|
Collecting Debts
A student asked how to proceed in a situation where a person
was unable to pay back money she had lent her. She was seeking
a return of the loan at this time in order to be able to
fund a three-year retreat that she was planning to do.
I suggest you ask the person owing the money to return as
much money as he or she is able, since now there is an important
reason for the money to be returned. Then, whatever amount
he or she is unable to repay you, you should make an offering
of that amount to the person, regarding it as an act of charity
toward a sentient being, which is a practice of the bodhisattvas.
Government Taking Money
A Chinese student
from Singapore married a very wealthy man who had 50 wives.
He owned a large Indonesian company
that produced cigarettes, but she tried to use the money
to help poor, sick people. She went to the hospital quite
often to translate for people from Indonesia. If they couldn’t
afford to pay the hospital bills, she paid them. She prayed
to Kuan Yin and other Buddhas, and received answers and guidance
from them, and so was able to help other poor, sick people.
Her husband died in 1978, when the economy of Indonesia
collapsed. At the time, the company was in business, but
the president
appropriated the company’s funds, saying that the government
needed one billion U.S. dollars, and would repay it later.
This was the family’s money and was supposed to be
divided among the family, according to the husband’s
will.
Rinpoche commented later that many businesspeople would
collapse completely if they lost a billion U.S. dollars.
He said some
might even commit suicide, thinking it was the worst thing
that could happen. This student was upset with the president,
but not too angry. Rinpoche said the following.
You must rejoice that the president and the Indonesian government
got the money. One billion dollars is so much money that
if you rejoice, you receive unbelievable merit. If you collect
merit, then you will also make money. Due to this merit,
you could make even more than you lost.
Think in this way: even the earth will
be empty one day. One day, none of this will exist any more.
We will have to
leave everything, including this body, all our family, relations,
and possessions—everything. We have to separate from
them one day. What this means is that even if the Indonesian
government didn’t take the money, at the time of death
all these things would have to be left behind. Since death
can happen any time, this separation can happen at any time.
Generally, life is not long. You certainly will not live
1,000 years. To live even just 100 years is possible, but
only a small number do. It’s better to have a happy
mind and positive mind toward one another. Looking at this
situation in a positive way is good, because it makes you
happy. If you are happy, you can make everybody else happy.
Then when everybody is happy, if you give advice, somebody
will listen.
Not Having Enough
A wealthy woman from Singapore
wrote to tell Rinpoche about a woman who had come to see
her, saying she planned to commit
suicide so that her son would receive his inheritance. The
woman from Singapore sought Rinpoche’s advice on how
to help her.
My very dear Winnie,
Thank you very much for your kind letters. In the future,
you need to check up on people when they come to see you,
to know whether they are sincere or not. Some people might
expect that by telling you they want to commit suicide,
you might give them some money. You should check whether
they are serious or just making it up. You can feel it,
not just hear their words.
You also need to tell the lady who wanted to kill herself
so her son would get money to live on, and any others like
her who come in the future, that if she has $100, then she
might want $1,000 next. And if she has $1,000, then she might
want $10,000, and if she has $10,000, then she might want
$1,000,000, on and on with no end.
If you don’t have the concept that what you have is
enough, then even if you have $100,000,000, you won’t
have enough, and therefore you will still be poor. If you
have $100 or $1,000, and think that this is enough, that
makes a person rich. Comparing yourself to those who have
nothing or who have only $1 or $10 makes you rich.
This is just an idea to make the mind happy, and to eliminate
the mind that never thinks it has enough, but always wants
more and more.
Of course, if you can help her, that’s good. I’m
not saying not to help.
Thank you very much. At the moment that is all.
With much love and prayer...
Struggling to Support a Family
A student with a family to support had been a practicing
psychotherapist for many years in California, and had begun
working as a motivational coach to businesses. He mentioned
to Rinpoche that he was struggling financially.
Your primary focus must be bodhicitta. When you are concerned
with inner growth, you must concentrate on bodhicitta first.
By concentrating on bodhicitta, your problems become useful
and tend not to last as long. They end.
And as a result of practicing this way, you also experience
wealth. Not that wealth is the main goal, but when you
engage in the practice of bodhicitta with the wish to
get rid of
your problems, you do get rid of the problems, and receive
wealth. But if you experience the problems on behalf of
all sentient beings, this brings realizations and wealth.
Praying
that way creates merit and inner growth, and, of course,
all of this helps you attain wealth.
As for whether to work within the organization or seek
a better salary outside, you have to take care of your
family
first. For this it would be best to continue working
outside the organization.
In regards to the financial needs of your family, it
does look difficult. It is important that you make
as many offerings
as possible every day to Medicine Buddha, the Twenty-One
Taras and the sixteen arhants, and to always make these
offerings with a strong bodhicitta motivation and prayers.
Then, dedicate
them to enlightenment with meditation on emptiness.
In particular, the sur offering practice would be very
good
for you to do. |
