Like everything else in life, money has powerful energies which one can attract, if you have the right attitude towards it, which is to be ‘rich in the mind’. Never use negative terms like ‘I can’t afford it’ or ‘This is too expensive’. This shows the poverty of your mind and the Universe picks-up these thoughts, shaping your future financial circumstances. On the contrary, attract wealth by being positive, like ‘I deserve it, the Universe will send it to me’. The Universe is a very kind mother and more often than not, she will shower it on you if you deserve it karmically!

There’s also something like ‘need based’ and ‘greed based’ money. You don’t need tons of money for happiness – just enough for your daily needs and a few luxuries. The all-intelligent Universe knows whether you are asking for need-money or greed-money and gives you only what you rightly deserve. Also, money has to be earned in a morally right manner so that it is blessed by Mother Nature and brings you happiness, peace and prosperity. Money earned in a crooked or immoral way upsets the Karmic-balance of wealth v/s health and is mostly spent on doctors, medicines, operations and hospitals. If the money is earned in negative ways, chances are it will also go in negative ways, bringing unhappiness, discomfort and sadness.

Then again, money doesn’t depend on hard physical work but on the thinking-skills of a person. A farmer or a road-repair worker may be toiling from dawn to dusk under severe weather conditions and yet earn little whereas your friendly neighbourhood dentist earns a fortune in a little while by filling your tooth-cavity and simultaneously making a huge cavity in your wallet. This just means that you’ll not get a paisa less or a paisa more than what is in your destiny.

Energies of money are forever exchanged between people when you give and take money. Whenever you spend money, bless it, saying ‘may this money bring happiness to the person I am giving it to’. In the same way, bless the money you receive, resolving to spend it in happiness. This brings us to spending money. A miser is happiest when hoarding money. A miser hates to spend and has any number of excuses, like ‘I can’t afford it, I’m not as rich as you, I don’t have your kind of money, I’ve got a daughter to marry, etc… while stashing away crores of Rupees in the bank! Money is energy and energy HAS to circulate. If you simply hoard money, it stagnates. (Also, you may die without enjoying it!) When you spend money, say Rs. 20,000/-, then there’s a vacuum of that amount and Nature hates vacuum, so the Universe quickly fills it up with a similar amount. Money is energy and hence it must circulate freely and for everyone’s good.

Money gained by betting, gambling, lottery, races, cards, etc is not regarded as ‘clean’ money, though to some extent it is not an ill-gotten wealth either as taxes may have been paid on lottery earnings and money earned through horse-racing but it has its own Karmic consequences !

Today, we live in a highly materialistic world where money is worshipped like God. People fail to understand that money is a means to an end and not the end in itself. One must own money no doubt as it is very important for survival but don’t let money own you. What’s the use of all the money in the world if it can’t give you joy and peace of mind?

I have several very rich friends who are so unhappy in various other areas of their lives and are always cribbing and crying. I also have middle-class friends who are very happy and it’s always a pleasure to spend time with them! Money does not necessarily bring happiness! Also, asceticism, miserliness and living in mental-poverty is un-spiritual in Nature. Saving something for the future and spending the rest on the good things of life is the best way of keeping money-energies flowing towards you. Wasting money is a sin while charity is a virtue.

Money should be in the hands of rightful, deserving people who think of others because money manifests Divine power, force and grace. It shouldn’t become a curse due to attachment or family-feuds because of it. On the contrary, it should become a blessing for the good of all. All wealth belongs to the Divine (every paisa that we have) and we are merely Trustees and not possessors. It may be with some persons today but fortunes change and tomorrow this money will be with somebody else. It depends on how we discharge this trust, how we use that money, in what spirit, with what consciousness in their use and purpose.

You really, really have to follow a certain rhythm of money-energy-exchange by giving and receiving money in the right manner because it is given to us as a visible sign of a Universal force. Use it with gratitude and humility for everyone’s happiness. Our forefathers and the great Parsi Sethias of yore knew this and hence they utilized their funds in building Baugs, Schools, Agiaries, Hospitals and establishing various Trusts which today’s generation is enjoying… hopefully with great reverence and gratitude!