Welcome back to Buddhist solutions for life's problems. On this show we examine how people

apply their Buddhist practice to the complex challenges of being human.

I'm Geejali, a journalist and practitioner of SGI Nichrine Buddhism.

Today we are talking about money. In popular culture, Buddhism can be seen as a religion that encourages us to extinguish our desires.

Yet the reality of life is that we need things like money and work to survive.

Because Buddhism teaches that one's environment is a reflection of one's inner life,

our relationship with money also simply reflects what's happening inside of us.

Money can, for example, be the focus of our greed, jealousy, or misery.

It can be the expression of our compassion, the impetus for us to achieve our goals, or it can be a reflection of our

inner confidence, freedom, and wisdom.

But what does that mean for our actual daily interactions with it?

I reached out to three people in three states

to help me navigate today's episode,

because money is a complicated topic

and I had so many questions to ask. You'll get to know their

stories over the course of the episode and also what Buddhism says about how to

recognize and transform financial karma. So why does so many Americans confuse wealth with happiness or put wealth above other qualities, such as good physical health or loving relationships, or living every day with a feeling of hope and courage.

There are so many wealthy people who are so miserable.

To live a joyful life, there needs to be a delicate but meaningful balance between materiality

and spirituality.

Material wealth without any spiritual backbone usually leads to outsized ego, greed, as no one could ever

have enough money, anger, and unhappiness. A strong spiritual practice leads to respect for all people regardless of their personal circumstances.

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