“We live in a world where the accumulation of possessions has come to symbolize the fullness of life. Society has taught us that external wealth is synonymous with success, dignity, respect, and fulfillment. But more and more people are discovering, sometimes after long years of effort and sacrifice, that no palace can replace the peace that can only be built internally. Bank accounts can grow without measure, but if the soul remains barren, the feeling of emptiness becomes unbearable. There are those who have everything, yet internally they are empty and dry. Without inner wealth—that which comes from silence, balance, and self-knowledge—all external wealth becomes an illusion that ultimately reveals its emptiness.
There are two types of poverty in this world: that of those who lack material things and that of those who, even though they have everything, discover that they lack the essential. The former live in scarcity, but they can still harbor hope. The latter have reached the top and there they have found the silence of meaninglessness. That is why, often, the materially poor are not as wounded as the spiritually poor. The former can dream and live with hope; the latter, having fulfilled all their dreams, have nothing left to hold on to. They are just poor people with money. However, this emptiness can be the beginning of something more real. When external success fails to fill the soul, a new search begins. Not one that is undertaken outwardly, but one that is directed inward. It is at that moment when meditation and inner silence cease to be theories and become a vital necessity.
True poverty is not knowing who you are. True wealth begins when you recognize that ignorance and start looking inward. No amount of money can bring harmony, no external triumph can replace inner clarity. That is why, often, those who have conquered everything on the outside discover that they have conquered nothing, and in that surrender, authenticity begins.”
Prabhuji
