Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation

In life we have so many things to do, so much so we sometimes feel we are running short of time. Have we ever carefully calculated our lifetime? In a day, we normally spend 8 hours sleeping. In short, 1/3 of our life is spent sleeping. Then what about the hours spent for meals, relaxation and holidays? In today's society, most people work 5 days a week and 8 hours a day, of which how much time is truly spent on working?

Then during childhood and school days, lots of things were taken care of by our parents or the society. If we were to examine our life properly, how much have we contributed to mankind? We should seize every moment of our life and contribute to mankind. Only then will we have a truly rich life.

Spiritual philosophy of an entrepreneur
There was a story that took place in USA concerning a poverty-stricken mother and daughter. One day, the girl accompanied her mother to hospital and she stumbled on a briefcase containing US10,000 and some important documents.

The mother told her, "The person who has lost this bag must be very worried. You stay here and wait for the owner to appear." After waiting for a few hours, a worried-looking man appeared. After confirming that he was the owner, the girl politely handed over the bag to him.

The man, an entrepreneur, was very thankful to the girl. When he learned that the girl's mother was very ill and had no money to pay for the medication, he decided to take care of both mother and daughter.

Sadly, the girl's mother did not survive despite the medical treatment provided by this gentleman. The entrepreneur then adopted the girl, and took care of her education. When she graduated from the university, he hired her to work in his company. The girl worked very hard and managed the company very well because of her trustworthiness and her generosity.

Many years later, and getting on in years, this entrepreneur left a will in which he related the incident regarding his lost briefcase. He stated that the money was not his worry then but rather the important and confidential documents pertaining to commercial secrets. He was so touched to hear about the girl standing there for a few hours, and was also shocked to discover that the mother and daughter were very poor.

Prior to meeting this pair of mother and daughter, the entrepreneur used to be unhappy despite having made lots of money. This was because he had been very busy and was always worried as he was very much in the rat race. After meeting the twosome, he suddenly realized that the one with no greedy thought was the truly rich and most respected person.

Since then, he nurtured the girl and changed the manner in which he managed his business. After one or two decades of observation, he was finally convinced that the girl has all the good attributes of a business-person and therefore decided to pass on his wealth and business empire to her. He further added, "I'm confident that my son who is studying abroad now will understand my intention."

After his death, his son came back and saw his father's will. He was impressed with the girl too. Without hesitation, he signed his concurrence and made a marriage proposal to her at the same time. She eventually accepted both the old man's gift, as well as, his son's proposal.

From this happy story, we can understand the spiritual philosophy of an entrepreneur. What is the purpose of making money? We should be contented, grateful, understanding and accommodating. No amount of money can satisfy a greedy soul and make one truly happy.

There are two categories of truly rich: The first category of truly rich is the ones with worldly wealth and boundless loving-kindness. The ones in the second category may be poor financially but are very hardworking and ever willing to give. Of course, it is a blessing to be in the first category, but the second category is indeed more commendable. So, I sincerely hope that everyone will become more loving and ever willing to serve mankind.