|
| |
|
|
Renunciation of Wealth
United Communities of Spirit
All scriptures regard attachment to wealth and possessions as a
fetter to the religious life. Attachment promotes greed and avarice,
which draw the mind downward into the mire of self-centered desire.
Therefore the path to Transcendence requires renunciation of wealth and
the desire for its benefits.
Renunciation of wealth is of two kinds. One is total renunciation:
the vow of poverty incumbent upon the monk. The other is the more moderate rejection of acquisitiveness: wealth should be regarded as a secondary
end, never overshadowing the purposes of God or the goal of spiritual
advancement. A person's work may result in gain, but that gain should
never be grasped at, nor even desired if it would conflict with the dem-
ands of righteousness and require the exploitation of others. For more
texts on total renunciation, see the next section on asceticism.
We may divide these passages into three groups. Those in the first
group distinguish true religion from concern for wealth, the search for
God from the business of mammon. A person must put God first; attachment
to riches is an obstacle to realizing the spiritual goal. A second group
of texts recommends an attitude of non-possessiveness. People should not
work with the expectation of reward, nor grasp after possessions. The
Bhagavad Gita describes work done without attachment or desire for reward
as liberated and not productive of karma. Taoist texts describe non-action (wu-wei), which is devoid of self-interest, as the way to manage
everything. Texts in the last group describe a hierarchy of values:
rightness and duty come above personal gain. As long as the former is upheld, gain is permissible; but it is incorrect to seek gain at the expense
of rightness.
Interfaith passages at: http://origin.org/ucs/ws/theme133.cfm
|
|
|
|
|
|
