The characteristics of all things are nothing more that the cumulative distortions from their original state. With each distortion, we find things changing in character until they become far removed from their original nature.
We see this clearly in the economical world, where concepts of money were once related to the relative scarcity of a finite resource that lent an independent and natural value to it that was objective and clear. In our history we have seen the role of Gold and Silver fulfilling this purpose, having the following innate characteristics that define money[1]:
A medium of exchange:
· It should have liquidity, and be easily tradeable, with a low spread between the prices to buy and sell, in other words, a low transaction cost.
· It should be easily transportable; precious metals have a high value to weight ratio. This is why oil, coal, or water are not suitable as money even though they are valuable.
· It should be durable. Gold or silver coins are often mixed with 10% copper to improve durability, and coins are made with ridges around the rim to prevent coin shaving or debasement.
A unit of account:
· It should be divisible into small units without destroying its value; precious metals can be coined from bars, or melted down into bars again, with a low percentage cost. This is why leather, or live animals are not suitable as money.
· It should be fungible: that is, one unit or piece must be equivalent to another, which is why diamonds, works of art or real estate are not suitable as money.
· It must be a specific weight, or measure, or size to be verifiably countable. You must be able to weigh, measure, and count, your unit of account!
A store of value:
· It should be long lasting, durable, it must not be perishable or subject to decay. This is why food items, expensive spices, or even fine silks or oriental rugs, are not generally suitable as money.
· It should have a stable value.
· It should be difficult to counterfeit, and the genuine must be easily recognizable.
A standard of deferred payment:
· It should be an ultimate extinguisher of debts[2].
However, as Gold and Silver were replaced in circulation by paper depository notes for the same, and then these paper depository notes were replaced by promissory notes, which were replaced by completely irredeemable fiat currency, we can see that the concepts of money have been successively abstracted. With each abstraction was introducing further distortion to the original nature of money to the point that today we find that the currency we hold in our wallets is officially depreciated at a constantly variable rate, it is created at will by central banks as a debt to sovereign nations to be paid for by future generations and it is inflated without limit by the fractional reserve lending of commercial banks and credit card companies. Clearly such actions have destroyed all the original characteristics of money except that of being a Unit of Exchange and that is only maintained under threat of punishment by the taxation and other so called authorities.
To confuse the nature of money even more, those gold and silver coins that are still minted as currency have a nominal exchangeable value printed on them that is so far short of their intrinsic worth as to make the circulation of such as a competitive currency impossible if considered for transactions against the printed paper currency that does circulate.
How bizarre! How is it possible to identify with a currency that doesn’t even fulfil the definition of money?
Obviously, it is possible and it is made possible by degrees, through the progressive changes to the characteristics ascribed to the circulating currency over many decades of time.
In this way we collectively accept such distortions and sink further into a delusional financial existence. Perhaps greed is the motivator that allows such acceptance, as money appears to flow more freely into our hands, due it the ease by which it is created. However, we ultimately are forced to confront the truth that debt based money turns all who use it and rely upon it into the slaves of those who create it. The austerity measures witnessed in Greece, Ireland and other European nations imposed by the ECB and IMF are testimony to this, as these banks seek to preserve the value of the debt that backs their economic regimes.
So there are active participants in the propagation of these monetary distortions and our collective delusion of accepting the use of debt based currency as money. Is this situation reflected also in the delusions we harbour and the distortions from our original nature that we each have?
In the Buddhist context our original nature is the pure universal mind, or our Buddha nature, and it is our compounded distortions in character and our accumulated negative karma over successive lifetimes that define how far we are from being enlightened. In likewise fashion to the vested interests in the money example above, there are many people that are heavily invested into the propagation of our collective existential delusion of the mundane world, including most significantly ourselves.
Should we allow the definitions of the deluded define our existence such that we become enslaved to a paradigm of life that is not even a shadow of our natural estate?
34. Jesus said, "If a blind person leads a blind person, both of them will fall into a hole."
Should we rid ourselves of our distortions and delusional ideals before crashing into the immutable barrier of reality as the European nations are currently doing?
21. Mary said to Jesus, "What are your disciples like?"
He said, "They are like little children living in a field that is not theirs. When the owners of the field come, they will say, 'Give us back our field.' They take off their clothes in front of them in order to give it back to them, and they return their field to them.
For this reason I say, if the owners of a house know that a thief is coming, they will be on guard before the thief arrives and will not let the thief break into their house (their domain) and steal their possessions.
As for you, then, be on guard against the world. Prepare yourselves with great strength, so the robbers can't find a way to get to you, for the trouble you expect will come.
Let there be among you a person who understands.
When the crop ripened, he came quickly carrying a sickle and harvested it. Anyone here with two good ears had better listen!"
Clearly I see some strong parallels between the devolution of money in our society and the devolvement of society itself and if you have read the Parts 1 through 7 of this blog you will not be surprised at this. We are, after all, existing in a fractal, self-referential creation within which we see the same patterns repeating everywhere we look, be they geographical, economical, societal, personal or metaphysical. It is this very quality, that nothing has its own intrinsic, independent existence, which reflects the causality of the phenomenal world and the truth that ultimate reality is Śūnyatā.
May we all find our path back to the original Bohdi mind.
Namaste.
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