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Winter 1992

NAMASTE,

“Money is the root of all evil.” Most of us have heard this Biblical phrase at one time or another in our lives. Actually the quotation is not quite accurate. The full quotation is “For the love of money is the root of all evil:” (1 Timothy 6:10). That’s an important distinction. Almost all of us must deal with money in one way or another; if we have the attitude that we are involved with an evil substance, it is clearly going to affect how we do it.

Of course there is nothing evil (or good, for that matter) about money at all. It is simply a medium of exchange. But there are many in the yoga community in America who seem to feel that money is a necessary evil at best, and there is something inherently “unspiritual” about being concerned with it in any but the most reluctant manner.

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I think one of the reasons for this is that there is a strong tradition of renunciation in the practice of yoga. Many organizations and orders require their members (swamis, for example) to take vows that, among other things, preclude acquiring or owning material possessions. The idea is that when one is no longer so immersed in the material world, one’s energy is then freed up to pursue one’s sadhana, or spiritual work.

Another reason is that many of the people in the yoga community were also very much involved in, or at least influenced by, the activism and consciousness-expansion of the Sixties and Seventies. One of the results of the changes in attitude was a general rejection of the “keeping up with the Joneses” ethos of the Fifties, a time when status was secured by “being the first on your block” to have the newest and most expensive stuff.

Many, especially those of us from families who had achieved some of the material success of the “American Dream”, had a first hand opportunity to see how shallow a life spent striving after yet another newer “this” or bigger “that” could be, how little it has to do with self-fulfillment, happiness, or love. Another result, though, was that material possessions and along with them, money, got a very bad name as did business and being “business-like”. So now fifteen to twenty years later we’ve got lots of folks in the yoga community who because of their cultural, or I guess I should say counter-cultural upbringing, coupled with the yogic model of renunciation, deal with money in only a slightly less uncomfortable way than they would deal with a fresh pile of dog poop.

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The struggle between being in the material world and being “spiritual” reminds me of the story about the two Buddhist monks who in their travels came to the edge of a large stream. They would have to ford the stream, and just as they were about to step into the water they noticed a young woman sitting glumly at the water’s edge. Upon inquiry she said that she needed to cross but couldn’t manage it on her own, whereupon the elder monk offered to carry her across. She joyfully accepted his offer, and he picked her up in his arms and waded across the stream, his younger comrade following along.

When they had reached the other side, the monk placed the woman’s feet on the ground, and after receiving her profuse thanks, the two monks continued on their way.

After they walked along for awhile, the older monk noticed the furrowed brow and worried look on his companion’s face. When asked about it, the younger monk exclaimed in an animated voice that they had taken vows not to come in contact with women and now his friend had not only come in contact, but had even held a woman in his arms and how could he do such a thing.

The older monk smiled gently and said to his companion, “I left the woman when we reached the other side of the stream. You are still carrying her.”

Many of the people I know who regard money and business with repugnance also spend a lot of time being concerned with it, much like the younger monk and his preoccupation with the woman. We do live in a society where, unless we want to enter an ashram or monastery, we need to have some money. For that matter, so do the ashrams and monasteries. We need either to earn it or have it given to us, and we need enough to have the wherewithal to pursue our goals without having to spend all our time and energy acquiring it.

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To be consumed by the struggle just to exist, a circumstance in which many of the people in the world find themselves, leaves little or no time for the pursuit of freedom and expanded consciousness. I once attended a talk by Krishnamurti during which the great philosopher was asked what meaning all of his talk about truth and beauty and fear and desire had for those who were starving in India and Southeast Asia. Krishnamurti’s answer was “None”. He said that if all of one’s energy were taken up solely with the struggle for survival, then there would be none left for the investigation of these other matters, which takes tremendous energy.

Of course to be consumed with amassing a fortune leaves no time or energy for these investigations either.

In the Yoga Sutras, Patanjali describes five principle underlying causes of suffering ( kleshas), two of which are attraction ( raga) and repulsion ( dvesha). Attachment to feelings of either attraction or repulsion will keep us running either toward or away from things, he says, which is to say then that both the love of money and the hatred of money, while maybe not the root of all evil, will be the source of misery, take our time, and dissipate our energy. There are other things we can do besides chase the “filthy lucre” or rail against it.

Practice, for one.

Peaceful Holidays,

       

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