Guiding Light: The Myth About Money

Money brings with it a sense of freedom, power, and ownership. We feel that if we have enough of it, we can buy anything, own anything, and even measure the worth of a human being.

True ownership implies control over something from beginning to end. But how can you own land that is going to outlive you?

This illusion of ownership leads to the idea that we are independent. Money can blind us to the simple truth that we live in an interdependent world. Even a brilliant surgeon cannot operate on himself. We rely on farmers, drivers, cleaners—a whole invisible ecosystem of support.

Society, today, often measures a person by his net worth. "He’s worth five hundred million," we say, as though the essence of a human being could be reduced to a number. Can love, wisdom, character, generosity or integrity ever be priced?

When faith is lacking—faith in the Divine, in one’s own abilities, in the goodness of people—then insecurity creeps in. In that insecurity, money becomes the crutch. But it is only a temporary illusion. Many wealthy people struggle in relationships, unsure whether affection offered to them is real or money-driven.

Money earned through skill, inheritance or unethical means may look the same, but each comes with its own karma. The aim behind accumulating wealth is happiness, yet peace and joy remain elusive when the path is corrupt.

In Sanskrit, maya is defined as “that which can be measured.” Everything measurable is considered maya, and money is a measure. But human values such as love, truth, and life are immeasurable.

Then there are those who shun money altogether, thinking it evil. But ego exists in renunciation too, in the pride of poverty. Our ancient seers understood this. They neither clung to money nor rejected it. They honoured wealth as Goddess Lakshmi, the consort of Narayana, born of Yoga. It is Yoga that transforms bad karma and brings out latent skills and talents. It also brings up ashtasiddhis, the eight perfections, and nava nidhis, the nine wealths.

It is this wisdom of Yoga that transforms one from arrogance to self-confidence, from meekness to humility, from the burden of dependence to the realisation of interdependence, from craving for freedom to the recognition of unboundedness, and from a limited ownership to oneness with the whole.

Published on: Monday, June 09, 2025, 08:03 AM IST