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Conference Paper: Buddhist Attitudes towards Material Wealth
Title | Buddhist Attitudes towards Material Wealth |
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Authors | |
Issue Date | 2019 |
Publisher | Centre of Buddhist Studies, The University of Hong Kong. |
Citation | Buddhist Values and Economics: Investing in a Sustainable Future International Conference, Hong Kong, 13-14 April 2019 How to Cite? |
Abstract | As Nanayakara in 'Economics', says 'It is clear that the Buddha did not consider the formulation of a comprehensive economic theory as a part of his mission. His mission obviously was not aimed at bringing about an economic-revolution in the material sense.' Buddhism is primarily an ethical religion whose main objective is the development of human moral and spiritual characters. Thus, in this paper I will discuss Buddhist attitudes to material wealth, rather than economic theory and policy in Buddhism. After a careful study, I have summarized the Buddhist attitudes to material wealth in the following points: (1) Buddhism does not consider wealth as evil or bad, on the contrary, it recognizes the importance of basic material wealth for personal happiness as well as spiritual progress; (2) However important wealth is, one should not have a greedy attitude towards it; (3) Buddhism always praises the virtue of contentment; (4) encourages people to share their wealth with others; (5) maintains that wealth has only an instrumental value, thus one should not miserly attach to and hoard one's wealth without spending; (6) encourages the adaptation of a middle way in practice towards wealth; and (7) considers wastefulness as a deplorable habit that is even regarded as anti-social, so wealth should be put to its maximum use. |
Persistent Identifier | http://hdl.handle.net/10722/271874 |
DC Field | Value | Language |
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dc.contributor.author | Guang, XA | - |
dc.date.accessioned | 2019-07-20T10:31:08Z | - |
dc.date.available | 2019-07-20T10:31:08Z | - |
dc.date.issued | 2019 | - |
dc.identifier.citation | Buddhist Values and Economics: Investing in a Sustainable Future International Conference, Hong Kong, 13-14 April 2019 | - |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10722/271874 | - |
dc.description.abstract | As Nanayakara in 'Economics', says 'It is clear that the Buddha did not consider the formulation of a comprehensive economic theory as a part of his mission. His mission obviously was not aimed at bringing about an economic-revolution in the material sense.' Buddhism is primarily an ethical religion whose main objective is the development of human moral and spiritual characters. Thus, in this paper I will discuss Buddhist attitudes to material wealth, rather than economic theory and policy in Buddhism. After a careful study, I have summarized the Buddhist attitudes to material wealth in the following points: (1) Buddhism does not consider wealth as evil or bad, on the contrary, it recognizes the importance of basic material wealth for personal happiness as well as spiritual progress; (2) However important wealth is, one should not have a greedy attitude towards it; (3) Buddhism always praises the virtue of contentment; (4) encourages people to share their wealth with others; (5) maintains that wealth has only an instrumental value, thus one should not miserly attach to and hoard one's wealth without spending; (6) encourages the adaptation of a middle way in practice towards wealth; and (7) considers wastefulness as a deplorable habit that is even regarded as anti-social, so wealth should be put to its maximum use. | - |
dc.language | eng | - |
dc.publisher | Centre of Buddhist Studies, The University of Hong Kong. | - |
dc.relation.ispartof | Buddhist Values and Economics: Investing in a Sustainable Future International Conference | - |
dc.title | Buddhist Attitudes towards Material Wealth | - |
dc.type | Conference_Paper | - |
dc.identifier.email | Guang, XA: guangxin@hku.hk | - |
dc.identifier.authority | Guang, XA=rp01138 | - |
dc.identifier.hkuros | 298807 | - |
dc.publisher.place | Hong Kong | - |