Community Development vs Financial Strength
Most of us like this song
Ye daulat bhi le lo, yeh shohrat bhi le lo, Bhale chhiin lo mujse meri javaani. Magar mujh ko lautaa do bachpan kaa sawan, vo kagaz ki kasti, vo baarish kaa paani.
Are we really waiting for someone to come and take our money? Are we really willing to give up our wealth? Do not we all love to invest and see our money growing? Are not we in a race to accumulate wealth for future and old age? There is a paradox between what we do and what we desire. Actually, we ourselves do not want to give away our assets. We develop an attachment to wealth.
As per our ashram vyavastha, grihastha ashram is to raise a family, earn money, supporting society etc. This is the time to enjoy family life. Vanprastha ashram is the stage to slowly move away from household duties and material things and do more of community service. Sanyas ashram period is to denounce material things.
However, we are doing the opposite. We are saving material wealth, for old age and retirement, by various means e.g. buying lands, investing, bonds, mutual funds, banks, fixed deposits, insurances, jewelry etc. There are many people around us today who earn by instilling fear of future tragedies in our mind. Some even advocate life insurance for children and have zillion reasons to justify that.
But, wait a second, is money a bad thing? Obviously, the answer is No. Money is not good or bad. It is just money. We have Kuber Devta and Laxmiji who bestow wealth. Money is necessary. Important is how we earn it and use it. We can use it to influence others or for evil things or for supporting family, and society. Some people believe that even Daan should not be taken from a person who earns money by doing wrong things.
Charity should be a part of life irrespective of financial status. Charity can be of money, time, education, labor etc. Almost all of as do charity—some keep it to nuclear family (we give our money, time etc. to our family) and some of us extend it beyond family and give it to neighbors, community, nation etc.
Daan are of four types:
Nitya Daan--It is given daily Kamya Daan-- Given in expectation of reward, e.g. to save taxes. Vimal Daan-- Given to divinities Nimithika Daan-- It is redemption from one's sins.
So, what do you think? Do the right things, earn by good means, spend on good causes, develop strong communities to take care of each other, believe in purusharth, think positive, Or keep preparing for unforeseen future and stay attached to wealth possession?
Strong Communities or Strong Financial Institutions
Bharti Raizada
Jan 11, 2024
Everyone comes in this world with their own karma, sanskar, destiny, and free will. Does accumulation of wealth for future goes along with Ashtang Yoga concept?
Bharti Raizada
Vanaprastha Ashrama for the present Age.docx
Wonderful reply by world's richest man- Elon Musk explaining why his daughter can’t marry a poor man.
A few years ago there was a conference in the United States on investment and finance. One of the speakers was Elon Musk and during the question and answer session, he was asked a question that had everyone laughing.
If he, the richest man in the world, could accept that his daughter marry a poor or modest man.
His answer can change something in everyone.
Elon Musk - First of all, understand that
Wealth does not mean having a fat bank account. Wealth is primarily the ability to create wealth.
Example: Someone who wins the lottery or gambling. Even if he wins 100 millions is not a rich man: He is a poor man with a lot of money. That's the reason why 90% of the lottery millionaires become poor again after 5 years.
You also have rich people who have no money.
Example: Most entrepreneurs.
THEY are already on the road to wealth even though they have no money, because they are developing their financial intelligence and that is wealth.
How are the rich and the poor different?
To put it simply: The rich may die to become rich, while the poor may kill to become rich.
If you see a young person who decides to train, to learn new things, who tries to improve himself constantly, know that he is a rich man.
If you see a young person who thinks that the problem is the state, and who thinks that the rich are all thieves and who criticizes constantly, know that he is a poor man.
The rich are convinced that they just need information and training to take off, the poor think that others must give them money to take off.
In conclusion, when I say that my daughter will not marry a poor man, I am not talking about money. I'm talking about the ability to create wealth in that man.
Excuse me for saying this, but most criminals are poor people. When they are in front of money, they lose their mind, that's why they rob, steal etc... For them it is a grace because they don't know how they could earn money by themselves.
One day, the guard of a bank found a bag full of money, he took the bag and went to give it to the bank manager.
People called this man an idiot, but in reality this man was just a rich man who had no money.
One year later, the bank offered him a job as a receptionist, 3 years later he was a customer manager and 10 years later he manages the regional management of this bank, he manages hundreds of employees and his annual bonus exceeds the amount he could have stolen.
Wealth is first of all a state of mind.
So … are u rich or poor?
How do you know you are rich?
Amazing answer by some student
When I was doing my B Tech, there was a Professor who used to teach us ‘Mechanics’.
His lectures used to be very interesting since he had an interesting way to teach and explain the concepts.
One day, in the class, he asked the following questions:
1 What is ZERO?
- What is INFINITY?
- Can ZERO and INFINITY be same?
We all thought that we knew the answers and we replied as following:
ZERO means nothing.
INFINITY means a number greater than any countable number.
ZERO and INFINITY are opposite and they can never be same
He countered us by first talking about infinity and asked, How can there be any number which is greater than any countable number?
We had no answers.
He then explained the concept of infinity in a very interesting way, which I remember even after more than 35 years
He said that imagine that there is an illiterate shepherd who can count only upto 20
Now, if the number of sheep he has less than 20 and you ask him how many sheep he has, he can tell you the precise number (like 3, 5 14 etc.).
However, if the number is more than 20, he is likely to say “TOO MANY”
He then explained that in science infinity means ‘too many’ (and not uncountable) and in the same way zero means ‘too few’ (and not nothing)
As an example, he said that if we take the diameter of the Earth as compared to distance between Earth and Sun, the diameter of earth can be said to be zero since it is too small
However, when we compare the same diameter of earth with the size of a grain, diameter of earth can be said to be infinite
Hence, he concluded that the same thing can be ZERO and INFINITE at the same time, depending on the context, or your matrix of comparison
The relationship between richness and poverty is similar to the relationship between infinity and zero
lIt all depends on the scale of comparison with your wants
If your income is more than your wants, you are rich
If your wants are more than your income,
you are poor
I consider myself rich because my wants are far less than my income.
I have become rich not so much by acquiring lots of money, but by progressively reducing my wants.
If you can reduce your wants, you too can become rich at this very moment
May your lives get rich by good thoughts, good deeds, good people around you always
Documentary: Money explained on Netflix- 5 episodes. Retirement is fifth episode.