MATETIALISM & SPIRITUALITY

 

Much of human miseries are attributable to 1. blind and ambitious materialistic pursuits and possessions; and 2. religious beliefs and superstitions.  

 

This is an attempt to deal with first one - materialism as the opposite of spirituality.

 

Materialism is not confined to wealth. It includes anything wherein undue importance is attached to anything made of matter ignoring the spirit behind the role of what is made of that material stuff. Take the mother as an example. Motherhood is the spirit. But a mother ignores this spirit of motherhood and instead is obsessed with herself as the physical mother with not only treating her child as her possession but also by thrusting her expectations and demands in the relationship. 

 

Thought is matter, as J Krishnamurti profoundly stated, because thought is a product of the brain which is matter. Hence attaching importance to one's thoughts and those thought-generated desires, fears, self-importance, opinions, ideas and notions are all as materialistic as any worst form of materialism can be. 

 

One can apply the above to any number of situations and relationships wherein importance is attached to their material aspects while remaining blind to the spirit behind them or the spiritual basis of them.

 

 

Ramu