Buku Rich Brother , Rich Sister bagi saya jauh lebih matang dan lebih kaya daripada buku Rich Dad, Poor Dad

kupasan buku yang menarik minat saya untuk baca dan memiliki

http://muqabalah2009.blogspot.com/2010/10/buku-menarik-rich-brother-rich-sister.html

http://muqabalah2009.blogspot.com/2010/10/buku-menarik-rich-brother-rich-sister_24.html

http://muqabalah2009.blogspot.com/2010/10/buku-menarik-rich-brother-rich-sister_25.html

buku Rich Dad, Poor Dad tulisan Robert Kiyosaki. Dia mengatakan ianya sebuah buku yang perlu dibaca, ianya tentang pengurusan kewangan.

buku The Trust oleh Furakawa. Ianya menarik, perbincangan di atas tajuk yang sama, tetapi lebih santai dan personal ialah The Speed of Trust oleh Stephen Covey J.

Saya bertemu dengan buku yang juga ditulis oleh Robert Kiyosaki bersama saudara perempuannya Emi bertajuk Rich Brother, Rich Sister; saya pun membeli kedua-dua buku tulisan Kiyosaki itu. Alhamdulillah saya merasakan saya beruntung untuk membaca buku tersebut, sebagaimana saya gembira membaca buku The Turning Point dan The Uncommon Wisdomstulisan Frithjof Chapra; sebagaimana saya gembira membaca bukuHow To Succeed in Business Without Working so Damn Hard oleh Robert J.Krigel atau The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make A Big Difference oleh Malcom Gladwell.

Penulis-penulis buku ini bagi saya telah menulis secara jujur , jujur mengikut faham mereka. Ianya bukan sesuatu yang digubah-gubah untuk memenuhi selera pasaran. Ya, kadang-kadang kita merasa mual membaca contohnya buku pengurusan masa secara Islam; yang isi kandungan memang sama dengan mana-mana bahan bacaan popular barat kecuali dikepilkan beberapa ayat al-Quran dan Hadith. Ianya tidak mempunyai kedalaman dan ruhnya amat lemah.

Buku Rich Brother , Rich Sister bagi saya jauh lebih matang dan lebih kaya daripada buku Rich Dad, Poor Dad, walapun mungkin tidak adil untuk membandingkan dua buku yang fokusnya berlainan. Atau lebih adil untuk mengatakan saya lebih mampu untuk associate kefahaman dan kecenderungan saya dengan buku tersebut.

Kita fokus kepada yang zahir kerana terhijab daripada yang batin. Kita kira dengan memberi , resources kita akan berkurangan . Kita mengira kita penentu bukannya kita ini barang yang ditentukan.

Kita fokus kepada yang zahir kerana terhijab daripada yang batin. Kita kira dengan memberi , resources kita akan berkurangan . Kita mengira kita penentu bukannya kita ini barang yang ditentukan.

Buku Rich Brother, Rich Sister merupakan rakaman kehidupan, pemahaman , kesedaran serta peningkatan dalam memahami anasir-anasir kehidupan oleh dua beradik; seorang abang yang berjaya sebagai usahawan selepas menjadi tentera dalam perang Vietnam, dan seorang adik perempuan yang pemalu dan kemudiannya menjadi rahib , penganut buddha Tibet yang diberi nama Tenzin Kacho oleh Dalai Lama.

Kita fokus kepada yang zahir kerana terhijab daripada yang batin. Kita kira dengan memberi , resources kita akan berkurangan . Kita mengira kita penentu bukannya kita ini barang yang ditentukan.

Kedua-duanya melalui perjalanan kehidupan yang berbeza, walaupun kemudiannya menemui banyak persamaan dalam memahami anasir-anasir kehidupan. Mereka mempercayai peraturan hakiki yang mengatasi peraturan yang kelihatan. Saya cuba turunkan beberapa petikan yang dicatit oleh Robert di sana sini :

"I didn't want to go back to schools only to feel stupid again. I didn't want to go to church and be told I was a sinner and had to die before I could begin to live. I didn't want to be an employee of a company, allowing the business to tell me how much I made, whom I worked with, who was my boss, and whether or not I would be promoted.
I wanted to regain my power, the power to have my life on my terms, to find heaven on earth.
In Sunday School I learned that Noah endured a rainstorm for 40 days and 40 nights. I also learned that Moses wandered the desert for 40 years before he was delivered to the Promised Land. In 1974, I was hoping to find heaven on earth in 40 days, but I was also willing to wander for 40 years".(pg 106)

Emi mencatitkan tentang usaha memahami agama dan tradisi yang berbeza secara yang menarik:
"I've grown to appreciate people's faith in their chosen traditions, the effort they make to practice and study and to be good disciples. We have a long way to go in deepening tolerance and kindness for people of faiths other than our own. When we look down upon others or belittle them, it shows our intolerance and narrow perspective. This qoute from Dave Barry is sobering and sometimes true: "people who want to share their religious views with you almost never want you to share yours with them" (pg 117)

Robert membuat catitan tentang beratnya kesalahan berbohong:
"We all make mistakes" he continued. "We have all broken the rules. We all do stupid things and think we can get away with it. S0 making mistake and being stupid is not a crime. Being foolish is not a crime. Lying is" (pg 125)

Robert membuat catitan tentang beratnya kesalahan berbohong:
"We all make mistakes" he continued. "We have all broken the rules. We all do stupid things and think we can get away with it. S0 making mistake and being stupid is not a crime. Being foolish is not a crime. Lying is" (pg 125)

Robert membuat pengamatan:
"As time went on, I begin to wonder why so many people pretended to be saints but were really sinners. If the rules for good life were so easy to follow, why did so many people not follow them?. Some specific examples that have disturbed me:
We all know we should not lie.
.....if this is such a simple lesson to live life by, why do so many people lie?
We all know we should not commit adultery.
.....yet, why do so many people cheat on their spouses?
We know we should not kill.
..Yet governments spend so much time, technology, and money in the pursuit of building weapons to kill people.
We all know that we should love thy neighbor
....Yet why do so many people gossip behind their neighbor's back, stabbing them in the back with words?. Why do so many people spend so much time, creativity, and effort on the Internet to smear someone else?" (pg 126-127)

Sebahagian persoalan yang ditimbulkan Robert merupakan persoalan kepada kita juga (kita hanya mampu memahami melalui pertunjuk al-Quran, hadith dan hikmah hukama melalui huraian murabbi yang sebenar dengan rahmat Allah):

"I also noticed that humans struggled a lot within themselves. It seemed as if many people went to churches to genuinely pray for a better life, yet a better life eluded many of them. For e.g:
*Many people want to be rich, yet millions of spiritually rich remain financially poor
*Millions would like to be thinner and healthier, yet millions pray to lose weight only to gain more weight
*Millions pray for more love and happiness with their spouse or partner, yet some of the most vicious fights are with those you love the most
*Millions of families go to churches to set a moral example for their kids, yet some of the kids from religious families turn out to be the worst kids of all. (pg 127-128)

Emi pula merakamkan pengalaman perjalanan kerohanian Buddha-Tibet yang dialaminya; mungkin juga ada persamaan dengan pengalaman kita sendiri, sekiranya kita pernah tersentuh dengan pengalaman bersama golongan sebegini di kalangan ummah:

"While we deeply immerse ourselves in prayer, practice, study, conduct, and dicipline, we must be authentic in our personal journey. In my walks on the path, subtle deception of erroneous views shut me down. My smiling outer form held a sad frown inside. But as long as seeking approval held the upper hand over speaking up, a part of me would be forced into mental exile. The result is that my work and life appeared worthy and good, but there was a subtle corruption in my practice, and it was hurting me. We sometimes live a long time, compromised and captive to our flavor of delusion. External structures of religion, discipline, and work ethics provide guidelines for us, meant to enhance our relationships and ability to live in harmony with others. These we take up, and choose to abide by to help reflect and direct our inner motivations and directions.
But we need vigilance to correct and direct ourselves when we go off course. The course may be valid, but our interpretations and conduct may be flawed. We need skillful teachers and kind spiritual friends. (pg 137)

Kita boleh menjenguk kefahaman dua beradik ini melihat kematian, serta aspeknya yang mempengaruhi kehidupan. Robert mencatit:
I gained a great deep appreciation for the precious gift called life. Instead in fear of dying. I do my best to live a fearless life. I believe that one of the reasons I do not succumb to the fear of job security, fear of failing, fear of criticism, and fear of not having enough money, is because to me those fears are fears not worthy of dictating how I live my life. Rather than live in fear, I choose to live life with excitement, gratitude, and giving back, in exchange for the gift known as life (pg261)

Pada bahagian lain, dia mencatitkan:
I connect with the Sunday School lesson, "God helps those who help themselves". In my life I have found that the more I help others- and my self- the more miracles I have in my life

Dan juga;
I began to realize that the more I tried to kill my enemies, the harder they fought to live.


Emi pula mencatitkan:

As important as our wealth, our friends, our family, even our doctors are to us during our lives, the only thing that can help us in our final ours is a peaceful mind. And from my observations, as well as personal experience, graceful dying comes from graceful living. Graceful living is defined as a spiritual and ethical life, resolving our inner conflicts with ourselves and our other conflicts with others. Living well is the secret to dying well. (pg269)

Dan juga:
As it's true- as I have learned from my own journey- that it takes a basic level of wealth to maintain health and happiness. but money alone does not bring happiness, no matter the quantity.The pursuit of happiness without an ethical foundation is certain to change into the pursuit of unhappiness. Ethics and good will toward others compose the essential state of mind that will bring about happiness in this very life, and it is this state that is the real human treasure, the true wealth. We prepare for death by being mindful of how we live. (pg 271)

Agaknya menarik sekali cara Emi menyimpulkan persoalan menanti kematian:
Death will be a measure of how I lived and how I resolved the issues of my life- both internal and external. How empowering it is to know that we can shape our final moments by the way we shape our present ones. It's not that we should live our lives solely so that we may have peaceful deaths, but rather, know that if we desire a peaceful death, then we must live our lives accordingly.

Pendekatan yang diambil oleh kedua beradik ini adalah pendekatan yang praktikal. Kerana satu yang pasti dalam kehidupan kita ialah kematian, tentunya banyak pelajaran yang kita boleh pelajari dari kematian. Kematian bukanlah titik noktah yang terakhir, ianya adalah satu transition yang pasti kita lalui dalam perjalanan kita yang masih jauh.

Emi mencatitkan:
The strict , radical materialistic view believes that once we die, there is nothing left. According to that view, our mind is a chemical reaction contingent upon our body and stops when the body dies. But even from the materialist's view, you can see that phenomena continue on in changed forms. Just as water becomes ice and vapor, even our body components become dust and earth again; there is gross and subtle transformation of physical phenomena. (pg328)

Dalam kehidupan sebelum kematian ini, bukan sedikit daripada manusia yang mendakwa yang unsur-unsur dari dunia seumpama harta tidak membawa apa-apa makna, ada sebahagiannya memang mempunyai tahap pengalaman yang sedemikian, sehingga mereka melihat tanah dan emas dengan pandangan yang sama. Ada sebahagian pula yang berlagak tanpa menginsafi tahap pengalaman mereka; mereka memang tertipu dengan ungkapan perkataan yang benar tetapi kebenaran itu bukan untuk pengalaman tahap mereka.

Emi membuat pengamatan peribadinya ketika berdepan dengan kanser:
While I do think it is possible in rare cases for someone's cancer to disappear perhaps with assistance of sincere prayers, I would not want to experiment with that on my self. Additionally , I don't think I would have a calm mind at all if I knew sickness was progressing and did not seek help (pg 309).

Emi menyatakan kesedarannya tentang kepentingan harta:
It took getting cancer to wake me up to the reality that money is useful, not just for nice things in life, but for the basics like health and wellness. It showed how my physical life constantly informed my emotional, mental and spiritual life. What I do not pay attention to is going to manifest one way or another. (pg235)

Robert pula menyatakan kehairanannya:
While I did want to be rich, I was really curious about this subject of money. I truly wanted to know why people were rich and so many were poor. I wanted to know why people like my dad claimed to be not interested in money, yet spent his life working for it and complaining that he never had enough of it. I wanted to know why churches spoke out against the love of money and then pleaded with their congregations to put more money in the offering plate (pg 230)

Bagi Robert sebahagian manusia begitu taksub dengan wang sehingga ke peringkat pemujaan, walaupun secara zahirnya mereka menzahirkan yang kekayaan itu sesuatu yang menjijikan:
Spiritually, I did not want to worship or be a slave to money. That point was crystal clear because my parents had had friends who saved, saved and saved. They had tons of money, yet they lived frugally, below their means, claiming that money was the root of all evil. To me, this attitude was making money the god they worshiped- or fear. (pg160)

Robert menyatakan kefahamannya tentang keterbatasan matawang kertas:
Very few people know that the rules of the money changed in 1971. That year, President Nixon took the U.S dollar off the gold standard. The dollar replaced gold- which is money made by God - with man-made money, which is also known as fiat money, or money that is not based on physical commodity. in 1971, the dollar became a currency, and it was no longer money. The word currency comes from the word "current". A currency like a river current or an electrical current, needs to be moving. This is why parking your money in a bank or in a mutual fund reduces your wealth. Your wealth declines because your money is not moving. Sitting in an account, your money is moving for your banker, financial advisor , investment bankers, and mutual fund companies- but not for you. (pg 338)

Kita kagum dengan kedalaman pengamatan yang ada pada dua beradik ini dalam banyak perkara, walaupun kita mungkin mempunyai fahaman yang berbeza. Apabila Robert berbincang tentang Tuhan, kita terasa sangat yang betapa besarnya nikmat Iman dan Islam yang ada pada kita; kerana bagaimana gigihpun usaha manusia untuk memahami Kebenaran, mereka hanya mampu sampai di pinggiran Kebenaran sekira mereka tidak dirahmati oleh hidayah dan taufiq daripada Tuhan. (Saya teringat pada komen yang pernah saya baca dalam majalah Arabia pada awal 1980'an: seorang pengeritik kepada konsep Islamization Of Knowledge berhujjah yang memang terdapat banyak persamaan [over-lapping] pada perkara-perkara periphery dalam ajaran tamaddun-tamaddun yang berbeza, yang diibaratkan macam sabut [husk] pada buahan, tetapi inti dalam [lubbun] setiap tamaddun itu berbeza. Bahagian sabut setiap ajaran dalam tamaddun agama memang mengajar kebaikan dan kejernihan jiwa, tetapi inti pati ajaran Islam yang intrinsic adalah Tauhid pada setiap peringkatnya, dan sebahagian besar agama lainnya adalah syirik)

Robert membuat kenyataan yang sangat menarik:
We all know people who believe in God but do not trust in God. This may be why so many people will cling to boring jobs, low pay, bad people, dead marriages, or toxic environments. As I've said before, "people want to go to heaven, but they do not want to die".Many prefer to hang on to something familiar, rather than let go and let God take them to their next destination. There are many who believe in God, but do not trust in God (pg 216)

Robert tidak dapat menerima Keesaan Tuhan berdasarkan hujjah yang alam ini penuh dengan elemen yang bertentangan.
This generalized principle states that unity is not "one". Instead , "one" cannot exist. unity is at a minimum, two -meaning two or more. This principle is significant because the concept of only one God violates this generalized principle. This principle explains why there are arguments and wars. Whenever we think there is only one way, one answer, or one solution, the principle is violated and peace is disturbed. I remember as a kid in church, cringing every time I heard the preacher say, "There is only one God and only one way to God, and that way is through our church and our religion". Even as a kid I knew that statements like this were fighting words, As a kid, I wondered why there couldn't be more than one way to God. When a religion claims to follow the one and only true God, that religion is cruising for a fight. Or if they propose there is only one path to God, they again inviting a challenge- a fight. Today, we are still at war over who is following the one and only God. When I visited Jerusalem, the Holy City, Christians were in conflict with other Christians. They do not need Muslims or Jews to have a fight. Taking this principle further, man could not exist if woman did not exist. We would not up without down, in without out, black without black,fast without slow, positive without negative, right without wrong, or heaven without hell. In politics, we will always have, at minimum, two party system. We will always have liberals as long as there are conservatives. When dreamers wish for one-world government, I know they don't understand this generalized principle. (pg220)

Sedangkan sekiranya Robert terdedah kepada peradaban Taoism, (apa lagi Islam), beliau akan mendapati huraian tentang perbezaan pada tahap 'Yin-Yang'-nya pada segala fenomena kehidupan, tetapi Tao itu sendiri adalah suatu yang tidak boleh dibahagi, tidak mampu diberi takrifan yang sebenarnya dan tidak pernah berubah-ubah. Manifestasi Tao yang tunggal itu adalah pada fenomena Yin-Yang yang bertentangan itu. Pertentangan Yin-Yang membentuk keseimbangan itulah petunjuk kepada ketunggalan Tao.

Sekiranya Tuhan itu berbilang-bilang, sudah tentu hampalah Unified Field Theory yang diidam-idam itu. Masing-masing 'tuhan' mempunyai peraturan dan ketetapan yang bukan lagi bertentangan tetapi bercelaru dan akan 'cancel' keupayaan 'tuhan-tuhan' yang lain, bukan setakat fenomena perimbangan. tetapi kecelaruan. Ada perkara dan nilai yang baik pada satu tuhan, tetapi buruk pada tuhan yang lain. Masing-masing tuhan ada syurga dan nerakanya......

Adapun pertelingkahan manusia, sejarah mencatitkan bukan sedikit peperangan bukan terdorong oleh kepercayaan kepada tuhan dan kebenaran, tetapi terdorong oleh ketamakan, kemarahan, kesombongan dan lain-lain sifat buruk manusia. Tamaddun yang mempunyai banyak dewa atau tuhan-tuhan kecil juga tidak kalah kuat peperangannya. Fahaman kominis atheism juga tidak pula sunyi dari konflik dalaman dan peperangan , antara lain mahu memaksa fahamannya ke atas manusia lain. Tamaddun barat yang mengagungkan 'Unity bersadurkan Trinity juga penuh dengan sejarah penaklukan dan kekerasan terutama dengan bangsa lain yang dianggap mereka sebagai 'white men's burden".

Lagipun dalam tamaddun yang mempunyai belbagai tuhan, ratusan dewa juga telah berlaku peperangan, kezaliman dan penindasan. Masing-masing kelompok dalam peradaban yang satu, pada masa yang sama, serta mempunyai tuhan sembahan mereka yang berbeza-beza telah berperang, bahkan mereka percaya dewa-dewa sembahan mereka juga terlibat dalam konflik dan peperangan.

Peperangan ada masanya tidak dapat dielakkan, yang pentingnya apa yang menjadi tujuan peperangan, apa yang dibolehkan serta ditegahkan ketika perang dan apa yang menjadi natijah selepas perang. Buku Karen Amstrong "The Holy War" adalah tulisan non-muslim semasa yang boleh dimanafaatkan untuk memahami konsep Peperangan Agama. Robert sendiri menulis: "While most fights are best avoided, there are some worth fighting" (pg292)

Lagipun apabila dianggap ada tuhan yang melebihi satu, maka apa makna Ketuhanan lagi ?, Bukankah Ketuhanan diertikan : "suatu zat yang wajib disembah, semua yang lain memerlukan-Nya, sedangkan Dia tidak memerlukan yang lain". Tuhan mempunyai sifat-sifat yang maha sempurna, tiada bandingan dan tiada lawan, kuasa-Nya mutlak dan tidak terbatas. Maka apabila banyak tuhan-tuhan, sudah tentu kuasa tuhan-tuhan itu ada batasannya dan 'limit'nya. Sekiranya begitu, bagaimana boleh kita bertawakal sepenuhnya kepada tuhan yang tidak mempunyai kuasa sepenuhnya?

Alhamdulillah di atas nikmat Iman dan Islam, kedua-duanya merupakan sebesar-besat anugerah!

Sukalah saya petik perkataan yang saya sukai dari buku ini:
1-Menerima kritikan:
"Sucessful people are criticized. Unsuccessful people are not". (pg221)

2-Perspektif tentang orang tua:
"During hunter-gatherer times and through the Agrarian and industrial Age, we learned to respect our elders because they held a lifetime of experience. For thousands of years, age was respected, age was an assst. age meant wisdom . today being old is a liability, a sign of obsolescence. People of my generation say: :fifty is now the new forty". It can also be said that mentally and professionally, "thirty-five is the new sixty-five" (pg227)

3-Memanafaatkan Duit:
"Giving money can be a full-time job. Just as making money and investing money creates unique challenges, giving money back comes with its own set of challenges. There are an art and science to charitable giving.(pg 247)

4. Hubungan bermasaalah dgn yang lain:
"If you have a bad relationship, it's tough to make the space for good relationship. Sometimes you have to let go, even if you love the person, so you both can move on" (pg298)
"The couples remain together in their loneliness. It seems as if their marriage is simply two bodies living together, waiting "till death do they part". (pg289)

5. Niat mengepalai perbuatan:
"Sometimes our actions may appear good to others, but in fact the motivation is self-serving and may be filled with negative intent to deceive or harm others. At other times, our cation may appear harmful but in fact have the intent and result of benefiting others, as when a parent or mentor is disciplining us. And sometimes even when our intentions are good, we don't get the desired effect" (pg315). [Rupanya perkataan "sengsara' /samsara adalah istilah kerohanian dalam bahasa sanskrit. Ianya merujuk kepada keadaan manusia sebelum mencapai pencerahan kerohanian (enlightment), yakni keupayaan memahami hakikat kewujudan. (pg 317)]

6. Jiwa kita tertarik kepada jiwa yang mempunyai kecenderungan yang sama:
"We gravitate toward and attract people who are likeminded, and it compound the situation, for not only do we feel right about we do, our circle of associations justify it and encourage our behaviour. Those mental attitudes become our worldview. Our actions, posotive and negative, continually influence us" (pg 319)

7.Kesilapan kita di dalam kehidupan:
"In the real world, the smartest people are people who make mistakes and learn from their mistakes. In school, the smartest people are those who do not make mistakes. My poor dad- a smart man and great teacher- lost everything when he left the school system. Although a smart man academically, he wasn't prepared for real world, a world that does not care what your grade point average is. He did not know how to make mistakes and grow richer. (pg346)

8. Keraguan terhadap mereka yang berpenonjolan agama:
"Whenever a person leads with their faith, I become very suspicious. When I hear those words, I know the changes for losing money or winding up in a bad relationship are pretty good. Just because someone is a good Christian, Jew, Muslim, Buddhist, or whatever faith does not mean they are honest, thrustworthy, or competent in business" (pg 347)

9-Berkata Benar Walaupun Sukar:
"We are our words. in the ideal world, we all know we should tell the truth, keep our word, and not make promises we cannot keep. In real world, lying often takes less courage than telling the truth face to face.It is easy not to keep our words, and it is easy not to keep our agreements. All these events detact from our spiritual financial power" (pg349)

10-Memberi untuk Menerima:
*Work for free. The more I work for free, the more money I make, The more you need anything, like love or money, the less you will have.
*The more I give, the more I receive, but not instantly
*Truth is harder than lying, but the more I move toward truth, the less I have to lie.
*Our soul has a price. For many people, that price is too low.
*The more I teach, the more I learn
*If I want higher-quality spiritual friends and family, I need to increase my own spirituality.
(pg 302)

[Saya teringat apa yang dicatit oleh Maulana Zakariyya al-Kandahlawi yang mengatakan di kalangan sahabat apabila mereka memberi sedeqah atau bantuan, mereka tidak meminta balasan sehingga mereka tidak akan meminta yang menerima bantuan mereka itu untuk berdoa bagi mereka, begitu sekali mereka menjaga niat mereka]

Akhirnya buku ini banyak memperingatkan kita tentang nilai-nilai yang perlu ada di dalam kehidupan dalam contoh-contoh praktikal semasa, walaupun ada tempat-tempat yang pengamatan mereka tersimpang dari kebenaran yang kita pegang. Begitupun pengajaran daripada hadith-hadith dalam kitab seumpama Riyadu as-Solihin atau perbincangan di dalam kitab-kitab seumpama Ihya bagi Imam Hujjatu al-Islam al-Ghazali jauh lebih jauh jangkauannya daripada apa yang disebut dalam buku ini.

Alhamdulillah di atas segala nikmat.