Government Taking Money

Government Taking Money

Date Posted:
November 2005

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 business people would collapse completely if they lost a billion 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.

 

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