As I pondered about me giving up 100% on my Star Wars merchandise collection, my mind was awashed with lots of random philosophical thoughts, and I decided to put them into this blog entry.

One of Buddha's teachings is that the main cause of unhappiness among people is that they are always longing for something that they don't have. A person is happiest when at peace with him/herself, when you are content with what you already have and want nothing more. But, this is a state of mind that very few people can achieve.

We want this, we want that. We are all materialistic, it's all a matter of how materialistic you are. I have to admit that I'm a quite a materialistic person, there's always something in my mind that I'm planning to buy. I can't help it, I want to enjoy my life, to be happy. But if I am to listen to what Buddha said, I should even happier if weren't spending my money on stuff.

I've been thinking about this, about not being materialistic, buying only the "needs" and not the "wants". Over the years, I've cut down on my spendings considerably (about 40%, even clothes are cut down), and I find that I am happier. At least I don't have so much junk at my home. And when I pack my room, throwing away all the junk that I've bought over the years, I feel a sense of satisfaction. But still there are some junk I'm unwilling to throw away and of course, every now and then, I add to the junk collection.

But I don't think that I'll ever stop buying the "wants", for life is stressful and I need them to help me de-stress. I can't just sit at a corner of my room with no "wants" and hope to de-stress simply by the fact I am less materialistic than before. What happiness that there is from not being materialistic simply isn't enough to counter the stress caused by modern day life.