By Sant Kirpal Singh, excerpts from “The Teachings of Kirpal Singh”, Vol. II, page 70 – 71
So the general rule is to earn your own livelihood honestly, in which nobody’s blood is squeezed, in which undue things have not been usurped by you. God sees what you are doing.
The other rule is that your earnings should be to maintain yourselves, and share with others. Some part of your earnings must be given away for the good of others.
History shows that one tenth of their income used to be given away by the old Christians, Hindus and others.
Why? Because some part of our income might be due to our not having done our duty very honestly, even for half an hour or ten minutes.
Suppose for example, you are paid for six hours work and you have not put in six hours for the job but have wasted half an hour. So whatever you have been paid for in that half hour is not yours. It has not been earned by you. This has been the custom with all Masters.
But offerings should be free and voluntary and should not be inspired by any thought of reward or be the outcome of impositions from without, for then, instead of being a source of liberation, they become the source of bondage.
Again, charity should not be misplaced but it should be given to alleviate the sufferings of the distressed in the world.
The noblest service one can render in this world is to help people tread on their way to their true eternal home. No financial service would be too great for assisting such a noble cause. But it should always be loving and spontaneous. No compulsion, no taxation, no impositions.
So the Guru will love His disciples, because it is He who has given birth to them in the inner way. As He loves us, so should we love all. He won’t let anybody suffer and you should not let anybody suffer.
You must share with others. Unless the riches secured by fair means are utilized wisely and well, one is likely to go astray and become egocentric and a slave to his ill-gotten wealth and is unknowingly caught in the golden chains that keep him in bondage.
So by giving away, you don’t lose. At the end of the year, you will see that money has been saved in some other way, by freedom from sickness or any other troubles that arise generally and which involve expenditure.
Our Master used to say, “All right, you give away one tenth and at the end of the year just count. The very money you have given has been saved where you had no sickness.”
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