Right consumption is not about rejecting all material needs, but about choosing only what truly supports inner welfare and one’s real goal. Blind consumption deepens inner restlessness and harms the planet, while responsible consumption protects both oneself and life around. Economics, too, must be centered on genuine human well-being, not endless production and desire.
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Originally published in The Pioneer on 1 jan '23
As long as your material body is there, you will continue to consume because you will have to consume. The question is, what to consume and how much? You must have an inner system that keeps reminding you of what you really need and where you really must be. You must consume only the stuff that takes you towards your goal and that is the right consumption. Set your goal with great attention, great peace, great consideration and then give up all that which is not useful in taking you towards your goal.
Why must a person consume with careful consideration? Impulsive consumption destroys your inner world. It pushes you deeper into the belief that by means of more and more consumption, you will be able to get rid of your inner disquiet. So, it is not good for you inwardly. The second reason is that all consumption comes from this ecosystem, this planet and in the lust of our blind consumption, we destroy life for everybody. That is very loveless and lacks compassion. That is inhuman and not sensible for our own continuation. Man himself is not probably going to continue on this planet beyond at most fifty or hundred years if the current crisis continues to amplify. As the time passes, science and technology can mitigate the crisis of the material world but still the inner disquiet is important enough for you to lower your consumption levels. Optimise them for your own welfare. The consumption that is needed for the basic physical sustenance and comfort is certain and unavoidable, but the senseless consumption of wanting more, for a very horrible and false reason, is a cause of worry to me.
