The Truth And The Thieves, Can They Be Useful?

[Harry Haller]

so let us try something pragmatic, I am in business, I have rents to pay, three dogs to feed, a cat, the washing machine is up the spout, my landlord is upset because the puppies have eaten away a lot of the woodwork in our living room, I have only just finished laying out money to have the garden turfed and cleaned up, one sofa has been completely ripped apart, so we have to sit on the other sofa, not a huge problem, but as can be seen, every penny makes a difference,.

I have just listed some hardware on ebay, the new price is £699, they seem to be selling for £399 second hand, I paid £100, a supplier is expecting a payment of at least £200 by 4pm today, the best offer at present is £250 x 2, what should I do?



I would have been happy with £200 x 2, but now I have an idea of interest, I am getting greedy, also pride is there, in that I am not going to let these go for less than they are worth, should I take the money, or hold out for a few days and get the best price?

Chazji in particular, I would be interested in your take on this

Chazji replied,

Me personally...

if i was a very truthful person and in your situation


i would be content because i already have the price i am happy with i.e. the profits cover my living costs...

i would leave the items on for the duration of the auction to give everyone a fair chance to bid and maybe if someone wants to offer more...the extra money can go towards seva, un-expected living costs etc...

i would not deceive anyone and try to make them out to be more expensive than they are worth...or advertise as in working order when i know they may not be...

during all this i would be in peace that i already have a suitable bid that is great for me, and great for the buyer...afterall God exists in the buyer as well...i don't want to rip them off...at the very deepest level all i would be doing is trying to deceive God

2 happy people (buyer and seller)...and i'm not sat around my computer trying to think of ways to squeeze out more money.

In fact i would spend this peaceful state doing some simran, or reading some bani, or spending time with my family ... all whilst this auction based on the truth carried on in the background...

Which I happen to think is a very good answer! I thought best to start another thread as I want the thieves to come into play here

 

[Harry Haller]

i would be content because i already have the price i am happy with i.e. the profits cover my living costs...

Ahh contentment, yes I remember that, although it is something I have not felt in years, there is always something to go to war for, the fighting never stops, with a bit more money, I could get the vaccines for the dogs done today, a few days early, instead of waiting for the day on the dot and then having to find it at the last minute, I could get Dan injections for his ears instead of having to clean out his ears by hand, I could get new tyres for the wifes car as it is pulling to the left because one of the tyres is worn, thought not illegal, so the greed I feel is not for me, it is for another, I feel greed in order to help others, does that negate it? does that make it ok? If I felt the concept of greed in order to do more assistance, and it helped others, I wonder how that works...

i would leave the items on for the duration of the auction to give everyone a fair chance to bid and maybe if someone wants to offer more...the extra money can go towards seva, un-expected living costs etc...

When does seva for others kick in, at what point do you look beyond your immediate family problems and decide to help others instead?

i would not deceive anyone and try to make them out to be more expensive than they are worth...or advertise as in working order when i know they may not be...

that is a given

during all this i would be in peace that i already have a suitable bid that is great for me, and great for the buyer...afterall God exists in the buyer as well...i don't want to rip them off...at the very deepest level all i would be doing is trying to deceive God

There is a fine line here, too cheap is as bad as too expensive, the price has to be just right, like the porridge in the 3 bears story, too cheap and your family may suffer, too expensive and you have ripped someone off.. the true price is the true price, anything else is false

2 happy people (buyer and seller)...and i'm not sat around my computer trying to think of ways to squeeze out more money.

If you have hungry faces looking at you, is that a bad thing to be thinking?

Are the thieves useful in any way ?

Does conquering them completely or attempting to turn you into a doormat?

Is life without the thieves like a living death? a Buddhist fantasy of no desire, no attraction or aversion to anything, just level emotions no matter what, did our Gurus live like this? I happen to believe what they did was accept everything and try their hardest to make things happen, they fought, they had passion, they did not let their emotions rule them, but I think we can safely say they felt emotion, had emotions.

 

[chazSingh]

Ahh contentment, yes I remember that, although it is something I have not felt in years, there is always something to go to war for, the fighting never stops, with a bit more money, I could get the vaccines for the dogs done today, a few days early, instead of waiting for the day on the dot and then having to find it at the last minute, I could get Dan injections for his ears instead of having to clean out his ears by hand, I could get new tyres for the wifes car as it is pulling to the left because one of the tyres is worn, thought not illegal, so the greed I feel is not for me, it is for another, I feel greed in order to help others, does that negate it? does that make it ok? If I felt the concept of greed in order to do more assistance, and it helped others, I wonder how that works...

i'm not sure what you're describing here is greed.
greed is wanting more than you actually need and require...if it is true greed, the greed will transform into plotting ways to get that extra money...so the transaction becomes untruthful

you need the extra money to get by and cover costs...be content with what you get knowing you have kept your integrity and kept the transaction truthful...


in business if you don't make the extra money, you have no money to spend...if you have no money to spend then you don;t have any money to give to others as charity and help, and no extra money to give to support other businesses...so everyone struggles...

Look at every transaction in terms of "is this something i need, or something i want"

When does seva for others kick in, at what point do you look beyond your immediate family problems and decide to help others instead?

The target is 10% of your time and your earnings...i still haven't got anywhere close to giving this...but i'm finding making small changes to my lifestyle and sacrificing a couple of things is making it easier..

we have to do these things to actually start seeing god in all, to break the barriers of this is me and my family and the rest of you are all seperate...