Crystal Aura Gaze

Lord Shiva is the Hindu god known for being an ascetic and giving up all material items to leave the physical world and embrace the spiritual.

Materialism is the ultimate addiction. We talk about addiction to drugs, but rarely do we talk about the addiction to our phones, buying new clothes, online shopping, walking into Target to buy one thing and leaving the store with a full shopping cart, and so forth. Materialism really does feed the ego because it gives us a sense of identity. I love buying vinyls and it’s because I identify strongly with many artists and that helps shape my personality into something more concrete. I see ads on my phone and buy them thinking that it’s going to transform my life into something so amazing overnight. I get more thrill in purchasing something than actually using what I’ve already purchased. Sometimes I will buy something online and then won’t even take it out of its package when it arrives for days and then forget about it. It’s a vicious cycle and a slippery slope.

I really don’t know the best answer because it’s something I struggle with. But just focusing on what matters is the best thing you can do. Appreciating the value of laughter, quality time with loved ones, being outside in nature, and all of the things that money can’t buy. A certain amount of money makes life a lot easier, but it certainly does not buy happiness. Just watch any reality show about rich people and see how much they have to whine and complain about, how unsatisfied they are with the things that people dream of having. Nothing is ever enough. Poor communities have much more difficult lives, but they have a sense of community that rich people don’t have, because they need to rely on one another for support.

You have to keep reminding yourself that materialism is a trap. It distracts you from the present moment. It keeps you in that “grass is greener on the other side” mindset where nothing is ever good enough and you always want more. Materialism feeds the void, it makes that “something is missing” gap wider and wider. And then you get angry with yourself for not feeling happy for all the things you have, and you think “what is wrong with me? I should be grateful for all I have?” But nothing is wrong with you, it’s that your brain has been wired to stay hungry. In a consumerist society, everything they feed our mind is with intention to make our minds hungrier. There is no spiritual nutrition in a consumerist society. You have to feed yourself.