Money is potentially a dirty business. Whenever there is money to be made, there is also a tendency to attract dirt, figuratively speaking.
The reason is because of basic human nature. We have a tendency to fall under the influence of greed primarily, which is sometimes accompanied by anger and can also lead to addiction.
There is no denying this. Anyone with a little bit of life experience will have seen, either in themselves or others, how the allure of money can bewilder most of us.
We see it in the increasing amount of scams and cheaters trying to get our money. It's evident especially in the cryptocurrency sector where many are still new to the systems and can be naively conned.
Also, it's noticeable in all of us that as we spend more time paying attention to acquiring money, we become attached. Our greed is fueled when we see how much can potentially be made. The possibilities override the probabilities and we get stuck in a loop of chasing the allure of profit.
It's a trap. Just like sex. Lust, greed and anger are the biggest pitfalls for the human mind. Unless the mind is controlled, we fall victim overnight and spend a lifetime stuck there.
Being bewildered by greed and chasing every coin is a sure sign of a lack of self-realization. The wise know that greed is fueled by chasing money and so they remain aloof and detached.
Self-control in the face of allure is the sign of a wise and mature person who has some insight. It's not spontaneous but usually based upon knowledge and realization.
Wisdom means seeing the bigger picture, that we're not the controller or proprietor of anything because everything, including ourself, is all part and parcel of the greater whole.
Everything is happening by higher arrangement. And we are all being controlled by forces greater than ourselves.
Besides that, a wise person knows that you can only eat so many chapatis in a day. That's all you need. They don't over endeavor to acquire more than they need.
Being greedy to accumulate more than necessary implies lack of insight and control. Wisdom implies seeing oneself as merely a part of the whole, seeing that we don't need much, only enough to keep the body fit for service to the whole.
It includes knowing that all energy originates from and belongs to the source, including ourselves, and that when aligned in service to the source, all our needs are fulfilled.
Grasping for more only leads to addiction and getting trapped. It shows ignorance of the self and the bigger picture. We think that having more money leads to more freedom, but that is a short term view.
In the long run, the more that you acquire, the harder it may be to let it go in the end. The more we grasp for it, the more it traps us.
If you're in alignment with the higher source, then you realize that everything, including all our needs, is controlled and supplied by the owner of it all. We are not the doers but merely the agents, and real agency originates with the original programmer.
While in service to the source, our needs will be supplied, there is no need for greed. There is need for faith. And surrender to the greater plan, to the fact that it's all going on by higher arrangement and that if we simply play our part in service to the source, then we will be supported.
Lack of faith leads to grasping, chasing after more, loss of clear insight regarding proprietorship, and intimately fear of loss accompanied by insatiable greed.
And such a mentality keeps us trapped under the influence of this external material energy for lifetime after lifetime.
The wise know how to remain detached, are content with their bare necessities, know that everything is going on by higher arrangement and that all facility is supplied by the original controller and source, for whom we all work.
And it's the wise who are happy because they already have whatever is needed. Greed is absent. They are already content with what they have. They have already let go and simultaneously the grip of money upon their mind is released.
The most valuable thing to attain in this world is the right state of consciousness, which money can't buy. It you acquire that asset, you have it all, and you will never need to grasp for money ever again.
Bhagavad Gita ch4:21
nirāśīr yata-cittātmā
tyakta-sarva-parigrahaḥ
śārīraṁ kevalaṁ karma
kurvan nāpnoti kilbiṣam
SYNONYMS
nirāśīḥ—without desire for the results; yata—controlled; citta-ātmā—mind and intelligence; tyakta—giving up; sarva—all; parigrahaḥ—sense of proprietorship over all possessions; śārīram—in keeping body and soul together; kevalam—only; karma—work; kurvan—doing so; na—never; āpnoti—does not acquire; kilbiṣam—sinful reactions
TRANSLATION
Such a man of understanding acts with mind and intelligence perfectly controlled, gives up all sense of proprietorship over his possessions and acts only for the bare necessities of life. Thus working, he is not affected by sinful reactions.
PURPORT
A Kṛṣṇa conscious person does not expect good or bad results in his activities. His mind and intelligence are fully controlled. He knows that he is part and parcel of the Supreme, and therefore the part played by him, as a part and parcel of the whole, is not his by choice but is chosen for him by the Supreme and is done only through His agency. When the hand moves, it does not move out of its own accord, but by the endeavor of the whole body. A Kṛṣṇa conscious person is always dovetailed with the supreme desire, for he has no desire for personal sense gratification. He moves exactly like a part of a machine. As a machine part requires oiling and cleaning for maintenance, similarly, a Kṛṣṇa conscious man maintains himself by his work just to remain fit for action in the transcendental loving service of the Lord. He is therefore immune to all the reactions of his endeavors. Like an animal, he has no proprietorship even over his own body. A cruel proprietor of an animal sometimes kills the animal in his possession, yet the animal does not protest. Nor does it have any real independence. A Kṛṣṇa conscious person, fully engaged in self-realization, has very little time to falsely possess any material object. For maintaining body and soul, he does not require unfair means of accumulating money. He does not, therefore, become contaminated by such material sins. He is free from all reactions to his actions.
Reference: Bhagavad Gita As It Is, translation and commentary by Swami A C Bhaktivedanta, original MacMillan 1972 edition, freely available at prabhupadabooks.com.
Image: https://pixabay.com/illustrations/ai-generated-money-tree-fantasy-8724370/
Edited and published from my mobile device onto the Hive blockchain for seekers of true wealth.
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