A Tamasic Decision
Seeker: By the way, James, was it a sattvic decision to take up debt to buy a house in a foreign country at your age? I suppose one is hardly sattvic when one buys a house, as there is pressure from other potential buyers, plus one never knows what problems arise (pipes, windows, neighbors, weather storms, etc.). In my opinion, one has to be quite tamasic to buy a house.
James: Speaking as if I were a jiva, I think it was a very sattvic decision. I took it for the sake of serving the Lord more efficiently in my old age. I am wasting a lot of time running around the world. I don’t enjoy it. I prefer to write scripture and teach. Spain is a perfect place. It means Sundari doesn’t have to travel to the States, which is very difficult for her physically. It means she is closer to her family in South Africa. It means I don’t have to rely on other people for a place to live. I like European culture and am quite fed up with America’s neurotic state of mind. Just think: no more Trump talk. It is a beautiful, isolated place, very quiet, in the country. We have privacy There is no noise, pollution, etc. It has a world-class view of amazing mountains. It’s cheap to live there. Winters are mild and sunny. My European friends can come and visit. It has a swimming pool and I love to swim. It is beautifully restored. I have the opportunity to work in the garden, which I love, and there is room for a studio for Sundari so we can do art. We will make an online studio to sell our art. Maybe Isvara will inspire people to buy it and we can pay off the mortgage. I can give satsangs there without having to travel and rent venues, etc. There are many benefits. I suppose the downside is owing money, but it is an opportunity to put Isvara to the test. He says He takes care of my getting and keeping. Let’s see if the Lord is a Big Bullshitter. And finally, it is much more than a house. It is Bhagavan’s temple.
Maybe you have to be tamasic to buy a house because you have different values from me. You can just as well look at your house as an opportunity. You can see it as Bhagavan’s temple and maintain and beautify it as service to Bhagavan, in which case is it a tamasic house?
~ Love, James