Wealth

3 Principles for Acquiring Wealth!

Although it may sound like a book title from the “Business” section of a New Age bookstore, it was in fact the apparent subject matter of this morning’s subhasita – an utterance from a Realized being which comprehensively carries the essence of Yogic teachings.

Ācārya has often repeated in our presence that it takes “much time”, indeed many years or even decades, for the message of yoga to be grasped. There are clearly many factors driving this; one of them is that in order to penetrate deeper into the Yogic path, a change of approach or perspective is required, and this, in turn, necessitates repeated communication of the new approach from different angles over a long period. All too easily and naturally, we default to our habituated approach despite the time and effort spent cultivating the new one. When observed on oneself, after a while, it is quite amusing, a bit like watching the involuntary reflex of your bent leg straighten when the knee is tapped in the right place. Over the last 17 years, I have observed and verified this process with the teachings- it still happens to me, as it did this morning.

Of course, when approaching the subject matter at the beginning of the lecture, my thoughts were naturally directed to the topic of money, property and other assets – right? Wrong! At the outset, Ācārya reframed the whole approach.

“Wealth is whatever material that leads one to the final happiness.”

Of course it is, but I had not been on track. Furthermore, Ācārya elaborated what we know to be true, namely that according to constitution, circumstance, karma etc., “wealth” is different for each individual. For example, for one person, a certain food may be considered wealth whereas for another it is a poison – similarly so for knowledge, activities and materials, including money which for someone may lead to experiencing inner happiness and for another cause huge obstacles. Having set the context, notwithstanding the individual approach as above, Ācārya proceeded to reveal the 3 principles common to all people for acquiring wealth and the inner mechanisms at work.

Mostly (although Stacey would contest it), I am at a loss for words regarding the nature of these Teachings.