Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle… and the life of the candle will not be shortened. -Buddha
We’re going to wrap up our discussion on the philosophy of money this week. And we have to start with this – if we assess the great moral philosophers that have come to us over the years, we’ll find that many of them came to the same fundamental ideas… just from different cultures.
These ideas are like strings running throughout history. They are small and not easily seen. But they connect people, events, and philosophy across geography and across time.
One of the ideas consistent to moral philosophers across time is the “Retreat and Return” model. Both Jesus of Nazareth and the Buddha followed this model.
For Jesus, he went out into the desert for forty days prior to beginning his ministry. He did this to clear away distractions and focus his mental strength on the task at hand.
That task was to demonstrate the hypocrisy of those who preached a rigid rules-based approach to morality. Jesus pointed out that the religious authorities of the day might follow their arbitrary rules, but they did not live a life of compassion and service towards their fellow man.
The Nazarene knew this would earn him some powerful enemies. But his mission was to show people a better way. Treat others as you would like to be treated yourself. This is the North Star of morality. And as Jesus demonstrated, any rule that conflicts with this one is neither valid nor just.
If we think about it – it’s amazing that we’re still talking about a guy that died over 2,000 years ago. That speaks to just how successful Jesus was with his mission. But again, it required him to go out into the desert for forty days to get fully prepared first.
The Buddha’s story follows the same model.
Siddhartha Gautama – the Buddha – was born a prince. He lived a luxurious life surrounded by relative material abundance… but he found that life hollow. Thus, Gautama renounced his life of luxury and retreated to the wilderness.
At first Gautama subjected himself to a life of extreme asceticism. He forced himself to endure severe physical hardships thinking that doing so would unlock a sense of purpose. But it didn’t.
As the story goes, Gautama sat under the Bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya, India to reflect on his experiences. He proceeded to meditate for several days until he reached a higher state of awareness. Gautama called this enlightenment. Only then did he return to society to teach others about what he had learned.
The pattern is clear. Both Jesus and the Buddha pulled away from society to delve deep into their inner selves. This allowed them to find clarity, wisdom, and strength that they didn’t know was there. Then they returned to society ready to pursue their true calling.
To me, the path to financial independence follows this same “Retreat and Return” pattern.
Remember, financial independence refers to a situation where we don’t have to trade our time for money anymore. To get to that point, we must first build a robust asset reserve. Then we need to build passive income sources capable of covering our expenses.
This is a dynamic we all want. But not many of us are willing to do what’s required to get there.
As we discussed yesterday, the path to financial independence is a lonely one. It requires us to pull away from certain social norms and focus intently on our goal.
This takes discipline, courage, and, at times, thick skin. But if we can pull it off, we’ll be free to spend our time and energy on our true calling. We can return to society as a positive force. And we can have a tremendous impact on our little corner of the world.
This strikes me as the path to Maslow’s “self-actualization”. That’s because if we can gain financial wisdom and independence, we can focus our time and energy on being pure creators.
And make no mistake about it – humans are creators in this world. We alone among all the other species on Earth have the ability to think and create at will. That means we are the architects of our own destiny.
It’s a simple thing… but this may be the most profound insight in the world.
As best I can tell, all living creatures serve a function. Think about it…
Bees pollinate flowers which leads to continual plant growth. As part of this process, bees transform plant nectar into honey – a highly concentrated energy source for insects, birds, bears, and us humans.
For their part, plants produce the oxygen and food that animals need to live. And some plants serve medicinal purposes as well.
Then cows and goats ingest grass and turn it into milk. Earthworms break down organic matter and fertilize the soil. Bacteria aids the decomposition process and recycles nutrients back into the ecosystem. The list goes on and on.
But here’s the thing – those species are limited just to a few tasks.
Meanwhile, we humans have no such limits. We can pursue any task we desire. And then we can create new inventions and new tasks should we choose to. We are creators in this world.
Perhaps this is what Jesus was getting at when he talked about moving mountains. Here’s the Nazarene:
Amen I say to you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain: Remove from hence hither, and it shall remove. Nothing shall be impossible to you.
Food for thought.
-Joe Withrow
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