Giving is a fabulous trait that brings blessings and abundance
While money can't buy happiness, it certainly lets you choose your form of misery, said Groucho Marx-the great comedian of America. We all love money ...don't we? It’s a fact that money makes the world go round because it can make the impossible possible and the unimaginable real. Hence, it won’t be an exaggeration to say that money can do almost everything. But, as mentioned above, does money buy happiness? If this answer were Yes, in that case, all the millionaires would be immensely happy and the poor, who are the majority in the world, would be unhappy. Hence, we need to understand that the association of money with happiness depends not on how much we have, but on how we use it and how we relate to our resources.
Of course, a person of modest means will have many concerns, like paying bills and children’s schooling, but then wealthy people often need to protect themselves behind walls and drive in armoured cars. So, in that sense, a nomad who lives in a tent in the desert can be very happy. Right? In Hindi, money means Dhan which is derived from the verb ‘Dena’, meaning to give. All of us just love to take everything and anything that comes our way, isn’t it true? but when it comes to giving something, our face becomes grim and our heart sinks, why is it so? If we look at what is happening around us, we would realize that we have become a society of takers, and surprisingly when it comes to taking, none of us counts the cost, but when it comes to giving every tiny item is checked and calculated. In India, there has been a culture of donating or sharing one’s wealth with others for many years. The whole idea behind this has been that anything that one has in excess, it should be given to those who need it and in turn earn blessings and good wishes. Hence, we must realise the fact that money is merely a tool that has to be used wisely and without greed, attachment or selfishness to create happiness for all.
An enlightened person would always use the money for the maximum good of the maximum number of people, whereas for a spiritually empowered soul, money becomes a tool to create good karma and a good destiny for the self and others. So, the moral of the story is that money has never made man permanently happy, nor will it. As takers, we try our best to gain as much as we can from others without providing anything back or providing just a little bit back in return. Those who are takers are not known as benevolent or generous people and will tend to have a mindset of ‘what’s in it for me?’. Such people are inclined to look for what they can gain from others, sometimes without considering the option of giving something to themselves. On the other hand, givers are those who are selfless and tend to give all they have or a lot of what they have and usually are not willing to take anything back.
Giving is a fabulous trait that brings blessings and abundance, as long as it is coming from a complete place and is used in the right dose. The universe responds very well to giving when it comes from a “pure” place and a true willingness to give. Unfortunately, the irony of today's time is that we have trained our current generation just to take.. take and take without giving their fair share. We have set up systems that encourage the attitude of giving a little and getting a great deal in return. However, in this whole act of smartness, we tend to forget that nothing in this world comes without paying a price, if not now then for sure it will be later. There is nothing for free, that is the Universal Law. If this simple law and all its deep implications could be understood and accepted, then our dealings with others would be based upon honesty. Those who learn to keep their account of give and take in balance can avoid bankruptcy.
(Writer is a spiritual educator&popular columnist for publications across India, Nepal & UK)