What stops one from lifting oneself from the materialistic world is not having / using them but thinking about them.
Source Anonymous
One of my friends, let's call him Jose, is one of those guys who doesn't even need to say anything and people will just feel comfortable in his presence. He is an amazingly compassionate guy, who will flat out tell you that his purpose in life is to bring more beauty on this planet. No, if's, and's, but's ... clear and simple, unwavering in his life mission. He doesn't need to convince anyone and he can't be swayed from it by anyone else.
It's a funny story about how he learned his initial lesson of compassion. In high school, he was madly in love with his sweet heart for many years. He would do anything for her and she was the important thing for him. Until ... she left him oneday (perhaps she cheated on him before that). It hit him like a bucket of cold water. Never before had he encountered such a loss and he didn't know what to do. Roaming aimlessly through life, doing his...