What is money?

Well, it is public holiday in Singapore, Vesak Day, today. So I took the opportunity to have a break today and do something that I like without much planning for the day. I went for a walk in the neighborhood, since I have not done that for a long time. Like all neighborhood, there is a large supermart. So I went in.

The minute I went in, things are a bit different. Usually when I go into a supermart, I will have something to buy in mind, but this time it is very different, nothing to buy, just go in to have a look. The whole place turn into a place of people trying to satisfy their desire, wants and needs, within a BUDGET. So the question that came into my mind was "What is money?"

Now to answer that question, maybe we should go back to why money was invented in the first place, then we would know what is money. If I remember my economics correctly, this is the definition of money.

"Money is any good or tokens that functions as a medium of exchange that is socially and legally accepted in payment for goods and services and in settlement of debts. "

So basically as long as something can be used for medium of exchange and accepted in payment for goods and services and in settlement of debts, it can be money :) For layman, the money that we often use to make payment is actually fiat money. Now why was money invented in the first place. Before money was invented, people basically barter trade, as most of you know. The thing is this, we people have so many desires and wants, even for people of the past. And to find matching trades and do barter trading usually takes a lot of time which can be used be more productive, so money was invented so that people can reduce their time looking for matching trades. Slowly but surely, as we see in modern days, money has become something that controls the emotions of people, its amount a symbol of status and the cause of many misfortunes, after taking out those disasters that are caused by nature.

So u can see, money is actually a tools to help the human race, to provide people a leverage to save time but in the end, it has become a tool that gives its holder a leverage on other people, accord power to the people who has the most of it, relatively of course. Money has become the main deciding factor of how much headstart a kid has in studies and in life as well. Money has become almost like a creature on its own, governing how the human race develop. (For most of you who are in the pharmaceutical or medical industry, you would understand what I mean.) Money decides who runs your political party in your country, decide who gets to live, who gets the best medical treatment, who gets into the best school, who gets the best jobs and so on. I guess you know what I mean. Your everyday decision seems to revolve around how much money you have.

After seeing the macro picture of things, for us, how can we not be controlled by money and instead return money to the status of a 'tool'? The keyword I would think is 'attachment'. We should not be too attached to money. Now I am not saying that you go out and throw your money away, or anyhow spend your money or something of similar nature. You still need money to exchange for your basic needs, so keep it. The thing is don't let money control your emotions, instead use money to produce more positive emotions for you.

For instance, use money to help people, who deserve to be help. If these people are genuinely helping people, support them. Let them earn some profits so that they can continue to benefit people. Use money as a leverage tool to sustain a noble cause or act. For me, if I feel someone is offering good service or goods, I do not mind paying more. Because I want something good to continue and benefit other people.

Donate to genuine charity, within your means. When you donate to charity, you help three people basically, you, solicitor and benefiter. When you donate, you are happy definitely. The solicitor would be happy, because he/she has seen his/her effort paid off, and the benefiter would see improvement in life which would definitely make him/her happy. So overall, you create more happiness in the world, and beside the donation, it does not cost too much to generate happiness, only a few hormones, that can be 'manufactured' again, to do that, but it benefits so many people, because of one generous kind act.

The reason why I want to learn about business, set up business, is because business is a system that generates money, and I can use these money to help more people and use my time more productively. I want to use money to add more value in people's life. How I do that? Well, I recommend a talk by Ajahn Brahm. You can go to the link below to listen to it. Now just in case you are wondering, I am a free thinker and I am not spreading Buddhism. :) Just that I find his talk logical, simple and meaningful, and it can be easily applied across all businesses. And I personally belief that business should be the way he said it in his talk.

Title: Buddhism in the Business World

URL: http://www.bswa.org/video/Brahmavamso_2007_05_04.mp4

Hope you like the talk and learn to use money wisely. Remember, money is a tool, not a controller of your life. Cheers!