"A man in the crowd said to him, 'Master, tell my brother to divide the family property with me'. He replied, 'My good man, who set me over you to judge or arbitrate? Then he said to the people, 'Beware!. Be on your guard against greed of every kind, for even when a man has more than enough, his wealth does not give him life'" (Luke, 12: 13-15).
Life here means eternal life of which our present life is only a beginning and an occasion to promote our true welfare that would never end. However, we are usually overwhelmed by the compulsions of our physical life neglecting the source of our life, the soul. As a result, our whole concern is about improving our material and physical conditions of life ignoring our spiritual life that nourishes the soul. As both body and soul are united in ourselves as a unit, it is important to pay attention to both of them. Jesus reacted the way he did as the man in the episode was totally governed by greed, although his desire to resolve peacefully a dispute of inheritance was praiseworthy. He did not have any idea about the value of real life as exemplified by the parable of the rich man who was actually a pauper in the sight of God (Luke, 12:16-21).
Who is a pauper in the sight of God? As long as we live in this world of material things, there is a strong tendency to identify ourselves with the things and persons around us. We are drawn to them and are attached to them forgetting that our life has a greater dimension emanating from our soul. Even when we use our five physical senses like sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch, the power that enlivens them comes from our soul. It is the soul that is directly connected to God and getting immersed in material things and values exclusively, weakens or alienates the soul from Him. A weakened soul in the body is a pauper before God, while an alienated one is a sinner. Undue attachment to our body, material things, wealth, persons etc. is that which makes a person a pauper or a sinner before God. The solution to this problem is in true detachment (see our post on this topic) from everything and everybody even as we lead a normal life in the world.
Jesus went a step further and declared: "The man who loves himself is lost, but he who hates himself in this world will be kept safe for eternal life" (John, 12:25).What is the meaning of hating oneself? Living in this material world, we tend to lose sight of our wholeness and identify ourselves with parts of ourselves especially our bodily image forgetting the immense riches of our soul. What has to be hated, therefore, is ourselves governed solely by bodily impulses and material attractions relegating to the background the soul and its potentialities. Since the usual tendency of people is to follow the former rather than the latter, there was no need for Jesus to specify the distinction. In the same way we have to understand the demand of Jesus to hate one's father, mother, wife, children, brothers and sisters and one's own life by detaching oneself from undue attachment to them (Luke, 14:26). Jesus himself has upheld our obligation to look after our loved ones elsewhere (Mark, 7:9-13). The principle of losing one's life to save it is sometimes applicable even to save our present life as is seen in the case of Lot's wife (Luke, 17:32-33).
The conclusion is inescapable that our wealth does not guarantee life that is eternal as well as sometimes temporal too. The latter case is evident in running away from disaster as in the time of Lot when the attachment of Lot's wife to her old way of life forced her to turn back and take a last look. Similarly, in the event of floods, fire, earthquake etc., it would be foolishness to tarry in order to salvage our belongings on pain of losing our life itself. Losing our present life in the world is nothing in comparison to losing our eternal life. Jesus is insistent on the ways and means to gain our eternal life for which we should be ready to lose everything else. Wealth, power, fame, influence, popularity etc. give us the impression that we are well-equipped to enjoy life. This feeling is part of 'Maya' (illusion) or appearances far removed from reality. Reality will dawn on us when we give our soul the due place it deserves to be enlightened and strengthened by the Divine Spirit.
Life here means eternal life of which our present life is only a beginning and an occasion to promote our true welfare that would never end. However, we are usually overwhelmed by the compulsions of our physical life neglecting the source of our life, the soul. As a result, our whole concern is about improving our material and physical conditions of life ignoring our spiritual life that nourishes the soul. As both body and soul are united in ourselves as a unit, it is important to pay attention to both of them. Jesus reacted the way he did as the man in the episode was totally governed by greed, although his desire to resolve peacefully a dispute of inheritance was praiseworthy. He did not have any idea about the value of real life as exemplified by the parable of the rich man who was actually a pauper in the sight of God (Luke, 12:16-21).
Who is a pauper in the sight of God? As long as we live in this world of material things, there is a strong tendency to identify ourselves with the things and persons around us. We are drawn to them and are attached to them forgetting that our life has a greater dimension emanating from our soul. Even when we use our five physical senses like sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch, the power that enlivens them comes from our soul. It is the soul that is directly connected to God and getting immersed in material things and values exclusively, weakens or alienates the soul from Him. A weakened soul in the body is a pauper before God, while an alienated one is a sinner. Undue attachment to our body, material things, wealth, persons etc. is that which makes a person a pauper or a sinner before God. The solution to this problem is in true detachment (see our post on this topic) from everything and everybody even as we lead a normal life in the world.
Jesus went a step further and declared: "The man who loves himself is lost, but he who hates himself in this world will be kept safe for eternal life" (John, 12:25).What is the meaning of hating oneself? Living in this material world, we tend to lose sight of our wholeness and identify ourselves with parts of ourselves especially our bodily image forgetting the immense riches of our soul. What has to be hated, therefore, is ourselves governed solely by bodily impulses and material attractions relegating to the background the soul and its potentialities. Since the usual tendency of people is to follow the former rather than the latter, there was no need for Jesus to specify the distinction. In the same way we have to understand the demand of Jesus to hate one's father, mother, wife, children, brothers and sisters and one's own life by detaching oneself from undue attachment to them (Luke, 14:26). Jesus himself has upheld our obligation to look after our loved ones elsewhere (Mark, 7:9-13). The principle of losing one's life to save it is sometimes applicable even to save our present life as is seen in the case of Lot's wife (Luke, 17:32-33).
The conclusion is inescapable that our wealth does not guarantee life that is eternal as well as sometimes temporal too. The latter case is evident in running away from disaster as in the time of Lot when the attachment of Lot's wife to her old way of life forced her to turn back and take a last look. Similarly, in the event of floods, fire, earthquake etc., it would be foolishness to tarry in order to salvage our belongings on pain of losing our life itself. Losing our present life in the world is nothing in comparison to losing our eternal life. Jesus is insistent on the ways and means to gain our eternal life for which we should be ready to lose everything else. Wealth, power, fame, influence, popularity etc. give us the impression that we are well-equipped to enjoy life. This feeling is part of 'Maya' (illusion) or appearances far removed from reality. Reality will dawn on us when we give our soul the due place it deserves to be enlightened and strengthened by the Divine Spirit.
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