I really don't think the purpose of his giving away the money is
philanthropic or anything to do with guilt.
Or, to put it another way, the desire to get rid of the money preceded
the idea of giving it to charity. If he could not have given his money
away; he would have burnt it.
In every culture, almost without exception, there is a strong link with
making the choice to lack wealth and well being of the spirit or mind.
The most obvious example being monks, or other holy men/women,
who chose to live in poverty that would be unacceptable in most prisons.
Typically this is done to have a stronger connection with ones god, self
and/or nature; depending on the culture.
There have also been numerous secular forms of this as well from
Diogenes of Sinope to some of the most influential academics of the last
century as well as the countless unseen hermits we never hear of.
Agree with it or not, it is important to have a good understanding of what
these people are doing and why; so universal is the phenomenon in
human culture. I think you are missing something if you do not
understand what is going on here.
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