An upper limit to salary? || Acharya Prashant, with IIT Ropar (2022)

Acharya Prashant

‍♂️ Want to meet Acharya Prashant? Be a part of the Live Sessions: https://acharyaprashant.org/hi/enquir...   Want to read Acharya Prashant's Books? Get Free Delivery: https://acharyaprashant.org/en/books?...   Read 3 handpicked wisdom articles, just for you: https://acharyaprashant.org/en/articl... ➖➖➖➖➖➖  Video Information: 16.05.2022, IIT-Ropar, Greater Noida, U.P.  Context:  What Is a Salary Range and How Do Employers Use It? What is the maximum salary of an employee? What are your salary expectations? Can one bring good money by doing the right work? What is right work to do?  Music Credits: Milind Date  ~~~~~

Transcript

00:00Good Afternoon Sir. Sir, I have two questions. So, the first one is that just like there

00:14is a concept of minimum wage, do you believe that there should be a concept of maximum

00:19wealth because the riches of our society are just like black holes sucking all the resources

00:24from the society though they seem to be ethically and legally correct at the end of the day.

00:29The large heaps of wealth make no sense to me when I see the tremendous poverty rampant

00:35in our society. Right. Just as it is wonderful to have a minimum wage, the corresponding

00:51idea should not be maximum wage but proportional resources. Now, we will go into that. Proportional

01:02resources. When you say maximum wage, what you mean is that there ought to be an upper

01:07limit on how much wealth a single individual can own. Right. No, there can be a better

01:17idea. The idea is proportional resources. Resources proportional to what? Proportional

01:30to the importance of work that you are doing. This would be the Vedantic view on that. This

01:43would be the right deep and informed view on wealth distribution or income distribution.

01:57You see, who am I? Who are you? And what do we therefore want? We are conscious beings.

02:10Right. Obviously. So, we are consciousness and what do we want? We want this consciousness

02:19to rise, to be higher, to be better and to be more free. If that's what we want, what

02:31do we require? We require resources because for whatever you want to do as an embodied

02:40being you require resources of all kinds and that's the only proper use of resources. Elevation

02:53of human consciousness. There is no other right use of resources. Resources are not

03:02meant to just entertain you, feed you, fatten you, comfort you, keep you secure. No. That's

03:13an improper and if not improper then a very secondary use of resources. Right. The right

03:22use of money or any other kind of resources, it has to be used towards the elevation of

03:28one's consciousness. When I say one's consciousness, I mean entire mankind. Right. So, how much

03:38money should you have? It should be proportional to your intention to use it in the right direction.

03:47If you are using your money towards the elevation of your consciousness and social consciousness

03:53and global consciousness, if you are using it towards the right reasons, if your objectives

04:02are correct and pure, then there should be no upper limit to the funds that should flow

04:09to you. Whereas if you intend to consume wealth just for personal gratiation, then

04:21you do not deserve even a penny. Maybe all that you deserve is the minimum wage lower

04:26limit. Yes, there ought to be a lower limit to how much a person gets because the body

04:38just for its basic sustenance requires certain resources. So, that much everybody is entitled

04:45to and that much should be assured to everybody. So, the lower limit should definitely be there.

04:58But beyond the lower limit, the law of proportional entitlement should come into play. How to

05:07do that? That's another question. Even if it is difficult to devise a method or a formula,

05:16we have to try because it's a very worthy goal. Once resources, money, power, reach

05:30start coming to the right people, the face of this earth will change in no time. The

05:37entire problem today is that very, very undeserving people are holding billions and trillions

05:46of dollars, whereas the right causes are suffering for want of resources. This discrepancy has

05:58to be corrected and there is no way to correct it than by applying the law of proportional

06:08entitlement. The question has to be, if you have money, what are you going to use it for?

06:18That has to be the question. Private property is just not a private concern because the way

06:29one uses money affects the society in a huge way. So, it is not a personal matter at all. In fact,

06:40even the fact of the name of the person who has money affects society in a big way. What if you

06:50know that a scoundrel is a greatly rich person? What impact does that have on everybody who has

07:03this knowledge? A youngster knows that a rascal has a billion dollars. What are you now pushing

07:19that youngster to become? Another rascal, no? So, money is not just a private matter. And remember,

07:32money can move a lot. Money has a lot of power, it moves things. If money is in the wrong hands,

07:40you know the kind of things it will move and in the direction it will move. Therefore,

07:52the very concept of private property has to be re-examined in the light of consciousness,

08:02in the light of the basic human requirement. When we do not know who we are, then we come

08:14up with such shallow concepts like private property. But once you require that, once you

08:23know that you are not just the body, but actually a suffering consciousness within, then you know

08:31that consciousness has no direct use for money. The body may have some use for money. Well,

08:38you can eat food, you can buy clothes, you can buy a house. All that is mostly for the body.

08:44But it's not money that the consciousness requires. It requires something else. It

08:52requires understanding and it requires liberation. Money cannot get you that, not at least directly.

08:58Therefore, money has to be used as a right resource, not as an end, but as a medium.

09:08The end is liberation. If liberation is the end and if we all need to be liberated,

09:17then money has to go to places that are aiding, facilitating liberation. Are you getting it?

09:29Now, in the light of this discussion, look at the world. Look at the points that command money.

09:39Look at the ideologies that govern money, the corporations that are the richest,

09:49the individuals with the highest net worths. Think of them and ask yourself, if these are

10:01the people and the powers and the governments and organizations that are ruling money,

10:10what are they doing to mankind with the money that they are ruling? Because money is a great

10:21power in the material sense. Who should have that power? A dimwit who does not know whether

10:41he is speaking from his brain or his hormones, his intellect, his consciousness or just his

10:54instincts, animal instincts. Should this kind of a person be allowed to have tremendous money?

11:02Remember, it's not his personal matter. We need to reiterate that. It's not his personal matter.

11:11It affects all of us. With that money, he will definitely do things that push all of us deeper

11:20into darkness and ignorance. So, why should he be allowed to have that much money? Are you getting it?

11:32Only truth should have power.

11:40Sir, like this you are saying that money possesses a lot of power and the way the rich people use

11:54money basically makes a blueprint in the youth of this generation that what they will do if

12:03there was storage and eventually in the progress of life, they intend to go towards that direction.

12:12You see, you have billions of dollars and you very well know that if you wipe out a jungle,

12:20you will get access to a lot of mineral resources that lie in the soil beneath the trees.

12:27With your billions, you can buy out a government and then you can buy out the jungle as well

12:38and wipe it clean from existence. Now, that's what money can do.

12:45That's what money can do and that's what money is doing.

12:54So, should money be allowed to stay with those whose levels of consciousness are pretty dim?

13:06Sir, I just have one small question. Like the westerners are showing an increasing interest

13:12in Indian culture, owning to its roots with spirituality but the young, even the older

13:17Indian generation is showing an increasing drift towards the western world. Talking about Indian

13:23culture, it has been restricted to rituals and ceremonies. The holy places have become

13:29a destination of mere travel and enjoyment. Nobody talks about the lost spirituality.

13:35What are your views on it?

13:38That's what, you know, unless you bring out the real spirit of religion,

13:48that is spirituality enshrined in Vedanta, why will people listen to you?

13:54The west over the last few decades has leaned towards spirituality because

14:04it is picking up only the pure spiritual part of religion.

14:12When westerners come to India, do they come to participate in our hollow rituals?

14:16No, they don't. When you talk of the Indic impact on the west, what is it that the west

14:28values and is influenced by? It is Advaith, non-duality, nothing else.

14:35The west, the intellectuals, don't give a damn about all the superstitions and beliefs and nonsense

14:44that we carry in the name of Hindu religion. They are not bothered.

14:54To the extent the

14:57west respects Hindu religion, it is because of Vedanta. All else, they are not interested in.

15:07All else, they know as hogwash. They'll not come here to enjoy the Vedanta.

15:22Here, to enjoy crackers with you.

15:32They'll not come here to participate in our superstitions

15:42and senseless beliefs.

15:43And that's exactly what the young generation is also saying. It is saying we will not participate

15:50in the old nonsense. But if you can bring Vedanta to them, they will be interested,

16:01just as the westerners are interested. And that's the only way

16:08the Hindu religion is going to move ahead.

16:17If the Sanatan stream has to have a future, that future lies in Vedanta.

16:22All else will very soon become the debris of time.

16:28Science and critical thinking will not allow our useless beliefs and traditions to carry on.

16:42The new generation has effectively already jettisoned religion.

16:50Because the form of religion that has been displayed to them is actually worthy of being jettisoned.

17:04Most young people today do not want to have anything to do with religion.

17:098 out of 10, I would say, or 9 out of 10. And the remaining ones who still talk of religion

17:21are the ones who believe in archaic values and are with religion.

17:29Who still talk of religion are the ones who believe in archaic values

17:38and are with religion for the sake of personal aggrandizement.

17:48The ones who chant slogans on the streets

17:52and raise a big hue and cry and troll people.

17:56In the name of religion.

18:02So you are seeing these two parallel trends. One, the big majority of the young population

18:12is clearly

18:16veening away.

18:18Veening away.

18:23And the ones who are remaining with religion are remaining as bigots.

18:35Deluded zealots who know nothing of religion and yet keep shouting religious slogans

18:48in a belligerent way.

18:53For them, religion is something that you feed to your ego so that it becomes bigger.

19:04The only way, therefore, to

19:08keep youngsters in the religious fold is by introducing Vedanta to them.

19:13And that is not about keeping Vedanta alive. That's about keeping those youngsters alive.

19:23Every single conscious being needs Vedanta.

19:30You're not even a proper human being

19:35if nobody has brought to you even the idea

19:40that the mind is a conditioned thing and there is freedom beyond the mind.

19:50If you do not know of your own conditioning, then you are an animal

19:55driven by just the biological instincts and the mind.

20:01The biological instincts and desires.

20:08So all youngsters, not only Indian, not only Hindu, all youngsters need Vedanta.

20:20And a great mission is needed.

20:23A great demonstration of collective energy is needed.

20:40So just the last question, if you permit.

20:42Yes.

20:44I just wanted to ask that, do you have any Guru?

20:48How will I survive if I don't have a Guru?

20:51How will I speak if I don't have a Guru?

20:54It is the Guru who talks through me.

21:01I was dead long back.

21:02You mean a living Guru?

21:04A living Guru.

21:05Only the Guru is living.

21:07I said I was dead long back.

21:10Would you like to tell us a little bit about yourself and your Guru?

21:14I was dead long back.

21:17Would you like to tell us who is he?

21:21The one who is talking.

21:26Who you are hiding?

21:28It's so obvious you cannot see it.

21:33There's nothing hidden here.

21:38Thank you, sir.

21:44Pranam Acharyaji.

21:47Sir, I had a follow-up question to the distribution of income and resources

21:51that we were just discussing.

21:53So there is this social impossibility theorem which says that

21:58no two people in the society can agree on how to distribute resources.

22:04And somehow we have come up with a mechanism

22:08in which the resources go to its highest use.

22:11Or in other words, where profit is maximum.

22:24This seems like an amazing, incredible idea that the resources should be distributed

22:30in proportion to your ability to drive consciousness into the society.

22:34But how can we start thinking about or coming up, as you said, with a formula

22:43which will, first of all, very importantly, incentivize people to distribute

22:49resources, etc. And then secondly, money is powerful as we say, money is very powerful.

22:56Money is powerful because of its ability to generate prosperity or something like that.

23:03Money gets its power from resources.

23:06So, if I start giving money to the people who are raising the consciousness of the society,

23:13then will money remain powerful?

23:17That's true.

23:19Money will lose a lot of its charm.

23:23But till it is money that carries charm, you need to use money and its accompanying

23:32charm to drive people towards the right place.

23:38People are driven by money, right?

23:40Even if you want to drive them away from money, you will need to use money.

23:46Because right now it is only money that moves them.

23:51Right now it is only money that moves them.

23:54See, money is a figure conveying value, right?

24:02When you say something costs 100 rupees, it is a declaration of value.

24:09Now value for whom?

24:12Value for whom?

24:14There is a valuer behind the value, right?

24:18There is a valuer behind the value, right?

24:23The valuer is a madman currently.

24:27The valuer does not know what should be worth rupees 100 and what should be worth rupees crore.

24:35So, therefore, that which is worthless is carrying a tag of 1.5 lakhs.

24:43And that which is actually worth billions, finds no takers, is not being sold even for 5 rupees.

24:55So, that's the thing that happens when consciousness is not awakened.

25:02When you do not know who you are and therefore what is it that you should value in life.

25:08All kinds of nonsensical things you will buy at high prices.

25:13So, it is not that money itself will evaporate in an awakened society, money will still remain.

25:22But money will value the right things.

25:27The right things will carry the right tag.

25:33So, the entire economic structure will change.

25:38The deserving industries will come up and flourish and lot of existing industries will

25:45simply vanish because there will be nobody left to value them.

25:51The cosmetics industry, for example, the animal flesh industry, for example, they will be obliterated.

25:59Nobody will want to buy animal flesh even if you sell it rupees 10 per cent.

26:05Because now you know it is not merely valueless, but actually harmful.

26:14And great new industries will come up.

26:16It's not as if in a realized world economic activity will stop.

26:23No.

26:25Economic activity of an awakened kind will happen.

26:30Economics will still be there.

26:31Entrepreneurs will still be there.

26:34Trade will still happen.

26:36Schools will be there.

26:37Hospitals will be there.

26:38Colleges will be there.

26:39Industries will be there.

26:42Probably even armies will be there.

26:46But all from a different centre.

26:49The centre would have changed.

26:52In everything you would be considering, how is it helping the society?

26:59How is it helping me internally?

27:06How is it helping me internally?

27:07I'll buy this thing.

27:08It's available in the market.

27:10Is it really going to help me?

27:12If it's really going to help me, I'll spend as much as possible.

27:17And if it's not going to help me, I won't take it even for free.

27:23Are you getting it?

27:24So, we are talking of a new kind of economic order.

27:29So, think of a really madman.

27:32Think of the kind of price he's prepared to pay for narcotic substances.

27:40Just for a little cocaine, he's ready to pay a fortune.

27:46So, that's what.

27:46When somebody pays a lakh rupees for a few grams of cocaine or even lesser than that,

27:54then you say, oh, this person is mad.

27:56He's an addict, right?

27:58Now, extend this example.

28:01Is that not what all of us are doing on Amazon, in our shopping malls, everywhere?

28:10Now, cocaine is blatantly obvious.

28:13It's declared as something harmful.

28:18So, it does not require much mental effort to see that this person is valuing

28:24the wrong thing.

28:25He's spending money at a false place.

28:30But think of what is happening, as I said, on the online portals and in shopping malls.

28:35Where is our money going?

28:36What are we doing with our money?

28:39Money is chasing all the wrong kind of things that do us no good.

28:46Why?

28:47Because we are living in a deluded, dreaming,

28:56timid society.

29:00That's what needs to change.

29:02And to change it currently, money is needed.

29:11So, does the hen come first or the egg come first?

29:15The money comes first.

29:17Then, you have to start from where you are, no?

29:24You have to speak the language of the patient, even if you want to teach him another language.

29:31You have to start from how things stand at this moment.

29:46Okay.

29:47Thank you, sir.

29:48I will think more about this.

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