AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT
Why? Because WE NEED IT!
OK so I have, in the past on this blog tried bringing up philosophy but no one ever seems to get their panties in a bunch about that - nope no fireworks, flame wars, sex, etc. in talking about philosophy is there?
Well there was a good post on one of the boards I belong to and I am going to post it here and my response....the reason being because this issues affects EVERYONE and EVERYONE has to deal with this at some point in their lives.
It goes without saying I'd like some comments on this - and guess what you can disagree all you want - I won't get upset, HONEST - there is no right or wrong answer - that is unless you write to me and tell me you like to make bombs to kill people (*laughs* please don't write to me and tell me that, OK?)
**************************
Here is the post: (from: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/amateurphilosopher/)
"It is said that money is the root of all evil. This statement is inaccurate, because the original verse reads, "The love of money is the root of all evil." We must now consider how a man makes evil of a necessary factor of human life and interaction. Money, or a comparable asset, is the substance in which every nation maintains an economy. This system is only given value by someone who says it should. Throughout history, mankind has made many a nation in which money ruled. Why would a man spend his whole life chasing after a god which cannot save him? Perhaps it is because of a lack of faith. The biblical account of the Hebrews in the wilderness tells of the people melted their valuables to build a golden calf. All the while, Moses was on the mountain speaking to God. This, in fact, represents a paradox that we still struggle with today. The Hebrews wanted to see God, so they took matters into their own hands. The spiritually mature individual will not spend time making God, but rather listening for and speaking to God. This is the reason Buddha sat under the tree, why monks live simplistically, and why Gandhi lived in poverty. On the flipside, however, men who have lived to make money come to ruin. We have all seen this before, yet sadly, many do not acknowledge it. A rich man often dies alone. He becomes a miser and usually is loathed in his community. Day after day, he has hardworking employees who come in and do their best. The rich man's greed can lead him to lay off workers, potentially ruining their lives, even their homes and families. Not only does the rich man make his image worse, he destroys others in his folly.It was money that made America wage war against itself. Slavery was making many a rich man out of slave owners. The black man got nothing while he lined the pockets of his owner. Because of greed, we lost a President to assassination. What does the worship of money get a man? Greed. Anger. False power. Ultimately, the man gets nothing. He hits rock bottom and often meets a sad death. There is nothing left for him to count. Money doesn't leave a legacy. Only those who truly seek truth will be remembered positively. If Buddha had embraced his princehood, he would only have been honored in his lifetime. A man must give up worldly things to actually make sense of the world around him. This is not to say a rich man cannot discover these things and still be rich. He must search for something beyond the realm of his paycheck. Truly, those who are willing to have nothing are the ones more likely to have everything. Money is necessary to live, but we cannot live for money."
Here's what I wrote:
This, is one of the many reasons why I personally practice Raja Yoga. It encourages us to practice 'right livelihood' - in other words, recognizing the fact that we have to live, we have to eat we have to 'make money'. But it challenges you to find a vocation that you love, makes you happy and lets you participate in helping others. In other words don't work in a bomb factory.
You have brought up many good points and I think it's a challenge to find 'right livelihood' sometimes. In other words what if a poor, uneducated person has no choice BUT to work in a bomb factory? Does that mean then that the karma they help to create by aiding in the manufacture of something where it's sole purpose is for that of destruction and death - will follow them - will taint them? What about prostitutes and strippers? Should they be considered as living a 'righteous' life because of how they earn their money?
How can we help our society to recognize that the jobs of the future need to just do more than line our pockets, they need to fuel our souls, they need to allow us to be able to look at ourselves in the mirror at the end of the day.
Again, perhaps the idea (as you have stated by citing the way the Buddhists live) - is that this all revolves around greed - perhaps if we did not feel that we NEEDED to be just like or better than the 'Joneses', perhaps then we could be content with lesser materialistic goods. I mean how many cars, houses, fur coats do we need?
Does the problem boil down to a purely 'Western/American' value system? In third world countries do they have problems with Money vs. God? Where everyday is a struggle just to survive? I read about stories all the time in my 'Yoga Journal' magazine where countries like Bhutan and Nepal are struggling with 'tourists' - they need the money and the commerce that tourists bring in - but the trourists also bring in pollution, Nike tennis shoes, Rock music etc. Is it a trade off? And is the trade off worth it?
Perhaps I am raising more questions than I am answering - I have a habit of doing that ^_^
However, I will leave you with one last anecdotal story...
I became a Certified Yoga Teacher a few years back. I had the opportunity through the place I work to bring Yoga to the employees and boy was I ever thrilled. There was just one catch. Out of all the employees who wanted to participate in 'teaching' Yoga - I was the only one willing to do it for free - because my place of employment could not pay me - at least not to start. Because I did not want to see the potential for this opportunity to give the 'gift' of teaching Yoga die, I decided to step forwrd and teach. (Now I am wondering if that was my Ego at work)...
At any rate, for my very first class 70 people showed up - I had tears of joy in my eyes. I went on to begin teaching 2 Yoga classes after work a week to the employees for free. I did a lot of extra work, I had a lot of fun and the students loved it. However after 6 months or so, my OWN Yoga teacher asked me about the program and I told him what was going on. He told me I NEEDED to be paid. He told me that even in India Yogis/Gurus do not 'teach' for free, they are offered money, clothing, food. He said that my own karma would begin to suffer because there would be no balance of give and take and that eventually I would begin to resent my students. After a couple more months I began to understand what he was saying. Yes I got something from my students - but me teaching for free 2 nights a week was beginning to take it's toll on me, my family, and my own marriage (which eventually ended and my husband BLAMED my Yoga - but that's another story)....
I went to the 'powers that be' and I told them I needed to quit teaching unless they could pay me - I told them we could work out a donation basket so the students could make an 'offering' and I would just take what they could afford to give (which is how my own Yoga teachers operate - I mean there is a set fee but if you can't afford it they don't care). They agreed and then they began telling me how to run my Yoga program. (Trade off). It floundered for a bit and I lost most of my students (we began to ask for $5 a class) - but with time the program grew and flourished until we were turning a profit and I had to turn away students because the classes were too large. This past fall they stopped the Yoga program for the employees because there was no one to manage/administrate the program (I was only the teacher - I did not do any of the administrative work - although I was willing to) - I am now currently trying to get the Yoga back - because we so desperately need it here....
The moral I learned from this is that it IS important to get paid. It's important to earn a living. What is not good is getting greedy, thinking that you need more that you really do. So the question (answer) for me about Money vs. God is that you have to find a balance that you can live with.
Namaste,
Colette
******************
So if you're bored that's OK but sometimes I just want you guys to think about these things and sometimes I want to KNOW what you think about such things.
Everybody has to earn a living - but everyday we are faced with the question of balance, and harmony in our lives....
Any thoughts? Let me know.
OK so I have, in the past on this blog tried bringing up philosophy but no one ever seems to get their panties in a bunch about that - nope no fireworks, flame wars, sex, etc. in talking about philosophy is there?
Well there was a good post on one of the boards I belong to and I am going to post it here and my response....the reason being because this issues affects EVERYONE and EVERYONE has to deal with this at some point in their lives.
It goes without saying I'd like some comments on this - and guess what you can disagree all you want - I won't get upset, HONEST - there is no right or wrong answer - that is unless you write to me and tell me you like to make bombs to kill people (*laughs* please don't write to me and tell me that, OK?)
**************************
Here is the post: (from: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/amateurphilosopher/)
"It is said that money is the root of all evil. This statement is inaccurate, because the original verse reads, "The love of money is the root of all evil." We must now consider how a man makes evil of a necessary factor of human life and interaction. Money, or a comparable asset, is the substance in which every nation maintains an economy. This system is only given value by someone who says it should. Throughout history, mankind has made many a nation in which money ruled. Why would a man spend his whole life chasing after a god which cannot save him? Perhaps it is because of a lack of faith. The biblical account of the Hebrews in the wilderness tells of the people melted their valuables to build a golden calf. All the while, Moses was on the mountain speaking to God. This, in fact, represents a paradox that we still struggle with today. The Hebrews wanted to see God, so they took matters into their own hands. The spiritually mature individual will not spend time making God, but rather listening for and speaking to God. This is the reason Buddha sat under the tree, why monks live simplistically, and why Gandhi lived in poverty. On the flipside, however, men who have lived to make money come to ruin. We have all seen this before, yet sadly, many do not acknowledge it. A rich man often dies alone. He becomes a miser and usually is loathed in his community. Day after day, he has hardworking employees who come in and do their best. The rich man's greed can lead him to lay off workers, potentially ruining their lives, even their homes and families. Not only does the rich man make his image worse, he destroys others in his folly.It was money that made America wage war against itself. Slavery was making many a rich man out of slave owners. The black man got nothing while he lined the pockets of his owner. Because of greed, we lost a President to assassination. What does the worship of money get a man? Greed. Anger. False power. Ultimately, the man gets nothing. He hits rock bottom and often meets a sad death. There is nothing left for him to count. Money doesn't leave a legacy. Only those who truly seek truth will be remembered positively. If Buddha had embraced his princehood, he would only have been honored in his lifetime. A man must give up worldly things to actually make sense of the world around him. This is not to say a rich man cannot discover these things and still be rich. He must search for something beyond the realm of his paycheck. Truly, those who are willing to have nothing are the ones more likely to have everything. Money is necessary to live, but we cannot live for money."
Here's what I wrote:
This, is one of the many reasons why I personally practice Raja Yoga. It encourages us to practice 'right livelihood' - in other words, recognizing the fact that we have to live, we have to eat we have to 'make money'. But it challenges you to find a vocation that you love, makes you happy and lets you participate in helping others. In other words don't work in a bomb factory.
You have brought up many good points and I think it's a challenge to find 'right livelihood' sometimes. In other words what if a poor, uneducated person has no choice BUT to work in a bomb factory? Does that mean then that the karma they help to create by aiding in the manufacture of something where it's sole purpose is for that of destruction and death - will follow them - will taint them? What about prostitutes and strippers? Should they be considered as living a 'righteous' life because of how they earn their money?
How can we help our society to recognize that the jobs of the future need to just do more than line our pockets, they need to fuel our souls, they need to allow us to be able to look at ourselves in the mirror at the end of the day.
Again, perhaps the idea (as you have stated by citing the way the Buddhists live) - is that this all revolves around greed - perhaps if we did not feel that we NEEDED to be just like or better than the 'Joneses', perhaps then we could be content with lesser materialistic goods. I mean how many cars, houses, fur coats do we need?
Does the problem boil down to a purely 'Western/American' value system? In third world countries do they have problems with Money vs. God? Where everyday is a struggle just to survive? I read about stories all the time in my 'Yoga Journal' magazine where countries like Bhutan and Nepal are struggling with 'tourists' - they need the money and the commerce that tourists bring in - but the trourists also bring in pollution, Nike tennis shoes, Rock music etc. Is it a trade off? And is the trade off worth it?
Perhaps I am raising more questions than I am answering - I have a habit of doing that ^_^
However, I will leave you with one last anecdotal story...
I became a Certified Yoga Teacher a few years back. I had the opportunity through the place I work to bring Yoga to the employees and boy was I ever thrilled. There was just one catch. Out of all the employees who wanted to participate in 'teaching' Yoga - I was the only one willing to do it for free - because my place of employment could not pay me - at least not to start. Because I did not want to see the potential for this opportunity to give the 'gift' of teaching Yoga die, I decided to step forwrd and teach. (Now I am wondering if that was my Ego at work)...
At any rate, for my very first class 70 people showed up - I had tears of joy in my eyes. I went on to begin teaching 2 Yoga classes after work a week to the employees for free. I did a lot of extra work, I had a lot of fun and the students loved it. However after 6 months or so, my OWN Yoga teacher asked me about the program and I told him what was going on. He told me I NEEDED to be paid. He told me that even in India Yogis/Gurus do not 'teach' for free, they are offered money, clothing, food. He said that my own karma would begin to suffer because there would be no balance of give and take and that eventually I would begin to resent my students. After a couple more months I began to understand what he was saying. Yes I got something from my students - but me teaching for free 2 nights a week was beginning to take it's toll on me, my family, and my own marriage (which eventually ended and my husband BLAMED my Yoga - but that's another story)....
I went to the 'powers that be' and I told them I needed to quit teaching unless they could pay me - I told them we could work out a donation basket so the students could make an 'offering' and I would just take what they could afford to give (which is how my own Yoga teachers operate - I mean there is a set fee but if you can't afford it they don't care). They agreed and then they began telling me how to run my Yoga program. (Trade off). It floundered for a bit and I lost most of my students (we began to ask for $5 a class) - but with time the program grew and flourished until we were turning a profit and I had to turn away students because the classes were too large. This past fall they stopped the Yoga program for the employees because there was no one to manage/administrate the program (I was only the teacher - I did not do any of the administrative work - although I was willing to) - I am now currently trying to get the Yoga back - because we so desperately need it here....
The moral I learned from this is that it IS important to get paid. It's important to earn a living. What is not good is getting greedy, thinking that you need more that you really do. So the question (answer) for me about Money vs. God is that you have to find a balance that you can live with.
Namaste,
Colette
******************
So if you're bored that's OK but sometimes I just want you guys to think about these things and sometimes I want to KNOW what you think about such things.
Everybody has to earn a living - but everyday we are faced with the question of balance, and harmony in our lives....
Any thoughts? Let me know.
posted by Colette at 6:06 PM
2 Comments:
Shalom Colette,
There is a teaching from the Talmud (I don't have my reference with me as I'm on the move, but I'll get it to you later) that says that a service received is worth what you pay for it. Poverty is not a virtue, but attachment is a sin, as it were.
I'll get more to you on this this evening.
B'shalom,
Jeff
Shalom Colette,
Here's the promised reference...
http://www.aish.com/spirituality/growing/ged_archive.asp?m=4&offset=1
This was the lede...
A doctor who treats for nothing is worth nothing (Bava Kama 85a).
The Talmud teaches that "there is no free lunch." Anything of value comes with a price tag, and if something is given away free, we should suspect that it may be worthless.
People are reluctant to accept some things as true. Today, a millennium and a half after the Talmud was written down, we still yearn to get things for free, and if not completely free, then at the least possible cost.
B'shalom,
Jeff Hess
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