Akram Youth How did this happen? | October 2015 | Akram Youth | Page 20

am trying to say. Doing this will prevent
many people binding demerit karma.
When people set up a business they look
for profit. They will say we are guaranteed
a profit of twenty-four thousand in this
project. Now when they forecast these
figures, they do not take into account
changes in circumstances. They never
deduct the losses from such proposals.
I have been a contractor all my life
and have been involved in all kinds of
contracts. Amongst such contracts, we
have even built jetties in the sea. Let me
tell you what I used to do in the beginning.
Wherever there was a scope of making a
profit of five hundred thousand rupees, I
used to say to myself that it would be
enough even if we made a profit of one
hundred thousand rupees. In the end,
even if we had enough to pay taxes and
the daily expenses and broke even, that
would be adequate profit. The profit
would be of around three hundred
thousand. This would keep the mind
satisfied and content because we made
way more profit than was expected. Here
people expect a profit of forty thousand
and get only twenty. Surely they are
bound to be unhappy!
If someone were to ask what
religion he should practise in his business,
I would tell him that he should follow
these three principles:
1) Ethical practice! The flow of
money may increase or decrease. Never
become unethical.
2) Maintain an obliging nature. If
you do not have any money, at least ask
people if you can be of any help to them.
20 | October 2015

You can run errands for them instead. This
is called an obliging nature.
3) Do not ever harbor any desire of
expecting something in return for what
you do for others. The whole world has
expectations in return for services they
render; whether you wish it or not, you
will be rewarded. There is always a
reaction to every action. Your desires are
nothing but actually begging on your part.
They go to waste.
Display the following statements
prominently in your shop:
1) Enjoy the present - do not worry
about what is not in front of you.
2) The fault is of the sufferer
3)Dishonesty is the best
foolishness.
GREED PERPETUATES WORLDLY LIFE
AFTER LIFE
Questioner :Dada, is there a difference
between a stingy fellow and a thrifty
person.
Dadashri :Yes, a tremendous difference. If
you earn a thousand rupees a month, then
you should keep an expense account of
eight hundred rupees, and if your income
is five hundred rupees then you should
have an expense account of four hundred
rupees. That is called thriftiness. A miser,
however will spend four hundred rupees
only, whether his income is a thousand or
two thousand rupees. He would not use a
taxi. Thriftiness is economics. It helps
maintain awareness of future financial
difficulties. People despise a miser the
moment they see him, whereas people do
not feel that way about a thrifty man.