Financial Scrupulousness: An Element of Yogic Sadhana

I. The Spiritual Nature and Origin of Money

Money is consistently described not merely as a material item but as an expression of a universal force.1

The Essence and Function of Money

• Universal Force: Money is the visible sign of a universal force that manifests on the vital and physical planes and is indispensable for the fullness of outer life.2
• Divine Origin and Delegation: In its origin and true action, this force belongs entirely to the Divine.3 Like other Divine powers, it is delegated on Earth.4
• Vital Energy: Money is a vital force that enables men to command success.5 The money-power itself has a twofold rhythm: gathering and throwing away; those who maintain this rhythm, like big industrial magnates, typically have plenty of money.6
• Condition for Purity: Money is likened to water, requiring movement to remain pure.7 It is only valuable when it circulates or is spent.8 Mere hoarding is considered an obstacle.9
• Collective Possession: Money is inherently a collective possession that should ideally be used only by those with an integral, comprehensive, and universal vision.10

Perversion and Hostile Control

• Usurpation by Ego and Asura: In the ignorance of the lower Nature, the money-force can be usurped for the uses of the ego or held by Asuric (hostile) influences, leading to its perversion.11
• The Three Temptations: Money (wealth) is ranked as one of the three forces—alongside power and sex—that hold the strongest attraction for the human ego and the Asura.12
• Possession vs. Possessed: Seekers or keepers of wealth are more often possessed by itrather than its possessors, rarely escaping the distorting influence stamped by the Asura’s seizure and perversion.13
• Buffoonery of Consciousness: To a higher, active Consciousness in the body, the human system of money—which prevents action unless a banknote is produced—is regarded as “buffoonery,” a wholly transitory invention corresponding to nothing deep or permanent.14
• Money as Supreme Lord: In the current age, money seems to have become the Supreme Lord, causing Truth to recede and Love to be almost out of sight.15

II. The Essential Yogic Stance: Detachment vs. Renunciation

The integral Yoga maintains a distinct position regarding material possessions, challenging traditional asceticism.

The Traditional Error of Asceticism

• Most spiritual disciplines insist on complete detachment and renunciation of all bondage to wealth, often proclaiming poverty and bareness of life as the sole spiritual condition.16
• The integral Yoga deems this absolute ban an error, as it relinquishes the financial power to the hostile forces.17

The Supramental Way: Conquest and Trusteeship

• The goal for the Sadhaka of the integral Yoga is to reconquer the money-force for the Divine and use it divinely for the divine life.18
• Money must be viewed as a power to be won back for the Mother and placed entirely at her service.19
• Trusteeship, Not Possession: All wealth belongs to the Divine, and those who handle it are merely trustees, not possessors.20
• The ideal Sadhaka must neither turn away from wealth with an ascetic shrinking nor indulge in a rajasic attachment or spirit of enslaving self-indulgence toward it.21
• The ideal attitude is one who can live poorly, unaffected by want, and simultaneously live richly without falling into desire, attachment to wealth, or weak bondage to the habits that riches create.22

III. Financial Integrity and Ethical Action in Sadhana

Financial scrupulousness is intrinsically linked to the spiritual requirements of sincerity and egolessness in action.

Integrity, Sincerity, and Purity

• Sincerity as Foundation: Perfect sincerity and perfect honesty are absolutely necessary.23 Sincerity is the basis of all progress in Yoga.24
• Money as a Test: A person’s sincerity may be judged by their dealings with money, making it a critical test.25 When the money question arises, the devotion of many Bhaktas disappears.26
• Ethical vs. Spiritual: Ethics and morality are mental or social constructs and are not spiritual principles.27
• Morality is a preparatory discipline.28 The aim is to transcend morality to reach a consciousness where action proceeds naturally from the Truth, eliminating the need to judge whether actions are good or bad (Sadhu, Asadhu).29
• The problem of a man who robs and then offers part of the plunder is a moral or ethical point, having nothing to do with spirituality or true devotion (Bhakti) itself.30
• Against Falsehood: Falsehood is a great barrier in Yoga.31 An absolute integral sinceritymust be established, requiring abstention from telling lies.32 Lying is condemned, even when dealing with dishonest people, because one must not descend to their level.33 The Asura attempts to create perverse ideas, such as teaching that truthfulness is a superstition or that lying aids spiritual progress.34

Right Action and Avoidance of Ego

• Work and Profit: It is possible for a man to engage in business, make money, and earn profits while practicing Yoga, provided it is done in the right spirit.35
• Law of Sacrifice: The higher law dictates that work must be done without desire, attachment to fruit or reward, or egoistic motive, but as an offering or sacrifice to the Divine.36
• Egolessness: The goal is to rise above the impulse to be a “great Sadhak” (pride/vanity) or the “greed for money”.37 Any act of egoism, even spiritual ambition, must be rejected.38
• Misuse of Cleverness: Cleverness used to cheat people to get money is a misuse of cleverness, though it is acknowledged that such qualities lead to worldly success.39

Handling Tainted Funds

• Money itself is an impersonal force and is not affected by how it is acquired (e.g., illegally).40
• If someone acquired money dishonestly but, seized by repentance, spontaneously offers it for the general good (divine work), this movement is acceptable.41
• However, one should never actively solicit money from those known to be dishonest, as this would implicitly legitimize their manner of acquisition.42

IV. Practical Management of Material Resources

The Yogic standard demands a careful and orderly relation to material possessions and finances, rejecting carelessness and confusion.

Order, Scrupulousness, and Waste

• Thoroughness (Scrupulousness): To do something scrupulously is to do it with the utmost care, honestly, and thoroughly.43 Thoroughness must apply to both internal spiritual matters and external actions.44
• Right Spending vs. Waste: Money should be spent in the right way, with order and arrangement.45 Waste involves unorganised expenses or throwing money away without regard to means or utility.46
• Care of Possessions: There is often a general human defect of carelessness, rough handling, and indifference towards physical objects.47 Physical things have a consciousness that feels and responds to care.48 Learning to be careful with them is a great progress in consciousness.49
• Necessities vs. Luxuries: A Sadhaka’s necessities should be few.50 A Yogi may possess and enjoy utilities, decorations, or luxuries only if they are used as a discipline to achieve detachment and conformity to the Divine Will (e.g., properly used, organised, and maintained), without greed, desire, or claim for them.51

Debt and Financial Clarity

• Debt Avoidance: Borrowing money from shopkeepers is considered undignified.52 Sri Aurobindo was generally against borrowing money.53
• Clarity and Exactness: The Divine Force, especially the Supramental Force, requires exactness, clearness, and order both in the total financial picture and in details and their relations.54 A confused, vague, or general idea of transactions hinders the Force’s work.55
• Record Keeping: Sri Aurobindo, in his own time, noted the necessity of recording and being aware of debts and financial transactions, emphasizing the need for an exact and clear idea of the whole transaction.56

V. Requirements for Commanding the Money-Force

Beyond general detachment, specific conditions are necessary to gain command over the money-force for divine purposes.

Yogic Conditions for Mastery

• Non-Attachment and Understanding: Two conditions are necessary to command money by Yogic force: non-attachment (calmness, no desire/disturbance) and bojhāpaḍā (mutual understanding) with the money forces.57
• Bojhāpaḍā Defined: Understanding involves dealing with Nature’s forces, specifically fighting the Mammon force (hostile influence controlling money) until harmony with the Lakshmi force (Divine aspect of wealth) is established.58 Money should be desired exclusively for divine needs and work.59
• Right Will: Before attaining the higher Power, one must deal with hostile forces using the right sort of will, which must be free from desire or attachment.60
• Divine Grace and Effort: One method is placing one’s need before God and asking Him to satisfy it, ending one’s duty there.61 However, in the Yoga described, reliance is not solely on God’s grace; one must actively deal with the forces of nature and resist hostile forces.62 Man must play his part, accepting the conditions and arrangement of forces.63

Consecration and Fidelity

• Spiritual Riches: The greater task is conquering the world for the Divine; bringing the force of wealth from the rule of the vital world onto the side of the Divine is worthwhile.64
• Discharge of Trust: The capacity to command the money-force depends on how one discharges the trust of possessing wealth—in what spirit, with what consciousness, and to what purpose the money is used.65
• Signs of Freedom: Equality of mind, absence of demand, and the full dedication of all possessions and powers of acquisition to the Divine Shakti are the signs of true financial freedom.66
• Perseverance: If one strives for command over money, they are given money initially, and subsequently must deserve it by proving they do not waste it.67

- Narendra Gehlaut (India)

1. Money is the visible sign of a universal force, and this force in its manifestation on earth works on the vital and physical planes and is indispensable to the fullness of the outer life. In its origin and its true action it belongs to the Divine. But like other powers of the Divine it is delegated here and in the ignorance of the lower Nature can be usurped for the uses of the ego or held by Asuric influences and perverted to their purpose. This is indeed one of the three forces—power, wealth, sex—that have the strongest attraction for the human ego and the Asura and are most generally misheld and misused by those who retain them. The seekers or keepers of wealth are more often possessed rather than its possessors; few escape entirely a certain distorting influence stamped on it by its long seizure and perversion by the Asura. For this reason most spiritual disciplines insist on a complete self-control, detachment and renunciation of all bondage to wealth and of all personal and egoistic desire for its possession. Some even put a ban on money and riches and proclaim poverty and bareness of life as the only spiritual condition. But this is an error; it leaves the power in the hands of the hostile forces. To reconquer it for the Divine to whom it belongs and use it divinely for the divine life is the supramental way for the Sadhaka. Sri Aurobindo, The Mother with Letters on The Mother: The Mother - IV 
2. Money is the visible sign of a universal force, and this force in its manifestation on earth works on the vital and physical planes and is indispensable to the fullness of the outer life. In its origin and its true action it belongs to the Divine. Sri Aurobindo, The Mother with Letters on The Mother: The Mother - IV 
3. In its origin and its true action it belongs to the Divine. But like other powers of the Divine it is delegated here and in the ignorance of the lower Nature can be usurped for the uses of the ego or held by Asuric influences and perverted to their purpose. Sri Aurobindo, The Mother with Letters on The Mother: The Mother - IV 
4. Like other powers of the Divine it is delegated here and in the ignorance of the lower Nature can be usurped for the uses of the ego or held by Asuric influences and perverted to their purpose. Sri Aurobindo, The Mother with Letters on The Mother: The Mother - IV 
5. It [money] is a vital force which enables men to command success. Some persons possess this in a marked degree. From Conversations, 6 September 1926 (Evening):Anilbaran Roy 
6. The money force has a twofold movement – of gathering and throwing away; those who can keep this rhythm have plenty of money, e.g., the big industrial magnates. You have really to follow a certain rhythm of the money-power, the rhythm that brings in and the one that throws out money. From Conversations, 6 September 1926 (Evening):Anilbaran Roy 
7. Money is like water, to remain pure it must run. The Mother, New Correspondences of the Mother - Vol II: 15 June 1965 
8. And truly money has no value unless it circulates. For each and every one, money is valuable only when one has spent it. The Mother, Questions and Answers (1955): 16 February 1955 
9. Mere hoarding is an obstacle. From Conversations, 6 September 1926 (Evening):Anilbaran Roy 
10. Money does not belong to anybody. Money is a collective possession which should be used only by those who have an integral, comprehensive and universal vision. The Mother, Words of the Mother - I: Early Talks 
11. In the ignorance of the lower Nature can be usurped for the uses of the ego or held by Asuric influences and perverted to their purpose. This is indeed one of the three forces—power, wealth, sex—that have the strongest attraction for the human ego and the Asura and are most generally misheld and misused by those who retain them. Sri Aurobindo, The Mother with Letters on The Mother: The Mother - IV 
12. This is indeed one of the three forces—power, wealth, sex—that have the strongest attraction for the human ego and the Asura and are most generally misheld and misused by those who retain them. Sri Aurobindo, The Mother with Letters on The Mother: The Mother - IV 
13. The seekers or keepers of wealth are more often possessed rather than its possessors; few escape entirely a certain distorting influence stamped on it by its long seizure and perversion by the Asura. Sri Aurobindo, The Mother with Letters on The Mother: The Mother - IV 
14. And then, Money, to this consciousness, is buffoonery: this system of money, the invention of this system, which prevents you from doing anything unless you pull out a banknote, to it, really it’s buffoonery... Death, food and money: this Consciousness feels those are the three “awesome” things in human life, that human life revolves around those three things—eating, dying, and having money—and to it, the three are... they are passing inventions which derive from a wholly transitory state that doesn’t correspond to anything very deep or very permanent. The Mother, Mother's Agenda: May 3, 1969 
15. Money seems to have become the Supreme Lord these days—truth is receding in the background, as for Love, it is quite out of sight! I mean Divine Love because what human beings call love is a very good friend of money. The Mother, On Education: Conduct 
16. Most spiritual disciplines insist on a complete self-control, detachment and renunciation of all bondage to wealth and of all personal and egoistic desire for its possession. Some even put a ban on money and riches and proclaim poverty and bareness of life as the only spiritual condition. But this is an error; it leaves the power in the hands of the hostile forces. To reconquer it for the Divine to whom it belongs and use it divinely for the divine life is the supramental way for the Sadhaka. Sri Aurobindo, The Mother with Letters on The Mother: The Mother - IV  
17. But this is an error; it leaves the power in the hands of the hostile forces. To reconquer it for the Divine to whom it belongs and use it divinely for the divine life is the supramental way for the Sadhaka. Sri Aurobindo, The Mother with Letters on The Mother: The Mother - IV 
18. To reconquer it for the Divine to whom it belongs and use it divinely for the divine life is the supramental way for the Sadhaka. Sri Aurobindo, The Mother with Letters on The Mother: The Mother - IV 
19. Regard wealth simply as a power to be won back for the Mother and placed at her service. Sri Aurobindo, The Mother with Letters on The Mother: The Mother - IV 
20. All wealth belongs to the Divine and those who hold it are trustees, not possessors. It is with them today, tomorrow it may be elsewhere. All depends on the way they discharge their trust while it is with them, in what spirit, with what consciousness in their use of it, to what purpose. Sri Aurobindo, The Mother with Letters on The Mother: The Mother - IV 
21. You must neither turn with an ascetic shrinking from the money power, the means it gives and the objects it brings, nor cherish a rajasic attachment to them or a spirit of enslaving self-indulgence in their gratifications. Sri Aurobindo, The Mother with Letters on The Mother: The Mother - IV 
22. The ideal Sadhaka in this kind is one who if required to live poorly can so live and no sense of want will affect him or interfere with the full inner play of the divine consciousness, and if he is required to live richly, can so live and never for a moment fall into desire or attachment to his wealth or to the things that he uses or servitude to self-indulgence or a weak bondage to the habits that the possession of riches creates. The divine Will is all for him and the divine Ananda. Sri Aurobindo, The Mother with Letters on The Mother: The Mother - IV 
23. So we always come back to the same thing: the absolute necessity of a perfect sincerity, a perfect honesty, and a sense of the dignity of what one does, so that one does it as it should be done. The Mother, Words of the Mother - III: 10 October 1958 
24. Sincerity is the basis of yoga, the basis of all progress. Without it, one is not well-equipped. The Mother, Questions and Answers (1954): 5 May 1954 
25. Whether a man is a Bhakta or not can be judged only by his dealing with money. Money is the test. If you can’t offer money to the Divine, your sincerity is not genuine. From Conversations, 22 February 1940:Nirodbaran 
26. There are plenty of people who are Bhaktas, but when the money-question comes, their Bhakti disappears. From Conversations, 22 FEBRUARY 1940:Nirodbaran 
27. Virtue is a moral principle, not spiritual. Morality is a consequence of spirituality... Not necessarily. From Conversations, 20 November 1926:V. Chidanandam 
28. Fixed ethical principles are only preparatory tools for spiritual growth, superseded entirely by actions freely determined by the higher consciousness once attained. Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Himself and the Ashram: On His Philosophy in General 
29. Indian culture knew the value of morality, and also its limitations. The Upanishads and the Gita are loud with and full of the idea of going beyond morality. For instance, when the Upanishad says: "He does not need to think whether what he is doing is good or bad" — Sadhu, Asadhu. Such a man attains a consciousness in which there is no need to think about morality because the action proceeds from the Truth. From Conversations, 4 December 1925:A.B. Purani 
30. What you say is an ethical or moral point. It has nothing to do with spirituality. The question is whether one feels the Bhakti and, if he feels it, it is quite genuine. From Conversations, 22 February 1940:Nirodbaran 
31. Falsehood is a great barrier in the path of this yoga. Falsehood of any kind must not be given a place in thought, speech or action. Sri Aurobindo, Writings in Bengali and Sanskrit: Letters on Yoga (Letters to N.)  
32. Evidently the first condition for conquering falsehood is to abstain from telling lies, though this is only a quite preliminary step. An absolute integral sincerity must finally be established in order to attain the goal. The Mother, New Words of the Mother: Lies 
33. Because one is dealing with dishonest people, that does not justify one in going down to their own level. The Mother, Questions and Answers (1954): 9 June 1954 
34. But there are very queer things that have for long been inculcated in the Asram to newcomers and to visitors—e.g. that truthfulness is a superstition and the more you lie the better sadhak you are... It is not surprising that our work and the Yoga should make such slow progress when such perversities fill the atmosphere. Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Himself and the Ashram: Sexual Relations and the Ashram 
35. It is in his view quite possible for a man to do business and make money and earn profits and yet be a spiritual man, practise Yoga, have an inner life. The Gita is constantly justifying works as a means of spiritual salvation and enjoining a Yoga of works as well as of Bhakti and Knowledge. Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II: Work and Yoga 
36. Krishna, however, superimposes a higher law also that work must be done without desire, without attachment to any fruit or reward, without any egoistic attitude or motive, as an offering or sacrifice to the Divine. Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - II: Work and Yoga 
37. There are three things in the vital nature which are very great obstacles in the Yoga — there are many others besides but they are of minor importance. 1. Lust. 2. Pride and Vanity — that "I am a great sadhak" etc. 3. Ambition for success or greed for money. From Conversations, 27 December 1923:A.B. Purani 
38. If one wants to become somebody very important, to have a high position or attract the admiration of people around him, to become a great sadhak, a great sannyasi, a great yogi, etc., somebody quite important, that is called having a faith full of ambition... This movement of ambition is often hidden right in the depths of the being and it pushes you, like this, from behind... It is a kind of veiled pride. The Mother, Questions and Answers (1954): 21 July 1954 
39. To know how to cheat people and get their money—is it cleverness? ... Of course it is; or you may say it is a misuse of cleverness. I don't say that this kind of cleverness will not have its consequences, but it can't be denied at the same time that people with such qualities succeed in life. From Conversations, 11 December 1938:Nirodbaran 
40. Sri Aurobindo has answered this question. He says that money in itself is an impersonal force: the way in which you acquire money concerns you alone personally. It may do you great harm, it may harm others also, but it does not in any way change the nature of the money which is an altogether impersonal force: money has no colour, no taste, no psychological consciousness. The Mother, Questions and Answers (1950 - 1951): 3 May 1951 
41. If you take someone (let us suppose the worst) who has killed and acquired money by the murder; if all of a sudden he is seized by terrible scruples and remorse and tells himself, "I have only one thing to do with this money, give it where it can be utilised for the best, in the most impersonal way", it seems to me that this movement is preferable to utilising it for one's own satisfaction. The Mother, Questions and Answers (1950 - 1951): 3 May 1951 
42. Only, if I understand well what you mean, if one knows that a man has acquired money by the most unnamable means, obviously, it would not be good to go and ask him for money for some divine work, because that would be like "rehabilitating" his way of gaining money. One cannot ask, that is not possible. If, spontaneously, for some reason, he gives it, there is no reason to refuse it. The Mother, Questions and Answers (1950 - 1951): 3 May 1951 
43. To do something scrupulously is to do it with the utmost care, as honestly, as thoroughly as one can do it. The Mother, Words of the Mother - I: Relations with Others 
44. Thoroughness means to do whatever you do completely, thoroughly so that it may be entire and perfect, not carelessly or partially done. Thoroughness is needed in internal as well as external things. The Mother, New Words of the Mother: Progress and Perfection in Work 
45. It is not that you have to hoard money. It is there for being spent. But we must spend it in the right way — in a certain order and with an arrangement. From Conversations, 6 September 1926 (Evening):Anilbaran Roy 
46. Waste is waste. Throwing away money without any order, unorganised expenses without regard to the means of getting money or to the utility of spending. From Conversations, 6 September 1926 (Evening):Anilbaran Roy 
47. The difficulty is that most people in the Asram have no training in handling physical things (except the simplest, hardest and roughest), no propensity to take care of them, to give them their full use and time of survival. This is partly due to ignorance and inexperience, but partly also to carelessness, rough, violent and unseeing handling, indifference. Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Himself and the Ashram: Care of Material Things 
48. It is very true that physical things have a consciousness within them which feels and responds to care and is sensitive to careless touch and rough handling. Sri Aurobindo, The Mother with Letters on The Mother: The Mother and Material Things 
49. To know or feel that and learn to be careful of them is a great progress in consciousness. Sri Aurobindo, The Mother with Letters on The Mother: The Mother and Material Things 
50. The necessities of a sadhak should be as few as possible; for there are only a very few things that are real necessities in life. Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Himself and the Ashram: Self-Control, Not Asceticism 
51. A Yogi has a right to possess or enjoy utilities, decorations or luxuries only on one of two conditions— first, if he uses them as a discipline, to get rid of attachment or repulsion and learn to hold and use them with a complete equality and detachment, with a full control of the vital and physical desire, as an instrument of the Divine, for the Divine, in the right and perfect way of the Divine Nature; secondly, if he has already attained a complete freedom from all desire and attachment and is a master of his body and life and mind whom these things cannot soil or bind. Any greed, any desire, any slightest attachment, any sense of claim, any clinging is a contradiction of the condition of the Yoga and a proof that this right has not yet been acquired. The sadhak who is not yet free must be on his guard against the specious pretences of the vital, its plausible excuses for self-indulgence and the subtle deceptions by which it hides a satisfaction of its cravings under the name of a need of the life or the body. Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Himself and the Ashram: Self-Control, Not Asceticism 
52. I find it quite undignified that you should borrow money from a shopkeeper. This practice has lasted already far too long and I want you to stop it. The Mother, New Words of the Mother: Proper Conduct 
53. I am never for borrowing money. But do as you think best.The Mother, Questions and Answers (1950 - 1951): 3 May 1951 
54. The first condition of the Supramental is exactness, clearness and order both in the total and the details and their relations. Therefore it is a great advantage if there are these elements in the data upon which I have to work and a great disadvantage if they are absent. Sri Aurobindo, Autobiographical Notes and Other Writings of Historical Interest: To Barindra Kumar Ghose 
55. It is very necessary for me... to have an exact and clear idea of the whole transaction. Where there is only a confused, vague or general idea, the force I put out loses itself very largely in the void. Sri Aurobindo, Autobiographical Notes and Other Writings of Historical Interest: To Barindra Kumar Ghose 
56. The paragraph in one of your letters about the debts is very confused and I can make nothing precise out of it. What I want is to know first what were the heads and the exact sums actually met by the loan... and exact sums still outstanding... It is very necessary for me... to have an exact and clear idea of the whole transaction. Sri Aurobindo, Autobiographical Notes and Other Writings of Historical Interest: To Barindra Kumar Ghose 
57. You once said that in order to command money by Yogic force two conditions are required: first, non-attachment, second – bojhāpadā [mutual understanding] with the money forces. From Conversations, 6 September 1926 (Evening):Anilbaran Roy 
58. We resolutely fight the Mammon force until we establish harmony with the Luxmi [Lakshmi] force. From Conversations, 6 September 1926 (Evening):Anilbaran Roy 
59. We should want money only for the work we have to do – to meet the divine needs. From Conversations, 6 September 1926 (Evening):Anilbaran Roy 
60. Disciple: Before we have the higher power, should we deal with the hostile forces by the strength of our will? Sri Aurobindo: Yes, the right sort of will, free from desire or attachment. From Conversations, 6 September 1926 (Evening):Anilbaran Roy 
61. First, you must put your need before God and ask Him to satisfy it; your duty ends there. In that case you need not have any bojhāpaḍā with the universal forces. From Conversations, 6 September 1926 (Evening):Anilbaran Roy 
62. But in our Yoga we do not leave the matter to God. We have to deal with the forces of nature, even with the most material things. We must not submit to the hostile forces which prevent us from getting money. From Conversations, 6 September 1926 (Evening):Anilbaran Roy 
63. But in our present circumstances we have to see the arrangement of forces and accept the conditions. Man has a part to play. From Conversations, 6 September 1926 (Evening):Anilbaran Roy 
64. In our aim of Yoga we have to conquer the world for the Divine and if we can bring some force of wealth from the rule of vital worlds on our side, it is worthwhile. At present these forces are held by the vital world. We should win them for the Divine. Sri Aurobindo, Autobiographical Notes and Other Writings of Historical Interest: To Barindra Kumar Ghose 
65. All wealth belongs to the Divine and those who hold it are trustees, not possessors. It is with them today, tomorrow it may be elsewhere. All depends on the way they discharge their trust while it is with them, in what spirit, with what consciousness in their use of it, to what purpose. Sri Aurobindo, The Mother with Letters on The Mother: The Mother - IV 
66. Equality of mind, absence of demand and the full dedication of all you possess and receive and all your power of acquisition to the Divine Shakti and her work are the signs of this freedom. Any perturbation of mind with regard to money and its use, any claim, any grudging is a sure index of some imperfection or bondage. Sri Aurobindo, The Mother with Letters on The Mother: The Mother - IV 
67. Money is given to you in the beginning; then, you have to deserve it. You have to prove that you do not waste it. If you waste it, then you lose your right to it. From Conversations, 6 September 1926 (Evening):Anilbaran Roy