The Buddha called the qualities that we develop on the path noble treasures or noble wealth. And he was not at all shy about using financial analogies to explain the path, to explain the goal. The arahant, he said, is someone who's totally without debt, feeds off the alms of the country without debt, he says.
And the forest ajaans carry out this image as well. Ajaan Maha Boowa talks about being an inner millionaire, and the state of mind that you gain with awakening as a Dhamma treasure.
So you hear nothing in the forest tradition about trying to get away from spiritual materialism. They're quite frank about the fact that you want to develop good qualities and that these are really valuable.
Ajaan Lee has a nice statement. He says when you let go, you want to let go like a wealthy person and not like a pauper. The pauper doesn't have a Cadillac and he says, "Well, I'll just let go of any desire to have a Cadillac." That's nothing compared to a wealthy person who has the Cadillac and is willing to let that go. Because there's a real Cadillac there, other people can benefit from it.
In other words, the good qualities that you develop in the mind are not only for your own good." ~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "The Gift of Spiritual Materialism", 9min mp3 audio,
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