On Wealth, Fame, and the Pursuit of a Really Great Loaf of Bread

The endless pursuit of love and happiness is highly over rated by most people.  It is what drives some people to work excessively long hours, claw their way to the “top” on the backs of others and ultimately provides only an unhappy shell of existence.

To some, the attainment of wealth, power, and fame is at the core of their existence.  The problem is that these states are not 100% compatible with being content.  By their very nature, wealth, power and fame are addictive.  They have the hallmark qualities of addiction.  No level is ever enough, if other people get in the way, they may be crushed or hurt, and the drive replaces all other emotions.  Life eventually looses all joy.

The reality is that in life, you are only racing against yourself.  Comparing yourself against others is useless and counterproductive.  We never know the ultimate goal of a particular behavior of another person.  We may believe that a person is doing action “A” in order to be successful because that is our goal and surely others would ultimately have the same goal as we.  But in fact, the goal of the other person, may be to just maintain their sanity and get by with the least effort.  So if we copy their behavior, then the behavior become counter-productive to our own goals.

Instead, if we develop personal goals of BEING and embodying compassionate wisdom, then our outlook on life and behaviors will be quite different.  If we strive towards turning our lives into a really great loaf of bread, then the true riches of life, happiness and contentment, will follow.

Great Bread Recipe

Ingredients:

1. Understanding
2. Patience
3. Generosity
4. Regular practice of caring and honest personal reflection
5. Regular practice of chanting and meditation
6. Seeking out better understanding of the pure universal teachings of spiritual co-existence among universal beings
7. Compassion for all sentient beings-including oneself.

Directions:

Add the all ingredients to your life.  Gently kneed and blend them into a consistent form.  Smooth out all lumps.  Let the dough sit and rise in a calm environment.  Once raised to full height, bake in the glow of acceptance until content.  Share with all you meet.