Spiritual snobs are often known to condescend our pursuit of the material. But, is our material pursuit really as shallow as it’s made out to be? We live in the material world after all and according to Indian tradition, ‘artha’ is one of the four aims of human life. It means achievement of goals and relates specifically to the acquisition of valuable objects or wealth. Artha (wealth) helps us to lead a life of dignified existence. Without it our perception of the world is fearful because our very survival is threatened and we are victims of exploitation. In his autobiographical book ‘Words”, Jean Paul Sartre writes, "Land and a house give a young heir a stable image of himself." It is out of this stable image that we go on to realise our potential. But for it we would be caught in the trap of a compromise of making a living. Wealth does give us the freedom to pursue our dreams, actualise our imagination. According to Albert Camus (A Happy Death), "To have money is to be free of it." Wealth/Artha helps us to transcend the banal and seek the sublime. According to the need hierarchy enumerated by Abraham Maslow, a psychologist, material needs are placed at the bottom and self-actualisation at the top. He elaborates that material gains offer happiness upto the point that ensures survival and provides some social status. After that comes security and ability to feel sure that you can defend what is yours. After which comes the desire to love and be loved, to belong to a community or group that is greater than oneself. And finally self-actualisation. Read all the Karma Sutra columns here. Hence, only when our material needs are met with can we move to the highest level of the hierarchy, that of self-actualisation. However, our pursuit of artha takes on a negative connotation when we identify with our material acquisitions. Our material assets are meant to facilitate our life, they are not who we are. To use the material to define our self worth is what leads to instability. Fortunes turn and those who derived their self worth out of their fortunes collapse with it. And those who knew their real worth go on to recreate their fortune. Our material pursuit is also deemed negative when it acquires the form of obsession and greed. When we chase the material rather than chasing our dream, our existence is arid and barren. We are solely possessed with acquiring and hoarding. It’s like cancer and eats into our life. When we obsess over the material, our life becomes one dimensional. We miss out on the vast expanse, the subtleties of human emotions and the extraordinary beauty that life has to offer. In the end, one needs to remember that ‘artha’ is one of the four aims of life, not the only one! For news updates, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ & Instagram
