Four Sources of Depletion and Accumulation of the Wealth

The Four Sources of Depletion of the Wealth

Byagghapajja, the wealth thus amassed has four sources of depletion:

(1) womanizing,

(2) drunkenness (heedlessness),

(3) gambling,

(4) unwholesome friendship, unwholesome companionship, unwholesome comradeship.

Byagghapajja, just as if there were a large reservoir with four inlets and four outlets, and a man would close the inlets and open the outlets, and sufficient rain does not fall, one could predict the water in the reservoir to decrease rather than increase;

Byagghapajja, so the wealth thus amassed has four sources of depletion:

(1) womanizing,

(2) drunkenness (heedlessness),

(3) gambling,

(4) unwholesome friendship, unwholesome companionship, unwholesome comradeship.

The Four Sources of Accumulation of the Wealth

Byagghapajja, the wealth thus amassed has four sources of accumulation:

(1) one avoids womanizing,

(2) one avoids drunkenness (heedlessness),

(3) one avoids gambling,

(4) one cultivates wholesome friendship, wholesome companionship, wholesome comradeship.

Byagghapajja, just as if there were a large reservoir with four inlets and four outlets, and a man would open the inlets and close the outlets, and sufficient rain falls; one could predict the water in the reservoir to increase rather than decrease, Byagghapajja, so the wealth thus amassed has four sources of accumulation:

(1) one avoids womanizing,

(2) one avoids drunkenness (heedlessness),

(3) one avoids gambling,

(4) one cultivates wholesome friendship, wholesome companionship, wholesome comradeship.

These are the four things that lead to the welfare and peacefulness of a Householder in this very life.

(Reference: AN 8.54)

In this Teaching from Gotama Buddha, he shares Teachings of what would lead to the depletion or accumulation of wealth.

The Teachings are exactly reversed in that which leads to the depletion of wealth, having eliminated those in one’s life practice, will also lead to the accumulation of wealth.

It is womanizing, drunkenness (heedlessness), gambling, and having unwholesome friendships that a Practitioner will experience loss of wealth. It is through eliminating these same aspects of one’s life practice that they will experience the accumulation of wealth.

(1) First, “womanizing” is defined as “engaging in numerous casual sexual affairs with women”. This relates to obsessing about and chasing after multiple partners for sexual encounters. Doing so, would result in a lack of focus and attention on one’s life practice and aspects of life that would produce wholesome benefits.

The desire to chase after and fulfill sexual desires would only serve to erode the condition of the mind and one’s life.

Keep in mind, that Gotama Buddha was sharing this Teaching with a man who preferred a female sexual partner but any Practitioner who would decide to prioritize sexual encounters above wholesome activities that produce wholesome results would experience lack of focus and concentration as the mind’s craving/desire/attachment would obsess the mind. This Teaching can be applied to all people and all genders.

Instead, a Practitioner who chooses to have sexual contact can do so while engaged in a committed relationship with one partner rather than experience the difficulties and unwholesome results of multiple partners and casual sexual encounters.

(2) Second, “drunkenness” or “heedlessness” is pursuing substances that cause heedlessness. The meaning of “heedlessness” is: careless, thoughtless, inattentive, un-calm, unaware, or unmindful.

Oftentimes, an individual can become addicted to substances that cause heedlessness unaware how the unEnlightened mind chases after pleasant feelings of happiness, excitement, elation, thrill, exhilaration, euphoria, etc. Craving lasting satisfaction an unwise mind can turn to substances that cause heedlessness thinking they are going to provide an escape from the struggles in life and an escape from the associated painful feelings of sadness, anger, frustration, irritation, annoyance, guilt, shame, fear, stress, anxiety, etc. What one will discover is that these substances only lead to continued misery and problems making life worse not better. But, the ignorance (unknowing of true reality) that exists in the unEnlightened mind oftentimes overpowers the mind taking an individual deep into darkness through addiction to substances that cause heedlessness. It is these Teachings which lead to an Enlightened mind that provide the escape from discontentedness, not substances that cause heedlessness.

An individual who chooses to use substances that cause heedlessness will find that Enlightenment is impossible until they choose to eliminate these substances from their life becoming dedicated to improving their life practice. Further, as described in this Teaching, an individual who chooses to pursue heedlessness through any and all substances will find that depletion of wealth is one of the many unwholesome outcomes as a result of choosing to ingest substances that cause heedlessness. The mind will develop craving/desire/attachment to substances that cause heedlessness wasting time and money towards a temporary high that only ends in deep sorrows and despair with increased difficulties and struggles in life.

The Buddha shares further Teachings on this topic in The Five Precepts.

Detailed explanation of The Five Precepts is available in this same book series found in the book “Developing a Life Practice: The Path That Leads to Enlightenment” (Volume 1).

(3) Third, “gambling” is defined as betting a sum of money on a game of chance. The Buddha shares that this would only lead to the depletion of wealth as the mind oftentimes becomes so addicted to gambling that one finds themselves unable to support their basic needs or they end up in significant debt.

Games of chance are such things as playing cards, dice, roulette, slot machines, animal racing, sports betting, lotteries, and other similar type of games where one is placing a wager with the anticipation of a potential favorable outcome of acquiring an increase in the wager. A wager is often placed through an item of value such as money or another valuable desirable item.

An individual who is gambling has craving/desire/attachment to money and wealth but it is through the craving/desire/attachment for wealth that the individual will find themselves depleted of wealth. The unwholesome decision to gamble will lead to the unwholesome result of depletion of wealth along with other unwholesome outcomes shared in other Teachings by The Buddha.

The danger to one’s mind through the activity of gambling goes beyond “games of chance”.

Practitioners need to deeply examine their life practice to determine if their decisions to participate in such things as day trading are being motivated by craving/desire/attachment to money. Due to the readily available access to stock markets and other online services, an individual can find that they are experiencing craving/desire/attachment to money culminating in activities that can appear harmless but are actually leading to the depletion of wealth and taking one further from the ultimate goal of the Enlightened mind.

If one is performing constant trades through day trading activity with constant cravings to check the markets and increase their money with little to no education in how the financial markets function, these activities may not meet the definition of gambling but are encouraging the same unwholesome activity in the mind in the same way as an addiction to gambling. Gotama Buddha would not have had insight into the stock markets that exist today and the technology to access those markets, but his Teachings on how to train the mind to attain Enlightenment can be applied to what we are seeing available in modern society.

If a Practitioner is constantly checking financial markets expecting gains for the sake of immediate monetary compensation, this up and down stimulus in the mind being fueled by craving/desire/attachment will inhibit a Practitioner from experiencing Enlightenment.

Instead, an educated investor who is wisely applying dedicated research to analyzing the markets investing through well thought out decisions can experience Enlightenment.

Educated investors apply wise decision making in the profession of financial investments doing so through years of applied study and ethical guidelines through well understood best practices among professional investors. They are basing their career in researching and applying wise decisions to increase wealth through financial investments rather than looking for an immediate or quick gain as a result of a “chance” to “win”.

Each Practitioner will need to analyze for themselves, while seeking guidance with a Teacher, whether their decisions in various parts of their life amount to craving/desire/attachment to money that can oftentimes be executed much like a gambler or are their decisions based on educated wise decision making as part of a career choice that leads to righteous wealth accumulation as part of Right Livelihood.

(4) Fourth, “unwholesome friendship, unwholesome companionship, unwholesome comradeship” would influence a Practitioner towards unwholesome decisions leading to unwholesome results (i.e. unwholesome Kamma).

To attain Enlightenment, a Practitioner will need to develop wholesome decision making that leads to wholesome results. Through the new understanding a Practitioner is gaining in these Teachings, they will need to review their decisions in the past to determine if those same past decisions are still considered to be wise as it relates to friendships.

Holding on to relationships that are unwholesome can lead to further decline in one’s life and lead to depletion of wealth. Through having unwholesome friendships, a Practitioner will constantly find themselves in situations where money is needing to be spent to resolve unwholesome decisions rather than being applied towards wholesome activities.

An individual may find themselves needing to pay money to individuals to resolve personal disputes, governments for release from jail, legal fees, property damage or other unwholesome results that need to be rectified that ultimately lead to a depletion of wealth.

The Buddha encourages and guides Practitioners that they can accumulate wealth through avoiding casual sexual encounters through womanizing, drunkenness or heedlessness, gambling, and cultivating wholesome friendships.

If you have chosen to do any of these in the past, you can always make wise decisions to improve your life practice by eliminating the choices to womanize, become heedless, gamble, or maintain unwholesome friendships. Through choosing to practice these Teachings, one can observe the results for themselves as the condition of the mind and your life gradually improves “leading to the welfare and peacefulness of a Householder in this very life”.