Are you having a hard time living because you do not have enough money?
Even so, poverty now does not mean that you will also be poor in the future.
If we learn about money and abundance, which is not taught in schools, a prosperous future will surely await us.

From the teachings of Master Ryuho Okawa, we have selected a prescription for the mind to relieve the worries of debt and poverty.

People become similar to the people they respect

 

 

There are a lot of people who had parents who struggled financially during their childhood. In postwar Japan, I imagine that there were many parents who had severe financial difficulties, since there were a lot of cases of bankruptcy and unemployment. However, when the parents tell their children about this, in many cases, the story of their financial troubles transforms into a kind of “heroic legend.”

Some children are made to believe, “My parents failed in their businesses, again and again, so I guess people can't live their lives without suffering,” by the age of 20. The more they respect their parents, the stronger their tendency to follow their parents' footsteps.

Children unconsciously follow the examples of their parents. Yes, the experience of poverty is a very valuable thing, but if you idolize it and imprint it into your children as if it were some sort of amazing legend, they'll end up making similar mistakes.

You have to be careful of things like this. (omitted)

In your childhood, you mainly watch your parents, so you get strongly influenced by them. But at some point, you have to shed this influence.

If your parents are good parents, then it's fine to respect and imitate them. However, parents have aspects that should be respected and aspects that shouldn't be respected. When you become aware of an aspect of your parents that shouldn't be respected, you must not respect that aspect, but instead put someone who you should respect into that role and think to yourself, “I want to become just like that person.”

There are many people who succeeded economically, who worked hard to better the world. If you select a person like that who is to your liking and continue to think, “I want to become like this person,” your wavelength will gradually match that person's and will start to become like that person.

People become similar to the people they respect. You'll gravitate toward the people you respect, so it's important to respect people who have achieved success.

 

From "Prosperity Thinking" by Ryuho Okawa

 

 

When you are poor in your mind, it becomes a reality

 

Those who have a subconscious affinity with poverty will actually experience poverty, because what is in the realm of the mind will inevitably materialize in this world on Earth. For this reason, it is very important to examine your own mental tendencies carefully. People who subconsciously believe that money is evil will find that their wealth slips between their fingers. As a result, even though they may have an income, they will be incapable of holding onto it and will squander it all.

For each person, there is a specific upper limit to the amount of money they feel comfortable with. Some are timid and feel uncomfortable if they carry more than a few hundred dollars. They worry it will be stolen by a pickpocket, that they might drop it or use it to gamble. There are others who never keep more than twenty dollars in their wallet, and those who become nervous when they have more than a certain amount of money in the bank, worrying they might be tempted to get involved in speculating. They feel guilt or unease if they possess more than this amount and, as a result, they are never able to save much money. Moreover, there are even people who are not happy unless they are actually in debt. A certain percentage of people are only happy when they have borrowed money and tell themselves that they will not be able to die until they have paid off what they owe, with their debts acting as an incentive to work.

Thoughts, however, always come before the actions and so the first thing you should do to avoid falling into this kind of trap is to check on the way you are thinking. You will see that your thoughts work in patterns especially when it comes to finance.

 

From "Love, Nurture, and Forgive" by Ryuho Okawa

 

 

Tell yourself that wealth is not necessarily evil

 

 

I have three pieces of advice to offer people who are troubled by debts or poverty in this way. First, you must learn to achieve steadiness and live your life in a steady way. If you do not learn to live a steady life and save your money, you will never experience prosperity. You must not spend more than you earn and you should not even spend all of your income. Instead, save a little each month and in that way, learn to taste the fruits of prosperity. So, the first step you need to take is to learn to live in a steady way.

The second thing you must do is to think of ways in which to do your job more efficiently. Ask yourself if there is a better way of doing things. Is there something new you can discover? Is there any way in which you can earn even a little more? Is there somewhere else where you can exert your full potential? Always think up new ideas or look for a better option in this way.

The third thing has to do with your mentality. In order to free yourself from your fondness for poverty and martyrdom, or overcome your liking for being chased by the debt collector, you need to tell yourself that wealth is not necessarily evil.

 

From "The Unhappiness Syndrome" by Ryuho Okawa

 

 

Live within your means and save a portion of your income

 

In looking at modern life, people today have a tendency to precede their consumption. They buy things first, with an eye on the money that will come in in the future. I think this is a situation where desire is probably winning out over reason. It is a hellish type of economy to try to get things first in anticipation of bonuses.

Salespeople and businessmen in the world also accept this hellish economy and encourage people to buy by saying, "Why don't you buy it with your bonus payment" or "Why don't you buy it with installment payments?" And so, the debt-fueled economy proceeds.

However, in economics, the principle is still to live within one's income. Rather, a heavenly life is to save a certain portion of one's income and put it into savings.

Times change, but this principle remains the same. No matter what kind of economic mechanism is currently in progress, it still remains the same. This is because the activity of "saving" or "reserving funds in advance for the future" itself actually creates a mental margin.

When debt precedes debt, even if others explain to you how economically convenient it is, or even if you hear something like "it helps you save on taxes," the reality is that the negative money is there, and you are taking your future work as collateral. You are borrowing money against your future work.

This will increase your anxiety about the future. You will become increasingly anxious about your future health and ability to work. As a result, they work as if they are constantly being pushed. There are some people in the world who say, "I can't work unless I have debt as leverage," but that kind of thinking will never lead to great success.

Therefore, I would like to say this not only to housewives but also to their husbands. We are to live within our income and also to save a portion of our income. There is, in fact, a great deal of development in the idea of "saving ahead for the future and being modest in the present."

No one has ever become very wealthy without accumulating wealth. People who do not have the idea of accumulating wealth spend it all, no matter how much income they have. Therefore, in the end, they will never have any money on hand.

 

From "Heart of work" by Ryuho Okawa

 

 

Have a utopian plan according to wealth

 

 

People who feel guilty about being rich will always end up poor. As soon as they start to make much profit, they begin to suspect that it is some kind of a mistake, and convince themselves they will never die peacefully. Before they know it, they have lost all they had made as a result of an accident of some sort. Although they may be wealthy in the short-term, their prosperity will not last.

To avoid being like them, you must make your own plans for the future to contribute to the creation of a better world, according to the wealth you manage to acquire. You need to draw a picture on the canvas in your mind, and make clear plans for yourself about what you will do when you have achieved wealth.

If you limit your plans to the domestic scale, they will remain small; but if you want to form a plan to use any extra income, draw a clear picture of the future, and become perfectly convinced of its appropriateness, then it will no longer appear wrong for you to accumulate wealth.

 

From "Love, Nurture, and Forgive" by Ryuho Okawa

 

 

As long as you are aiming to do a job that helps and benefits others, your economic situation will take a turn for the better

 

With regard to economic issues, there is no need to think too deeply about specific, individual factors. As long as you are aiming to do a job that helps and benefits others, your economic situation will take a turn for the better regardless of where you work. If your present circumstances no longer let you fully use your abilities or talents, you'll soon find yourself opening a new chapter in life. This is how the world works.

People will recognize those who are performing jobs that benefit others, and they will come along and extend their helping hands at the most appropriate time and in the best possible way to give you a greater task.

 

From “Worry-free living”by Ryuho Okawa