Noble Use of Money

Author(s): Dada Bhagwan
Publisher: Mahavideh Foundation

Page 15

Noble Use of Money
Noble Use of Money
A True Donor
take advantage of them, and to those who are noble. It may appear to have gone away, but it will return to them.
Greed Makes You Forget Charity
You can only give when you have the means to do so. If a person does not have any money to give, he tells himself that he would give charity if he had the money. And yet, when the ability to fulfill the desire for charity is arises, he pushes it aside. The nature of the human mind is to delay. He will say, "I only have a million and a half right now, but when I reach two million, I will give to charity." However, that never happens, that day never comes. In such charities, it is best to give without thinking and planning. That is true wealth.
Questioner: What if a person was to die before he accumulates two million?
Dadashri: He goes away and his wealth gets left behind. Things remain unresolved and he gains nothing. That is the nature of a human being. When he does not have the money, he says he wants to give and when he has the money, his greed will blind him.
True wealth never runs short. There will be no shortage of it even if you donated buckets full. It is not considered true wealth when a person gives for only two days out of a whole year.
There was an extremely wealthy man, who was known for his generosity because his family, for seven generations had been giving to charity very generously. He would give money to anyone that came to him asking for help. He was a very charitable person. As he continued to give, his wealth kept increasing. I witnessed this myself!
What is the nature of wealth? Wealth will increase tremendously if it is used for a good cause, but if a person cheats and steals from others, he will never be wealthy. If you ask businessmen how their businesses are running, they will tell you that the profits are substantial, but for some reason they are not able to save any of it. We have a saying, "A thief's mother puts her head in the kothi (large clay pots used to store grains) and cries." Naturally she would cry, because the kothi is empty!
Charity is the flow of money and a true donor by nature, is an expert in giving. He has the ability to instantly recognize a person in need and offer to help in anyway that he can. He would offer to help a needy man whose daughter is getting married. He would tell the man that he is not able to give money, but that he could make arrangements to provide for his daughter's wedding costs and even her jewelry. He would even arrange to fulfill the man's customary obligations of sending gifts to all his relatives. He would take care of all the man's social obligations, while simultaneously recognizing that the man could not be trusted with cash money. True donors are experts.
Investigate Carefully If you give money to a poor person, upon closer
People make all kinds of excuses when it comes to giving. On the other hand, if someone owes them money and does not pay it back, they become resigned and claim that they were not lucky enough to get the money back. They will let go of their money in those situations, yet they cannot let it go towards a charity. Such is the inner kashaya of greed for money. It completely deludes them. You have to become strong and bold, because only then will you be able to give. That is why I tell you to at least do something so that your attachment to greed does not control you. If you cannot give a flower, give at least a petal, but do something. All you have to do is to give your support, even if that support is very little. Everyone should give in whatever way he or she can afford. Even a sick person can give a little support.