Mindfulness and Money: The Buddhist Path of Abundance

by Dominic J. Houlder, Kulananda Houlder

From two leading instructors in business and Buddhism comes a fresh approach to making peace with your finances and creating true abundance.

It may seem contradictory that Buddhist teachers Kulananda and Dominic Houlder have also been highly successful in the business arena, but they have learned that Buddhist teachings do not require a life of poverty, and can indeed go hand-in-hand with wealth and prosperity. Mindfulness and Money brings to light the teachings of Buddha as they apply to the money part of life, and shares the stories of others who have found the Buddhist path to freedom, creativity, and abundance.

Using the Buddhist Wheel of Life as a starting point, the authors explore the mechanism by which desire for money and material things is confining, and how mastery of desire can free us to live peacefully with our finances. Kulananda and Houlder offer five precepts for living on the Path of Abundance, including kindness, generosity, contentment, honesty, and awareness. Through prescriptive meditations, reflections, and exercises, we can begin to earn and spend more purposefully–the key to finding financial peace, whatever one’s income. An enlightening combination of practical wisdom and spirituality, Mindfulness and Money is a valuable asset for all seekers.

Genres: Nonfiction, Buddhism, Economics

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

Reviews

[Victore Hasegawa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Overrated interpreted concepts told to sell a book about abundance, spirituality, energy and life balance.

I was objectively reading this book to see a different perspective of these subjects, and had no desire to gain any “new found” knowledge to apply to my daily life.
In my subjective view of this book, there were only one thing that grabbed my attention and was a reminder. This is a quote from the book but has already been said in older texts for years;

“Money will not make your life complete. In fact, nothing will. Nothing whatsoever will make your life complete: not possesions, not a job, not a family, not a vocation, or a loved one, nor drugs, nor religion, not even Buddhism. That’s because of the way life is, and suffering comes from our determined attempts to swim against the flow of life.”

The rest of the book attempts to find examples of “modern day” people that “swim against this flow” but there are overanalytical graphs, charts and little how to break down which if you are a person who likes hands on things or to gain the experience yourself it renders almost all things stated in this book moot.

Good luck everyone, and thanks for reading this review!

[David Walley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Isn't it written somewhere in the Bible saying that it is easier to thread a camel through the eye of a needle them for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven? I think this does a lot of injustice to wealth. It is not how much you have but what you do with it that is important. I think this book helped to clarify that a lot. I have been a Buddhist for about 25 years and have often struggled with my personal wealth, my enjoyment of meat and my occasional use of alcohol. I do not think that any of these three things make me a poor Buddhist but of course there is always room for improvement. This book really helps set my mind at ease that I can follow the Buddhist path even when I have worked hard all my life to provide for my family and in doing so have gained some wealth. Very interesting book indeed

[Julia de’Caneva · Rating 3 out of 5]

On one hand some nuggets of interest, but overall it felt a bit like I wasn’t sure who the book was for. There is instruction for basic mindfulness meditations, and yet, I have to wonder if anyone not already familiar with mindfulness meditation would pick up the book?
The overall argument of the book also felt slightly ungrounded — like a high school essay expanded in a slightly disjointed format.

[Joel Schaefer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an emotionally charged and challenging topic on which to write a book. It is probably better communicated in a presentation format than on paper, allowing time to ask and address questions. The authors did an adequate job of addressing the topic and clarified a number of Buddhist principles. Understanding these challenges is helpful when reading this book, so that the reader knows this should be one of several sources to better understand one’s relationship with money.

[Molly T · Rating 5 out of 5]

Should be required reading for all. Touches on many meta cognitive topics related to desire, security, finances.. why we make the choices we do and how to step out of the deficiency mindset. Definitely need to read again a 2nd and 3rd time, you will have to force yourself to put this down after every chapter to digest the text. Very engaging author and writing style.

[David Rickert · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was, for the most part, just what I was looking for. Many books on money will tell you how to accumulate a lot of it and will admonish you for buying soy lattes every day because thin about how much money you would save if you added those lattes up for year! Buy a coffee maker! The authors here talk about being good stewards of your money by focusing on what you do with the money you have, and our goal should be to maximize happiness for ourselves and others. So if that soy latte gives you a little peace and contentment in your morning, go for it. Of course we are notoriously bad at predicting what will make us happy, and this book helps you process what you spend to maximize your well being. I never felt bad about what I was doing with my money or how much I had (or didn't have) in the bank. I wasn't as enthralled with the passages that talk about satisfaction in the work environment; while those are important chapters and well worth considering, I didn't pick up the book for that purpose.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the spirit of the book, I would give this title 2.5 stars if I could. You know, the middle path of not too much and not too little... And there you have the summation of the book's advice on money: not too much and not too little. More specifically, it's O.K. to have wealth but only if it is being used in a manner that strengthens and enlivens the individual, the surrounding community, and the environment.

Overall I couldn't find much to argue with in this book but at the same time I haven't thought about it for a single moment since I finished reading it a few weeks ago... Maybe I just need to be thinking more about money?

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book really insightful. It contains great advice and truths to how obsessed and or fearful we can be about money. Similarly to most other spiritual/self help books, i skipped certain parts I found too much and concentrated on the core message behind it. What i liked about it is that it's not just about money but about having values and balance in life.

[Katlyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book tries to do two things at once and doesn't fully succeed at either of them. The first is to introduce the reader to the basics of meditation and mindfulness - the second is to give them some sort of framework in which to change their relationship on money. It was an okay read, but I'm not sure that it will have any sort of impact on how I deal with money.

[Kellie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book really helped me clarify and begin to forge a new relationship with money and work. Work is not in the title but much of the book pertains to "how you make money" a well as how you spend it. Recommend highly!

[Lorrainesoucie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very thought provoking. Bit difficult to follow sometimes, but certainly has a message. Mindfulness is not easily attained, but the author teaches that it is there if you chose to make it part of your every day life. Sort of like breathing, you do not think about it, you just do.

[Renee · Rating 5 out of 5]

A spiritual aproach to our relationships with money and the material world. I soaked it up like a sponge- it was exactly what I was looking for.