Contentment is the Supreme Wealth

12) No matter how much glory, wealth,
Fame or knowledge we may have,
Pride never raises us higher;
Always keep a humble position. That is my heart advice.

This verse instructs us to be humble in all activities. The causes of developing pride are wealth, figure, education, family, reputation, fame, and so forth. It is natural that when we temporarily have wealth, good looks, authority and so on, we have more friends, the respect of others, fame and renown, etc. If you don’t always mindfully check your three doors, some people will develop pride. Not developing pride towards equals, competitiveness towards superiors, or disdain for those beneath us, etc, we should always keep a humble position. You only have wealth, renown, and fame for the moment; in reality it is impermanence itself. Rising ends in falling, gathering ends in depletion, meeting ends in parting, birth ends in death, and so on; realizing this is the nature of samsara, remain humble. Why? You may be prosperous and happy today, but no one knows what will happen tomorrow. If wealth, happiness and fame of this life could follow you to your next life and help you, that would be useful, but you have no power to bring them. As said in the Instructions for the King Sutra:

Emaciated by time, the king must go,
and wealth, friends and relatives will not follow.
Wherever living beings go,
their karma follows them like their shadow.

If we spend this brief respite of a human life accumulating bad karma trying to profit from the loss of others, the attachment to that wealth at the time of death will be our real enemy which will cause our rebirth in a worse lifeform in the future. Therefore it is very important to be content with wealth and enjoyments that you have. As Buddha said,