--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Buddhism has always been a religion for…" description: "\"Buddhism has always been a religion for people who've worked their way through a cycle of materialism and still feel discontented and want more, or hav..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e7d/pankaj-mishra-2875_buddhism_buddhism-has-always-been-a-religion-for_2339966.jpg" --- # Buddhism has always been a religion for people who've… ![“Buddhism has always been a religion for people who've worked their way through a cycle of materialism and still feel discontented and want more, or have questions that their state of prosperity is not answering.” quote by Pankaj Mishra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e7d/pankaj-mishra-2875_buddhism_buddhism-has-always-been-a-religion-for_2339966.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e7d/pankaj-mishra-2875_buddhism_buddhism-has-always-been-a-religion-for_2339966.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e7d/pankaj-mishra-2875_buddhism_buddhism-has-always-been-a-religion-for_2339966.jpg) > “Buddhism has always been a religion for people who've worked their way through a cycle of materialism and still feel discontented and want more, or have questions that their state of prosperity is not answering.” [Pankaj Mishra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pankaj-mishra/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People often turn to spiritual paths after material success fails to satisfy deeper longing. **In simple terms:** Material wealth may not fulfill spiritual needs. Key Takeaway Seek meaning beyond materialism. Themes spirituality discontent materialism search for meaning Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - career burnout - midlife crisis - wealth accumulation - spiritual seeking Key Concepts existential longing critique of consumerism Questions to Reflect On - What deeper needs remain unmet despite prosperity? - How can one balance material and spiritual goals? A Different Perspective Spiritual fulfillment also requires personal effort, not just belief. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Buddhism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/buddhism/) [Cycles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cycles/) [Enlightenment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enlightenment/) [Materialism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/materialism/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Prosperity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prosperity/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) ## Related quotes > [“I'm not even sure that Buddhism is a religion really. It seems like more of just a spiritual practice, I'd compare it more to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sienna-mcquillen/i-m-not-even-sure-that-buddhism-is-a-religion-really-it-seems-like/) [Sienna McQuillen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sienna-mcquillen/) > [When people ask the Dalai Lama, "Is Buddhism a religion?" he answers, "Yes, it is." Then they ask, "What kind of religion is it?"…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-boorstein/when-people-ask-the-dalai-lama-is-buddhism-a-religion-he-answers-yes/) [Sylvia Boorstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-boorstein/) > [This sounds really hokey, but I think Buddhism is the only religion that is genuinely peaceful, so I'd try to promote it in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-love/this-sounds-really-hokey-but-i-think-buddhism-is-the-only-religion/) [Nick Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-love/) > [As far as ignorance is concerned, not just Buddhism, every religion recognizes it as the source of suffering.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/as-far-as-ignorance-is-concerned-not-just-buddhism-every-religion/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) > [Prajñāpāramitā Buddhism is not a religion suitable for the brainless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-conze/praj-p-ramit-buddhism-is-not-a-religion-suitable-for-the-brainless/) [Edward Conze](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-conze/) > [All the other religions I had ever read about dealt with the idea of God, and your relationship with God. 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Failure is something that is part of life's cycle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-powell/failure-is-a-part-of-life-and-you-have-to-learn-to-deal-with-it/) [Colin Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-powell/) ## More by Pankaj Mishra > [“Nationalism has again become a seductive but treacherous antidote to an experience of disorder and meaninglessness: the unexpectedly rowdy anticlimax, in a densely populated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pankaj-mishra/nationalism-has-again-become-a-seductive-but-treacherous-antidote-to/) [Pankaj Mishra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pankaj-mishra/) > [I feel very privileged to get to read and write and not to have to do things that I don't like, and I don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pankaj-mishra/i-feel-very-privileged-to-get-to-read-and-write-and-not-to-have-to-do/) [Pankaj Mishra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pankaj-mishra/) > [There was great political uncertainty in South Asia at the time of the Buddha. The older small tribal societies were cracking up and gave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pankaj-mishra/there-was-great-political-uncertainty-in-south-asia-at-the-time-of/) [Pankaj Mishra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pankaj-mishra/) > [Buddhism resonated very powerfully with a lot of my preoccupations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pankaj-mishra/buddhism-resonated-very-powerfully-with-a-lot-of-my-preoccupations/) [Pankaj Mishra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pankaj-mishra/) > [Our tolerance of the intolerable found a low threshold as early as the late 1950s with the grotesque excesses of McCarthyism, which destroyed so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pankaj-mishra/our-tolerance-of-the-intolerable-found-a-low-threshold-as-early-as/) [Pankaj Mishra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pankaj-mishra/) > [Freedom of speech doesn't guarantee great literature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pankaj-mishra/freedom-of-speech-doesn-t-guarantee-great-literature/) [Pankaj Mishra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pankaj-mishra/) > [“As Keynes wrote, with devastating understatement, ‘The age of economic internationalism was not particularly successful in avoiding war.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pankaj-mishra/as-keynes-wrote-with-devastating-understatement-the-age-of-economic/) [Pankaj Mishra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pankaj-mishra/) > [“Voltaire was soon turned, with Catherine’s encouragement, into a patron saint for the secular Russian aristocracy. 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I have long bouts of cynicism and skepticism. 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It's mostly in your head.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pankaj-mishra/most-suffering-is-human-made-and-avoidable-it-s-mostly-in-your-head/) [Pankaj Mishra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pankaj-mishra/) [Explore all 147 Pankaj Mishra quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pankaj-mishra/) ## More Buddhism quotes > [There are places that are very draining. There are places where there is another dimensional crossover but to a dimension that is not powerful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/there-are-places-that-are-very-draining-there-are-places-where-there/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Enlightenment is lightening up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-myers/enlightenment-is-lightening-up/) [Mike Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-myers/) > [The very best players, when they are practicing, put everything they've got into it. But then they leave it for a while. 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I think the original tantric Buddhists took notice of was some very wise old people who never studied in their youth, but took…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-niemczura/exactly-i-think-the-original-tantric-buddhists-took-notice-of-was/) [Joe Niemczura](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-niemczura/) > [A human being can only absorb a small amount of the mystical kundalini, you can be exposed again and again to it, but it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/a-human-being-can-only-absorb-a-small-amount-of-the-mystical/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [One of the things I regret about not putting in that book or I think it's there but I didn't really elaborate on it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-warner/one-of-the-things-i-regret-about-not-putting-in-that-book-or-i-think/) [Brad Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-warner/) > [My mom and my aunties are really devout Christians. 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