Money is something
one ought not to have until one no longer has desires. When one
no longer has any desires, any attachments, when one has a consciousness
vast as the earth, then one may have as much money as there is
on the earth; it would be very good for everyone. But if one is
not like that, all the money one has is like a curse upon him…
It makes you stupid, it makes you miserly, it makes you wicked…
It is infinitely more
difficult to be good, to be wise, to be intelligent and generous,
to be more generous, you follow me, when one is rich than when
one is poor. I have known many people in many countries, and the
most generous people I have ever met in all the countries, were
the poorest. And as soon as the pockets are full, one is caught
by a kind of illness, which is a sordid attachment to money…
So the first thing
to do when one has money is to give it. But as it is said that
it should not be given without discernment, don't go and give
it like those who practise philanthropy, because that fills them
with a sense of their own goodness, their generosity and their
own importance. You must act in a sattwic way, that is, make the
best possible use of it. And so, each one must find in his highest
consciousness what the best possible use of the money he has can
be. And truly money has no value unless it circulates. For each
and every one, money is valuable only when one has spent it. If
one doesn't spend it… I tell you, men take care to choose
things which do not deteriorate, that is, gold - which does not
decompose. But from the moral point of view it rots…
Wealth is a force -
a force of Nature; and it should be a means of circulation, a
power in movement, as flowing water is a power in movement. It
is something which can serve to produce, to organise. It is a
convenient means, because in fact it is only a means of making
things circulate fully and freely.
This force should be
in the hands of those who know how to make the best possible use
of it, that is, as I said at the beginning, people who have abolished
in themselves or in some way or other got rid of every personal
desire and every attachment. To this should be added a vision
vast enough to understand the needs of the earth, a knowledge
complete enough to know how to organise all these needs and use
this force by these means.
If, besides this, these
beings have a higher spiritual knowledge, then they can utilise
this force to construct gradually upon the earth what will be
capable of manifesting the divine Power, Force and Grace. And
then this power of money, wealth, this financial force, of which
I just said that it was like a curse, would become a supreme blessing
for the good of all.
For I think that it
is the best things which become the worst. Perhaps the worst also
can become the best. Some people also say that it is the worst
men who become the best…
But still, certainly,
the greatest power, if badly used, can be a very great calamity;
whereas this same very great power if well utilised can be a blessing.
All depends on the use that's made of things. Each thing in the
world has its place, its work, a real use; and if used for something
else it creates a disorder, confusion, chaos. And that's because
in the world as it is, very few things are utilised for their
true work, very few things are really in their place, and it is
because the world is in a frightful chaos that there is all this
misery and suffering. If each thing was in its place, in a harmonious
balance, the whole world could progress without needing to be
in the state of misery and suffering in which it is.
So there is nothing
that's bad in itself, but there are many things - almost all -
which are not in their place.
