Wealth and Poverty in context to Hinduism

GCSE Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)

Wealth and poverty are two terms frequently used by all human beings. Humans can be rich or poor in different ways. Poverty is the economic condition in which people lack enough income to obtain certain levels of health services, food, housing, clothing, and education generally recognized as the necessary to ensure a good enough standard of living. What is considered adequate, however, depends on the average standard of living in a particular society. Relative poverty is that experienced by those whose income falls considerably below the average for their particular society. Absolute poverty is that experienced by those who do not have enough food to remain healthy. However, estimating poverty on an income basis may not measure essential elements that also contribute to a healthy life. People without access to education or health services should be considered poor even if they have adequate food.

In Sanskrit, the word “wealth” means “sampatti”, this means anything that is enriched, in India knowledge is known as a type of wealth. The people in India think that people who are able to read the ancient scriptures have wealth in them as they have the wealth of the language. Unlike many other societies, where the caste system is based on power or wealth, giving the poorest the least power, Hinduism has four set castes, which a member belongs to by birth. These groups are called varnas, and each has its own set of rules and duties to live by, known as dharma. mixing, especially The first, and highest Varna is that of a Brahmin-priests and teachers. The next is -warriors, rulers, and leaders. The third is -traders, merchants, agriculture, and other work involved with commerce. The final, and lowest varna is labour and service. In many societies, the difference between the high and the low, in terms of social status, has caused great troubles, due to the poor and weak to continuing living like they are. In Hinduism, however, this problem is avoided, by the promise of being born into a better life next time.

Hindus do not see money as an evil, it is one of the four aims of life, it is to earn and enjoy money. It is everyone's duty in the middle stage of their life, after being a student and before becoming a monk, to earn enough to support everyone around them. This makes it quite acceptable to want for money in the householder stage of life, and Hindus are not ashamed about this. It is quite acceptable to pray for money, and prayers to Lakshmi, goddess of

wealth, are common. In Hinduism money is not the only ...

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wealth, are common. In Hinduism money is not the only form of wealth there are also other ways in which people are considered to be wealthy. Examples of these ways are a society is considered as wealth, cultural aspects are known as wealth, the reason for this is because each different area has something different about it which is unique about it.

Hindus do not let greed overcome them, they must lead a very simple life at the bare minimum, teaching them that money is not the most important thing. They are meant to learn wisdom, devotion to God, and the right moral code, Hindu literature teaches that money alone will not bring perfect happiness, especially if kept rather than shared.

Hindus believe that giving to the poor is a very good way of building up good Karma, giving them rewards in later lives. They believe that if they are suffering so in this life, it is because of bad Karma built up in a previous life, so many do not feel the guilt felt in other societies when they see a beggar. On the other hand, the beggar may have been your brother, sister, or loved one in a previous life. , or giving, is also a basic part of everyday life. It is part of the everyday routine for many Hindus to make a small donation to the poor, and will give old clothes or shoes away, rather than throwing them out. People, who refuse to employ servants, and do their own housework, are thought to be very mean, as there is no unemployment benefit in India. The servants should be treated with respect, and should be taken care of-medicines paid for if they become ill, old clothes given to them, etc.

MK Gandhi changed many old Hindu beliefs with his teachings. He taught that it is wrong to think that a poor person is only getting what they deserve. He believed that everyone was a part of God, and people should recognize that they share the same world and should care for one another. He taught that service to others was the best way to find God. This had a big effect on the treatment of the poor in India today. There are many charities set up for helping the poor in India, such as the and . These charities receive many donations from many Hindus-even those overseas will often send back money to help the poor.

Poverty is now a problem on a global scale, and Hinduism has needed, and will continue to need, to undertake a state of change. Many of the beliefs Hindus held only a couple of centuries ago have been altered or even

removed altogether. The globalization of Hinduism, bringing it into contact with a wide range of other cultures and religions, has influenced this a lot. Hinduism, however, is full of differences itself, so what is said of Hinduism may be true for some Hindus, and false for others. Hinduism is less a religion, than a culture, and way of life.

Why is there a need for world development?

All over the world, differences between rich and poor, even in the wealthiest of nations is rising sharply. Fewer people are becoming increasingly “successful” and wealthy while larger population are also becoming even poorer.

There are many issues involved when looking at global poverty and inequality. It is not simply enough to say that the poor are poor due to their own bad management. If fact, you could quite easily conclude that the poor are poor because the rich are rich and have the power to enforce unequal trade agreements that favor their interests more than the poorer nations.

Around the world, inequality is increasing, while the world is further globalizing. Even the wealthiest nation has the largest gap between rich and poor compared to other developed nations. In many cases, international politics and various interests have led to a diversion of available resources from domestic needs to western markets. These have often led themselves in wars, hot and cold, which have often been trade and resource-related. Poverty is not just an economic issue, it is also an issue of political economics.

A Hindu agency working for world development

Hindus feel that whatever good they do in their souls will be repaid in the same way. This is why there are a number of Hindu charities and organizations that give donation to benefit the whole world. An example of an organization is the Vishwa Hindu Parishad or VHP. VHP is an organization that works for world peace as well as world development. The VHP does a lot of notable things to help the world an examples are they give relief to the poor, to protect, develop and spread the Hindu values of social, ethical and spiritual life. To protect the symbols of the sanctity of womanhood, cow protection, sacred religious places, rivers and environment concerns. They have also given medical relief at times of war, droughts, floods.etc, they operate free medical units within and outside of the country. VHP is just one of the organization that is working worldwide to benefit the world, but there are thousands of more organizations that are also working for the development of the world.

Opinion

“There should be no rich people as long as there is poverty in the world.”

In Hinduism there is a Karma theory, this theory says that if a person has done good deeds in their past life then they will be rewarded back in another good way, this is also the same for a person who has done something bad in their previous life, the Karma theory says that they will have to suffer in their next life due to their bad action(s). If there were no rich people in this world then everybody would be poor this would mean that everyone would be equal, everyone would live the same type of life, there would be no happiness in life. If there was just poverty in the world then people would end up being lazy and layed back. Whereas if there was no poverty in the world people would still end up being lazy as they wouldn’t feel the need to work. Hindus believe that it is a persons own fault if they suffer in their life as they bought it upon themselves and no one else. Taking this into account they also feel that they should go out of their way to help those who are less fortunate than themselves as they feel that they are being rewarded for their generosity and good work.

Personally I feel that there should be both rich and poor people, because everybody bought the type of quality of their life’s upon themselves. It wouldn’t be fair if everyone was poor or if everyone was rich, people would end up living lazy lives where they would gain nothing, I feel that the world is alright the way that it is and that people have practically chosen what types of lives that they want to lead by the way that they lived their previous lives, so I disagree with this statement.