Master and Servant

At no point should spiritual growth be sacrificed for material advancement. At any time, whenever it is needed, material advancement can be sacrificed for spiritual growth. If this is clear, then there is no problem. The problem arises only because material advancement remains the master and still you want to grow spiritually. Spirituality cannot grow as a servant. Your spirit cannot be a servant to your body. Your spirituality has to be a master; then everything can function as a servant and can help it.

There is no need to divide life. For those who can manage it this way - putting spiritual growth as a priority and material advancement only as a help, never against it and always with it and for it - there is no problem. This has to be made clear to all the religions of the world. The East has chosen half - spiritual growth - and become afraid of material growth. They have been afraid that it may become the master; it may take the priority. Hence the East is poor and sick.

The West went to the other extreme - they devoted their whole energy to material advancement, forgetting completely that material advancement in itself is meaningless. It leads them nowhere; it leads them only into deep frustration, and finally into a meaningless life where they can see clearly that they wasted their whole life collecting rubbish and junk. And it does not give them peace; it does not give them the silence. It has not been able to make them aware of the truth. And now when death approaches, most of the people find their hands are empty. Their whole life has been just a desert.

The West is spiritually poor and materially rich. The East is materially poor and spiritually rich. But both are half and both are suffering. There should be an effort made to give and take, so each can in turn become full. Just like a blind person and a cripple, both on their own are half and half, and both are suffering. However, if the cripple climbs on the blind guy's shoulders, he can direct the path, and together they can explore and find the road to each other's home.

Author: Unknown