Many kings were lay followers of the Buddha. Naturally, the kings lived in luxury. Unlike Buddhist monks, lay Buddhists are not subject to Vinaya rules which are for monks only. Monks are not allowed to enjoy or feel pleasurable in luxury clothes, vehicles, and monasteries according to the Vinaya rules. For lay Buddhists, the Buddha does advise us to live moderately. In the Sutta (SN 3.13), the Buddha advised King Pasenadi of the Kosala kingdom to have moderation in eating.
“When a man is always mindful,
Knowing moderation in the food he eats,
His ailments then diminish,
He ages slowly, guarding his life.”
King Pasenadi must have understood how important it was for him to remember the Buddha’s advice . So he asked a brahmin youth, Sudassana, who was standing behind to memorize and recite it to him whenever he is having his meal, for which he shall be paid a hundred kahapana daily. So, having learnt the verse from the Buddha, the youth recited it to the king whenever he had his meal. Thus, with each reminder, King Pasenadi gradually reduced the size of his meal, from the super-size one bucketful to a pint-pot measure. After some time, he slimmed down and became quite pleased with it.
According to Buddhism philosophy, each one of us is born as a human with a “tank” of blessings. As one enjoys the blessings daily, the “tank” will be depleted if there were initially little blessings in the “tank” or one opens the “tap” too big. One can replenish the “tank” through charity (Dana), moral conduct (Sila), and self-cultivation to change his character (Bhavana) in terms of virtue, equanimity and wisdom. Obviously, if the outflow is faster than the inflow, the “tank” will still be depleted. Conversely, if the inflow is faster than the outflow, the “tank” will be filled up. Upon breaking up of the body after death, the unused blessings will be carried forward to the next live in Heaven or human realm. Conversely, if there is little blessing remaining, one may be reborn as ghost, animal, or in Hell.
If one has the right insight, he would see that living in luxury is unnecessary. If a person need a crutch to walk, he has a disability. Similarly, if a person needs a lot of external help, without which he cannot feel happy, he has a disability. There is a difference between need and want. One is advised to live comfortably and satisfied with what he needs; this is known as the Middle Path of the Buddha. Wanting more is greed. With greed, one will start to have like and dislike; therefore, he will have aversion and hatred. He will perceive it as suffering when he faces aging, sickness, death, association with the disliked, separation with loved ones, and not getting what he wants. It is truly not wise to be greedy. It is a delusion or ignorance to not thinking about the repercussions. Deluded persons choose not to think, ignorance is bliss to them, but feel fear, anger, anxiety, grief, lamentations, and despair only when the time comes.
“Suppose that there was a leper covered with sores and infections, devoured by worms, picking the scabs off the openings of his wounds with his nails, cauterizing his body over a pit of glowing embers. The more he cauterized his body over the pit of glowing embers, the more disgusting, foul-smelling, and putrid the openings of his wounds would become, and yet he would feel a modicum of enjoyment and satisfaction because of the itchiness of his wounds. In the same way, beings not free from passion for sensual pleasures — devoured by sensual craving, burning with sensual fever — indulge in sensual pleasures. The more they indulge in sensual pleasures, the more their sensual craving increases and the more they burn with sensual fever, and yet they feel a modicum of enjoyment and satisfaction dependent on the five strings of sensuality.” — Majjhima Nikaya 75. Is it better to be cured of his leprosy: well and happy, free, master of himself, going wherever he liked? Or is it better to continue having itchiness so long as he has access to glowing embers to relieve the itchiness? Of course, a little bit of itchiness is bearable. However, addiction or attachment to sensual pleasures will not end well.
RESILIENT KID 