Edward’s Diary Entry 16 – Social Interlude: Virtuous inheritances

With a clear life philosophy, we can classify testators and heirs as virtuous or lacking in virtue. Testators lacking in virtue would do better to spend all their wealth before dying so as not to incur in non-virtuous behaviour on the deathbed and in the afterlife, either on their own or influenced by other non-virtuous family members. That would be ideal. Otherwise too much negative karma (vikarma) is produced. Virtuous testators can bequeath to their heirs and virtue is thereby continued. The non-virtuous always create problems: One side is more grasping than another. An unfair distribution is made. Money and wealth are withheld for personal grudges, misunderstandings and resentments. Miserliness and stinginess are upheld. The heirs find this or that wrong with the distribution, some wanting more, others even more. Everyone has their own subjective opinion and no one fails to argue their case. Temptations come and are succumbed to. It is all very tiring. Grudges and non-virtues are continued, and very few escape the mud and mire of inheritance issues. This of course cannot be otherwise. As long as the mind is lost in materiality and the virtues are lacking, nothing can be done properly, especially since money is a highly powerful corrupter of virtue, with greed and covetousness easily stepping in, ranking second maybe after sex and egocentric love, which foment lust and self-centredness. Non-virtuous heirs place ego and self first, and others second. Virtuous heirs place others first and self second, striving to do justice and act fairly. One’s last will and testament is a conclusion to a life, a legal legacy to one’s moral standing. It’s our time-capsuled last chance to do good in this body. So we should make the most of it. When everybody places self first and others second, we never foster virtue or win in the end, as greater separation is produced between human beings. If we place others first and self last, we always come good in the end, because we are “first” for all others, and cannot fail to win. The argument that “others” don’t do this is futile. We cannot wait for others – that time will never come. We have to start with ourselves – that time is now.