What Does The Bhagavad Gita Say About Wealth
One of my intense interests is Hindu spirituality and the sacred teachings of the Bhagavad Gita. Many people seem to think that wealth creation and spirituality are not compatible, and if you are not barely teetering on the edge of poverty as a spiritual advisor, then you are a hypocrite. If a Hindu wants to get On The Path of Spirituality, the first advice is normally to give away all of your money and start on the journey to the Himalayas. Besides who needs money in a cave?
The reality of the matter is that being able to survive in modern day society even on a spiritual path we need to generate wealth. Generating wealth through hard work is not a sin, but we have to compare wealth to water. We all need water to survive, but it can also drown us.
The Bhagavad Gita helps explain the balance in creating wealth while maintaining a spiritual life. The Bhagavad Gita tells the story of Arjuna, when faced with the realities of life, he wanted to take refuge in meditation and spirituality. Krishna scoffed at him, who could not face reality.
Real spirituality can be practiced in society while we fulfill our societal duties, take a look at the successful entrepreneurs in India, the majority of them have faced the realities of society, have become monetarily successful while spiritually successful at the same time. No running off to meditate in caves for them.
Many look at spirituality as visiting temples, donating money in the hopes that the Lord will bless them with untold wealth. This type of thinking has no meaning and is the product of ignorance. Did Krishna fight for Arjuna? Not at all, but by sitting in the chariot, Brahman was setting the example that he lives in the heart of all individuals, and that we need to use this strength that he has bestowed on us to become successful for ourselves.
There is no point in meditating and chanting mantras, if we cannot realize our potentiality and bring it forth into action. Arjuna was finally ready for action once he realized the Krishna was in him.
When we stop searching for God outside of ourselves and realize he is us and we are him and we take action with this knowledge, certainly wealth and success is sure to follow. When the spiritual strengths are realized inside, this will overcome the physical and intellectual strengths that we may be lacking. This is what “The Secret” is all about. It is not a new concept, just an old concept with a nice new package.
Many of us do not like to work, and are forced to do so in order to make financial commitments. If we learn to enjoy a type of work, we automatically start to excel in it, and then the wealth and success follows. For many of us selfishness clouds are thoughts, we have our mind on the end results without wanting to put in the work to get to this point. Use everyday of our lives to stand up, don’t be afraid to take risks, challenge ourselves and enjoy each moment. When we reach that victory moment we will only smile for we have already tasted bliss.
Take Care my friends.
Did you enjoy this post? Why not leave a comment below and continue the conversation, or subscribe to my feed and get articles like this delivered automatically to your feed reader.
Comments
I have heard of Tibetan monks in NY who are involved in the diamond business. You might think this is impossible because monks aren’t supposed to be able to own things. They don’t keep much money, but instead channel it all into Tibetan educational foundations. These modern monks even wear their traditional clothing to work!
Another story pertains to a wealthy Indian businessman who sells fabric to the international fashion industry. He lives on very simple means, shares profits with all company employees and also channels money into spiritual foundation.
Additional stories exist in reality, but non-spiritual people don’t imagine a middle ground exists. This may be because they are lookinga t the scenario upside-down, from an ego perspective of resisting the giving up of things. What really needs to be let go is an inflexible mindset. Possibilities always exist if the will does.
By the way, the indian businessman I mentioned above dresses solely in traditional cotton fabric in a style that reminds me of Gandhi.
Nice article - well thought out + well spoken*
+ now i know the Secret!!
;)) Peace*