No 859 of Living Life Series 1
Lord Bo Tien 武天菩萨 the messenger of God is here to stress on the oneness of religions to save souls. All religions stress on cultivation of peace. Religions in their respective ways promote peace of spirit in any person and also among people through all religions and sects. This amplifies on the principle of as with Heaven so also with Earth. There must be peace in Heaven and on Earth.
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Parsimony is about being careful with resources, storing up virtue and merits which you can make do for more and can never have too much of. As you accumulate more resources be it money, virtues or merit stores, the more you have, the better poised you will be for the rigors of life - the life events.
You will be stronger against the odds of life and less affected by the storms of life. There will be more of peace which if you care to think carefully, you can never have too much of.
If you go about life in this way, you do not attract attention and create envy in others of what you have. Others are less likely to be envious of you because you keep the low profile and are not flaunting your assets and strengths. Life will be more peaceful as others are less likely to challenge you to the test and to taut you. That way you can have a more peaceful life. You do not send them the unconscious message - "See I have and you don't."
You will even attract people to you who are like yourself - capable people with quiet strengths which can augment what you do not have as yet. Well to state the obvious, you too have benefited others in like manner.
There is nothing like having parsimony when you relate to people and this applies too to with heaven. It is not about denying others the knowledge of what you have. Rather it is more like being humble and prudent with people and with resources. It is about being frugal with use of resources so that there will be more for rainy days.
Frugality is about going for what is enough and neither in excess nor denying or not using your resources. It is like eating to live and not living to eat. It is not about not eating so that your resources are not used at all. Then you will not be healthy and energetic to grow your resources.
Parsimony often leads to simplicity - a simple way of life that blends into society and nature. But simplicity is not parsimony. A person with resources and means leads a simple life and has plenty more of resources to spare. But a person with simple life may not have the resources but lead a simple life because he has no choice due to lack of resources.
With regards to fate or what is referred to as karma, not depleting it and using it appropriately and leaving more for rainy days is wise. But not using it and preferring to suffer when there is no need to is unwise. This hopefully will give some insight on parsimony.
Parsimony as way of life works for many but there will be some who find it works against them. Then they must reflect and wonder why? Have they been over simplistic in thinking? Up to a point parsimony works in bringing peace and often this has to do with simple life.
But to go for more peace and breach the ceiling of peace, some say there is need to go beyond what parsimony can offer. There is need to handle contradictions. Parsimony often requires us to be simple in outlook and not dwell with contradictions. This is the common platform for many when they start out with parsimony.
They say that dwelling with contradictions goes against the assumed basic simplistic thinking connected with early practice of parsimony. There is need to balance the contradictions or polarities of life - not avoiding contradictions which is running way and not handling life and complexities.
True parsimony (as some would dare say) is not to avoid contradictions but to make complex life simple and peaceful even with contradictions - the yin and yang. When starting off in practice of parsimony, we avoid contradictions so as to grow parsimony. When we are better at it, we handle contradictions and are not worse off in anyway.
Parsimony is not about running away from complexities of life. Ultimately it is about handling contradictions as they come our way. We have to do so in simple way and not deplete our mental resources and we can achieve this through balance* approach. We have to leave behind and gather more reserve mental resources for the life that is yet to come. Some call this quality of frugality but perhaps it is more of productivity.
The *balance of yin and yang brings ultimate peace and simplicity to complex life. This is reflected by the image of the good lord Lord Bo Tien 武天菩萨 with feet astride and atop yin and yang.
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As a test of your grasp of parsimony as way of life, let us go through some examples. Who is more likely to be happy and at peace? Is he the one who earns 1000 dollars a month but is frugal and has 200 dollars to save a month or the one who earns 5000 dollars a month but always in more debts because he spends 6000 dollars a month?
Will a beggar who begs for living and has no earned income be happy and at peace even if he has hoarded 100,000 dollars in the bank? Will the beggar be at peace living on others left over food, living in rags and sleeping on public parks with no shelter and no family?
Will a guru of light livelihood and responsibilities be more at peace than one with heavy responsibilities and jet life livelihood? Some say that gurus well acclaimed and well received all over the world exhibit peace and happiness even though they might shoulder heavy responsibilities and jet themselves all over the world. It is rare but possible though an uphill task.
Who is more likely to have inner peace? Of course, he is the guru with light livelihood and responsibilities as he is less attached. He leads simple life and tries to be effective in simple ways - never going overboard. But good gurus need to spread their wings around the world and they need resources. They often forgo the simple life to reach out to the world. The world is so blessed that there are such gurus.
The Buddha became what he was not because he was a prince but because he went for simplicity and a light and simple livelihood. His resources then did lie in his spirituality. He was well supported but he never took others support for granted. He would never indulge in their support.
He moved on from place to place and from people to people. He was frugal and never overtaxed the resources of supporters. He too practiced parsimony as way of life. He is the Buddha - the fully enlightened one.
Parsimony as way of life works for many but it is only a means to the end but not the end in itself. It is more difficult to succeed in life spiritually or otherwise without growing the parsimony virtue in us. Some will argue that parsimony has limitations but for now and for many it works.
Live within means and we will be richer and more at peace. To do so, do be simple in needs and wants. Want less and have more. Be simple and convergent and not be divergent and carried away.
Parsimony as way of life is the way to beat inflation for the individual. It is always best to spend less when there is inflation. But if all think that way and spend less, there will be gloom in economy. People need to spend to boost the economy.
But generally speaking, parsimony as way of life has its merits. We do not end up living on future earnings and good fate. We end up on positive note.
Even with a relatively meager income, we have more than enough earnings to save for future. The same applies to good deeds and store of merits.
We do not deplete our merits and resources. Our life will be more even and peaceful over the whole life span as we are backed by reserves of good fate and financial backing.
Parsimony often leads to simplicity - a simple way of life that blends into society and nature. But simplicity is not parsimony. A person with resources and means leads a simple life and has plenty more of resources to spare. But a person with simple life may not have the resources but lead a simple life because he has no choice due to lack of resources.
With regards to fate or what is referred to as karma, not depleting it and using it appropriately and leaving more for rainy days is wise. But not using it and preferring to suffer when there is no need to is unwise. This hopefully will give some insight on parsimony.
Parsimony as way of life works for many but there will be some who find it works against them. Then they must reflect and wonder why? Have they been over simplistic in thinking? Up to a point parsimony works in bringing peace and often this has to do with simple life.
But to go for more peace and breach the ceiling of peace, some say there is need to go beyond what parsimony can offer. There is need to handle contradictions. Parsimony often requires us to be simple in outlook and not dwell with contradictions. This is the common platform for many when they start out with parsimony.
They say that dwelling with contradictions goes against the assumed basic simplistic thinking connected with early practice of parsimony. There is need to balance the contradictions or polarities of life - not avoiding contradictions which is running way and not handling life and complexities.
True parsimony (as some would dare say) is not to avoid contradictions but to make complex life simple and peaceful even with contradictions - the yin and yang. When starting off in practice of parsimony, we avoid contradictions so as to grow parsimony. When we are better at it, we handle contradictions and are not worse off in anyway.
Parsimony is not about running away from complexities of life. Ultimately it is about handling contradictions as they come our way. We have to do so in simple way and not deplete our mental resources and we can achieve this through balance* approach. We have to leave behind and gather more reserve mental resources for the life that is yet to come. Some call this quality of frugality but perhaps it is more of productivity.
The *balance of yin and yang brings ultimate peace and simplicity to complex life. This is reflected by the image of the good lord Lord Bo Tien 武天菩萨 with feet astride and atop yin and yang.
Will a beggar who begs for living and has no earned income be happy and at peace even if he has hoarded 100,000 dollars in the bank? Will the beggar be at peace living on others left over food, living in rags and sleeping on public parks with no shelter and no family?
Will a guru of light livelihood and responsibilities be more at peace than one with heavy responsibilities and jet life livelihood? Some say that gurus well acclaimed and well received all over the world exhibit peace and happiness even though they might shoulder heavy responsibilities and jet themselves all over the world. It is rare but possible though an uphill task.
Who is more likely to have inner peace? Of course, he is the guru with light livelihood and responsibilities as he is less attached. He leads simple life and tries to be effective in simple ways - never going overboard. But good gurus need to spread their wings around the world and they need resources. They often forgo the simple life to reach out to the world. The world is so blessed that there are such gurus.
The Buddha became what he was not because he was a prince but because he went for simplicity and a light and simple livelihood. His resources then did lie in his spirituality. He was well supported but he never took others support for granted. He would never indulge in their support.
He moved on from place to place and from people to people. He was frugal and never overtaxed the resources of supporters. He too practiced parsimony as way of life. He is the Buddha - the fully enlightened one.
Parsimony as way of life works for many but it is only a means to the end but not the end in itself. It is more difficult to succeed in life spiritually or otherwise without growing the parsimony virtue in us. Some will argue that parsimony has limitations but for now and for many it works.
Live within means and we will be richer and more at peace. To do so, do be simple in needs and wants. Want less and have more. Be simple and convergent and not be divergent and carried away.
But generally speaking, parsimony as way of life has its merits. We do not end up living on future earnings and good fate. We end up on positive note.
Even with a relatively meager income, we have more than enough earnings to save for future. The same applies to good deeds and store of merits.
We do not deplete our merits and resources. Our life will be more even and peaceful over the whole life span as we are backed by reserves of good fate and financial backing.
