“Joy and contentment come from something a man has within himself, not from things without. Solitude is a torment to the uneasy heart but balm to the contented one.
“A man who can be satisfied with little is the possessor of wisdom. He who desires no more than sufficient will always have enough; his cares will be few.
“Riches do not bring peace to the soul. The greatest treasure of all is a contented heart.
“The coming of riches is not a misfortune; the inheritance of estates is not a calamity to the wise man, for he will utilize them with temperance and discretion.
“The cup of gladness may be sipped by man, but to drain it is too much for the constitution of mortals.
“Contentment is the goal of life, but first the race has to be run. None can receive the crown of the victor until the course is finished and he takes his place among the competitors in the Halls of Eternity.
-The Kolbrin Bible (MPR:22:7-12)
Joy and Contentment
Joy and contentment do come mostly from within a man or woman. While it is true that some external things can affect our contentment, such as music, it is still coming from within because different people can feel differently when listening to the same song.
Solitude
Solitude is difficult for materialistic people, so they will change sides and join movements they really don’t believe in just to be part of a group. While the spiritual person is also happy to be part of groups, they can handle solitude as well. They would rather be on their own than compromise the truth to belong to a group.
Few possessions
The wise person is content with few possessions. One reason for that is they know that possessions tend to increase our attachments to the physical world, and those attachments can be used by the dark beings to trick them into doing things they shouldn’t. That doesn’t mean that spiritual people must live in poverty. They can live in reasonable comfort as God does not want any of us to suffer, but they must avoid becoming too attached to those material comforts. Also, the person who is content with only what is necessary will not be wasting time pursuing more and more material wealth, as we see so many materialists doing.
The Greatest Treasure
Where the quote says the greatest treasure is a contented heart, it really means a contented spirit. An awakened and developed spirit is the greatest treasure a person can have. But we must all make an effort to awaken and develop our spiritual faculties that lie dormant when we enter the physical realm.
Coming of Riches
A spiritual person who inherits wealth will not be harmed by that inheritance. They will use that wealth for their own spiritual development and to aid the spiritual community they belong to. If they don’t belong to a spiritual community, they will donate much of it to worthy charities.
The Crown of Victory
What the quote calls “the crown of the victor” means developing the spirit to the point where it reaches the highest level of consciousness and becomes One with God and the Angels in heaven. It is extremely rare for someone to achieve that level while still in the physical realm. But if we do as much as we can while alive in this world, the process of spiritual development will continue in the afterlife that the quote calls “the Halls of Eternity”.
