We watched a Bollywood movie this weekend, Badmash Company or Fraud Enterprise. I enjoyed watching it as it was pretty entertaining. The main premise of the movie revolves around a bunch of young guys who want to get rich quick, get into scams and eventually realize their mistake. They turn a new leaf and start earning an honest living by the sweat of their brow. This got me thinking about the 3 pillars of Sikhism based on Guru Nanak Devji teaching. One of the central teachings of Guru Nanak Devji is how one should live their life and the first point is Kirat Karo, or earn a righteous living according to your own capacity. He always taught that realizing or praying to the divine only makes sense if one is leading a moral and honest life and to accomplish that, we need to always watch how we earn our living as our existence in this day and age depends on it. I think he said that there is no need to give up on worldly comforts and become a monk or anything like that to realize the divine light. Being a householder, raising a family built on high moral values and yet not getting caught up in the rat race is paramount. The Hindu, Buddhist and Sikh philosophical traditions or religions so to speak believe in the law of Karma. Whatever actions one performs have a profound impact not only towards ourselves but also permeate through existence, sending their energy everywhere. If one performs actions with negative thoughts, they will eventually catch up with you. Swami Rama has a nice talk around the concept of Karma and Non-Attachment that I like. Some time back I was reading the Bible and remember Jesus said something like “Its easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than a rich man to go to heaven”.
In my opinion, what all the great masters are trying to say is that if you are earning a living honestly then there is no issues around enjoying the fruits of it. The problems start when making money becomes a big deal and the feeling to keep up with the neighbors or Jones’
sets in. If making money comes naturally to you and it provides great contentment, well and good, by all means earn away as long as you are not stomping over everyone else or trying to pry more than your fair share. At the same time, if it isn’t a big deal for you, if all you want is to live a comfortable life and enjoy doing other things that you like, then follow your heart. There is no need to get carried away and fight against your own nature just because you need to prove something to someone.
The Sikh Sailor | sailing with the masters
In my opinion, what all the great masters are trying to say is that if you are earning a living honestly then there is no issues around enjoying the fruits of it. The problems start when making money becomes a big deal and the feeling to keep up with the neighbors or Jones’
sets in. If making money comes naturally to you and it provides great contentment, well and good, by all means earn away as long as you are not stomping over everyone else or trying to pry more than your fair share. At the same time, if it isn’t a big deal for you, if all you want is to live a comfortable life and enjoy doing other things that you like, then follow your heart. There is no need to get carried away and fight against your own nature just because you need to prove something to someone.The Sikh Sailor | sailing with the masters
