Let's simplify our lives ....
Rammohan G
Dear devotees,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. All glories to Sri Guru and Gauranga.
I was reading ‘Recession’ book written by HG Chaitanya Charan prabhu. I was really inspired by the way he presented everything. If possible, please read it and distribute it to others.
Please find below excerpt from that book.
Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada,
Ram Vilas Das
Excerpts from Chapter 2 ‘Simplify’, ‘Recession’ book by HG Chaitanya Charan Das
Contrast this modern notion of ambitiousness, which the west has exported to the world, with the guideline on lifestyle management of one of America’s founding fathers, Benjamin Franklin: “Better to sleep hungry than to wake in debt” Almost all ancient wisdom-traditions echo this advice to live within one’s means. Consider the following traditional sayings:
§ Those who buy things they don’t need will soon have to sell things they need.
§ Don’t save what remains after you have spend; spend what remains after you have saved.
To some, such advice may seem pathetically anti-progressive. They have short memories. They forget that for centuries most people worldwide lived without stress because of choosing to live within their means. In the past, people would fear taking a loan unless it was essential for their very survival. They would choose simplicity with the peace of mind that it brings over luxury with the anxiety that it brings.
Of course, we need not be entirely ambitionless, but we need to calmly and clearly differentiate between realistic ambition and foolhardy ambition. For the 25 kg lifting weightlifter to suddenly want to lift 100 kg is foolhardy; to want to lift a 30 kg weight is realistic. By being realistically ambitious, he may eventually be able to lift 100 kg too – without injuring himself. Similarly, for a person with a salary that affords a two bedroom flat to purchase a big bungalow on credit is foolhardy, though he may well be able to purchase it after some years if he progresses patiently and realistically.
Let’s return to the study of four-year-olds. What does it teach about ambitiousness? If we fail to control our impulses for possessing things and just purchase on credit all the things we want without worrying about future payment, we are like those four-year-olds who just grab the candy that they can get now. But if we can control our impulses and be patient in saving regularly and acquiring things gradually as our financial strength grows steadily over the years, then we are like the four-year-olds who are ready to wait for the future two candies.
Those with the power to say no will be minimally hit by external upheavals like recession, as confirmed in a Time article (6 Dec, 2008 issue), "If you don't overborrow or overspend, you're far less vulnerable to whatever problems the financial system may have." So, the power to say no to ourselves is our shield, our defense, against the onslaught of recession. It requires a sharp, sophisticated intelligence to see through the superficiality of showiness and to appreciate the beauty of simplicity. Leonardo da Vinci got it right when he said, “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”
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