Flow of Money

 It is rare to find people like David Korten to focus the attention to the root cause of all evils. We need also concrete proposals to eradicate the evil. There is a concrete model of FAMCO(Family development cooperative thrift and credit society.)  for Self Help Groups with a potential of mobilising money to serve the people instead of dominating people.

In order to create a democratically accountable money system that operates as our servant, not our master promote cooperative system of money transaction with necessary education and training through practise.

The education system itself promotes more competitive education and prepares people for making individual profits by running competitive companies.

If the education system gives priority to cooperative education and promote cooperative institutions money can become a servant instead of master or even a monster.

The year 2012 is declared as the international year of cooperatives.This is the right time for all the educational institutions and NGOs to promote democratically owned and managed cooperative thrift and credit societies .

We have a very special relationship with our environment. The sooner we realize it, the better it is for all of us.

Life as we know it came into being because of the environment. Having given birth to it, it has nurtured and supported it and provided the play ground for its evolution. It continues to do so in spite of the ravages caused to it by the modern man.

The environment in our living experience appears in five principle forms, namely the earth, water, air, space and energy. These five individually and in conjunction with the others takes on millions of forms. For example, earth appears as dust, sand, boulders, hills and mountains; water appears as vapour, moisture, rain, streams, brooks, rivers, ponds, lakes, oceans, snow, glaciers etc.; energy appears as heat, light, sound, electricity, magnetism and so forth. Air is a subtle element and hence we can only experience it in its various forms and moods.  Space is very subtle and so we sense it when it is missing or crowded out. Together they create this wonderful universe.

Similarly life has taken on zillions of forms; the amphibians, the reptiles, the worms, the bacteria, the birds and beasts, the trees, the creepers, the bushes the algae and so forth.

Because of our reductionist ways of thinking and perception, we do not see that our environment is an integrated whole. We also do not see the oneness of life. We have cut it up into meaningless and lifeless shreds. We have also missed the wonderful relationship between life and the environment. Many people, particularly the primitive ones, see the environment as the mother, playmate, lover or companion. They respect and love it, at times even worship it.

Modern man sees it as a wild beast to be tamed, domesticated, mastered and then enslaved.

The environment, taken as a whole, is our primary resource for living, play and evolution. When we break it up it loses life and meaning. That is what has happened with money. It is not part of the natural environment. It is a creation of man. Progressively it has become more virtual and artificial. Money does not fulfill any of our needs, either of sustenance or evolution. But we have come to believe this myth. We are living with many other myths. One most pernicious one is the existence of the individual independent of the environment.

Let us identify all these modern day myths and drop them. Then we can live truly as human beings playing our rightful role in the natural scheme of things.

An interesting concept related to this question of money can be offered in three Sanskrit (the ancient language of yoga) words:  avidya, abhinivesa, and aparigraha.  Avidya-not knowing, abhinivesa-fear of death, and aparigraha-non grasping.  Avidya, not knowing, or ‘ignorance’ of who we really are tends to cause suffering and grasping onto everything, constricting our thinking, our movements, our emotions, our freedom.  It is in this state we experience abhinivesa-fear of death.  We cling tightly to desire and identity, and the amount of money we can get or use or flaunt, or hoard.  We are never quite sure there is enough.  We are afraid.  Many of us in western culture have it great; can find the next meal, can care for our loved ones in some way when illness strikes, have a roof over our heads.  However, the need for money and all the ‘luxury’ it can buy also separates us, isolates us, forces us to lock our doors, work at a job that is unfulfilling because it pays well, turn the other way when we see someone in need.  Fear.  Always fear.  Not the way I would like to live.  When we are deeply connected to our spiritual self, we know how magnificent we really are and how we came to be here and what our purpose is, the sharing of our gifts.  When we are liberated from clinging to what happens next and begin to move through this life one mindful inhale after the other, we get to apply and live aparigraha-non grasping, non possessiveness.  We let go of abhinivesa, our fear of death, little by little.  We let go of our fear of not having enough.  We let go of identity of status, and focus on relationships with others, our environment, and those beings we share this space with.  This is what my relationship to money has become.  I see possibilities at every turn on how to share it.  I love the quote by St. Augustine; “Determine what God has given you, and take from it what you need; the remainder is needed by others.” 

A most interesting topic and something that's been on my mind for a while. Developing a healthy relationship with money seems to be one of the key factors for living a sane and healthy life. As the author rightly mentions, lot of things essential to a secure life seems to depend on money. So it cannot be shooed away and the "art of living" has to involve a contemplation on what is money and its role in right living. Understanding this relationship with money seems to be a process of unfolding and goes hand in hand with understanding psychological security, the notion of permanency (and transience) and fear. So seems that its not an isolated issue but very much a part of understanding our overall conditioning and thought patterns. I am also discovering that insecurity has layers (like other psychological constructs) and while there is apparent freedom from money's grip at the surfacial layers, one is still very much money's servant at these deeper layers of insecurity. in the context of understanding ones relationship with money, Jiddu Krishnamurti's comment that "all learning is in relationship" seems especially appropriate.

 I feel the key word is "flow" more than money. Money by itself does not do anything -- except when it is exchanged for something that we value or others value. In other words, value of money is experienced only when there is flow of money.

Lack of money, as many of us know, drives people to get it. But once you have sufficient amount - that amount varies from person to person -- it does not motivate us or drive us. Money demotivates us more than motivates us -- do you agree?

Interestingly, in Indian mythology, Lakshmi is the Goddess of wealth and prosperity. She is considered to be "chanchala lakshmi' -- which means she is fickle and flows quickly from one person to another. In addition, money is only one form of wealth. Land, resources, health, relationships, power are all considered to be elements of wealth. Prosperity -- does money and wealth allow us to prosper? If not, it is not desirable, according to Hindu mythology.

I agree with Korten -- when money operates as our servant, we feel prosperous and when it is our master, then we feel grief, greed, anger and lust.

Does knowing this help? Probably not. But acting on it and finding ways to make money flow -- give because you don't have any control on what you receive -- will certainly help. Any takers?