Customer Reviews

Mindfulness and Money: The Buddhist Path of Abundance

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Mindfulness and Money is written from a Buddhist perspective on the financial world. It's not the only Buddhist perspective, but it looks at personal finance through the lens of the traditions that have grown around the Buddha and his teachings. It does a great job of trying to bridge the gap between Buddhist thinking and the Western societies in which we live.

Questions, Ideas, and Implications

I think the most important sentence is the one that starts off the book: "Money is humanity's greatest invention" (pg 1). In Western culture, with it's Judeo-Christian roots, money is often seen as bad or troublesome. The idea of money as something that is good is powerful and I find it rather liberating. It's challenging enough finding ways to operate as an economic entity without feelings of guilt or worry.

The most relevant way the Buddhist perspective can help is as a counter to the materialism that characterizes much of our society. There is an inherent cultural belief right now that buying more stuff will make you happy (just watch TV commercials). There's this idea that if you aren't fantastically wonderful yet, all it will take is a new watch, cologne, car, pair of jeans, etc. There's an unspoken promise that buying things or having things will make you complete; a promise that always disappoints. The Buddhist approach suggests a way to escape that cycle.

I love the assertion that "Craving is something we choose to do" (pg. 50). A lot of times I think we feel controlled by our desires, that we have to go along with them. This reminds me that I have a choice to act or not act upon any desire that comes up.

Another idea that has value is the idea of "skillfully" earning money. The idea of choosing a career based on the good that it will do for you and for the world is a lot more fulfilling than just choosing one based on salary. I have met many people who are unhappy with their career choices, but they continue on because they feel they have to. How can we choose work that is emotionally and financially fulfilling? I think the first step is awareness; simply being aware that there is more to work than money can start the process of finding an authentic career.

In the last year, I've been asking myself questions about how I spend my money, and looking for ways to change my habits. For example, I still have a car, but I drive a lot less - I try to take public transportation or my bike because it's less expensive and better for the environment. I'm realizing that there are a lot of ways that I can make small changes in my life to not need as much as I thought I did.

Should you read this book?

If you are searching for a new way to relate to money in your life, you will definitely find value in Mindfulness and Money. You don't have to be a Buddhist to appreciate the value of it's philosophies on how to earn and spend money, and it's psychological understanding of how we interact with money is profound.

This book was incredible. I have been working with spiritual principles of manifestation, like Law of Attraction, for some time. The books I've read have offered useful techniques, but this book offered wisdom and insight into my relationship to money and work and put everything into perspective.

The authors create a spaciousness to explore yourself in freedom as you read, and I literally watched mental formations fall away thanks to the energetic freedom carried by this book.

Without changing a thing, I feel more abundant, more empowered, and more capable of navigating my professional life and managing my finances than I had when I opened it. I really appreciated the perspective (and am already a practicing Buddhist) and look forward to actualizing it in the outside world.

The book includes many relevant and inspiring case studies as well as practical techniques and personal explorations you can use when confronting challenging money concepts.

I very highly recommend it to anyone seeking to create harmony between the material and spiritual world, especially with relation to wealth!