In India, corruption is something we all learn to live with. But wait! We need not be resigned to it or cynical. Instead of breast-beating over the sorry state of affairs, let's explore the solutions. Maybe there are no satisfactory answers to our questions. Let's ask them anyway.
SPIRITUAL GUIDE TO PROSPERITY
Do you think you never have enough, no matter how hard you work? You may have unconsciously fostered a '
poverty mentality' in your
life that will forever keep you imprisoned within a sense of lack, no matter how much you earn or how many
material possessions you acquire. It may also be the point where the possibility of
corruption first
enters one's life.
Roy Eugene Davis, a direct disciple of
Paramahansa Yogananda , says in Seven
Lessons in Conscious Living: ''Every devotee of
God should be prosperous.'' He goes on to give some attitudinal changes following which one can live truly fulfilling lives:
• When working or providing a service for which you will receive
money, give value for value received. Ideally, the
work you do
or the service you perform should be enjoyable, in accordance with your
skills and abilities and should have constructive effects.
• Don't spend
money. To spend (Latin
expendere, use
up or consume) is to
waste. Exchange the value that
money
represents for what you consider to be of value to you.
Avoid
buying nonessentials.
•
Save a specific amount of what you have or earn.
Invest
it to earn more
money for future use.
•
On a regular schedule, freely yet thoughtfully
give a portion
of what you have or earn to responsible, well-managed endeavors which
serve the public good and assist individuals in need.
•
Give generously from your awareness of being prosperous and thankfully
accept the abundance that
life provides for you.
•
Avoid the beggarly attitude of thinking that you can, or need to
bargain with
God—that when you make a financial contribution
to a worthy cause or volunteer your services you will receive in proportion
to your giving or even an excess.
•
Learn to be affluent-to always be in a continuous flow of
resources and supportive events, circumstances and wholesome relationships
for the highest good of yourself, others, the planet, and the universe.
•
Transcend the idea of
duality, which is the erroneous opinion
that
god is separate from you or anyone else in the world.
