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I don’t generally complain about it. Maybe it’s even a sort of enforced restraint. But here is the thing: it’s no good trying to do retail therapy in Taree.
It may be that I’m just a snob, but what’s on offer in our small burg is for the most part déclassé, outmoded, and el cheapo.
So, I find that when I go to the Big City, some craving emerges from deep down in me that I guess is related to being a shopaholic.
It starts out as simple window shopping but inevitably something catches my eye – a pretty lure seducing the trout to bite. I end up, more than looking, actually trying the pretty thing on, and then convincing myself it’s needed. Even though I didn’t know I had that need until I saw the object of my affection.
The bad news is that shopaholism energy runs counter to the Yama called aparigraha (non-greed), where practising detached observation should be the order of the day, instead of impetuous action.
The good news is that recently, when I was recently in Sydney, I had a shopping list of necessary items, and I pretty well stuck only to my needs. I’m slowly learning why not coveting is so freeing. Because it is true independence; it is not depending on possessions, not believing that things can make us happy. Practising aparigraha leaves us free to know who we are and what we are meant for.
Aparigraha-staire janma-kathamta-sambodha
Freedom from wanting unlocks the real purpose of existence.*
*The Yoga-Sutra of Patanjali, translation and commentary by Chip Hartranft.
