An interesting article....about wealth and what to do with it....
Happiness : Contented Life
Today we have a large ashram. But there was a time when I had neither money nor an ashram; I did not have any place to stay and no guarantee of a meal. When I left my guru’s ashram I decided to walk alone. I did not know anyone. I possessed only one jhola and one danda. Wherever I was, it was my home.
One should not make a display of one’s wealth. A rich person should also live like a poor person. One should live as if one has no connection with money. One should lead a simple life, a natural life. A human being needs only two meals a day, clothes and shelter. So, your living standards should not change with money. How did you live when you were poor? There should be no difference when you acquire millions.
Joy and sorrow are equal among all. Everyone goes through them. Don’t think that if you get a lot of money, you will become happy. That is merely an aspiration. Yes, the day you think, “God, whatever riches you give to me I will use it for a good cause, for the sake of others”, your wealth will bring you happiness. There is nothing wrong in aspiring for riches, but if we use our wealth, ability and education for the sake of others, then there will be no heart attack and high blood pressure. In this case we simply become agents. We take what is necessary for our own use, and utilize the rest for others.
Make sure that your wealth is redistributed in society as far as possible. There are many people in society who are handicapped in different ways: there are orphans, physically challenged people, poor girls and widows. Is our obligation in society only towards our own children? Is our social responsibility not beyond that? The rich must understand that society has a greater right over the wealth they have acquired because it has been taken from society. Children and family have a lesser right over it because it has not come from them.
The money earned from society belongs to society. There is a class of society in every part of the world which is powerless. They exist in thousands – the physically challenged, the blind and so on. However, in the West they are looked after by the government and society; here, no one looks after them. This is because the rich here think that their family has a natural right over their money. That is wrong. You did not earn this money from them, so return the money where it came from.
Be like the river that returns the water to the ocean; it gives a little to the fields, but returns most of its water to the ocean. So give a little to the children, but do not presume their right over all of it. If you have this attitude, then the children won’t get spoilt, unnecessary things won’t come into the house, and an artificial market will not be created in a country where seventy percent of the population is poor. Understand who the right heir of the money is.
The goddess of wealth is Lakshmi and her vehicle is the owl who is blind, so she may enter anyone’s house at any time. She may also go away at any time, you wouldn’t even realize when she leaves. It’s only after she is gone that you realize that she has left. Vishnu, on the other hand, arrives on Garuda who can see far even at night. So the wise say, don’t call Lakshmi alone; call her along with Vishnu. Then she will come with him on his vehicle and stay while Vishnu stays. And if Vishnuji is caught once, he is caught forever. Lakshmi does not get caught, she is capricious like a drop of water. But if Vishnu is there, she will not go anywhere because she is devoted to her husband. This has been said in the Puranas.
What this means is that it is necessary to have bhakti in a house that has wealth. It is necessary to have good samskaras and good thoughts, and then the wealth is utilized for the right purpose.
- Swami Satyananda (Bihar School of Yoga)
Happiness : Contented Life
Today we have a large ashram. But there was a time when I had neither money nor an ashram; I did not have any place to stay and no guarantee of a meal. When I left my guru’s ashram I decided to walk alone. I did not know anyone. I possessed only one jhola and one danda. Wherever I was, it was my home.
One should not make a display of one’s wealth. A rich person should also live like a poor person. One should live as if one has no connection with money. One should lead a simple life, a natural life. A human being needs only two meals a day, clothes and shelter. So, your living standards should not change with money. How did you live when you were poor? There should be no difference when you acquire millions.
Joy and sorrow are equal among all. Everyone goes through them. Don’t think that if you get a lot of money, you will become happy. That is merely an aspiration. Yes, the day you think, “God, whatever riches you give to me I will use it for a good cause, for the sake of others”, your wealth will bring you happiness. There is nothing wrong in aspiring for riches, but if we use our wealth, ability and education for the sake of others, then there will be no heart attack and high blood pressure. In this case we simply become agents. We take what is necessary for our own use, and utilize the rest for others.
Make sure that your wealth is redistributed in society as far as possible. There are many people in society who are handicapped in different ways: there are orphans, physically challenged people, poor girls and widows. Is our obligation in society only towards our own children? Is our social responsibility not beyond that? The rich must understand that society has a greater right over the wealth they have acquired because it has been taken from society. Children and family have a lesser right over it because it has not come from them.
The money earned from society belongs to society. There is a class of society in every part of the world which is powerless. They exist in thousands – the physically challenged, the blind and so on. However, in the West they are looked after by the government and society; here, no one looks after them. This is because the rich here think that their family has a natural right over their money. That is wrong. You did not earn this money from them, so return the money where it came from.
Be like the river that returns the water to the ocean; it gives a little to the fields, but returns most of its water to the ocean. So give a little to the children, but do not presume their right over all of it. If you have this attitude, then the children won’t get spoilt, unnecessary things won’t come into the house, and an artificial market will not be created in a country where seventy percent of the population is poor. Understand who the right heir of the money is.
The goddess of wealth is Lakshmi and her vehicle is the owl who is blind, so she may enter anyone’s house at any time. She may also go away at any time, you wouldn’t even realize when she leaves. It’s only after she is gone that you realize that she has left. Vishnu, on the other hand, arrives on Garuda who can see far even at night. So the wise say, don’t call Lakshmi alone; call her along with Vishnu. Then she will come with him on his vehicle and stay while Vishnu stays. And if Vishnuji is caught once, he is caught forever. Lakshmi does not get caught, she is capricious like a drop of water. But if Vishnu is there, she will not go anywhere because she is devoted to her husband. This has been said in the Puranas.
What this means is that it is necessary to have bhakti in a house that has wealth. It is necessary to have good samskaras and good thoughts, and then the wealth is utilized for the right purpose.
- Swami Satyananda (Bihar School of Yoga)
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