I think about that sort of stuff quite a bit. More so when I'm broke...
To me, it's not so much "shunning earthly desires" as it is "living within your means". With a million dollars, a smart person can live a comfortable life on $1000/week for over 19 years. A stupid person will blast that same cash on a couple of Ferraris and be screwed again in 3 months or so.
My earthly desires are limited (games, anime, books, Internet). That, food, and a roof over my head (read: place to store all that stuff) is all I want.