reviews [0] General Education [5]
Wealth Means Land, Cows and Grains
According to the Vedic Scriptures real wealth means to possess some land, cows and a store of grains. These things are practical. The land and the forests in conjunction with cows and food grains provide all the necessities of life.
The forests provide building materials for dwellings, honey, flowers, fruits and medicinal herbs and drugs.The rivers provide fresh drinking water and are a source of natural fertilizer and gems. Fertiliser is produced in the mountains and by the arrangement of nature the rivers flood the land periodically, thus replacing the lost nutrients in the soil.
Everything produced by the cow is valuable, even the stool and urine are pure and have practical uses (it has been scientifically proven that cow stool contains all antiseptic properties). Cow stool can be dried and used as fuel for cooking and heating. It burns very cleanly and produces the best type of flame for cooking. If cow stool is used in this way there is no need to cut down trees for fuel. When the cow dies of natural causes the leather can be used to manufacture shoes, musical instruments and so on.
If there are cows, land and a store of food grains we have everything needed for a comfortable life. Regardless of what is going on in the rest of the world the cows can be milked, the land can be cultivated with the assistance of the bulls and delicious foodstuffs can be prepared from the milk products and grains.
The businessman with a big bank balance and a factory producing nuts and bolts can't eat the nuts and bolts and at any moment his fortune in the bank can become worthless. In contrast the Plain Living and High Thinking farmer with cows, grains and land has real, practical wealth which will not be lost in times of economic crisis.
· Plain Living and High Thinking
It's strange that in our high-tech society, despite modern time-saving devices, it seems most people have little time to do anything except eat, sleep and work.
Many people spend the majority of their waking hours traveling too and from and working at a job they don't enjoy, simply to "pay the bills." If there is some spare time then "getting out of it" at the bar, watching television or taking one of the many "recreational" drugs seem to be high priority activities.
On a Plain Living and High Thinking farm community, there are no bills to pay, everything can be produced from the land at no cost. If there is some small requirement for money some excess produce can be sold at the marketplace.
If spiritual life is cultivated there will be no need for drugs or television and the residents of the community will be very peaceful and happy.
The simple lifestyle means we are engaged in work such as plowing the fields, milking the cows and so on for three to four hours a day, the remainder of the time is available to study the Scriptures and ponder the meaning of life.
Such farm communities would also provide the ideal place for artists, craftspersons, writers and musicians to work.
The purpose of human life, as revealed in the Vedic Scriptures is to enquire into the meaning of spirit, or to question why are we here, why am I suffering, what is the point of life? Unfortunately the modern hi-tech lifestyle doesn't allow time for these questions and the result is most people today are wasting their lives, simply trying to obtain more and more facilities for sense pleasure.
The Plain Living and High Thinking communities will provide an alternative lifestyle with ample time for enquiring into the meaning of life.
