I told you yesterday, that by giving away something in
charity, for which you do not require any return, selfless,
that becomes fruitful. You simply give to those who are
really needy, poor, naked, who have nobody to support them,
the orphans, the widows, and others who would be too shy to
beg, and who sometimes commit suicide for want of
livelihood. Suchlike people should be helped. The usual way
is to give to particular places where the money is just
collected in thousands and millions. But that money is of no
use to anybody, it is simply collected. Although the money
is there, why should we contribute? Let our money be shared
with those who are really needy, naked, with nobody to
support them. Suchlike people feel shy to go and beg.
However, they do come to some spiritual man. So it is better
to give to Him so that He may distribute to the right
persons.
To give money in charity is just like
amassing money for your own self. The tenth Guru says, "I
rejoice when I give something into the mouths of others.
Those mouths are my mouth. Their bellies are my belly.
Suchlike service only I cherish, all others not".
If millions of dollars are given at one
place, the result is that where there is so much money,
there is always a clash. When they want to share trouble
arises. Then there are those who live only on charity given
by other people, who have earned their money honestly. What
is the result? People who live only on the charity of others
without good reason, that money, earned honestly by others,
becomes just like poison to them, poison covered with sugar.
So this will have the same effect on suchlike men. They must
put in much more time for their meditations, otherwise they
will have to suffer. Suppose somebody gives you a glass of
water or a glass of milk. He has some reason behind it, he
wants some compensation for it. You may have no money in
your bank but that will still be debited against you. It is
always better to earn one's own livelihood honestly, by dint
of the hard sweat of your brow and to share with others. Not
for return, but to share, thinking that we are all brothers
and sisters in God. All souls are the children of God. God
resides in every heart. With that viewpoint you should share
with others who are really needy. To give our money just to
established places where there are millions already, what
good does that do? Charity really bears fruit if shared with
others, who are needy, naked and poor. So all Masters say
this and such is the viewpoint of really spiritual people.
Our custom is just to contribute, but we
don't see how the money is spent. If the money has been
spent just for the upkeep of one or two men, for a single
man, well he has to pay for it. God does not spare him. Just
live on your own earnings and share with others. Such people
only can progress in the spiritual way. That gives self
expanse. At the time of giving you feel a little joy within.
This is natural and is the main compensation that you have,
there and then. So generally, all men should share with
others, who are needy, naked, poor, supportless orphans and
widows, and others who have nobody to look after them. Or in
some noble purpose to enable them to sit together and find
the way back to God. So suchlike charity is advocated by all
saints. First we should earn our livelihood honestly, then
share with others, maybe the least.
Yesterday I was telling you that one
tenth was generally prescribed by the old wise men from the
time history began, and also from the time of Abraham. If it
is not possible to give one tenth, then give one twentieth,
one thirtieth, one fortieth, maybe a single pence, but it
should have that angle of vision to share with others. A man
who earns say, one dollar a month, and who gives one tenth,
well that is worth more than a man who earns thousands of
dollars and who gives only five dollars. The Masters never
object to see even one pence. They never reject and for that
a regular account is kept and that is audited. The Master
lives on His own earnings.
Some people make it a business. That's a
good way of earning money I tell you! Hundreds and thousands
you can have without any labor. But one who does that has to
bear the reaction of what he has done and then he will cry.
So the general rule is to earn your own livelihood honestly,
in which nobody's blood is squeezed, in which undue things
have not been usurped by you. God sees what you are doing.
The other rule is that your earnings should be to maintain
yourselves, and share with others.
For example, if you are rowing in a boat
and there is a hole in the boat through which the water is
coming in and filling the boat, what do you do ? You throw
out the water with your hands, otherwise you will drown. If
you have got more money than you really require for your own
maintenance, then just share with others, otherwise you will
be doomed. So by giving away, you don't lose. At the end of
the year, you will see that the money has been saved in some
other way, by freedom from sickness or any other troubles
that arise generally and which involve expenditure.
Our Master used to say, "All right, you
give away one tenth and at the end of the year just count.
The very money that you have given has been saved where you
had no sickness." You have understood? Earn your livelihood
in an honest way, first of all. That is why I don't accept
anything given by those who are not initiated, because who
knows how they have earned the money! Even if the initiates
earn by dishonest means, that also carries effect. But
anyway, there is the Master Power overhead to account for
it. The first thing is that you must earn your money by
honest means, then share as much as you can, for the good of
others. That will expand your self. Just start with the
minimum, then give more and more until you give your own
self too. Baba Sawan Singh used to give one tenth, but after
would send all His earnings to His Master, who would then
return something for the livelihood of Baba Sawan Singh's
family. This is the ultimate. We have to give away our body,
our intellect, our soul, our everything. The more you are
divested of all these things the more you are free, you are
nearer to God.
There are instances to show in the lives
of saints. Christ said, "It is easier for a camel to pass
through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the
Kingdom of Heaven". He further said, "All right, give
everything to the poor and then come to me". So we have to
give slowly, bit by bit, until we give everything to God.
The Masters give teachings in all phases
of life. First live an ethical life, share with others and
then devote time by contacting your soul with the all
pervading power within you, and also be of use to others. A
man is only called a man who is of use to others. Even
animals are of use to their children. If you also act like
them, then what is the difference between man and an animal?
These things are to be noted and acted upon. You will find a
change.
On the first day of the month, according
to the East, people ask what is ahead of them in the coming
month. So Masters say that the people should turn to the
right way. The special message for this month is, "What you
have sown, you must unearth", or "As you sow, so shall you
reap". If any trouble has arisen, that is a reaction of the
past. Now set your way right. What you are suffering is the
result of your own actions. You must change your line of
action and remember God. This is the Teaching. Masters are
never attached to any formalities, what month is starting or
what month is ending. They say contact your soul with God or
keep the sweet remembrance of God, and also look to your
means, how you are earning. Whatever you are suffering is a
reaction of the past. They say, "All right, what you have
done, you have to suffer for, but for the future you must
change your way of life." So this is the way in which the
Teachings are given, in whatever way the people like most.
So what is given for this month is that which you have sown,
you are reaping. If you want to have better prospects, then
sow the other way. Those who give, they receive. Those who
do not give, how can they receive? If it is given to Nature,
then Nature returns in some other form that's all. The other
thing is, start from today and just remember God. The month
in which you do this will sow seeds of prosperity for you.
People are stuck to the outer formalities only. They do not
follow what the Teaching or Message is given about, which
concerns the purpose of maintaining life and future
prosperity, physically and spiritually.
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