9 Apr 2012 —
Question
Q204: Needs or luxuries?
Question 204:
Amma said: “A real mistake humans have committed is the inability to differentiate between needs and luxuries.”
How do you understand this?
Please make your answer brief and clear (maximum 5 or 6 lines).
Due to greed and ignorance people have gotten into the habit of acquiring “stuff.” With proper discrimination that comes from imbibing Amma’s teaching and putting them into practice we can overcome the “desire to acquire” and live simply and frugally. If we look at the example of Amma’s life we notice how She wastes nothing, not even a moment of time.
I have a genuine need for food. The same as all beings. But I also have lots of craving for tasty food which I don’t need, which is expensive, and which may often be bad for me. That is a luxury. I need to cut down the luxuries I eat and only keep what’s a real need.
In today’s competitive world, luxuries have become needs. Everyone is out to get something because they want to outdo someone else. The spirit of sharing has been replaced by the desire to acquire and hoard things for oneself. The solution lies in what Amma calls the ‘joy of giving’. One must fulfil one’s own desires, but one must not forget to spare a thought for those less fortunate. Caring and sharing should become part of one’s life!
Very true. Most of the people have a belief that a luxurious way of living shows their status that gives boost to their ego. Whereas who have acquired the GOD in themselves are very happly in all the situations they are in. the minimum need of food, clothing shelter and they being engrossed in their divine MAA is the happiest part of their life. MA thankyou for everything, LUV U MAA
Luxury is a crocodile that eats up all spiritual qualities.
Needs also bring attachments tormenting in smaller proportions.
Koupeenavanthah Khalu Bhagya Vanthah.
paraphrasing (i think) according to one sage in India a focus on plain living helps gets you closer to needs. A desire for a pleasurable sense object can frequently be mistaken for a need instead of artificially created want
the “needs” are what can help us to survive,,, and everything else is a “luxury”!!
but as the human being is greedy in general and always wants more and more thinking that this will make him happier, he forgot that he needs “nothing” to be happy,,, whereas by accumulating luxuries he keeps on turning in a vicious circle hoping for more happiness which he will never have.
A very good idea to think about and bring it into practice. If we observe closely at our lives, we will understand that we can lead a simple life just fulfilling our needs. But 99% of people are crazy for amassing and acquiring things which actually they don’t need. The actual need is covered by the acute greed for unwanted things. If everyone just lived according to their needs, the world would be a different place.
Based on our conditioning and the environment in which we are brought up, we are dependent on so many things in our day to day life. This varies from person to person. How often do we contemplate and reflect upon, if some item is a real need or luxury? more often not and we just go with the life’s flow..Being in the presence of a Master like Amma, She will help us to go within and remove our dependencies on the luxuries. We are all blessed to have Amma in our Lives. Jai Maa!
A humanly mistake indeed for other creatures under God’s sky take only what they need and are quite content with it.. but also, only humans can distance themselves away from this aspect of their nature. How? The grace of the Guru is definitely the main factor, plus one can help when he strives to nurture enough mental discrimination and positive heart qualities. Then the trap of greed and hoarding can be avoided.
Just watch the movie “Gods must be crazy”. You see the bushmen of Africa, living in peace with just what is needed for them to happily survive. They do not have a sense of ownership (mamatha..remember the verse in lalitasahsranama…mamatha hanthri…one who destroys the sense of ownership in an individual). They pray to the meat they kill, saying that it is for their survival. The movie compares the modern life to the bushmen of Africa. If you are born into and live in that way, it is easy. Otherwise it is very difficult to live modestly while the rest of the population is after luxury.
what is a need maybe a luxury for some and a luxury for some maybe a need for some.humans are a varied mixture in preferences and lifestyles.om amriteshwari namaha.
Very difficult to differentiate between luxury and need.One has to develop a lot to be able to discriminate.For some what is luxury to others is necessity.Finding simple alternatives can help to avoid luxury.May AMMA help us all in this endeavour.
What is needed for keeping this life going is not Luxuary.what is not needed inorder to keep this life going is Luxuary
Needs are things that help us sustain life in terms food, clothing and shelter. Basic needs arising from non-binding desires are essential for survival. Luxuries are things that are beyond the scope of our needs and trigger materialistic desires and make us eventually deluded. Desires are the want to include an object as part of oneself but in actuality this is a futile attempt as this never really happens.
Need and luxury….buying a watch for 500 rs to see the time is need. Same purpose, another person buys a watch for 2 lakhs, it’s luxury.
‘Needs’ are what is essential in our lives.
‘Luxuries’ are extras that we can do without.
To put in practice what Amma is pointing at we need to slowly minimize our ‘needs’ and slowly eliminate the ‘luxuries’… simple, but happiness and freedom from huge amounts of stress will be around the corner.
Needs are the basic necessities of a human being.
But many of us, in the process of adapting ourselves to the changing lifestyle, change our needs also.
Here we fail to understand that the changing lifestyle is a luxury & not a need.
If we restrict ourselves to the basic needs; we will not be influenced by the lifestyle needs which is nothing but a luxury.
need? basic conditions to grow in.
luxury? using or having conditions that make me happy. Both have there difficultys. Both have there outcomes. one is a path of simplicity and growth knowing who we are and the appreciation of being here. the other can be a mind feild of thoughts of being separate, in that, lack and greed from not knowing or forgetting the true feeling of ‘Wholeness’ or true happieness.
Being too steeped in/attached to luxuries makes one dependent to the point of sickness-so much so that one can’t do without objects even for a while & it makes man v.selfish to attain/hold on to these..Just as Amma says-“Instead of increasing your wants & living like a beggar, reduce your wants & live like a king”.Whereas a beggar feels miserable & hopelessly dependent, a good king gives(shares)& enjoys true freedom.
May we get the ability to practice it.
Need-“a state that requires supply or relief. Love, is a need, full of basic conditions to grow in. There is a need to be loved, but a far greater need to love someone else, care for someone else. Luxuries-“that which satisfies a fastidious appetite.” Luxuries are the desires of the ego, the body. The loss of one luxury is quickly replaced by another. When there is a loss of love, a person stops eating, looses interest in all luxuries, even body awareness. Love is our primary need, it satisfies. Our mistake, luxuries became our primary goal, is a difficult to please appetite, and now all of nature is out of balance.
I know that I need Amma, prayer, guidance. Luxury is when Amma gives me a kiss as well.
Need: Roti, kapada, makhan
Luxury: 7-course meal, twice a day. Silks and satins with gold and zari, 12-room bungalow in a sprawling 6 acre land for a family of 4 people.
We have forgotten who we are and why we are here. In the stupor of our amnesia we mistake fantasy for reality-luxury for need. We mistake because we lack sufficient knowledge. This causes us to see unclearly. The need that we all seek at the most basic level is love. We cannot thrive without it. The pursuit for any luxury is motivated by our need for love. Until we gain right knowledge and the vision to see that our very nature is LOVE, we need the reflection of another or something outside ourselves to experience love’s bliss. However, the reflection is like a mist that vanishes when light dawns. The yearning for luxury is mistaken for the yearning for true love. But where can true love be found in this Yuga where values and dharma are quickly being scorched by the greed of acquisition? Only in Amma… and yet, how to overcome the attachment to the beautiful fairy tale of experiencing Her love through another or a thing…
Needs are the things and conditions that are necessary to sustain our
body and help us perform our svadharma (individual duty in this world)
and paradharma (attaining the supreme goal). Luxuries are those things
that only satisfy our senses. The desire for luxuries comes out of our
negativity, such as fear towards lacking.
Absolutely correct.I think the needs are the things which are essencial for the survival of a human being.For Eg:-Rotti,kappada and Makkan.But Luxuries are comforts and fessilities , even without that one can sustain.The needs may differ from person to person and situation to stuation , and time to time etc.Some times the needs become Luxury and vice versa also.To live in this modern world some luxuries should become in the place of the needs.For Eg:-some sayimgs are there( 1)When we happend to reach in a place where the people use to eat snake, then we should able to eat the middle piece.2)When the whole people of a country is running ,we should be in the middle runner.)An I phone is every essential to a great business man like TATA and BIRLA.So it is a need to them but it is a very luxury item for a house wife who doesn’t know even to operate it and can use only for ordering the grocceries and vegitables.The need of Rotti Kappada and Makkan is equal to every human beings in the universe even to a begger.But only with that need ,ther is no use for oneself and to the soceity.Knowlege(education)economy(money) and good Culture are also to be treat as need.
Human life is a precious gift and is a period of Sadana to discipline yourself and help you to realize the Self.
The nature ,we live in,is indeed a living embodiment of Dharma,of rightousness.While using the various things available here we should look upon them as gift from God and not mere items of comfort or luxury.So it is essential to live a life of discipline,regularity and hardwork to contain the body until your Sadana is consummated.we are here not on a picnic to eat and enjoy,stay in luxury and comfort.It is our inability to realize that this”I”is not the body assumed by us.We cling to the perishable body and spend the entire life working for its comfort and pleasures forgettng the purpose of life.We are on a sojourn and should be extremely careful and exceedingly vigilant and be aware that everything is donated by AMMA just needed for our Sadana.It is the Dharma of the individual
to take only what is required to live here properly otherwise the nature will suck all your merit out of you,leaving you poor and ignoble.
Waste, are actions ego.
Be do and have in order to survive and stay on good street.
Be done and have a sufficiency to dedicate life serving God or AMMA Humanity projects.
Luxury Be done and have to serve the body and matter are demons mind egos. Spirit is slave of matter.