Books - Folly of the wise
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Language: ENGLISH
Language: ENGLISH
Wealth: Unnecessary Accumulation and Misuse
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No doubt, man is wise! His dexterity in generating and accumulating wealth is unmatched. Even if he misses out on a few opportunities of making money due to lack of skills or adverse circumstances, he does not lose courage. He would consistently keep trying. It is a different story if the gamble doesn't pay off but man on his part leaves no stone unturned in becoming as rich, in as little time, as possible. When he fails to earn using honest endeavours, he is often seen resorting to unfair means.
Where should this accumulated wealth be spent? On what should it be spent and how? On this topic as well, man's decisions are no less perplexing and worthless. Earning through unethical means and thoughtless extravagance are both dangerous. Both of these have disastrous consequences that would cause one to lament forever.
This situation arises because of undue importance that is given to money and because wealth is believed to be the sole source of satisfaction. It is a fallacy to accord all the success and progress to money. This fallacy results in all the knowledge and efforts of this invaluable life to be targeted towards acquiring wealth. Man gets preoccupied with it to such an extent that he is unable to put any thoughts or take actions towards other important purposes. As a result, all the other aspects of human development and evolution remain neglected. Loneliness prevails. Unfortunately, even the wealth accumulation is never as successful as is desired because there is a limit to how much one can acquire. Therefore, one has to continue to compete at every step. Everyone vies for a bigger share but it is purely by coincidence that some people succeed while others fail. Had capability been the corner stone, things might still have been under control. People would have worked to increase their abilities and would have been successful in earning more but situation is very different in today's economic scenario where cunningness is everything. But, even after all this effort, providence still has the last laugh. It is possible that even a hard-working person may remain empty handed and might have to remain satisfied with a small share.
One must do an introspection to judge whether it is worth ignoring all the other important aspects of life, for the sake of amassing wealth. Should one get so preoccupied with pompousness alone? Careful analysis shows that survival and provisioning for the family requires a very little sum of money. Man's natural needs are very limited. A little food is enough to take care of his hunger. Clothing to cover his body is not expensive either. Members of the family could also be made capable of fending for themselves and to practice simplicity. The life could move along smoothly if the whole family learns to limit expenses.
To attempt to save for the future is a folly too when man can use his body and the brain to earn throughout his life. If we create the value system in our family where the old are respected and the weak are cared for, then that itself can take care of old age. Problems arise only when no preparations have been made for old age and becoming dependent on others is considered the only available option. And, when the body begins to weaken with age, it is perceived that the ability to work and earn is beginning to diminish. One then starts accumulating resources that would help live through the old age without having to toil hard. Simultaneously, another big mistake that one makes is that of instilling an ardour in the successors, to take the possession of that wealth when they grow up. This amounts to making the successors lethargic and remain dependent all their lives.
Everyone who has been assisted by his parents in childhood and youth should be taught to virtually return all the favours done to him. The youth should pay back to the parents and the society for all the help and support in the form of taking affectionate care of the former in their later ages and in the form of cooperating in constructive activities of social welfare.
This spirit of gratitude needs to be inculcated from the very beginning, on either side, that just as one takes care of the young ones, the elderly should also be provided with all the comforts and respect. That the successors should be inheriting everything from their ancestors is an unethical practice. This practice is seen prevalent in many families, especially in India. As a result, successors of the wealthy are busy conniving how to snatch away as much as possible from the parents. It is also commonly seen that by the time one indeed grows frail, all the wealth that had been accumulated for old age is lost to such unworthy successors. This unfortunate situation arises because of unwarranted wealth accumulation which was done for old age and which was left for others to snatch away on first available opportunity. Why should one let this situation arise in the first place? Why not earn only as much as is necessary for subsistence? Successors should be taught from the beginning that whatever has been done to make them self-sufficient is like a loan that needs to be paid back to the parents in their old age. If this belief is appropriately instilled in both the parents and the children then there is no reason why anyone, out of fear of old age, needs to toil all his life to amass wealth and eventually have it transferred to his successors.
Nature produces only as much as is necessary for all the creatures to live conveniently. If some people strive for more wealth then its direct impact would be that they will cut into others' share. To build a wall at one place, one needs to dig a hole at another. If anyone wants to be rich then it will be possible only if lots of others are forced to live in necessitous poverty. Resultant inequality, whenever and wherever it arises, will give rise to envy and enmity. Unwarranted wealth invariably gets spent on evil habits, pomp, luxury and adultery, which has disastrous consequences. Drinking, loafing, lethargy, intoxication, flaunting of wealth, futile expenditure are the typical acts of those who accumulate more wealth than necessary. These evil acts in turn demand even more money and thus starts a downward spiral that makes man stoop lower and lower.
When one enjoys the riches and the other rots in poverty, the disparity is bound to give rise to jealousy and anger. It also results in increase in thefts, banditry and other such reprehensible acts. The poor tend to emulate the rich and when they cannot earn virtuously they resort to unethical means. Eventually, many adversities begin to crop up because once an environment of evil tendencies has been established, others tend to flow along. Hence, unwarranted accumulation of wealth gives rise to many undesirable and vicious instincts in the society.
The habit of subsistence within limited resources provides those benefits to everyone, which are available only to the noble-minded, who practice simplicity. Only equality can cultivate unity. Unity bolsters harmony. Only in harmony is it possible to live a happy and gratifying life. To maintain harmony in family and amongst friends and to mould their character and thoughts in conformance to human dignity, the basic recipe is to present self as an example of subsistence within limited resources and to cultivate an ambience for adoption of certain ideals. What is absolutely essential is economic probity.
If an initiative is taken to live life prudently within limited resources and a system is instituted to maintain expenditure to the level of an average citizen, then apparently a base has been established for progress in other aspects of life too. Promotion of true knowledge is wealth in itself - a type of wealth that is beyond comparison with any other. It requires Swadhyay1, Satsang2, contemplation and rumination. To enrich one's experience, it is also necessary to establish public relations. But, one finds time for the same and the desire for it arises only when one understands the importance of harmony over wealth accumulation. With true knowledge, anyone can become discerning, prudent and intelligent and can assume a more refined personality than is ever possible with accumulation of wealth.
Similar to true knowledge, other means of developing one's personality are virtuous charity, generous service and collaborative efforts for collective progress. With these, one gets an opportunity to uplift the downtrodden and help those in trouble to become self-reliant. Upon adopting these virtues, one derives extraordinary satisfaction, and receives people’s love and respect. As his endeavours are proven worthy, he gracefully treads the road to all round development. All the great men in this world have tread the same path. Selfless charity is like sowing seeds on a fertile ground, which grows into a tree that yields fruit all our life. But, such charity is possible only for those who can get rid of the lust for wealth. Those who are trapped in this lust can never think of anything except their own selfish interests. They would never find time for anything else.
Healthy body, balanced mind, righteous conduct, efficient management of family, charity, organized and progressive social system etc, are the issues on which every man should be paying due attention and should put his best efforts towards their implementation. This is possible only if sufficient time is devoted to the cause. It is possible to concentrate the mind completely to this cause, if one stops applying all the energies behind chasing excessive accumulation of wealth. If one is engulfed in a mania of wealth accumulation then what else can he do? But, if the target is only to take care of the bare necessities then it can be achieved with only a few hours of labour and that would leave sufficient time for a good resolution of other important problems in life. Subsistence is not difficult. What is difficult is to satiate the lust for wealth, to bridge the gap between what one has and what one longs for.
The belief that money can buy everything, is totally misplaced. The truth is that money cannot buy anything except articles for comfort and leisure. The real wealth is an illumined personality and a refined combination of excellent qualities, deeds and culture. If one possesses these precious ‘resources’ then one can easily project a good image of oneself in front of others and can earn the love, cooperation and respectful support of everyone. These qualities act like magnets whose pull makes one rich in genuineness, talent and intensity. The one who has this wealth can take care of minimal requirements of life and can easily earn enough money to avoid stalling of any necessities of life.
It can certainly be termed a folly of the wise that man chases wealth, which in reality is of negligible importance, to such an extent that complete peace of mind and strength is lost in this futile task and all that is essential for all round development is hampered.
Where should this accumulated wealth be spent? On what should it be spent and how? On this topic as well, man's decisions are no less perplexing and worthless. Earning through unethical means and thoughtless extravagance are both dangerous. Both of these have disastrous consequences that would cause one to lament forever.
This situation arises because of undue importance that is given to money and because wealth is believed to be the sole source of satisfaction. It is a fallacy to accord all the success and progress to money. This fallacy results in all the knowledge and efforts of this invaluable life to be targeted towards acquiring wealth. Man gets preoccupied with it to such an extent that he is unable to put any thoughts or take actions towards other important purposes. As a result, all the other aspects of human development and evolution remain neglected. Loneliness prevails. Unfortunately, even the wealth accumulation is never as successful as is desired because there is a limit to how much one can acquire. Therefore, one has to continue to compete at every step. Everyone vies for a bigger share but it is purely by coincidence that some people succeed while others fail. Had capability been the corner stone, things might still have been under control. People would have worked to increase their abilities and would have been successful in earning more but situation is very different in today's economic scenario where cunningness is everything. But, even after all this effort, providence still has the last laugh. It is possible that even a hard-working person may remain empty handed and might have to remain satisfied with a small share.
One must do an introspection to judge whether it is worth ignoring all the other important aspects of life, for the sake of amassing wealth. Should one get so preoccupied with pompousness alone? Careful analysis shows that survival and provisioning for the family requires a very little sum of money. Man's natural needs are very limited. A little food is enough to take care of his hunger. Clothing to cover his body is not expensive either. Members of the family could also be made capable of fending for themselves and to practice simplicity. The life could move along smoothly if the whole family learns to limit expenses.
To attempt to save for the future is a folly too when man can use his body and the brain to earn throughout his life. If we create the value system in our family where the old are respected and the weak are cared for, then that itself can take care of old age. Problems arise only when no preparations have been made for old age and becoming dependent on others is considered the only available option. And, when the body begins to weaken with age, it is perceived that the ability to work and earn is beginning to diminish. One then starts accumulating resources that would help live through the old age without having to toil hard. Simultaneously, another big mistake that one makes is that of instilling an ardour in the successors, to take the possession of that wealth when they grow up. This amounts to making the successors lethargic and remain dependent all their lives.
Everyone who has been assisted by his parents in childhood and youth should be taught to virtually return all the favours done to him. The youth should pay back to the parents and the society for all the help and support in the form of taking affectionate care of the former in their later ages and in the form of cooperating in constructive activities of social welfare.
This spirit of gratitude needs to be inculcated from the very beginning, on either side, that just as one takes care of the young ones, the elderly should also be provided with all the comforts and respect. That the successors should be inheriting everything from their ancestors is an unethical practice. This practice is seen prevalent in many families, especially in India. As a result, successors of the wealthy are busy conniving how to snatch away as much as possible from the parents. It is also commonly seen that by the time one indeed grows frail, all the wealth that had been accumulated for old age is lost to such unworthy successors. This unfortunate situation arises because of unwarranted wealth accumulation which was done for old age and which was left for others to snatch away on first available opportunity. Why should one let this situation arise in the first place? Why not earn only as much as is necessary for subsistence? Successors should be taught from the beginning that whatever has been done to make them self-sufficient is like a loan that needs to be paid back to the parents in their old age. If this belief is appropriately instilled in both the parents and the children then there is no reason why anyone, out of fear of old age, needs to toil all his life to amass wealth and eventually have it transferred to his successors.
Nature produces only as much as is necessary for all the creatures to live conveniently. If some people strive for more wealth then its direct impact would be that they will cut into others' share. To build a wall at one place, one needs to dig a hole at another. If anyone wants to be rich then it will be possible only if lots of others are forced to live in necessitous poverty. Resultant inequality, whenever and wherever it arises, will give rise to envy and enmity. Unwarranted wealth invariably gets spent on evil habits, pomp, luxury and adultery, which has disastrous consequences. Drinking, loafing, lethargy, intoxication, flaunting of wealth, futile expenditure are the typical acts of those who accumulate more wealth than necessary. These evil acts in turn demand even more money and thus starts a downward spiral that makes man stoop lower and lower.
When one enjoys the riches and the other rots in poverty, the disparity is bound to give rise to jealousy and anger. It also results in increase in thefts, banditry and other such reprehensible acts. The poor tend to emulate the rich and when they cannot earn virtuously they resort to unethical means. Eventually, many adversities begin to crop up because once an environment of evil tendencies has been established, others tend to flow along. Hence, unwarranted accumulation of wealth gives rise to many undesirable and vicious instincts in the society.
The habit of subsistence within limited resources provides those benefits to everyone, which are available only to the noble-minded, who practice simplicity. Only equality can cultivate unity. Unity bolsters harmony. Only in harmony is it possible to live a happy and gratifying life. To maintain harmony in family and amongst friends and to mould their character and thoughts in conformance to human dignity, the basic recipe is to present self as an example of subsistence within limited resources and to cultivate an ambience for adoption of certain ideals. What is absolutely essential is economic probity.
If an initiative is taken to live life prudently within limited resources and a system is instituted to maintain expenditure to the level of an average citizen, then apparently a base has been established for progress in other aspects of life too. Promotion of true knowledge is wealth in itself - a type of wealth that is beyond comparison with any other. It requires Swadhyay1, Satsang2, contemplation and rumination. To enrich one's experience, it is also necessary to establish public relations. But, one finds time for the same and the desire for it arises only when one understands the importance of harmony over wealth accumulation. With true knowledge, anyone can become discerning, prudent and intelligent and can assume a more refined personality than is ever possible with accumulation of wealth.
Similar to true knowledge, other means of developing one's personality are virtuous charity, generous service and collaborative efforts for collective progress. With these, one gets an opportunity to uplift the downtrodden and help those in trouble to become self-reliant. Upon adopting these virtues, one derives extraordinary satisfaction, and receives people’s love and respect. As his endeavours are proven worthy, he gracefully treads the road to all round development. All the great men in this world have tread the same path. Selfless charity is like sowing seeds on a fertile ground, which grows into a tree that yields fruit all our life. But, such charity is possible only for those who can get rid of the lust for wealth. Those who are trapped in this lust can never think of anything except their own selfish interests. They would never find time for anything else.
Healthy body, balanced mind, righteous conduct, efficient management of family, charity, organized and progressive social system etc, are the issues on which every man should be paying due attention and should put his best efforts towards their implementation. This is possible only if sufficient time is devoted to the cause. It is possible to concentrate the mind completely to this cause, if one stops applying all the energies behind chasing excessive accumulation of wealth. If one is engulfed in a mania of wealth accumulation then what else can he do? But, if the target is only to take care of the bare necessities then it can be achieved with only a few hours of labour and that would leave sufficient time for a good resolution of other important problems in life. Subsistence is not difficult. What is difficult is to satiate the lust for wealth, to bridge the gap between what one has and what one longs for.
The belief that money can buy everything, is totally misplaced. The truth is that money cannot buy anything except articles for comfort and leisure. The real wealth is an illumined personality and a refined combination of excellent qualities, deeds and culture. If one possesses these precious ‘resources’ then one can easily project a good image of oneself in front of others and can earn the love, cooperation and respectful support of everyone. These qualities act like magnets whose pull makes one rich in genuineness, talent and intensity. The one who has this wealth can take care of minimal requirements of life and can easily earn enough money to avoid stalling of any necessities of life.
It can certainly be termed a folly of the wise that man chases wealth, which in reality is of negligible importance, to such an extent that complete peace of mind and strength is lost in this futile task and all that is essential for all round development is hampered.
