The Madness of Materialism Final
Another source of‘psychological **' is the strong sense of separateness many of us feel,the sense of being isolated individuals living in a world which is ‘out there',on the other side of our heads.
We look to external things to try to alleviate our inner discontent. Materialism certainly can give us a kind of happiness -the temporary thrill of buying something new, and the ego-inflating thrill of owning it afterwards. And we use this kind of happiness to try to override - or compensate for - the fundamental unhappiness inside us.
In addition, our desire for wealth is a reaction to the sense of lack and vulnerability generated by our sense of separation. This generates a desire to makes ourselves more whole,more significant and powerful. We try to ‘bolster' our fragile egos and make ourselves feel more complete by accumulating wealth and possessions.
It doesn't work, of course -or at least, it only works for a very short time.
The happiness of buying or owning a new item rarely lasts longer than a couple of days. The sense of ego-inflation generated by wealth or expensive possessions can be more enduring, but it's very fragile too.
It depends on comparing yourself to other people who aren't as well off as you, and evaporates if you compare yourself to someone who is wealthier than you. And no matter how much we try to complete or bolster our ego, our inner discontent and incompleteness always re-emerges,generating new desires. No matter how much we get, it's never enough.
As Buddhism teaches, desires are inexhaustible. The satisfaction of one desire just creates new desires,like a cell multiplying. The only real way of alleviating this psychological ** is not by trying to escape it, but by trying to heal it - which will have to be subject of another blog.
