December 2012 | Vol.

5, Issue 1 | A Monthly EJournal

December 2012 | Vol.5, Issue 1 | A Monthly EJournal

In this Issue
Reinventing Money
Editorial

The Nature of Money and Wealth Creation

A deeper perspective on the nature of wealth and the higher values of finance.

Productivity of Money
A holistic perspective.

Prosperity is about Energy Flow

A deeper approach to prosperity with practical tips.

Right Use of Money

How to use money in the right way for enhancing prosperity.

Money in Integral Yoga

The spiritual perspective.

The Higher Purpose of Money

The higher function of money in our planetary destiny.

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December 2012 | Vol.5, Issue 1 | A Monthly EJournal

December 2012 | Vol.5, Issue 1 | A Monthly EJournal

Reinventing Money
Editorial
Money is a symbol of wealth and an indispensable resource for the economic and material well-being of our individual and communal life. In the Indian Sanskrit terminology Wealth is called as Artha which also means, Instrument. But for what? In our modern age money has become mostly an instrument of our never ending greed. But ideally, money has to become an instrument for the fulfillment of our evolving needs, legitimate desires and higher aspiration. In other words the true aim or purpose of money is to create a material and economic environment which support our inner growth in consciousness and outer progress in life. Thus, neither greedy consumerism nor ascetic denial is the true attitude to money and wealth. We must understand the true nature of money with a deep insight and based on this understanding, figure-out what is the right use of money which can lead to the enrichment of our human life. The science of economics is supposed to tell us about the nature of money and wealth creation. But modern economics regards money as a purely material force with nothing deeper or higher beyond it. Here comes the importance of deeper insights of Indian seers, especially Sri Aurobindo and The Mother, on the subject. In this deeper perspective Money is in its essence a universal force of life or Nature. The notes and coins we use are only the visible and outer most material expression of a deeper, invisible and universal force of life. If we are able to understand intuitively the nature and law of this universal force behind money, and apply it to our management of money, it may perhaps lead to a more effective and a better utilisation of wealth.

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December 2012 | Vol.5, Issue 1 | A Monthly EJournal

December 2012 | Vol.5, Issue 1 | A Monthly EJournal

The Nature of Money and Wealth Creation

M.S. Srinivasan Money is not just a material entity. The material form of money is the outer expression of some deeper forces of universal and human Nature. For a truly efficient and productive creation of wealth, which leads to the enrichment of life, we have to understand the true nature of money and its implications for wealth creation. This article examines the process of wealth creation in the light of a deeper insight into the nature of money.

Key Perspectives
Circulating interchange; quality of economic life.

Circulating Interchange
The historians of money trace its roots to the barter system of interchange of goods and services by the producers. Later, with the advent of the middleman or intermediary between the producer and the consumer, came the currency note as a symbol and indicator for the value of the interchange. So the first character of money is interchange. And when we probe further and ask what is the deeper cause of this interchange we will hit upon one of the fundamental laws of life: interdependence. We are all part of an interacting, interdependent and interlinked unity of life. So no individual or collective human organism can be fully independent. Every human organism will have something, which others dont have, and lack something, which others possess, this creates the need for interchange. This constant and repeated interchange driven by this law of interdependence creates a circulating force in the vital life of humanity. Here comes the second character of money, circulation. A fluid force of circulating interchange is the essential nature of the money-force. Thus we can see that money is a universal force proceeding from a universal law of life.

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December 2012 | Vol.5, Issue 1 | A Monthly EJournal

Thus the essential nature of money is a fluid force of circulating interchange. More it circulates, more it grows. According to modern monetary theory, quantity of money in an economic system depends on the velocity of circulation of money. So for increasing the prosperity of a community the money-force should never remain frozen for too long; it should always remain liquid, in a state of constant flow and circulation. The concept of cash flow in financial management is very much in sync with the nature of money. Cash reserves of a company should be neither too high nor too low and must be always in a state of flow and never be static or frozen. The most important part of this circulation or flow is spending. The money force has to be always in a state of generous spending to create wealth for the society. As the Mother of Sri Aurobindo Ashram points out, that the money-force is alive only when it circulates. If you want to keep it up, it decays. It is as if you wanted to enclose water in a vase to keep it always, after sometime your water would be absolutely putrefied. With money it is the same and therefore the first thing to do when one has money is to give it and money is valuable only when one has spent it. This doesnt mean saving or holding cash reserve has to be neglected. But the main emphasis has to be on generous spending to create wealth for the society with a certain rhythms or balance between saving, spending, receiving, holding, production, creation, profit and recycling or in other words a rhythmic liquidity. A free and large and generous spending and receiving, constantly ploughing back the return and profit for a progressive increase in the productivity, richness and well-being of the material life with an intuitive understanding of the right rhythm between the various functions, facets and stages of the flow and process of the money-force this is the mentality or attitude which leads to a progressive prosperity. In a psychological perspective, money is an instrument for the satisfaction of human need or desire. No one seeks money, except a few foolish misers, for its own sake. We seek money because it fulfills some human need or desire. The nature of this need or desire changes as we progress in the path of human evolution. In the early stages of human development when we are predominantly physical beings we seek for the basic needs of our body like food, clothing, shelter, survival. When these basic needs are reasonably satisfied we seek for a better enjoyment of life or a more efficient and productive utilization of life or for power and mastery over life. As we progress further, and grow in our mental, moral and spiritual development we seek for knowledge, values, and ideals or for some form of inner fulfillment. We use money as an instrument for the fulfillment of these evolving needs or desire for enjoyment, efficiency, productivity, power, mastery, knowledge or inner fulfillment.

The Quality of Economic Life

Thus, Money or the financial force has three dimensions. First is the material dimension, which is the currency note or dollar; second is the vital dimension, which is the circulating force, created by the interchange of goods and services; third is the psychological dimension made of desire for fulfillment. In a quantitative sense, the velocity of circulation of the vital force behind money is an important factor in the prosperity of a community. The more it circulates, and faster, the more it grows. But for a balanced prosperity it must be a productive circulation which adds tangible wealth to the community or fulfill legitimate human needs and not a speculative circulation which fills the pockets of a few financial manipulators.

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December 2012 | Vol.5, Issue 1 | A Monthly EJournal

In a qualitative perspective, the nature of the economic life of a community depends mainly on the psychological dimension, which means the nature of the needs, desires and motives of people. When the needs are predominantly physical, as in most of the tribal communities the economy is simple and primitive. If the desires are mainly material or sensuous enjoyment and the driving motives are the greed for wealth, power, enjoyment or self-interest of individual and collective ego, the quality of the economic life still remains gross, though less primitive and simple. If the technological and pragmatic mind of the community is well-developed, the economy may be more efficient and productive, but if the desires and motives of people are material, sensuous and exclusively centered around the competitive self-interest and greed of the individual and collective ego of the vital being in man, then it will not lead to any qualitative improvement in the economic life; it will also be subjected to all the turmoil, turbulence and instability of this part of our human nature, full of scams, meltdown, depressions, swings in sentiments leading to irrational booms and busts in the stock-market. The economy acquires stability, balance and qualitative upliftment only when it is regulated and governed by the higher mental, moral, aesthetic and spiritual nature in us, which seeks for truth, beauty, harmony and goodness. However, these universal values of the higher self in us have to take a form which is appropriate to the unique and intrinsic nature of the economic life of the community. The seeking for truth will take the form of greater honesty, transparency and integrity in all financial transactions. The other aspect of truth is to seek for the deepest, highest and the holistic truth, law and purpose of business, commerce and finance and regulate the economic life according to this greater and truer knowledge. The quest for beauty and harmony must lead to a more beautiful and harmonious equipment and organization of the material and economic life of the society and a more balanced financial system. The aspiration for goodness will manifest itself as a generous flow of funds to the task of eradication of poverty and inequality, creating social capital, ecological sustainability and to all activities which lead to the mental, moral, aesthetic and spiritual growth of the individual or the collectivity.

The author is a Research Associate at Sri Aurobindo Society and on the editorial board of Fourth Dimension Inc. His major areas of interest are Management and Indian Culture.

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December 2012 | Vol.5, Issue 1 | A Monthly EJournal

December 2012 | Vol.5, Issue 1 | A Monthly EJournal

Productivity of Money
Nivas
In our previous article, we have discussed briefly some of the higher values of finance. But values are only one aspect of the right use of money. The other more pragmatic aspect is efficiency and productivity of money. This article looks at this subject in a deeper and more holistic perspective than the technical definitions used in modern accounting and finance. Higher values are only one aspect of the right use of money. The other aspect is efficiency and productivity. We have said that money is a force of circulating interchange. The quantity, frequency and velocity of this circulation or interchange is an important factor behind the prosperity of a community. But for a healthy and balanced prosperity or economy it must be a circulation, which leads to a tangible enrichment of the human, and terrestrial life in terms of efficiency productivity, quality, assets or well-being and not an unproductive circulation driven by speculative trading. As many experts pointed out, one of the main causes of the present financial crisis is that speculative trading of the casino economy has overwhelmed the real economy, which produces tangible goods and services. So, efficiency and productivity, which lead to tangible prosperity or enrichment of life, have to be some of the core values of finance. Money is a vital force and energy and has to be used with as much efficiency and productivity as physical energies and resources like coal, oil or electricity. We need not exactly follow the technical definitions of efficiency or productivity in the specialized engineering or accountancy literature. For our purpose we may define efficiency as minimizing waste and maximizing return. Productivity of money may be viewed in terms of fulfillment of human needs and value-addition. Minimum waste means money-force is used optimally with a focused flow towards the intended purpose and priorities, which enriches life without scattering and diversion into unproductive activities. The other important part of efficiency is simplicity. The financial system as a whole like for example instruments, process and the tax structure has to be made as much simple as possible. This applies especially to financial instruments, which have to be simple and easy to understand and use even for the common man.

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December 2012 | Vol.5, Issue 1 | A Monthly EJournal

The main purpose of financial instruments has to be to ensure a smooth, fast, productive and widespread circulation of the money force throughout the society. But, if the financial instrument becomes too highly sophisticated and complex which only the expert can understand and use, then it tends to concentrate wealth in a few clever and nimble financial manipulators with expert knowledge like hedge managers. Such complexity and sophistication of instrument may be to a certain extend unavoidable in a global, interconnected and fast-moving financial network. However, the creative brains in finance also have to think out how to simplify the system and innovate instruments or process, which lead to a more equitable economic order. In a deeper perspective this equity is part of efficiency because an economic system in which wealth accumulates more and more in the pockets of a few unproductive speculators and manipulators cannot be considered as efficient. A truly efficient financial system or economic order encourages and rewards honest, hardworking, productive and innovative creators and the generous distributors of wealth; it discourages and ultimately weeds out those who try to make easy money through dishonest trickery, manipulation or unproductive speculation. As Juan Samavia, Director-General of International Labour Organization, writing on the meltdown states, we have to come back to the basic legitimate function of finance which is to promote the real economy - to lend so that entrepreneurs can invest, innovate, produce jobs and products and create public policies and smart regulation that rewards hard work and enterprise once again. Productivity of money may be viewed in terms of two factors: effective fulfillment of human needs and progressive value-addition to the human and terrestrial life. Fulfillment of human needs means the satisfaction of the basic needs of the body and also the legitimate needs of the mind, heart, life and soul, as they raise in the course of human evolution. We have briefly discussed these evolving human needs earlier. The other aspect of productivity is value-addition or enrichment. There are eight major domains of investment, which can lead to quantitative as well as qualitative enrichment of human life. They are: 1. 2. 3. 4. Investment in fixed assets or infrastructure like building, machinery, roads, real estate, power. Investment in working capital for the production of goods and services of various kinds. Investment in quantitative expansion of the first two, which means expansion and diversification. Investment in new technology, systems, practices or research and development, which lead to a more efficient, productive or cost-efficient utilization of available resources, or which leads to an altogether new product or service. 5. Investment in human capital in the form of salary or education and training of people for knowledgeenhancement, employability, entrepreneurship or skill-development; rewarding hard work, creativity, innovation, achievement and enterprise; incentives for motivation and for acquiring and retaining talent. 6. 7. 8. Investment in social capital like for example creating employment opportunities, poverty-alleviation, healthcare. Investment for enhancing the ecological sustainability of our planet. Investments in education, motivation, communication, dissemination, implementation of or organization of higher values and ideals which lead to the mental, moral, aesthetic and spiritual development of humanity.

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December 2012 | Vol.5, Issue 1 | A Monthly EJournal

The last three belong to the moral or philanthropic dimension of finance. The management or government of each organization, community or nation has to find the right mix of priorities for funding among these eight domains of enrichment depending on the nature and the evolutionary needs or stage of development of the group.

The author is a student and practitioner in the path of integral yoga.

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December 2012 | Vol.5, Issue 1 | A Monthly EJournal

December 2012 | Vol.5, Issue 1 | A Monthly EJournal

Prosperity is about Energy Flow

Joan Sotkin The word prosperity often elicits thoughts of wealth and abundance on a material level. But real and lasting prosperity goes much deeper than our bank accounts. Prosperity is as much about whom we are and the personal energy that we generate as it is about our net worth.
Truly prosperous people have a zest for life, faith in their ability to provide for themselves and their families, and a willingness to take some risks. Prosperous people often experience good physical health, emotional stability, inner peace, have many healthy relationships, and feel connected to a greater reality. Money alone cannot provide these things. High-net-worth people can be afraid of losing what they have, share their wealth grudgingly, deal with multiple physical or mental health problems, have trouble maintaining loving relationships, and trust very few people. They might be wealthy, but they arent prosperous. Therefore prosperity is not about money. Its more about your personal energy - what you feel and how you interact with your environment. Clear, focused energy that flows freely is more likely to create positive, enjoyable results than muddled, scattered energy characterized by struggles and blockages.

Everything is Energy
The entire physical universe is made up of energy in different forms. Our body/minds are powered by energy and emit enough energy to create an electromagnetic field around us that can be measured and experienced by others. This energy that flows through us helps to define the quality of our lives and the nature our physical, emotional, spiritual, and financial experiences. Unrestricted energy flow equals positive experiences. Thats the bottom line.

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December 2012 | Vol.5, Issue 1 | A Monthly EJournal

Therefore in attempting to create prosperity for yourself, adjusting the energy flow through your life can lead to surprisingly satisfying results, physically, emotionally, spiritually, and financially.

The Energy You Can Adjust

There are many ways you can adjust and increase your personal energy flow. For example, you can 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Improve the quality and regulate the quantity of food you eat - fresh whole foods grown by small, local producers has very different energy than highly processed foods created by huge conglomerates. Reduce the amount of clutter that prevents energy from flowing freely through your home and office. Blocked energy flow leads to blocked cash flow. Keep your home, office, and car clean and in good repair. Surround yourself with things that stimulate positive thoughts and memories. Get rid of things that stimulate unpleasant memories. Interact with positive, satisfied people who dont complain and gossip. Manage your cash flow by keeping track of your money and making conscious financial decisions. Develop positive inner habits, including thoughts, beliefs, emotions, expectations, and behaviours that are expansive and supportive of who you are today and who you would like to become. Exercise and move your body to stimulate your physical energy systems.

If you were to make one small change from one or more of these areas every day, you can be sure that within nine months to a year you will be in a much more comfortable financial position than you are in now. However, because who you are now and the energy you generate is habitual, altering your energy flow will require a deep commitment and a willingness to overcome your resistance to change. My book, Build Your Money Muscles, is filled with ideas and techniques for working through your resistance while recognizing and altering the habitual thoughts, beliefs, emotions, and behaviours that keep you stuck where you are financially. Following the simple instructions in this book can move you into a new and improved energy flow. Courtesy: Prosperity Place

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December 2012 | Vol.5, Issue 1 | A Monthly EJournal

December 2012 | Vol.5, Issue 1 | A Monthly EJournal

Right Use of Money

Sri Aurobindo & The Mother The key to effective use of money lies in right giving and proper circulation with an intuitive understanding of the rhythms of the vital force behind it.
Money is not meant to make money. This idea that money must make money is a falsehood and a perversion. Money is meant to increase the wealth, the prosperity and the productiveness of a group, a country or, better, of the whole earth. Money is a means, a force, a power, and not an end in itself. And like all forces and all powers, it is by movement and circulation that it grows and increases its power, not by accumulation and stagnation. *** So the first thing to do when one has money is to give it. But as it is said that it should not be given without discernment, dont go and give it like those who practise philanthropy, because that fills them with a sense of their own goodness, their generosity and their own importance. You must act in a sattwic way, that is, make the best possible use of it. And so, each one must find in his highest consciousness what the best possible use of the money he has can be. And truly money has no value unless it circulates. For each and every one, money is valuable only when one has spent it. If one doesnt spend it... I tell you, men take care to choose things which do not deteriorate, that is, gold - which does not decompose. Otherwise, from the moral point of view it rots. And now that gold has been replaced by paper, if you keep paper for a long time without taking care of it, you will see when you open your drawer that there are small silver-fish which have regaled themselves on your paper-rupees. So they will have left a lace-work which the bank will refuse. Wealth is a force - I have already told you this once - a force of Nature; and it should be a means of circulation, a power in movement, as flowing water is a power in movement. It is something which can serve to produce, to organise. It is a convenient means, because in fact it is only a means of making things circulate fully and freely.

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December 2012 | Vol.5, Issue 1 | A Monthly EJournal

This force should be in the hands of those who know how to make the best possible use of it, that is, as I said at the beginning, people who have abolished in themselves or in some way or other got rid of every personal desire and every attachment. To this should be added a vision vast enough to understand the needs of the earth, knowledge complete enough to know how to organise all these needs and use this force by these means. If, besides this, these beings have a higher spiritual knowledge, then they can utilize this force to construct gradually upon the earth what will be capable of manifesting the divine Power, Force and Grace. And then this power of money, wealth, this financial force, of which I just said that it was like a curse, would become a supreme blessing for the good of all. *** The true method of being in the stream of this money-power is precisely what is written here: a sense of absolute impersonality, the feeling that it is not something you possess or which belongs to you, but that it is a force you can handle and direct where it ought to go in order to do the most useful work. And by these movements, by this constant action, the power increases - the power of attraction, a certain power of organisation also. That is to say, even somebody who has no physical means, who is not in those material circumstances where he could materially handle money, if he is in possession of this force, he can make it act, make it circulate, and if ever he finds it necessary, receives from it as much power as he needs without there being externally any sign or any reason why the money should come to him. He may be in conditions which are absolutely the very opposite of those of usual wealth, and yet can handle this force and always have at his disposal all the wealth thats necessary to carry on his work. One must have the power to accumulate in order to have the power of spreading. If you have only one of the two, that causes an imbalance. And it is then that it becomes avarice or wastage. One must have both in a balanced, rhythmic movement - the equilibrium we just spoke about. For it would be quite easy to prove that in fact at present equilibrium is the true thing: one must be neither here nor there, that is what Buddha called the middle path. The middle path is the path of equilibrium. And so one must know how to manage as when rope-walking with a stick to keep ones balance. But the most generous man in the world could give nothing if he had nothing to begin with. Hence, if it is not he who has accumulated, it is someone else who has accumulated for him. But if he has nothing in his pocket, he cannot distribute anything! That is evident. And the power of accumulation is as important as the power of distribution. It is only when these two things become egoistic that they are deformed, altogether deformed, and lose all their value. *** You have really to follow a certain rhythm of the money-power, the rhythm that brings in and the one that throws out money. Money is given to you in the beginning; then, you have to deserve it. You have to prove that you do not waste it. If you waste it, then you lose your right to it.

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December 2012 | Vol.5, Issue 1 | A Monthly EJournal

December 2012 | Vol.5, Issue 1 | A Monthly EJournal

Money in Integral Yoga

Sri Aurobindo How to use money with a spiritual attitude, which can lead to inner growth.
You must neither turn with an ascetic shrinking from the money power, the means it gives and the objects it brings, nor cherish a rajasic attachment to them or a spirit of enslaving self-indulgence in their gratifications. Regard wealth simply as a power to be won back for the Mother and placed at her service. All wealth belongs to the Divine and those who hold it are trustees, not possessors. It is with them today, tomorrow it may be elsewhere. All depends on the way they discharge their trust while it is with them, in what spirit, with what consciousness in their use of it, to what purpose. In your personal use of money look on all you have or get or bring as the Mothers. Make no demand but accept what you receive from her and use it for the purposes for which it is given to you. Be entirely selfless, entirely scrupulous, exact, careful in detail, a good trustee; always consider that it is her possessions and not your own that you are handling. On the other hand, what you receive for her, lay religiously before her; turn nothing to your own or anybody elses purpose. Do not look up to men because of their riches or allow yourself to be impressed by the show, the power or the influence. When you ask for the Mother, you must feel that it is she who is demanding through you a very little of what belongs to her and the man from whom you ask will be judged by his response. If you are free from the money-taint but without any ascetic withdrawal, you will have a greater power to command the money-force for the divine work. Equality of mind, absence of demand and the full dedication of all you possess and receive and all your power of acquisition to the Divine Shakti and her work are the signs of this freedom. Any perturbation of mind with regard to money and its use, any claim, any grudging is a sure index of some imperfection or bondage.

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December 2012 | Vol.5, Issue 1 | A Monthly EJournal

The ideal Sadhaka in this kind is one who if required to live poorly can so live and no sense of want will affect him or interfere with the full inner play of the divine consciousness, and if he is required to live richly, can so live and never for a moment fall into desire or attachment to his wealth or to the things that he uses or servitude to selfindulgence or a weak bondage to the habits that the possession of riches creates. The divine Will is all for him and the divine Ananda. In the supramental creation the money-force has to be restored to the Divine Power and used for a true and beautiful and harmonious equipment and ordering of a new divinized vital and physical existence in whatever way the Divine Mother herself decides in her creative vision. But first it must be conquered back for her and those will be strongest for the conquest who are in this part of their nature strong and large and free from ego and surrendered without any claim or withholding or hesitation, pure and powerful channels for the Supreme Puissance.

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December 2012 | Vol.5, Issue 1 | A Monthly EJournal

December 2012 | Vol.5, Issue 1 | A Monthly EJournal

The Higher Purpose of Money

The Mother The role of money is to create the right material environment for the evolution of consciousness.
Money belongs to the one who spends it; that is an absolute law. You may pile up money, but it doesnt belong to you until you spend it. Then you have the merit, the glory, the joy, the pleasure of spending it! Money is meant to circulate. What should remain constant is the progressive movement of an increase in the earths production - an ever-expanding progressive movement to increase the earths production and improve existence on earth. It is the material improvement of terrestrial life and the growth of the earths production that must go on expanding, enlarging, and not this silly paper or this inert metal that is amassed and lifeless. Money is not meant to generate money; money should generate an increase in production, an improvement in the conditions of life and a progress in human consciousness. This is its true use. What I call an improvement in consciousness, a progress in consciousness, is everything that education in all its forms can provide - not as its generally understood, but as we understand it here: education in art, education in... from the education of the body, from the most material progress, to the spiritual education and progress through yoga; the whole spectrum, everything that leads humanity towards its future realization. Money should serve to augment that and to augment the material base for the earths progress, the best use of what the earth can give - its intelligent utilization, not the utilization that wastes and loses energies, the use that allows energies to be replenished. In the universe there is an inexhaustible source of energy that asks only to be replenished; if you know how to go about it, it is replenished. Instead of draining life and the energies of our earth and making of it something parched and inert, we must know the practical exercise for replenishing the energy constantly... But instead of using it to satisfy human passions, instead of using what science has found so that men may destroy each other more effectively than they are presently doing, it must be used to enrich the earth: to make the earth richer and richer, more active, generous, productive and to make all life grow towards its maximum efficiency. This is the true use of money. And if its not used like that, its a vice - a shortcircuit and a vice.

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