The Master had the deepest love and compassion for the struggling soul of man upon earth but his compassion was not blinded and he seldom seemed to encourage acts of charity and philanthropy of the kind practiced by rich men. He neither discouraged nor encouraged it. But in general he observed that it had little to do with true spiritual growth and did not want people to confuse one for the other.
On being asked he would simply reply, – “What does humanity needs most, – food and comfort for the body or release from the bondage of Ignorance by the growing Light of his soul?”
When questioned whether a poor man can think of God, he would laugh and say with the ring of experience that it is often the poor whose hearts are more open to God than the rich ones. Too much money was not necessarily a sign of some special Grace. Rather it was often a curse, for it put the man into so many traps and bonds that made it even more difficult to break than if he were less privileged materially.” But he agreed that spirituality had little do with riches or poverty and a rich man as well as a poor one may be deeply spiritual if they have arrived at the inner readiness. Only it made it more difficult for the rich to turn to God.
“So should one discard one’s wealth if it comes in the way of our spiritual progress?”
“How about using it divinely”, the Master would say. “It is easier to discard a difficulty rather than transform it and turn it into an opportunity to serve God’s purpose in the world. If God has given us wealth we should turn it for the good of the world, but not through blind pity but as guided by the Divine Vision.”
“By distributing it to the poor,” asked one unable to get the true import of the Master’s statement.
“No that is the worst way since it would encourage lethargy and stifle the heart and soul of another who receives money as charity. Wealth that is received without any effort often leads to its misuse except in the rare few.” The Master replied.
“So should one build hospitals and schools for free and for the poor?” asked another.
“And increase diseases and the ills that modern education brings with its almost exclusive emphasis on man as a biological entity whose only goal is to survive!” quipped the Master. He went on to add, – “there is no use repeating the past follies blindly. What humanity needs most is a new vision in the mind, a new hope and faith in his heart, a new impulse and will to live for greater aims and deeper goals. Instead of opening hospitals and multiplying diseases why not find out the root cause of human maladies and the master remedy. We need educational institutions that can embody the new Light.”
“But that is a vision,” complained another. “How can I use my wealth to further a vision?” he asked.
“Surely wealth will not give you the new vision for that can only come through personal growth,” the Master responded. “But if you have sympathy for the new vision and one has wealth then it can be put at its service. For to express this new vision upon earth and reach it out to the many who are still blind, you need both, men of vision who can carry it afar and also men of action to organize it. So also you need men of wealth to create new institutions and support old ones that would embody this new Light. That indeed is the best service that one can render for earth through wealth.”
A rich man proud of his philanthropy asked what the Master thought about those rich people who spent a lot of money on charity.
The Master had a hearty laugh and remarked, – “It is often like the case of a robber sharing a little of his loot with those whom he has looted and thereby assuage his guilt and flatter his ego.” But then not wanting to disappoint the man he added, – “Well if a rich man wants to distribute money or open hospitals that is his business and if he has nothing more to give and no other vision to uphold, then let him do that especially if that be his calling. But he should not think that he is doing something very great to solve the problem of humanity or that what he is doing is greater than the poor man is quietly seeking God in his hermitage.”
“But don’t the hermitage and the ashrams also need money? And is it not a waste of life for a young man to spend the prime of his youth doing nothing except seeking God and live on the wealth of others when he could earn that wealth for himself and be independent,” asked the rich man again unwilling to give up.
“And what makes you feel that the young man seeking God is doing nothing. Try doing it and you will understand that it is far more difficult to seek God than to earn bagfuls of money.” The Master calmly replied.
The rich man would not concede, – “But why should others support his quest, to whose benefit when he could easily earn.”
The Master became serious to see the degree of human resistance to Light. He responded: “The young man seeking God is doing a great benefit to the society. Firstly, he is earning spiritual wealth that the others are not ready to earn. Once he earns it he to shares this inner wealth with others as the great Masters and their erstwhile disciples do. In fact their gift is much more than the money that you give for their needs. You look after their physical needs while they look after your spiritual needs. So who is the gainer?”
“But such disciples and such Masters are few ad far between, what about the others. Are they not parasites upon society,” he argued one last time.
“On the contrary even the failures in the spiritual path do a service to mankind for they at least keep the fire of the soul alive by their sheer effort. And when even one succeeds he makes it easier for many others to follow. Even if he does not speak about it his mere presence brings the earth in contact with forces of Harmony and Peace and Light. He is like a silent dynamo that energises the earth and rejuvenates its sick body by digging out from our nature’s deeps the streams that sooth and heal man’s mind and heart and soul. They are like beacon Lights if not Lighthouses for man to follow on the dangerous roads of destiny to the great discovery that awaits us all one day. The seeker of Light is the spearhead in this eternal collective quest of man who makes the way for others to follow and even if he falls he becomes a brick to bridge the way towards the future. Do you then still feel with the superficial thinkers that the spiritual man is simply a do-nothing or is it simply that his great contribution goes unnoticed and he cares little for it either.” The words of the Master fell upon listening ears and the earth suddenly woke up to fresh and sublime memories that stirred in its silent deeps, memories of spiritual heroes and martyrs whose life was a burning example and without whom this world would long have sunk to perdition or gone to blazes.
