Dear Brothers and Sisters,

We may get pulled against our will by money, property, career, business, job, big ambition, love relationship, jealousy, anger… Almost anything in life, be it money, power, or anything else, can pull us so powerfully that we may have to run after it with all our might, all our life, never stop.

Of course, if you get pulled like that, as we can see in many people, you will constantly be in extreme stress and will succumb to all kinds of fatal illnesses, such as stroke, heart attack, cancer, and many other diseases due to the collapse of the immune system.

It is very easy to get pulled. I have friends who did charitable works with me when we were young. Once in awhile, one would say: “I think we need a lot of money to do charitable work effectively. So, I have to start focusing on doing business to make money, until I have enough money, then I will go back to charitable work.” So, we lost the guy to business.

And he made good money with his business, and became more and more aggressive in business, and ran faster and faster after money. He got pulled by money. He appeared to be colder and rougher. He no longer enjoyed listening to charitable work. So, we no longer had anything in common to talk.

This story I have written on ĐCN once. One of such business friends one day talked to me about many investment projects people were introducing to him hoping he would help develop. He was so excited about those projects. He talked at the rocket speed. He moved over the projects so fast that, at the middle of one project, he jumped right to another project without stopping and warning. Extremely difficult to follow his talk. His face was red as if intoxicated, and covered with sweat. His breath heavy. His eyes glaring reddish…

I waited, and when he stopped for a second, I jumped in: “Brother, let me tell you this. I think you want to hear me carefully. I think you are in danger. The way you talk, obviously your mind is working at an extremely fast speed and it goes its own way. You appear unable to control your mind. Obviously that is not you. You are like a car with a broken break, plunging down the mountain road without any way to stop. I don’t know how you can slow down, but if you don’t slow down, I don’t think you will last long.”

He said: “I know my mind is working uncontrollably fast, but I cannot stop it or slow it down.”

I said: “You must figure out a way to slow it down, because you are clearly in danger. I can see it clearly on your face.”

Two years later, he was killed by heart attack.

This story has affected me so strongly that I feel sad every time I reminisce it. Seeing someone dying but unable to stop the death is something that will hurt you for a long time.

Brothers and sister, I am sure you have seen people got pulled uncontrollably like that. It is a sad life for both the body and the soul.

Don’t get pulled.

But here is a terminological issue.

We say money pulls us, as if money has a mind. Money is paper. A pile of money can’t move. Money has no mind and, therefore, cannot pull you. We say money pulls us, as if money is the devil and we are the devil’s victim. I’m an innocent victim, money is the culprit. That is how we human blame everything in the world but never blame ourselves, and this finger-pointing attitude is built into our everyday language.

The Buddhist has a correct way to describe the problem: “We attach ourselves to money. We grasp onto money.”

We run after money to catch more money. The more money we have, the more we want. Money is never enough. I have never met a millionaire who said: “I already have enough money.” All the millionaires I met worry about making money all the time. They really make me feel sick.

So, please be fair to money. Money is innocent like a cucumber. We are the problem, with our greed. Money is not the problem.

Make all the money you want to make, but don’t attach yourself to money, don’t grasp onto money, don’t glue yourself to money.

You control your life. Keep your body and mind work reasonably, within a healthy limit. When you don’t feel relaxed and peaceful in money making, then slow down or stop for a while – that is the non-attachment attitude: you, not your greediness, control your life.

And you will be relaxed and happy in money making.

Wish you always be free and happy.

With compassion,

Hoành

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