(Lao Tzu)

Having perspective

Taoism advocates a realistic approach to property and ownership.
See things for what they are.
Everything in life has good and bad qualities to it.

For example: a car is a convenient form of transport but also a nuisance.

Yet people do not see it this way.
A car is imbued with characteristics that are meaningless and have no bearing whatsoever upon reality: status, prestige, dignity and wealth.
Advertising even implies that a car reflects your sexuality.
A car is just a car.
It is a tool; like a screwdriver, computer, television or microwave.
Is it healthy to emotionally bond with a tool?

People pay immense amounts of money to have a particular make, model, registration - just like children - greedy for the latest toy.
Are they really so gullible?
Loving a car is empty.
The car has no feelings, no life.
It is just metal, rubber and plastic.
A car is only a tool.
When you grow tired of the car, or it ceases to function - you will discard it without a care.

Now consider mobile phones.

Wealth

'Wealth' is a condition whereby you have far more than you need.
In a world of poverty and disease, is it appropriate to have wealth?
By displaying wealth and wallowing in your excess, are you not advertising your callous nature?

So many people aspire to own as much as they can.
It is seen as a way to distance yourself from poverty and need.
Why not simply take what you require and stop there?
If you are comfortable, why take more?


Slavery

Possessions are not the source of freedom.

Every great religion and philosophy from the dawn of time has seen the folly of ownership.
If you are in bondage to your belongings, ask yourself why.

To have a meaningful relationship with the world, it is necessary to see the world as it is.
Treating the planet as a vast resource is stupid.

When the earth is sick and polluted, empty of other species, what then?
Do humans turn on each other?


Balance

Humans once had a healthy relationship with nature; we took only what was necessary to survive.
We lived in harmony alongside other creatures.
As culture and civilisation has spread, people have moved further and further away from the earth.
We no longer see the earth as it is.

The planet is slowly becoming a vast network of roads, car parks, golf courses, brick and concrete.