Are you getting Richer?
Is your attention in your control?
Why does one vie for another’s attention?
Why do deeds, actions, activity turn into a race?
Sholka (Rig Veda 10.53.6)
अनुल्बणं वयत जोगुवामपो मनुर्भव जनया दैव्यं जनम् ॥
Meaning: Rig Veda suggests the humans who have taken birth on this planet should Weave the web of the sinless spontaneous men of word and vision in action. They should be a man (of Character, wisdom, and fortitude), and build up a community of enlightened people, human and close to divinity.
The Story
Many millennia back there was a rich Shreshthi (Businessman, Industry head). He had a large quantum of Wealth, still, his aim in life was to get richer and richer. He wanted to be the richest man on the planet.
His house was bigger than the king’s palace and he would boast about it to everyone he met. He would wear the finest silk and finest muslin and the most precious pearls and stones. His bed was made of Silver with a golden headboard.
Every person, every individual, every businessman he would meet, he would try and extract something out of them during the meeting, to enhance his wealth. Every minute his mind was only inclined in maximizing the dealings, thus multiplying his material wealth.
He would take enormous amounts of risks by lending to people who would not be able to borrow from anywhere else due to their background or reputation. He would bet on them, charging them exorbitant rates of interest and when they would not pay back due to bad intentions, he would use money and muscle power to take over their assets or make them his slave and eventually sell the slaves to others for gold. People who had the intention to repay back but not the resources will become bonded labour for him and continue to contribute to his business without charging a penny for life apart from basic food and clothing that he would give in return.
He would also travel miles across the globe selling precious muslin, cotton and spices and procuring Gold and valuable stones in return.
He also had several godowns and warehouses for which he would charge an exorbitant rate. With limited options, the small merchants had to use the facility and reconcile with the terms offered by the Shreshthi.
Shreshthi had one shortcoming. He could never tolerate any losses or setbacks. If any eventuality happened, he would blame and hold the person responsible who has been entrusted with the task with or without the fault of the designated person.
To keep people motivated, he would pay them a small share of the profits of the business he would earn from the respective businesses.
His multiple houses, his family and he would always be protected by a few paid guards who would surround him round the clock, as he was always scared of someone attacking him surreptitiously. He had more foes than friends and even those whom he believed were his friends were jealous of him, ready to pull him down, the very minute there was a slip in his fortunes.
During that era, there was no Internet, no capital markets, and no interconnected world to determine the valuations of businesses and business owners. The more gold, inestimable stones, cattle, and land one had determined how wealthy one is.
Ascertaining one’s wealth as compared to others was not simple, yet Shreshthi wanted to know if he is the richest man on the planet or if someone was richer than him. He asked a lot of sages and saints and every one replied that he is the richest person they have ever met. However, that didn’t satisfy him and his need to be anointed as the richest person was still unfulfilled.
One day, one of Shreshthi’s trusted courtiers, brought some good news for him. In a nearby town, he said, there is an old man who had magical powers and a magical mirror through which he can tell who is the richest person alive on the planet.
The desperate Shreshthi at once got ready and got his guards and courtiers to accompany him to meet the old man. Finally, his dream of a neutrally evaluated success and then publicizing that achievement is about to come true.
The Shreshthi’s convoy reached the old man’s makeshift house. He saw a huge serpentine line of commoners outside a shabby makeshift tent waiting for their turn to meet the old man. The old man’s reputation and glory of answering every question relating to one’s past, present and future was spread like wildfire.
Also, it was made clear by the old man that he would answer only three questions at a time and then the person can come back for the next three after a month if the old man is still there (The old man moved as per his wishes and not restrained by any person).
Worried that the old man may leave quickly, the Shreshthi along with his guards and gift (muscle & monetary) power went straight ahead in the queue.
After waiting for roughly twenty-five minutes, Shreshthi’s turn came. For a man who has never been idle even for a second, never waited for anyone and who won every transaction on his own terms, felt twenty-five minutes like twenty-five days of unproductivity.
Shreshthi was finally in front of the much-talked old man with a long beard, a white cloth around the shoulder and another white one wrapped around the waist.
Shreshthi, without wasting any time in pleasantries, jumped straight to the point.
Shreshthi with his usual habit attempted to negotiate and asked the old man if he could get 10 questions answered by paying an exorbitant amount.
The Old man shook his head with rejection.
Shreshthi was taken aback but he went on to ask, Who is the richest person on this planet?
The Old man replied, an old lady by the name of Gauri living in a village 350 km from here in the North East direction.
Shreshthi was left aghast with the answer but he composed himself and asked, what made her rich as compared to me.
The old man answered — She has her attention. She controls it and no one can take it without her will. Furthermore, she has invested her attention in a manner that gives her ANANDA (a state of bliss in perpetuity), and that can not be bought by any material thing that exists on this planet.
The three questions were over and Shreshthi realized that it was time for him to step out, his negotiations will not work with the old man.
Shreshthi, on his way back, was in deep thought (thinking about what the old man had said) and suddenly a messenger brought news to the Shreshthi that his house on the hills had caught fire due to the fault of the cook. His mind was now racing about the loss he had incurred and the punishment he had to give to the cook.
And life continued for Shreshthi with his endless chase of material things with him never getting richer.
The Human Web
There are several known, unknown, conscious, subconscious, subtle, explicit desires, pleas, and prayers of every human.
For the ones, who are single, wish to have a partner, for the ones who are married, wish to have children, for the ones who have children, wish to have obedient children, for the ones who have obedient children, wish to have independent children, for the ones who have independent children, wish to have caring ones and then grandchildren and expectation of them being nice and caring and the cycle continues.
Similarly, everyone seeks to have an improvement in their lifestyle, life status and quality of life.
The ones who don’t have a house, seek to buy one, the ones who have one, seek to buy a bigger one, the ones who have a reasonable-sized house, seek to move into a better neighbourhood, the ones who have a decent neighbourhood, seek to move into an independent house and the wheel continues to spin.
These are just two simple examples of human desires. These desires or wishes can come from every sphere, every stage, every occasion in respect of the business, to job, to salary, to promotion, to recognition, to designation, to position, to social status, to travel and the list is endless.
The social norms are such that humans spend their entire lives chasing dreams (in real terms pleasure, comfort, delectation) or paying EMIs, or working for Credit Card companies (paying off the bills).
One’s attention is never owned, controlled or regulated by oneself and is driven by two factors namely Gratification of Senses and Perception of Safety.
The human Mind in conjunction with the socio-economic ecosystem has created a double layered Web, one driven by Fear known as the Perceived Safety of the Future and the second propelled by Greed popularly called Gratification.
a. Perceived Safety — Every human thinks of first his or her present safety and collects things, property, and items for self, then thinks for offspring’s future, then for one’s own future and by the time one realizes that none of that matters as only values, culture and morals matter, it is too late.
b. Gratification — Humans desire a material thing, object or milestone and believe when they will get it, it will give them happiness. But once they get it, the happiness withers away in a minute or in a few minutes. The mind then desires the next and then the next and the list gets never-ending, diverting one’s attention to things that give moments of pleasure or joy but steal a lifetime.
Expert marketers know both these weaknesses and thus create a sense of Arousal attention towards these. The one who creates these concepts and advertisements, also becomes a victim of it, exactly the way a camel believes that thorns are tasty to eat and when the camel starts chewing the thorns, the blood oozes out. The blood that comes out of the wounded gums and jaws mixes with the thorns and the camel believes that’s the taste of the thorns and continues to relish it. The more it eats, the more it gets wounded and the more it relishes.
Even for the materially richest people, even after delegating the work, there emerges a sense of insecurity of losing control or getting irrelevant or possible mishaps in the business, or in work or in the profession and thus attention remains glued on, irrespective of the position, power, money.
On one hand, there is a psychology to control the people, the environment and the outcome and on the other hand, there is competition from the peer group and the need to look superior and better, forcing one to be in the rat race and own things that engulf one in the web of gratification even deeper.
Thus, Siddhartha Rastogi says, material things are essential but one has to draw a line of when and where to exit, else one may remain rich with that all materiality to be left behind and will get eroded and corroded over a period whilst life and expanse of attention one has been provided by Universe gets waned down without attaining any wisdom.
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