wealth

much had changed since 2006. the factory where i spent most of my younger years, in fact, 20 of my most productive years, is now long gone. it was closed. the owner was stricken by sickness and i thought he felt it unnecessary to burden his family with this business so he just decided to discontinue it. maybe he also thought that no one is capable enough of running it as efficiently as he did. not one in his family. he died at a young age. i believe he was 43. but he had achieved a lot. in terms of material wealth he had amassed a good fortune. but of course in death you cannot bring any of these material possessions. all of these will be left behind. i went to his wake and paid my respects. silently i prayed to the Infinite that he be guided in his transition to the afterlife. i just hope that he had also taken great pains in amassing his own spiritual wealth while he was yet alive. these are the only ones that we will take with us after our physical selves had served their purpose.

it is my firm belief that there is this other self in each of us that is immaterial and will transcend death, long after our physical selves have become fodder to worms. this undying, eternal self is the one that most importantly needs nurturing. but, sadly, we have been preconditioned from early childhood to regard the outer, material, physical self as our true person. which is incorrect. that's why every time somebody dies i always make it a point to remind myself -- only this person's physical self had died and rotted, but his true self, his true being will live on. by reminding myself this, my sadness is lessened, and i am encouraged to be more cognizant of this inner person within me. i am emboldened to be more vigilant of what needs to be done so that this inner person may amass inner wealth, those spiritual gems which can be carried over to the new life after physical death.

this i think is what antoine du st. exupery is reminding us when, in his book, THE LITTLE PRINCE, he said -- " what is esential is invisible to the naked eye .... ".