Why is having wealth condemned by BABA??????

June 24, 2009

Dear devotees,I feel the need to have a lot of wealth with me to live comfortably and practice my spiritual life! I feel the same need for others,,,but if they want to live with minimum then I have no problems! I just feel and want to think in terms of abundance - - that the lord has heaps in his kingdom and there is enough for all! I want to earn lots of money to also be able to help people suffering, but of course in the process of doing so I will also get a lavish car for myself because I like it to be honest! Alright, I won't be attached to money, but I don't want to live uncomfortably when I know that I can use my brains and live comfortably (For I live in such a society and don't aspire to leave the sansaar soon)!

So the problem is with the emphasis on Wealth being a " barrier for spiritual progress " - WHICH I CAN'T UNDERSTAND at all when I just read it literally! Is there a deeper meaning to it or something, or is it just plain simple that extra wealth is bad???

I ask these questions for I do not want any dissonance in my life!! And I LOVE Baba and just want to please him in every way!Forgive me if this is a tamasic/rajasic question - I am just at that level at the moment and need your guidance!

Jai Sai Ram,Saurabh (Alias: Maybe future Damu Anna, LOL)

June 25, 2009

Sairam Saurabh,

I seek Baba's guidance in answering your question. I welcome other views as well as I feel this is a valid question for every spiritual aspirant. If you find any flaws in my answer they are mine and I seek forgiveness of Baba.

Baba never condemned wealth. Baba encouraged people to come to Him to seek solution for their material problems. In fact Baba said unless a man is happy and comfortable and had food in stomach only then such a man can think of God. Baba discouraged hoarding of wealth. Baba said money should be used for upholding Dharma and fulfilling basic needs. Babu Saheb Booty was a very wealthy man. Due to his generosity today we are able to worship Baba. Baba advised people according to their mental and physical capacity. However one should take the thought away from the mind that spiritual evolution is possible only when one is wealthy and comfort.

Why do you think you need "lot of wealth to be comfortable and practice spirituality". Was Ramana Maharshi not spiritually progressed, did Baba have money to be spiritually advanced? RamaKrishna paramahamsa.. they were poor yet very wealthy spiritually. The reason why Baba prevented His devotees accepting money is because, Baba knew that man is weak, once addicted to hoarding money man is constantly in thought of filling the coffers with the money that he has spent. You spend $1500 to buy something the next day you are thinking of the number of shifts to build your bank balance back to where it was, there is no thought for spiritual progress. A man who buys a house now will immediately think of another property to increase his wealth, with that comes, debt/mortgage which puts him to do extra hours or two jobs. So where is the time to think of God??

You can help others if you really want to. You do not have to win a lotto to help others. In fact Baba would appreciate a penny out of your hard earned money than spending the money earned with ease in helping others. If you earn $10 dollars, put away a dollar in a hundi. When you go to India next time buy a food voucher or buy food items and do annadaan. Or give the money to blind school. You do not really need too much money to help others. Red cross and other non profit organisations need volunteers, there are many elderly people who are lonely and die in their homes and their bodies not discovered for day and months. Just spend 10 minutes a day to ring a person in need (telecross) to check that they are ok or visit nursing homes and spend a hour of your time every week to talk to them, they look for human contact. Serve elderly by doing meals on wheels. Help write a job application for the new migrants. The list is exhaustive. If everybody were looking to help people ONLY after they make lot of money then I am afraid the wait is too long. Contentment is in sharing what we have with others and not expecting anything in return. Remember spiritual progression is not about building aged care facilities or hostels for destitute, it is about providing quality life and happiness to people. One may live is a golden house but is still considered very poor if they cannot reach atleast one person and bring smile to their face through their humane qualities and kindness. When you are sincere in your thoughts and efforts success follows with it comes material benefit.

Few of my thoughts, I am not sure I have answered your question. Others may have different opinion but it would be interesting to here and learn from their point of view too.

Humble pranams

Sairam

Anitha Kandukuri

http://www.angelfire.com/sd/SaidarbarCanberra

mystic_saurabhDate: Thu, 25 Jun 2009 03:12:59 +1000 Why is having wealth condemned by BABA??????

Dear devotees,I feel the need to have a lot of wealth with me to live comfortably and practice my spiritual life! I feel the same need for others,,,but if they want to live with minimum then I have no problems! I just feel and want to think in terms of abundance - - that the lord has heaps in his kingdom and there is enough for all! I want to earn lots of money to also be able to help people suffering, but of course in the process of doing so I will also get a lavish car for myself because I like it to be honest! Alright, I won't be attached to money, but I don't want to live uncomfortably when I know that I can use my brains and live comfortably (For I live in such a society and don't aspire to leave the sansaar soon)!So the problem is with the emphasis on Wealth being a "barrier for spiritual progress" - WHICH I CAN'T UNDERSTAND at all when I just read it literally! Is there a deeper meaning to it or something, or is it just plain simple that extra wealth is bad???I ask these questions for I do not want any dissonance in my life!! And I LOVE Baba and just want to please him in every way!Forgive me if this is a tamasic/rajasic question - I am just at that level at the moment and need your guidance!Jai Sai Ram,Saurabh (Alias: Maybe future Damu Anna, LOL)

Click here to find out more POP access for Hotmail is here!

June 26, 2009

Sai Ram Sai Bandhu,

We are small group of

women, seeking support of Sai Devotees to help us for Saidham

Project On the suggestion of a friend who is ardent devotee of Sai Baba I

am putting forth this appeal once again.

Please visit our web page http://saidham.tk/

We are seeking help to provide shelter to 30 aged helpless women through

Saidham Project.

For this we need donations

from Sai Devotees as Baba directs.

The thought Baba put into my heart

is to seek a day's expense from a Devotee thus we need 365 donors who could

donate US $ 100/- once in a year to celebrate Birth/Marriage Anniversary or

special days like Ram Navami, Guru Poornima, Vijayadasami etc.

according to choice.

One of the devotees suggested

that we should seek individual donations to sponsor the women; devotees

coming forward to make a donation of US $ 100/- every month. For this we

need 30 donors.

We are seeking Baba's

directions and help to bring His devotees together to join hearts and hands

with us in this little effort.

We request you to help us in reaching devotees who will be able and willing to

help.

We request you to pray

for us to bestow Baba's grace and guidance in this work. Please

consider making a donation for this project in the name of Sai. Please

share this news with Sai devotees you knew who may be able and willing to

contribute to this project as Baba desires and directs them.

We look forward to hear from you.

Our regards to all Sadguru devotees.

Sai Ram

Dimple

--- On Thu, 6/25/09, Anitha Kandukuri <a_kandukuri wrote:Anitha Kandukuri <a_kandukuriRE: Why is having wealth condemned by BABA??????" parayana group" Thursday, June 25, 2009, 12:40 PM

Sairam Saurabh,

I seek Baba's guidance in answering your question. I welcome other views as well as I feel this is a valid question for every spiritual aspirant.. If you find any flaws in my answer they are mine and I seek forgiveness of Baba.

Baba never condemned wealth. Baba encouraged people to come to Him to seek solution for their material problems. In fact Baba said unless a man is happy and comfortable and had food in stomach only then such a man can think of God. Baba discouraged hoarding of wealth. Baba said money should be used for upholding Dharma and fulfilling basic needs.. Babu Saheb Booty was a very wealthy man. Due to his generosity today we are able to worship Baba. Baba advised people according to their mental and physical capacity. However one should take the thought away from the mind that spiritual evolution is possible only when one is wealthy and comfort.

Why do you think you need "lot of wealth to be comfortable and practice spirituality" . Was Ramana Maharshi not spiritually progressed, did Baba have money to be spiritually advanced? RamaKrishna paramahamsa. . they were poor yet very wealthy spiritually. The reason why Baba prevented His devotees accepting money is because, Baba knew that man is weak, once addicted to hoarding money man is constantly in thought of filling the coffers with the money that he has spent. You spend $1500 to buy something the next day you are thinking of the number of shifts to build your bank balance back to where it was, there is no thought for spiritual progress. A man who buys a house now will immediately think of another property to increase his wealth, with that comes, debt/mortgage which puts him to do extra hours or two jobs. So where is the time to think of God??

You can help others if you really want to. You do not have to win a lotto to help others. In fact Baba would appreciate a penny out of your hard earned money than spending the money earned with ease in helping others. If you earn $10 dollars, put away a dollar in a hundi. When you go to India next time buy a food voucher or buy food items and do annadaan. Or give the money to blind school. You do not really need too much money to help others. Red cross and other non profit organisations need volunteers, there are many elderly people who are lonely and die in their homes and their bodies not discovered for day and months. Just spend 10 minutes a day to ring a person in need (telecross) to check that they are ok or visit nursing homes and spend a hour of your time every week to talk to them, they look for human contact. Serve elderly by doing meals on wheels. Help write a job application for the

new migrants. The list is exhaustive. If everybody were looking to help people ONLY after they make lot of money then I am afraid the wait is too long. Contentment is in sharing what we have with others and not expecting anything in return. Remember spiritual progression is not about building aged care facilities or hostels for destitute, it is about providing quality life and happiness to people. One may live is a golden house but is still considered very poor if they cannot reach atleast one person and bring smile to their face through their humane qualities and kindness. When you are sincere in your thoughts and efforts success follows with it comes material benefit.

Few of my thoughts, I am not sure I have answered your question. Others may have different opinion but it would be interesting to here and learn from their point of view too.

Humble pranams

Sairam

Anitha Kandukuri

http://www.angelfir e.com/sd/ SaidarbarCanberr a

mystic_saurabh@ grouply.comThu, 25 Jun 2009 03:12:59 +1000 Why is having wealth condemned by BABA??????

Dear devotees,I feel the need to have a lot of wealth with me to live comfortably and practice my spiritual life! I feel the same need for others,,,but if they want to live with minimum then I have no problems! I just feel and want to think in terms of abundance - - that the lord has heaps in his kingdom and there is enough for all! I want to earn lots of money to also be able to help people suffering, but of course in the process of doing so I will also get a lavish car for myself because I like it to be honest! Alright, I won't be attached to money, but I don't want to live uncomfortably when I know that I can use my brains and live comfortably (For I live in such a society and don't aspire to leave the sansaar soon)!So the problem is with the emphasis on Wealth being a "barrier for spiritual progress" - WHICH I CAN'T UNDERSTAND at all when I just read it literally! Is there a deeper meaning to it or something, or is it just

plain simple that extra wealth is bad???I ask these questions for I do not want any dissonance in my life!! And I LOVE Baba and just want to please him in every way!Forgive me if this is a tamasic/rajasic question - I am just at that level at the moment and need your guidance!Jai Sai Ram,Saurabh (Alias: Maybe future Damu Anna, LOL)

Click here to find out more POP access for Hotmail is here!

June 26, 2009

Sairam Anitha-ji,

You views on wealth accumulation is touching indeed and I remembered a passage

from the Bible which I hope will help us on similar lines.

Here it is :-

In the course of his teaching Jesus said, " Beware of the scribes (men in

high positions), who like to go around in long robes and accept greetings in the

marketplaces, seats of honor in synagogues, and places of honor at banquets.

They devour the houses of widows and as a pretext, recite lengthy prayers. They

will receive a very severe condemnation. "

He sat down opposite the treasury and observed how the crowd put money into the

treasury. Many rich people put in large sums.

A poor widow also came and put in two small coins worth a few cents.

Calling his disciples to himself, he said to them, " Amen, I say to you, this

poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury.

For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her

poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood. "

--Mark 12:38-44

, Anitha Kandukuri <a_kandukuri wrote:

>

> Sairam Saurabh,

>

> I seek Baba's guidance in answering your question. I welcome other views as

well as I feel this is a valid question for every spiritual aspirant. If you

find any flaws in my answer they are mine and I seek forgiveness of Baba.

>

> Baba never condemned wealth. Baba encouraged people to come to Him to seek

solution for their material problems. In fact Baba said unless a man is happy

and comfortable and had food in stomach only then such a man can think of God.

Baba discouraged hoarding of wealth. Baba said money should be used for

upholding Dharma and fulfilling basic needs. Babu Saheb Booty was a very

wealthy man. Due to his generosity today we are able to worship Baba. Baba

advised people according to their mental and physical capacity. However one

should take the thought away from the mind that spiritual evolution is possible

only when one is wealthy and comfort.

>

> Why do you think you need " lot of wealth to be comfortable and practice

spirituality " . Was Ramana Maharshi not spiritually progressed, did Baba have

money to be spiritually advanced? RamaKrishna paramahamsa.. they were poor yet

very wealthy spiritually. The reason why Baba prevented His devotees accepting

money is because, Baba knew that man is weak, once addicted to hoarding money

man is constantly in thought of filling the coffers with the money that he has

spent. You spend $1500 to buy something the next day you are thinking of the

number of shifts to build your bank balance back to where it was, there is no

thought for spiritual progress. A man who buys a house now will immediately

think of another property to increase his wealth, with that comes, debt/mortgage

which puts him to do extra hours or two jobs. So where is the time to think of

God??

>

> You can help others if you really want to. You do not have to win a lotto to

help others. In fact Baba would appreciate a penny out of your hard earned

money than spending the money earned with ease in helping others. If you earn

$10 dollars, put away a dollar in a hundi. When you go to India next time buy a

food voucher or buy food items and do annadaan. Or give the money to blind

school. You do not really need too much money to help others. Red cross and

other non profit organisations need volunteers, there are many elderly people

who are lonely and die in their homes and their bodies not discovered for day

and months. Just spend 10 minutes a day to ring a person in need (telecross) to

check that they are ok or visit nursing homes and spend a hour of your time

every week to talk to them, they look for human contact. Serve elderly by doing

meals on wheels. Help write a job application for the new migrants. The list

is exhaustive. If everybody were looking to help people ONLY after they make

lot of money then I am afraid the wait is too long. Contentment is in sharing

what we have with others and not expecting anything in return. Remember

spiritual progression is not about building aged care facilities or hostels for

destitute, it is about providing quality life and happiness to people. One may

live is a golden house but is still considered very poor if they cannot reach

atleast one person and bring smile to their face through their humane qualities

and kindness. When you are sincere in your thoughts and efforts success follows

with it comes material benefit.

>

> Few of my thoughts, I am not sure I have answered your question. Others may

have different opinion but it would be interesting to here and learn from their

point of view too.

>

> Humble pranams

>

> Sairam

>

> Anitha Kandukuri

>