Money has its own importance in our life. The world considers money and wealth as one of the most important things in life. People have more love for money because it is needed in everything they do. That is why there is fight all around the world to get more money, by ethical or unethical means. People have been bothered by the uneven distribution of money and wealth. In this dangerous era of Kaliyug, it is very difficult to remain ethical and honest in matters of money.
In the presented book on the world of money as seen by Param Pujya Dadashri the Gnani Purush (the enlightened one), Dadashri has shared his view on money, charity, use of money. According to him, money is the reward of one's merit karmas from one's past life. Wealth comes your way when you give help to others, not otherwise. Wealth comes to those who have the desire to share. Lack of understanding of the science of money has perpetuated greed for money which leads to worldly life after life (avatars).
Excerpt:
Comings And Goings of Laxmiji - the Goddess of wealth (money)
The world considers money and wealth as one of the most important thing in life. People have more love for money because it is needed in everything they do. Love for God cannot exist as long as there is love for money. Love towards money will disappear when a person develops love for God. There can only be love for either Laxmi (Money)or Narayan(God). Love whichever one you want. Laxmi will disappoint you through betrayal. There is a saying "Mandave te randave" - 'That which is built will also be destroyed!' And Narayan, never builds nor destroys. He keeps you happy all the time. He keeps you in a state of liberation.
You will have to understand all this, won't you? How long can you continue with this feebleness of yours? And yet you don't like anxiety. This human life is meant for liberation from anxieties; it is not just for making money. How does a person earn money? Is it through his intellect or his hard work?
Questioner : Both.
Dadashri : If money can be earned through hard work, then these laborers would have lot of money because they work the hardest of all, don't they? And if money could be earned through the intellect, then there are extremely well educated people out there and yet their shoes are all worn out! Earning money is never from the use of the intellect nor is it the fruits of hard labor. It is the reward of one's merit karmas from one's past life. So if you want money, you have to be cautious where merit and demerit karmas are concerned.
Money goes to those with merit karma, whereas hard working people run after money. So from this you should realize that money would only come your way if you have the merit karmas. Hard work will earn you some food and you may have some surplus to get your daughter married, but without merit karma, money will not come your way.
So reality says that if you are a person with a lot of merit karmas, why must you struggle? And if you are not,then why are you struggling? What you are destined to earn in this life cannot be changed.
What is life like for a person with a lot of merit karmas? Let me tell you what even these CEOs have to put up with. How do their wives greet them when they come home after a hard day's work at the office? 'Where have you been, you are two hours late?' Just look at this 'fortunate' (!) ones.Should someone with a lot of merit karmahave to put up with this? In reality a truly fortunate one, who has earned a lot of merit karma from last life, does not have to face anything negative in his life. Such people belong to a different breed. From their very youth, they never experience any insults or tough times.
Wherever they go, they are welcomed with a lot of respect. This is how they grow up, whereas other people do nothing but struggle. What does this mean? When a person's merit karma runs out, he is back to where he started. If you do not have the credit of merit karma, then even if you were to go around begging all night, are you likely to get even fifty rupees by the morning? So do not live life struggling helplessly. Be content with what you have.
Your worldly life is the result of no effort. It is totally an outcome of karma of your past life, for which no effort is required. So enjoy it, but know how to enjoy it. Even the Lord concedes that when the basic necessities in life are missing, then it is natural for one to experience suffering. True suffering is, not having any air to breathe, or food to eat. These are the basic necessities in life - without which the body cannot survive. Nowadays people have so many different things available to them and yet they do not enjoy them. They are involved in something else. They do not enjoy what is in front of them. When a wealthy businessman sits to dine, instead of enjoying his meal, he is preoccupied with his business. The fool! He does not even know what he eats. Everything is like this.
A wealthy man once pleaded with me saying, 'Please say something to my son. He does not want to do any work. All he does is enjoys himself and has a good time every day.' I explained to the father, ' It is not worth saying anything. He is only enjoying the fruits of his merit karma.Why should we interfere in his enjoyment?' He replied, ' Is it not important to make him wise?' I told him, 'The wise ones in the world enjoy themselves. The foolish ones waste their wealth. The one who works hard for money is a laborer' Those who work hard derive pleasure from doing so because of their ego. The boss goes to work wearing a long coat so that all the workers would stand and welcome him as he enters the office. His ego is fed. While those who enjoy themselves, care little about power or authority. The truth is to enjoy whatever is yours.
The law of the circulation of money is this: In India as there is an increase in the number of unworthy people; money increases. Where there are forthright and ethical people, the money is lacking. So note that wealth has gone to the unworthy and the undeserving. They have food on their table and do not know how to enjoy it.
There are also the naive and simple people. They are unaffected if they lose money or a valuable thing. They are not concerned with societal status. For such people wealth flows in easily. Wealth does not go to those who have a lot of worldly awareness because these people have a lot of kashay - anger, pride, attachment and greed. The whole daylong they continue to do kashay. The simple ones have no such worldly awareness and are free from these inner turmoil and weaknesses. They do not fuss over things. Wealth flows to them, but they do not know how to make good use of it and it passes away without their awareness.
Whatever money there is in the world today, it is all tainted and wrong. Very little of it is pure and right. There are two kinds of merit karma: One that binds demerit karma and takes a person into a lower life form and the other that binds merit karma which takes a person into a higher life form. The money that results in a birth in a higher life form is very rare in the current era. Where such 'pure and right' money exists, there is continuous inner peace, material comforts and the existence of true religion.
The money of today will bind demerit karma; it is wealth that creates conflicts in the home and outside. Instead it is better to have less of it. At least clashes would not enter the home. Today wherever there is money, there is an atmosphere of conflict. A simple meal of bread and vegetable is better than a gourmet meal with thirty-two dishes. In the current time just one rupee of the right kind will bring tremendous peace and inner satisfaction. Such money creates an atmosphere of harmony in the family and will prompt only spiritual thoughts in everyone.
I once asked a woman from a reputable family in Bombay whether they had any quarrels in their home. She replied, "Every morning we have quarrels for breakfast!" I told her they must be saving a lot of money on food and she replied, "No, we still have to spend money. As we butter the toast, the quarrels go on and so does the breakfast!" What kind of people are these?
If the money is pure and right, then you will always be at peace and your life will be good. Clashes in the homes are caused by entry of impure and wrong money. From a very young age I had decided that as far as possible impure and wrong money must not enter my home. For the past sixty-six years not a trace of impure money has entered my home and that is why there has never been any clashes in my home. We had decided from the very beginning that we would run the household within a certain budget. The business may make hundreds of thousands of rupees but if this Ambalal Patel were
to work for someone, how much would he earn? He would earn anywhere between six to seven hundred rupees at the most. Business is a play of merit and demerit karma and so we should spend only the amount I would draw as a salary if I were employed elsewhere. The rest of the money would be retained in the business for unforeseen events like taxes. One never knows when an 'attack' from an income tax authority will come and if all the money is spent, the attack from the tax office will cause you to have a heart attack! Have such attacks not entered all the homes? How can we call this life? What do you think? Is this not a mistake? We need to break this mistake.
Let money flow in naturally. Do not use it as a support. Never rest and think that it will be there forever. Proceed with caution of this awareness so that when it leaves you will not suffer.
Questioner : Describe the fragrance of pure money, please.
Dadashri : Pure money will never bring a trace of stress or tension. There will be enough money in the home. Your mind will be at peace even if someone announces that sugar is going to be rationed starting the next day. Nothing will cause stress or tension to you in the home. The exsisting merit karma effect is such that your actions and speech will be pleasant towards everyone around you. It will never incite worries in you about how you will earn money.
Here what we have all around us is the money of the wrong kind, which will lead to sin and demerit karma. This cannot be called money in the true sense. The thoughts that arise with such money are evil, and of demerit. The thoughts are, ' How can I accumulate a big bank balance?' That is sin.
