Practical Economic Suggestions for Everyday Use (Part Seven)
Based on the Baha’i Writings, the suggestions below may hopefully help you to bring about this fundamental change in your character and your everyday economic actions. There are 53 suggestions but we discuss 9 on this blog.
This list of suggestions may seem overwhelming, and you may not be able to practice all those that apply to your situation. But you have to remember that it is not about the results; it is about sincere and wholehearted efforts. It is a pure intention that counts.
- Do not support the idea of the end justifying the means when it comes to promotion at work or getting a contract or applying for a job. Our goal is to grow spiritually, and these practices do not help us to grow. That is the worst kind of numbing our conscience.
- Be honest in a job interview. Society has adopted the practice of magnifying positive and minimizing or omitting negative, but in reality, it is a form of lying. It will feel strange to the interviewer and us, but we have to start being honest.
- Be truthful in filling out forms or tenders. Exaggerating has become a way of life, but it is not the Bahá’i way of life. It is a tough thing to do when competing, but we can have the satisfaction that Baha’u’llah is happy with us.
- Do not sacrifice your values in order to get a promotion or contract even though there is nothing wrong with being ambitious and wanting to progress through the ranks. Some would do anything to get a promotion, but we cannot follow that practice.
- Use good quality material in production. Do not use harmful ingredients in production. Be educated about the ingredients, so no harm comes as a result.
- Protect the poor and underprivileged section of our society in any way you can. It is our spiritual duty and privilege.
- Give your Huqúqu’lláh (the Right of God), knowing well that this kind of giving is a privilege and is not a tax. Give with a sense of sharing rather than a sense of loss. This is your opportunity to practice generosity. Giving is the best practical step for bridging the gap between the rich and poor.
- Create a consciousness that your welfare, wellbeing and happiness depend on the welfare, wellbeing and happiness of every poor, needy and underprivileged person in the world; that the real meaning of the oneness of humankind will come into being when we see others as members of our family. This should be easy for us since we have heard and said it many times that:
“Ye are the fruits of one tree, and the leaves of one branch. Deal ye one with another with the utmost love and harmony, with friendliness and fellowship.”– Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p.288
- Money is a tool and not the goal of your life. The biggest mistake that most people make is that they forget that we have not been created to make money. That should not be our life’s goal. Money should be seen as an effective tool to serve mankind and to improve the spiritual and economic life of ourselves and others. This is the key that can make a person happy or sad at the end of our physical life. Since we cannot take it with us, then why not spend it for the good of mankind.