Money
Add to Favorites
Print
Send to a Friend
Publish this on your site
Send to a friend by YMAuthor: Ralston Heath
A short article dealing with how we think about money
Why has money assumed such an importance in our lives?
Do we depend on it for our own psychological happiness?
All human beings need food, clothing and shelter. These are the facts of life. So why is it that these basic needs, which are so natural and simple for even the birds, has become so confused with levels of meaning? I once saw a bumper sticker on a high end SUV that read: “He who dies with the most toys, Wins”. It is logical that we have a need to obtain money to satisfy our needs. But if we depend on money exclusively for our own happiness and satisfaction, then we are the most wretched beings in the universe.
We need money to have food, clothing and shelter; that much is obvious. However when we have a psychological need for money, when we depend on it to obtain fame, prestige, social position, etc., then money assumes an exaggerated importance and this is where the struggle and the conflict to possess it originates. Money has assumed such an exaggerated value because we psychologically depend on it.
Money in itself is not good or bad; everything depends on how we use it. If we use it for good, it is good. If we use it for evil, it is evil. We need to comprehend in depth the true nature of sensation and satisfaction. The mind that wants to arrive at the truth should be free of these obstacles. If we truly want to be free, we must learn the difference and sum of sensation and satisfaction.
The average human is very poor internally and that is why we have a need for money; to possess things for stimulation and personal satisfaction. When one is poor internally, externally they seek money and things to find satisfaction. That is why money has assumed such a disproportionate value, and this causes the human being to steal, to exploit, and to lie. The struggle between rich and poor, employers and employees, between exploiters and the exploited, etc., is due to internal poverty.
All political changes are useless if we do not understand our own internal poverty. Economic systems can change again and again, the social system can be altered again and again, but if we do not learn the nature of our inner poverty, the individual will always create new ways and means to obtain personal satisfaction at the expense of others.
It is urgent that we understand the inner nature of self, to be internally wealthy. Those who are internally rich are not capable of exploiting their fellowman. Yes, even incapable of stealing and lying. Whoever is internally wealthy is free of the obstacles of personal satisfaction and sensation, as they already posses both. Whoever is internally wealthy has found happiness.
Not to sound confusing but we do need money. We need to be able to comprehend our exact relationship with it. We need to know what our exact relationship with money is. It is not through renouncing money, nor coveting it, that we can understand our exact relationship with it. We need this comprehension to intelligently recognize our own material needs without disproportionately depending on money. When we know our exact relationship with money, the pain of detachment and the frightening suffering that is produced by competition ends.
We should learn to differentiate between our immediate physical needs and psychological dependence on things. I have seen too many children of wealthy parents who have all they need, yet will behave cruelly and maliciously to gain even more. While it is understandable, not acceptable, that the children of the very poor have learned to take from others to meet their needs. There is no excuse for the former to commit the same actions. Psychological dependence on material things creates exploitation and slavery.
We need money to cover our immediate physical needs. Unfortunately we put levels on our needs and we become greedy. The internal self wants to become rich externally since it is poor and miserable. The internal wants to make itself felt, to dazzle its fellowman with material things and money. This then is the secret cause of hatred and the brutalities of this world. This is the cause of war and of all the miseries of this world.
If we want to do away with the pain of the world, we should learn that the world is within our own selves. We think, therefore we are, and we create the world. Really, all individuals live within their own consciousness. The world is within the individual, and only by doing away with the misery that we carry within, will the suffering in the world end. Only by comprehending the complex process in all the levels of the mind can we arrive at experiencing the Great Reality.
So go and earn your money. Do it fairly and with style. Give fair value for what you trade. Earn what you need for the necessities of life. Do not take from others what is theirs. Do not take their share as well as yours; let everyone earn and keep what they need, and we will all be able to move on to greater pursuits.
Ralston Heath's Last Articles :
Rate : Money
| Rating: 0 Votes: 0 Visits: 26 |