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Iread this in Thomas Carr’s book, “Trend Trading For a Living”, found this quite meaningful and would like to share it here. This reminded me of the practices which I have heard (but neither learnt nor practised well), the first of which is generosity.
Generosity is the mainstay and the starting point. It is said that if we are ever to progress on the path of being something worthy, the first step is to practice generosity. I can only remember that this generosity includes a few aspects and they are the generosity of wealth and physical possessions, kindness, help and assistance, dharma or spiritual knowledge, etc.
Back to the book “Trend Trading For a Living, here is the excerpt..forgive typing errors.
“a) work for all you get b)give away the first 10 percent (c) invest the next 10 percent (d)live on the rest (e) account for every penny.
The Rockefellers believed that giving away their money was essential to their wealth. And so should you. The secret is that money multiplies fastest when it is divided. It’s all God’s money in any case. We are merely stewards of a small portion of God’s abundance. And when this portion is shared freely with those less fortunate, we prime the economic pump of the universe.
… Plant money trees where others will benefit. Ultimately the only purpose of having wealth is to help others less fortunate. Wealth shared is true wealth indeed. The way I see it, God in His grace gave me the undeserved talent of making money bu simply sitting in front of the computer and clicking the mouse now and then. As a result of that gift, we as a family have been able to travel the world, build a large home, and enjoy the finer things in life. The least I can do is to give a healthy portion of the fruits of that gift back to God’s work in the world.”
John Davison Rockefeller (July 8, 1839 – May 23, 1937) was an American oil magnate. Rockefeller revolutionized the petroleum industry and defined the structure of modern philanthropy. In 1870, he founded the Standard Oil Company and aggressively ran it until he officially retired in 1897.[1] Standard Oil began as an Ohio partnership formed by John D. Rockefeller, his brother William Rockefeller, Henry Flagler, Jabez Bostwick, chemist Samuel Andrews, and a silent partner, Stephen V. Harkness. As kerosene and gasoline grew in importance, Rockefeller’s wealth soared, and he became the world’s richest man and first American worth more than a billion dollars.[2] Adjusting for inflation, he is often regarded as the richest person in history.[3][4][5][6]
Rockefeller spent the last 40 years of his life in retirement. His fortune was mainly used to create the modern systematic approach of targeted philanthropy with foundations that had a major effect on medicine, education, and scientific research.[citation needed]
His foundations pioneered the development of medical research, and were instrumental in the eradication of hookworm and yellow fever. He is also the founder of both the University of Chicago and Rockefeller University. He was a devoted Northern Baptist and supported many church-based institutions throughout his life. Rockefeller adhered to total abstinence from alcohol and tobacco throughout his life.
