On the wake Coronavirus and market bloodshed, I leave you with some question this week. These questions are directly related to Coronavirus and on wealth. Our sense of defining wealth – and at times success – need a contemplation. To begin with let me share a story with you:
Once a man won a lottery worth ten lakhs (1 million) rupees. When his wife heard this news, she was worried, how should she break this news to her husband. The man had a weak heart and a sudden such news might give him a shock or he might even suffer a heart attack due to sheer excitement. So, the wife went to a priest requesting for help. The priest said “Don’t worry, I will come with you, and together we’ll give him the news”. Next Sunday, priest went to the lottery winner’s home and asked him “My child, suppose by the grace of God you won a lottery of ten lakh, what would you do with it?”
The man answered, “I will give half of it to the church Father.” No sooner the priest heard this, he had a heart attack.
Wealth should bring peace. Being wealthy should not bring arrogance, hostility, jealousy, disgust or boredom.
Coronavirus and questions on wealth
Wealth should not be something that becomes a reason for happiness or sorrow or a cause of shock. We live in such an artificial world that a virtual belief in wealth governs so many things. Recently I read worldwide markets are down and names of people who lost millions because of outbreak of Coronavirus. The shares are down and thus many people are losing their unrealized profits; some have lost the previous day’s profits and squared off at lesser margin. What to do with riches that are dependent on outside influences. A virus hits the world and (for no faults if yours, you become poorer) the wealth is wiped out.
I leave you with some question this week – what is wealth? How money / wealth should keep you? How should it affect you? Why do we define wealth the way we define it? Should we’ve a different way of measuring wealth? Should we revisit our definition of money / wealth?
Relevant other blog
Story source – Commentaries on Shiv Sutra by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, The Art of living foundation.
3 Comments
Amit Tripathi · March 8, 2020 at 9:06 am
Good questions. I’d think the Bhutan way of measuring happiness index along with the GDP is the right model of measurement. Wealth alone cannot create happiness and if the goal is happiness then it’s good to understand what else is involved.
KRD Pravin · March 8, 2020 at 9:31 am
Exactly Amit. In fact in very much impressed with the four fold path of the Buddha, it starts with identification of suffering. Suffering can be in any form example is out of billions of dollars of share value eroding by few corrections as the case is.
Bhutan has been a great learning for the whole world where they’re working on being carbon negative too. Isn’t it a great idea of development with consciousness towards the nature (surrounding).
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