Renounce Wealth to Enjoy

The Ishavasyua Upasana says your ego will disappear if you cease to call anything yours. "Everything in the universe is controlled and owned by the Lord Accept only those things that are necessary...."

Don't entertain a desire for anybody's wealth. Why? When nothing can be mine, then neither can anything be yours. Be aware, because the sutra, "Don't covet; don't desire another's riches," has been greatly misinterpreted.

Most commentators have explained it thus: "It is a sin to desire another's wealth, so don't entertain such a desire." But the first part of the sutra says that wealth belongs to nobody; it is existences. "When it is not mine, how can it be yours?"

Its true meaning is this - do not wish for another's wealth because the wealth which is not mine is also not yours. So desire has no grounds on which to stand.

No expert of ethics can get at the real meaning of this sutra. It is subtle and deep. The moralist is anxious to see that no one steals another's property; no one should consider as his own what belongs to another: But his emphasis on another's property is must the converse side of his emphasis on what is his own. Remember, the person who says, "This is mine," because these two are different sides of the same coin. As long as the feeling persists, "The building is mine," Its counterpart, "The building is yours," Will continue.

So don't wish for another's property, because it belongs to no one. I don't mean simply that is sinful to seize another's property with a view to making it your own. It is a sin in the first place to consider, It either his or yours. It is a sin to look upon it as anybody's or to pretend ownership is anyone's but existences. If you can comprehend this interpretation, then and only then will you be able to grasp the deep and subtle meaning of the Ishavasya.

Otherwise the apparent meaning of these sutras is that each should securely possess his own property and, to protect his own interests, should propagate on all sides that no one should wish for another's property.

So stealing and extorting is useless, meaningless and irrelevant. There is no skill or art in it. It is as good as labor lost. It is trying to draw a line on water.

Enjoy wealth by renouncing it. It is said that if you renounce a thing, you can enjoy it. The statement is very antithetical to our belief. They alone become real masters who refuse to be masters. Everything falls into the hands of those who have no desire to hold onto things.

People have misinterpreted these sutras. "Enjoy through renunciation" has come to mean that if you give in charity, you will be rewarded with heaven. But pay attention; the sutra says, "He who renounces, receives." it does not say, "He who gives up with a view to getting, will receive." In fact, he who gives up with a view to getting does not give up, because he is just working out how to get the reward.

This sutra makes a straight, simple statement that he who renounces, enjoys. It does not say. "Give up if you desire to enjoy." It announces that if you can give up, then you can enjoy; but if you are nursing the idea of enjoyment, you can never renounce.