What Is Wealth In Buddha?

 In daily life, people have their own ways to create and enjoy wealth.

Especially nowadays, the improvement of one's life, the embodiment of selfworth, and the achievement of social benefits are all measured by the increase of wealth.

However, as an old saying goes, "Men die for money and birds die for food." If we can't correctly recognize the advantages and disadvantages of wealth, we are likely to fall prey to it.

How does Buddhism view wealth then?

There is a story in a Buddhist sutra. One day, the Buddha led his disciple Ananda on an alms round. They saw a jar filled with gold on the roadside.

The Buddha said immediately to Ananda, "Look. Poisonous snake." "Indeed, it is a poisonous snake," Ananda replied. These words happened to be heard by a farmer and his son, who came to have a look out of curiosity.

At the very sight of the jar, the father and his son went wild with joy. They lost no time in carrying the gold back home, thinking that this stroke of luck from heaven would change their poor life.

Change indeed occurred, but not in the way they anticipated.

When the father and his son took the gold to the market in exchange for money, they were reported to government officials. The truth is that the gold they found had been stolen by burglars from the royal palace. During their escape, they dropped some of it along the roadside.

The father and his son, caught together with the gold, found it hard to prove their innocence. They both went from a state of extreme joy to one of great sorrow. Before their execution, they eventually realized the true meaning of "poisonous snake".

Similar stories abound in real life. In recent years, some leading cadres have fallen from grace, from being respected civil servants to convicted criminals who abused their power for personal gain.

In retrospect, if we examine their trajectory, we find that money had gradually corrupted their minds. For instance, during year 2000 in Xiamen, more than 300 employees at different administrative departments and levels were involved in a massive smuggling case.

When those privileged members of a high social rank were put into jail, what was in their mind? When they had to pay with their life for what they had done, what was in their mind?

As the ancient saying goes, “Things rot first, then come insects.” It is the greed for money that had severely distorted their value system and led to their corruption. This kind of lesson warns us of the fact that money is tempting but at the same time extremely fatal.

Why is it fatal? It is because of mankind’s greed and the inability to recognize the hidden trap behind wealth.