not have money. We must be able to
differentiate the role of a monk and a lay practitioner, and the
Buddha clearly differentiated it for us. In fact, the Buddha did
gave this sermon before:
Seize The Day
In the Noble Eight-fold Path[1]
taught by Buddha, the Right Action[1] advocates practitioners of
Buddhism to pursue all that are virtuous with zeal and a commitment
to progress. Such should be the correct attitude whether in our
career or in pursuit of the ultimate truth. The following short
story may help to illustrate Buddha's teaching more
clearly.
Early one morning Buddha and one of his chief disciples, Ananda,
set out from Jetavana to seek alms. They came to the city of
Sravasti. As they entered the city gate and were walking along a
path by the city wall, they saw an aged couple.
Their backs were crooked and they could neither straighten
themselves nor move about. They were dressed in rags, appearing
unhygienic and well worn with age: frail, toothless, grey hair,
hard of hearing and poor eyesight. They lived next to a pile of
rubbish by the derelict wall of a sleazy alley. They crouched close
to each other, facing a small fire for warmth. With eyes only for
each other, they resembled a pair of old swans that cannot bear to
part.
The Buddha turned his head and asked Ananda, "Did you see that aged
couple by the wall and the warmth of the burning cow dung?"
Ananda replied, "World Honoured One, I see them."
The Buddha continued, "If this old couple had been determined and
diligent when they were young and strong, regardless of the nature
of their work as long as it is legitimate, perhaps at this age they
are already amongst the wealthiest class of people in Sravasti. On
the other hand, if they had chosen to renounce their worldly life
to learn and cultivate the right path with diligence, perhaps they
would have already attained the Arhat [2] by now.
Even if they were not that determined when they were young, but are
ambitious and diligent only at a later age and they work with the
Right Action, perhaps they are already amongst the second
wealthiest class of people in Sravasti. Similarly, if on the other
hand, they had chosen to renounce their worldly life to learn and
cultivate the right path with diligence, perhaps they would have
already attained the Anagami [2].
Worse still, should they only realise about diligence and progress
when they are already at their middle age, and only then began to
work with the Right Action, perhaps they are already amongst the
third wealthiest class of people in Sravasti. If they had chosen to
renounce their worldly life to learn and cultivate the right path
with diligence, perhaps they would have already attained the
Sakrdagamin [2].
However, they did none of the above. Instead, they spent their life
times loving and possessing each other, and wasted the most useful
time of their lives. That is why today they are helpless and have
no way out of their predicament. They live in poor conditions, are
penniless and there is nothing that they can do. For them it is a
living death, having to face the retribution of their own doing,
and nobody took any pity on them. What meaning is there in a life
like this?"
In order to encourage people not to fall into the same predicament,
the Buddha said, "Ananda, always remember to advise and guide
people:
In youth, be determined, diligent, and thrifty and strive to
acquire knowledge.
Maintain a mind that is distant and unchained from desire and be
focused on building a career during the prime of life.
In middle age, realise a stable career that is based on diligence,
zeal, progress and Right Action.
Always use the wealth meaningfully to benefit self and
others.
Do not wait till old age and rely on the people's benevolence like
the aged swan."
The above incident demonstrates the compassion of the Buddha in
caring for sentient beings and encouraging people to be determined
in striving for progress, regardless of whether one is concerned
with building a career, or one who has renounced the worldly life
to learn and cultivate the right path. His only wish was for all
sentient beings to be distant from suffering and attain happiness
in life.
Notes:
[1] Noble Eight-fold Path:
1. Right Speech
2. Right Action
3. Right Livelihood
4. Right Effort
5. Right Mindfulness
6. Right Concentration
7. Right Views
8. Right Thought
[2] The four stages in Hinayana sanctity:
- 1st stage - srota-apanna
- 2nd stage - sakrdagamin
- 3rd stage - anagami-phala
- 4th stage - arhat, the highest stage
------------
Wanting has no end to it. Even one billion baht isn't enough,
nor a billion dollars. But freedom from wanting has an end. It is
when you want nothing. Contentment is the only time you have
enough."
This kind of answers. It is an answer that is not in touch with
reality.
It is ALWAYS in touch with reality - not a time that is not in
touch with reality. Contentment is true wealth because wealth is
relative and dependant on what you perceive as enough - and enough
is only when you are contented. Simple? This kind of statement is
really direct and unrefutable - just as things like 'all things
that arise will have an end' this kind of statement that even low
IQ people will probably be able to understand.
And as the article above mentioned, which is a sermon by the
Buddha, the Buddha taught that everyone should have the zeal and
commitment to progress. It does NOT mean that being contented means
we can slack - that is loth. That is laziness, and it is a
fetter.
See my previous reply:
...What Buddhism teaches is not
that you cannot work for the future, but that be continuously 'in
that moment' when you are working towards the future. Not to see
this moment as a means to an end, but be fully PRESENT in the
moment. That is contentment. It is also mindfulness, because a sort
of clarity arises when you are no longer seeking the future or
grasp onto the past but mindful of what IS at the
moment...
Straightway people will think that he is asking people to be
monks. That the only way is to be a monk. That the only way to
happiness is being a monk.
Of course not. Lay practitioners can just be as happy and be as
enlightened. But a monk and a lay practitioner has different roles
- a monk focus on helping the lay practitioners in propagating
dharma and the lay practitioners help the monks by providing them
what they need economically. We are interdependant.
It does not touch on the issues of human motivations, for
example.
Oh... isnt the article/sermon that I provided you just above
inspiring, motivational enough? 
Want some more? There are a lot more motivational things that the
Buddha said.
But ultimately we must never depend on such 'motivational',
'inspiring' things because even they are impermanent and
unsatisfactory.
Exerpt from NOW IS THE KNOWING by Venerable Ajahn Sumedho:
....Reflect on your own life
and the cycles of nature. Just observe what delights and what
depresses. See how we can feel very positive or very negative.
Notice how we want to attach to beauty or to pleasant feelings or
to inspiration. It's really nice to feel inspired isn't it?
"Buddhism is the greatest religion of them all" or "When I
discovered the Buddha I was so happy, it's a wonderful discovery!"
When we get a little bit douvtful, a little bit depressed, we go
and read an inspiring book and get high. But remember, getting high
is an impermanent condition, it's like getting happy, you have to
keep doing it, sustaining it and after you keep doing something
over and over again you no longer feel happy with it. How many
sweets can you eat? At first they make you happy and then they make
you sick. So depending on religious inspiration is not enough. If
you attach to inspiration then when you get fed up with Buddhism
you'll go off and find some new thing to inspire you...
