Money Money Money!

When I met Mamudan on book distribution and asked him, "What makes you happy?" he replied without hesitation and enthusiastically, "Money money money! My bank account makes me happy!" But his energy was so sincere, I could tell he was deeper than what he was letting on. I showed him the picture of changing bodies in Bhagavad Gita and decided to not be shy and just tell him straight - "no matter how much money you accumulate in your life, when the body ends, so does your bank account", I said as I pointed to the aging man in the photo. He smiled in recognition, but his passionate energy was making him restless. I told him he needed to give just as much attention to his spirit soul - use his money to finance a spiritual way of life. That's when he opened up to me and told me that he had suffered from a spinal condition that was very painful, and found the yoga asana poses as the only relief in the past. We talked about how yoga helps to release stress from the body so you can sit in meditation, and taught him the Maha Mantra - "Hare Krishna...." as soon as I said "Krishna" he looked at me in surprise and recognition and exclaimed, "Krishna? Oh, Krishna is God!" I was pretty dumbstruck, and could only reply...."Yes! How did you know that?" He said he had come across Krishna while learning yoga. I showed him Gurudev's book as well, and he ended up sharing with me that his focus on money is not from a place of greed or selfishness, but from a personal experience of poverty as a child and his own father not being able to maintain the family - he vowed to never let his family go through that, so he strives to provide them with ample financial support. "It's very stressful though", he admitted. We connected during our conversation, and he was motivated to start up his yoga and meditation practice again and come to Mantra Lounge. Before he left I asked if I could take a picture of him for my blog and he agreed, saying, "But if you make any money off of it you have to give me 10%!" Haha! He made my day :)   

karmāstu hetuḥ sukha-duḥkhayoś cet

kim ātmanas tad dhi jaḍājaḍatve

dehas tv acit puruṣo 'yaḿ suparṇaḥ

krudhyeta kasmai na hi karma mūlam

If we assume that fruitive work is the cause of happiness and distress, we still are not dealing with the soul. The idea of material work arises when there is a spiritual actor who is conscious and a material body that undergoes the transformation of happiness and distress as a reaction to such work. Since the body has no life, it cannot be the actual recipient of happiness and distress, nor can the soul, who is ultimately completely spiritual and aloof from the material body. Since karma thus has no ultimate basis in either the body or the soul, at whom can one become angry? (SB 11.23.54)