Last year during Lent, I wrote extensively about the need to distinguish between comfort and luxury in life. Over the past year, I have come to better understand the link between luxury and the ego - and why luxury is not a good thing in our lives.
I wrote last year: "The old saying 'There's no such thing as an atheist in a lifeboat/foxhole' suggests that cosy, comfortable, safe, well-lit rooms are the place for atheists to hang out, untroubled by thoughts of an imminent demise."
I went on to argue that comfort is actually important for spiritual growth, and today, with war going on across the border, I can see that this is right. Fear, anxiety and stress are not conducive to the meditative state; when one's entire being is focused on survival, spiritual evolution is not a priority. Peace is a basic human need, along with food, shelter, warmth, clothing and health. Only then, only when one is comfortable, can one's consciousness seek higher levels of understanding. So here I am at odds with fakirs on their beds of nails - but then everyone who seeks God shall find God in their own way.
Comfort, then, is a basic human need - eliminating discomfort - conflict, hunger, disease, poverty, poor housing - should be a policy priority for governments.
But what role does luxury play in our lives?
Luxury is about showing off, it is ostentatious display for the purpose of proving one's place in a social hierarchy. It is our ego that demands to be pampered with luxury - luxury goods - expensive wristwatches, jewellery, accessories with logos, luxury cars, luxury holidays - projecting one's ego at others, saying "look at me, I'm above you in the pecking order of hierarchical mammals".
Above all, the quest for luxury is a distraction from the desired goal of reaching up to a higher plane.
Where does comfort end and luxury begin? I have written about the fall from grace of photography brand, Leica. It was once synonymous with precision optics and mechanical reliability, necessary to take technically excellent photographs. In the mid-20th century, many of the greatest photographers would use a Leica III or Leica M3. But then brand found competitors offering similar, if not better quality - and innovation. Today, few professional photographers choose Leica, most opting for Canon or Nikon. For half the price of a Leica M11, there's the top-of-the-range Canon EOS R5; for two-thirds of the price of the M11 there's the Nikon Z9, said to be the unquestioned champ of mirrorless professional cameras. The M11 (body only) costs 41,000 złotys or £7,500. Dangle one around your neck and it says: "I do not make my living taking photos. I am an extremely wealthy individual and I'm flaunting it".
The law of diminishing returns shows that point where luxury kicks in. The moment where ownership of the brand is more important that the technical parameters of the product itself. This effect can be seen across the entire spectrum of luxury goods. Chasing the luxury life is wasteful of one's life, and wasteful of natural resources. Choosing a two-tonne SUV, whether powered by fossil fuels or electricity, is twice as wasteful as choosing a one-tonne family hatchback, for instance.
Comfort should be a priority. A warm home (well insulated with solar panels) is far more important to one's comfort than a depreciating asset like a car, especially if that car is used to project ego - in traffic jams, in the office car park, outside your local supermarket.
Discomfort is not conducive to spiritual growth, neither is a life spent chasing luxury. The materialist mind is never satisfied; there is always another status symbol just out of reach. Requiring that extra effort, maybe some ethical corner-cutting, it's just not worth it. As a species, we need to understand the corrosive effect that our egos have upon our behaviour, our spiritual health and indeed our planet.
This time last year:
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This time two years ago:
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This time four years ago:
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This time nine years ago:
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This time ten years ago:
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This time 12 years ago:
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This time 13 years ago:
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