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Teachings
 Money |
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What
you should detach is the attachment for power and fame, ~ The Supreme Master Ching Hai ~
The thing is that we had better strive, strive to have a better life all the time, not because we are materialists but because life should have joy and abundance in all things and in all aspects. We do not have to give power and finance to the negative class of people. You understand what I mean? If, for example, the good people don’t strive to make income for themselves or to have some power within a society then all the power and the finance go to the negative power, all the bad people. They will in turn control the good people and the good people can do nothing; can not even spread goodness. So to me, to earn money, to make a business, to strive in your life to earn a good standard of living for your family, yourself and your country is a duty, not a sin. I do not encourage my people to stay in poverty, and to give all the power and finance to the negative system that has no morals, to people who have no morals, who have no responsibility, no feeling, and who have no sense of sharing with other people. For example, we who are practicing moral standards, if we have money we always share with other people. We help people in disasters, we help the victims, we help the refugees, we help the poor, we help the needy, we help the sick and the orphans and things like that. So, it’s very good to have money, very good. It’s not capitalism. It’s the power of finance that we must have and also the power, sometimes, of social activities. If you are a politician, you should stay in politics and be a good politician and fight for your country and for the standard of living of other people. If you are a businessman, you must be a successful one. Always strive to be successful. Earn as much money as God gives you and then you can share. Money is very easy to use. If you don’t have it then you can say, “Oh well, I don’t care about money. I’m a practitioner. Money for me is untouchable.” You can not do that, you know? Can not have such an attitude like, you don’t have then you’re lazy to achieve and then you say, “Oh, no, I don’t care. I renounce everything.” It’s not true. In the old times, the so-called practitioners, they always renounced many things. It’s okay. You can do that for a while. But I don’t think you should do it all the time. No? Well, I think you can, why not? Everyone becomes monks, we eat the air (laughter) and drink the dew in the morning and afternoon. That’s it. What do we need? Actually, the practitioners don’t need so much. What we eat is just vegetables and what we wear doesn’t have to be always beautiful, truly. We don’t really care for outside appearances, we really don’t. Sometimes, I put some make-up on, wear some clothes, and after three or four days, I’m so happy just to go next to the river and wear nothing, just be alone and be natural. Sometimes, the make-up and the clothes make you feel tired. The outer requirement of beauty and decency sometimes makes you tired if you are not used to it. Especially for the practitioners, we just like to feel natural. Sometimes we even feel that having no hair, no clothes, and things like that would be very, very relaxing. But if we want to do it for the sake of beautifying the world or to work in the society, it’s also okay. So for us, the so-called practitioners, we really don’t need material comfort. We really don’t. And that’s why it’s easy for us sometimes to think, “Oh no, why should I earn money, I don’t really need anything anymore.” It’s a very easy way out. But when we come to think about it, if we still live in this world, many people depend on us, our family, our children, our parents, relatives, and friends. Sometimes they need our help. If we are not in a position to help them, who will? Because only very rarely do people in this world want to help the poor and needy. Truly the
people in this world very rarely would give anything, even in
ordinary circumstances. So that is the way of working of the negative
power, to make the people become greedy and grasping. Whatever
they have is mine, mine, mine. They never let go. Even when they
have more than enough, more than they can ever count, more than
they can ever recognize how much they have, they still want more.
No one else can have it. Therefore, if the so-called good persons,
positive people, like the practitioners of moral standards, the
practitioners of the Way, the Tao, the Truth, don’t have
money, who will help those needy people? That’s it. That’s
the difference. That’s why we need to earn money and make
good business. Not because we need it but because in this world
we can make use of this useful equipment, money, power or political
standpoint, then we can help the people. From
“Power and Finance”
From my own experience, whatever I have, or not have, it’s no problem! You are still happy, and you manage your life accordingly. When I didn’t have too many material possessions, life was already fun all the time, because I had to think of how to survive. Every day I had to invent some new ways to enjoy. Always surprise, always new, always very happy and always contented, because every day you are a master of yourself, a master of your own situation, and you just feel good, feel so confident of your ability to survive. Truly, if there is a necessity to compare, then I must tell you that when I had nothing I had more fun, because I was more creative. Now I can have everything I want because it’s already settled down. I don’t have to run around the world and I can have a fixed place sometimes, at least for a few months or a few weeks. Then things are too organized, too many disciples, they buy all kinds of things. I’m also busy now, also have to be creative, like which one to throw away and which one to scold for buying nonsense. But it’s more annoying than when I had nothing, was master of my own life, decided everything for myself, and controlled every situation. There is not much to control, but every day you know what is what. I don’t like surprises! I don’t like that every day people buy things that I don’t like and then tell me later; or do something not according to my instructions and tell me later; or do something according to their own opinion and instructions and tell me later. Then I have to clean up the mess, because it was wrong. I don’t mind if they always decide the good things, but most of the people that are around me are not up to my standard. I don’t care whether my standard is good or not. My standard is my standard and I don’t like people to mess about with it and decide for me, what I must have, what I must wear and what is good for me. I don’t like that. The people around me always make the same mistakes. Doesn’t matter if I scold them, beg them, I reason with them, I explain to them, I tell them, I frighten them, I fire them, doesn’t work. Habits are difficult to change, I understand that. But my understanding doesn’t help my feelings. And they continue because now my financial situation is not that bad and I don’t have the time to always go shopping for myself. So sometimes I have to rely on them. Sometimes I don’t even rely on them; they just go do it themselves, because they think, Master needs this, Master needs that. If I say, “I like bananas,” then every day bananas everywhere! If one cook happens to cook something nice and I say, “Wow, this is a nice dish that you made!” Then I have it week after week until I nearly die from it. I beg them, “Please! Even if it’s nice...” I’m very polite, but to the point you can’t bear it anymore and you have to tell it. Sometimes I explode. I say, “How can you have so low intelligence? Even if it’s a good thing, you can’t just have it every day and so often like this.” Ah, you cannot believe it, the problems of having. Before, having nothing was easier. Before, when I didn’t have everything I was very happy, more happy, because I bought what I wanted and I know where my money went. I was happy when I could save something. I felt I was creative. Not because of the money, but the value of my intelligence, that I could save that, that I could live with such a few things and make it so nice. Whenever we can buy some good things, yeah, with a very low price and other places are higher price. And it happens, that that thing we like so much, the color, the taste, the style we like. Then we are very happy! Not because of the money only! But just lucky, we are creative and we are resourceful. And that’s what we are happy about. So I regret
to tell you that to have everything is not always as good as you
think. On the contrary, if you don’t have enough things
or you just have barely enough, that’s the best. Then your
IQ becomes higher, because every day you have to think, “How
can I save some money, where can I go for better shopping, and
what kind of food can I cook today, which is nutritious, good,
tasty and also economical?” Then you are happy with yourself.
Everything creative brings happiness to humankind, because it’s
new, it’s exciting, it’s interesting. If every day
the same and people serve you all the time, you feel bored after
a while. I guarantee, money back guarantee. Anyhow, that’s
the end of how to be rich and how to keep your money. You take
care and then you will know the difference. From
“The Secret Of How To Make Money”
Q: We’ve heard that You go to places of suffering, places that have been hit by disasters and so forth. M: Yes. Q: Why do You do that? M: You’d also go if you were me! If you have the means to help people, if God gives you more than you need, you should go and share the things you have with people. Because that’s why they’re given to you! Much is expected from those to whom much is given. God doesn’t give it to me so that I can eat more or sleep more; Hes gives it to me so that I can share. Just like when you have a big water tower in a city, it’s not the purpose of the tower to hold the water there, but to share it with the whole city. So I’m just one of the pipes that directs the water to where it’s needed. And since I’m alone, or even if I’m with my whole family, we don’t need all the money that I earn. God has given me a lot more than I need, my family needs or even my disciples need. So we share it. That’s a normal thing to do, no question. Poverty exists because we don’t share. You asked me why I go to places where disasters have hit or why I give my things away or why my members are also encouraged to give directly to people. They give all the time! We give some things because it’s official. But the unofficial things we give as daily “basics.” For example, we give to people on the street; we stop our cars at red lights and give. So some giving is official and some unofficial, but we give all the time. Regarding the question of poverty, it would never exist if all the people in the world shared what they have. We have enough food; we have more than enough of everything in this world to feed the whole planet! It’s just that some keep too much and some don’t have the opportunity to get their share because of where they were born or because of their background or because of some political situation that stops them. Sometimes
we want to help in certain countries, but the political systems
don’t allow us to come in. Many times we still manage; through
the Red Cross or the United Nations or through other organizations
we manage to get through to those brothers and sisters. Poverty
is man-made. God doesn’t intend it. God gives us so much! Each
one of us has enough, and then some. It’s we who keep it from
ourselves. From
“Poverty Would Disappear if We All Shared Our Abundance”
The
secret of having money is not how much you earn, ~ The Supreme Master Ching Hai ~
So
the secret of making money and being rich is not only how much
you earn. ~ The Supreme Master Ching Hai ~
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Ahimsa |
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