CHAPTER 5
EVERYTHING THAT IS HAPPENING
IS PERFECT
How To Break Attachment To Wealth
A greedy person is attached to
all the comforts he gets from others,
wealth and status, and lives a life of servitude.
To remain happy with minimum comforts
is true progress.
Tejguru Sirshree Tejparkhiji
Some people are masters of wealth, and for some, wealth is their master. When your wealth becomes your master, then it becomes as dangerous as an unrestrained mind. When the mind is restless and unsteady, the attachment to wealth increases. This functions as a block in man’s life. Through contemplation and self-inquiry, you need to break this attachment to wealth. By self-analysis and in-depth thinking, get rid of wrong habits like carelessness towards wealth, laziness, not saving enough, squandering, and excessive attachment to wealth.
Attachment or obsession towards wealth gives birth to a miser. Living life only for wealth makes the person a mere guard of wealth. That is why the God of Truth (Narayana) should accompany the Goddess of Wealth (Laxmi) so as to break free of attachment. When Laxmi comes with Narayana, she comes on the Eagle, which is a good sign. When she comes alone, she comes on the Owl, which is a bad sign. When you live only in the world of wealth and imagination, you will, like the Owl, become blind to the light of Truth. The following short story will help us understand this better.
There was a bank clerk who had a nice family consisting of his wife and two children. While working in the bank, he always used to dream about being a rich man. Due to shortage of money, he was always unhappy. One night, before going to sleep, he prayed with all his heart - “O God! Why didn’t you make everyone rich? When will I find a treasure trove?” When he woke up next morning and opened the door, he was shocked to find a bagful of currency notes of Rs. 500. He was delighted that God had finally answered his prayers. He called his wife and told her the whole story. To celebrate his good fortune, he ordered food from the finest restaurant. He resigned from his bank job. He gave the resignation to his son to hand it over to the bank manager. After some time, his wife came and told him that the restaurant was closed. After some inquiry, he came to know that all the restaurants in the town were closed. His son came back from the bank and said that even the bank manager had put in his resignation letter. He had told him that the letter be given to the Assistant Manager, who had also gone on leave. The wife then came and reported that their daughter was unwell. But all the medical stores were also found to be closed. After all this chaos, when inquiries were made, it came to light that every person in the town had found a bagful of money outside his house, and hence shops, banks, firms, and all working places were closed. Nobody was there to do any work.
His prayers had been answered, but the solution of his choice for eradicating problems had given birth to another set of problems. Looking at this, his dream got shattered and he prayed to God and said, “God, please forgive me. Whatever is happening is perfect. Don’t listen to my ideas, do what you feel is right for us all.”