I recently visited the Sisi Museum in Hofburg and learnt about the history / story of Empress Elizabeth of Austria (aka Sisi), as well as had the opportunity to walk through the Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien. My mind was blown by the grandness and wealth you could see in the palaces as well as all the incredible, arts, treasures, and garments they had on display. The story of Sisi confirmed more deeply what we already know to be the answer to this question.
Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of the things on display but we weren't allowed to take my pictures inside, so if you're curious you're going to have to see it for yourself lol. Anyway, there was so much, that I was getting worn out and the displays started to become less and less interesting, and all I started to see was rocks, shells, fabric and metal. It then struck me that in fact that's all they were. Don't get me wrong, they were beautiful but I started to realise at the core that's what they all were. Furthermore, all these kings, queens, emporers, empresses, dukes & duchesses left ALL this behind when they died and could not take anything with them. Made me reflect on all the "stuff" that I have and how ridiculous it is that I have so many pairs of shoes that I somehow "need". Made me sad....
What stood out even more and was more sad, was that Empress Elizabeth (aka Sisi) even while she was alive never found any happiness in the physical and mentally suffered her whole life, after her marriage to Emporer Franz Joseph I of Austria.
She was very beautiful and very much looked after her figure as well, spending 2-3 hrs each day to get her hair done, using lots of different methods to look after her skin and managing her diet while exercising to keep a 20 inch waste. Her husband was the most powerful man in Austria and absolutely loved and adored her, yet she was completely unhappy. She travelled around the world and put herself through different experiences to try and find happiness, but she did not find it. The main cause of her unhappiness was the feeling of lack of freedom. No matter where she went after settling in for a few days despite the fact that she in fact had the freedom to do whatever she wanted, she felt suffocated and needed to go to a new place.
This just made it so clear that happiness and freedom is all in the mind and unless your mind is happy and free, no matter how much you do things physically, whether it's through material things or through experiences, one will never find true happiness and freedom.
I'm so grateful that through meditation, I truly understand this. My mind still wanders and I have my moments but most of the time I am truly happy and free. When the clouds do set in though, I thank the heavens that I have my meditation and can remove those clouds as though they never existed. The reality is, those clouds don't exist, and I'm the only one who thinks they are there because of my mind. After all, if it were truly there, then it would be universal and everyone else should have those clouds.
Love it ❤️ I too have been thinking about material possessions, houses 🏘 etc...but at the end of the day the grateful mind can be happy anywhere ☺️