Worshipping the wrong god

[Guest guest]

Dear All,

 

In the appended article Satish Kumar offers not only the keen observation that

'we worship the god of money, and we sacrifice everything at the altar of the

economy' but he also demonstrates his innate understanding of the need for

humanity to choose 'moral, ethical and spiritual values'.

 

The August/September 2008 quotes of Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi focus specifically

on the need for America to desire their Spirit, not money.

 

Regards,

 

Gerlinde

 

 

Worshipping the wrong god

Day and night we chant the mantra of profit while our environment lies in ruins,

and ethics and our principles of justice are ignored

 

Satish Kumar

guardian.co.uk, Monday 26 January 2009 10.10 GMT

Article history

The question: What economic system would really benefit humanity?

Every year the World Economic Forum in Davos seems to take a materialistic view

of the economy. I hope this year it will be different.

 

After the inauguration of Barack Obama, the new president of the United States,

new and moral thoughts are in the air. The French president, Nicolas Sarkozy and

the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, have also talked about moral capitalism.

The current economic crisis is a " crisis of desires " and unless we are able to

explore and consider the moral, spiritual and ethical dimensions of the economy,

true economic recovery will be a distant dream.

 

I come from a Jain business family, my father traded in jute, cotton and grain.

He used to say he had to make some profit to keep the business going but that

his main motivation was to provide a service to the community. Profit is like

oiling the wheels, it is a means to an end, not an end in itself.

 

For my father, and many other traditional business communities, money was not

wealth. People, land, animals, forests, rivers and all other natural gifts were

considered as true wealth. Money was only a measure, a means of exchange, our

business was steady and sustainable. For us, all trade was a public service. The

purpose of business was to provide " goods " and " services " not " bads " or

" exploits " . Imagine Marks & Spencer, Tesco and Walmart as " public service "

businesses! Unfortunately, in the past few decades, this spiritual outlook and

moral compass has changed; now greed is considered good and economic activities

are driven to maximise financial profit. It is a new kind of religion; a

religion of materialism and consumerism. We worship the god of money, and we

sacrifice everything at the altar of the economy. We indulge in consumerism as

if there was no tomorrow. As a result, in the short term, banks are running out

of money, consumers are short of cash, house prices are tumbling and

unemployment is rising. In the longer term, we face global warming, global

terrorism, global poverty and population explosion.

 

It amazes me to see that the great economists, industrialists, business leaders

and politicians have even forgotten the true meaning of economy. They only think

in terms of profit maximisation, whereas the true economy means good

housekeeping; proper management of all aspects of the home. The criterion of

good house management is to ensure that all the members of the household are

living in harmony with each other and the place. Money is only a means to a good

economy, not the economy itself.

 

Banks and business leaders, politicians and economists are looking for economic

recovery, hoping to go back to business as usual: the good old days of growth

without limit, consumption without restraint and profit without principles. From

a spiritual perspective economy is good economy only when it is in harmony with

ecology, ethics and equity. Day and night we chant the mantra of economy while

our ecology is in ruins, our ethics shelved and our principles of justice are

put on the back-burner.

 

There are two roads to economic recovery: the first option is to bail out the

banks and fuel consumerism, put more money in mortgages and hope to get back to

business as usual. But the second option is to think holistically, to invest in

land and agriculture, in renewable energy and practical skills. The earth is our

true bank. We are at a crossroads, which path are we going to choose? The answer

is obvious.

 

But how do we choose the right answer without some guiding values? Such values

can be none other than moral, ethical and spiritual. If we build our economy on

spirituality then our quality of life will improve, we will see human wellbeing

at the heart of economic policy; finance in balance with family and commerce in

balance with community. As in Bhutan, economic growth will be in balance with

the growth in human happiness and consumerism will be in balance with creativity

and the human spirit.

 

Let us have the " audacity of hope " as Barack Obama, who is a deeply religious

man, has said.

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2009/jan/26/economics-davos

 

 

Shri Mataji's promise in Aug/Sept 2008 (sent by Madhuri, while in Italy at

Cabella castle, witnessing Shri Mataji's words on America)

 

" America is a very difficult place. It has democracy but this democracy is based

on materialism. The people at the helm of affairs, the government is steeped in

materialism and that has seeped from top down into the mind-set of average

Americans. Americans love money more than their children or their aging parents

and even less their spirit. The root of the problem is their greed for money. "

 

And then came this profound promise! With an extremely compassionate expression

of love pouring from those beautiful eyes that had filled with tears, She said:

" I will find the key to dissolve this love for money in the America. "

 

" I will find that trick. I have to do this Myself. I have to do it! "

 

" Because if their desire for money is dissolved, automatically as a by-product

their desire for their Spirit will increase. They will respect their families

and love their children and old parents and if America works out, the rest of

the world will follow. "