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How important is money in one’s life? || Acharya Prashant (2017)
Acharya Prashant
10.8K views
8 years ago
Financial Weakness
Standard of Living
Freedom
Greed
Self-worth
Peace of Mind
Maya
Liberation
Description

Acharya Prashant addresses the fear associated with financial weakness, defining it not as a lack of money, but as the inability to maintain a desired standard of living. He explains that in the material world, money is a barter system where one trades their time, body, and freedom to acquire wealth. When someone pays you a high salary, they are essentially buying control over you to fulfill their own desires rather than your personal mission. He argues that by unnecessarily raising one's cost of living, individuals trade away their peace of mind and become enslaved by their own greed. To maintain freedom, one must keep their costs to a minimum and be prepared to survive on very little, ensuring that self-worth is independent of material possessions. He further explains that people often use the pursuit of money as a psychological escape to avoid facing the real and significant questions of life, such as liberation and truth. By staying occupied with earning and spending on vanity, individuals fill an internal void that money cannot actually satisfy. Acharya Prashant emphasizes that money should be viewed merely as a vehicle for physical survival, not as a matter of self-evaluation or a mental load. He encourages a spartan lifestyle where one is equally comfortable in luxury or simplicity, thereby ensuring that money is used as a tool rather than becoming a ruler over one's life. Ultimately, he suggests that a sound mind and a truthful life will naturally provide enough for one's needs, making excessive financial worry unnecessary.