The Karmic Trust Fund
from His Holiness Danavir Goswami
posted August 7, 2003

Suppose your wealthy great grandfather, a former minister of finance, set up a trust fund with you as the beneficiary. You are to receive an extremely generous amount of money each month---far more than sufficient to supply you and your family's entire needs throughout your lives. The amount is, in all likelyhood, greater than you could ever earn by any other means. Your grandfather used his pull in the government to incorporate two conditions in the trust which he then had established by a Federal injunction binding upon you and the state.

1. In the event that you acquire money from sources other than the trust fund, an equal amount will automatically be deducted from your trust allotment--- thus leaving you with a salary equal to amount of the trust allotment.
2. If you choose to disregard the trust allotment and instead depend exclusively on your own outside earnings:
   • You will be taxed 100% for all funds you earn which surpass the amount of the trust's monthly allotment--- thus leaving you with a salary equal to amount of the trust allotment.
   • You will be subsidized 100% for all funds you earn which fall below the amount of the trust's monthly allotment---thus leaving you with a salary equal to the amount of the trust allotment.

You and your attorney examine the trust document and the following discussion takes place.

Attorney: Basically, your great grandfather wants to overlord your life to a large degree. He has drawn up this trust fund for you but he has arranged it so that you cannot get more or less than exactly what he has decided for you to have. There is nothing you can do to increase or decrease the amount.

You: What?!

Attorney: I'm afraid your grandfather was as clever as a fox. He's gotten this trust fund legalized in every state of the union and there is a clause in the directive which forbids the government from retracting it. He must have really had a lot of power to swing something like this. I've never seen such an all-incompassing document.

You: Why would he do this?

Attorney: That is a question I cannot answer. I never met your great grandfather. All I can say is there is no way to get around this decree, you might as well accept it because legally you are obliged to receive the amount designated in the trust fund covenant. But if I were you, I wouldn't squawk too much because you'll be in good shape.

You: But what if there is inflation and the funds become devalued?

Attorney: He's got that covered too. Your funds are sent from Swiss banks and are backed by a huge quantity of real gold bullion. An adjustment for varying currency rates is built into the equasion assuring you to receive the exact same buying value under all circumstances.

After learning about the trust fund and all of its ramifications, you decide to investigate further. You call your elder cousin Lou and ask him if you could come over and talk.

You: Lou, you are also a member of the Eeshwhar family, did you get a trust fund set up in your name?

Lou: I certainly did. But my great granduncle Parry is not going to ruin my life by forcing me to live within his parameters.

You: Ruin your life? What do mean?

Lou: Why should I settle for living on the measely allowance Parry M. Eeshwhar dictates for me. I could earn ten times that much if I was free to.

You: How would you do that?

Lou: Are you kidding? I would develop my company, then go public, then merge with another company, then buy them out and make a fortune. Just like Bill Gates.

You: So what are you going to do about this binding trust fund.

Lou: Don't you worry, I've got three lawyers helping me draw up a counter document which will negate the effect of his. Besides that I'm studying law at night school so I can defeat this ridiculous trust fund case.

You: What's that you're taking?

Lou: Oh. It's some medicine which is supposed to calm the nerves. I get hyperactive and the doctor says I should take this stuff but honestly I find a few Bloody Mary's do just as well.

You: So you are convinced that this trust arrangement is not a good thing for you.

Lou: My God, Arby, how can you live when your great granduncle or great grandfather, who you don't even remember, limits your finances? I will never agree to accept such a fate. I would rather die trying to undo the trust fund.

But I'll tell you something confidential, if you promise not to tell anyone in the family. Do you promise.

You: Yeah, I promise.

Lou: I've already started to earn more money without letting the trust fund people find out. I've got $50,000 extra in a ficticious bank account name which I earned through an investment.

You: So you can use that in addition to the trust fund money?

Lou: Yes. Normally I would be able to but at this particular time it will be needed to pay the attorneys who are helping me figure out this whole counterplan. Imagine if I didn't have the extra $50,000 how would I be able to pay the attorneys? You've just got to have more money than the trust fund allows. That is all there is to it. If you want Arby, I'll introduce you to my attorneys and they can set up a counter plan for you too.

You: Thanks, Lou…I'll think about and let you know.

Next you pay a visit to your aged grandfather (81 years old) in Wiseton, Florida. You ask him to tell you as much as possible about your great grandfather who set up the trust fund, his father.

Grandfather: Grandson your great grandfather was a brilliant man. You met him once when
you were very young but you probably forgot. He could figure out just about everything.

You: What do you mean?

Grandfather: He would carefully consider precisely what people needed and he would go ahead and arrange to provide that much for them.

You: Yeah, I just found out about a trust fund he set up for me.

Grandfather: He left one for me too and it sure has been helpful.

You: But I kind of feel like great grandfather has tied my hands up and forced me to dance the way he wants me to. Do you know what I mean?

Grandfather: Yes I do. My father did have a propensity for controlling, there's no denying that. But his intentions are good. He wants you to be happy, carefree and protected. Most of all however, he wants you to be successful in accomplishing what he called the "really important things in life."

You: What are those?

Grandfather: He wants you to find out who you are; where you were before this lifetime and what happens to you after death. Your great grandfather loved you since when you were young (too young for you to remember him). He wanted that you should not be forced to work like a maniac for a livelihood. He didn't want you to be overwhelmed with passion and greed thrusting you into anxiety and corruption.

My father once told me a story of a bird. It was a mother bird who started to build her nest within a hole in the wall of a pantry. But inside the house, the man and his father didn't want a bird's nest inside their house so they stuffed some crumpled paper inside the hole. When the mother bird came back she pulled and pulled and finally she removed the paper and continued with the nest building. The man and his father then stuffed crumpled paper even more tightly into the hole in the wall. When the mother bird saw what had happened, she brought her husband and together they pulled and pulled until the paper came out. Then the man and his father put paper in so tight that the birds could not remove it.

The point of the story was that the birds couldn't understand that a superior force, namely the man and his father, were employing their intelligence and strength to spoil the attempts of the birds. The birds were determined but so were the man and the father. Ultimately the birds were defeated. Your great grandfather said that man is also not independent. There are higher authorities who direct universal affairs.

This article originally published in ISKCON Middle East, Vaisnava Society vol. 5