The principle of living with purpose is abstaining from all forms of theft. It is a sign of true self-reliance when all forms of stealing vanish from your mind. The joy of unconditional love and honesty will build your self-esteem to the point that the idea of needing something from someone else in order to be happy becomes ludicrous. Thoughts of shoplifting, plagiarism, and seducing the affection of others completely disappear from your awareness.
When you realize that the possessions of others - physical and nonphysical - neither fulfill nor threaten your happiness or perfection, then you have attained mastery over this third principle. With this mastery also comes the source of true wealth. The ancient yoga texts strongly emphasize the importance of non-stealing.
They say that as long as we have the tendency to misuse or clutch things that are not ours, we remain ordinary and abide by the regular rules of nature.
But when we rise above these tendencies, we gain freedom from the ordinary rules of life. The greatest wealth we can attain is a happy mind and a healthy body. The ancient texts declare that true wealth kisses the feet of those who no longer desperately misuse, hoard or grasp the objects of the world.
Swami Rama used a bottle of shampoo to teach me this principle. Karen and I had the habit of bringing home shampoo bottles from hotels with the goal of donating them to our local women's shelter. Over time, my generosity spread further than the bounds of the local shelter as I started to maintain a small collection of shampoo in my suitcase.
Instead of giving the bottles away, I started secretly hoarding a small bounty for no known reason. At some level I was afraid that the next hotel would not supply enough cleanser for my balding head. What woke me up was Swamiji's comment about how hoarding anything at the personal level maintains the myth of scarcity.
He spoke of trusting that what you need will be there - this can become a selffulfi lling prophecy. It creates an attraction to solutions and discourages worry from entering your mind.
His words had caught me red-handed, and with a blushed-face my behavior instantly changed. This tiny adjustment in my hotel etiquette drastically decreased my newly-discovered feelings of vulnerability and scarcity.
Until Swamiji pointed this out to me, my behaviors were subconscious and unfounded. No longer feeling fearful of shortages on my journey through life has increased my sense of trust in the world and the trust that what I need will be provided. I have never been disappointed.
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