Don't be rich and yet poor

Learning Point No 157

Hardships and poverty are minus points in life but yet they are fertile ground for strength of character and spiritual growth.

 

Luxury and wealth are fertile ground for spiritual degeneration unless the person leads a self imposed austerity driven simple life and do not indulge in status and wealth.

 

This in the modern world of 2012 is already difficult and not pragmatic for many, unlike the days of Gautama before he became the sama-sam Buddha, the fully enlightened One.

 

Even Gautama needed to give up royalty, family and wealth. In this materialistic era, this would be not sustainable. Whereas in days of old, what one left behind would be comfortably well taken care of, the world of 2012 would be different.

 

In this modern money driven world, simple life is not possible if one is penniless and not self sufficient. Simple life now must be in context of social and materialistic support.

 

We cannot expect to be a vagrant and go round for alms. In certain countries, this would certainly be considered a social behaviour not to be condoned.

 

Lord Bo Tien is right in maintaining that spiritual values can still be practised and the same values if applied to mundane life can ensure comfortable social milieu that is optimal for spiritual growth.

 

Spiritual values can ensure worldly success that brings comfort that supports spiritual growth. The life of the individual will be like a candle to light up the way for others and a collection of such individuals like a collection of candles can do even better.

 

But with worldly endowment, there must be single mindedness to stay on spiritual course and be under the radar of the heavenly saints. But such balance needs determination to stay on simple austere life despite having more of the worldly gains to spurge on. The worldly gains need to be managed wholesomely for the love of life, family and society at large.

 

Such a balance is delicate and the tendency is to go off track and backtrack into indulgence and dulling of the spirit with the consequence of degeneration into spiritual poverty. Then the person is rich and yet poor.

 

Many who are enlightened and in Heaven were formerly poor as men but now rich in spirit in Heaven. There are of course those in Heaven who were formerly rich wealthy or powerful men. But they are not many and that is an eye opener for us to reflect on.