This is the age old question.
This unconscious sabotage program in our minds that is a "carry over" from religious teaching continues to pervade our cultural beliefs today. We keep being influenced by ideas such as 'money is the root of all evil', that 'it's easier to get a camel through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into heaven', and 'if you are rich, you must be either a crook, selfish, or hardened'.
These sayings, taken out of context, sabotage our intrinsic right to wealth and fulfillment.
For those of you who disagree due to your religious teaching, I gently challenge you to consider this fact. The same book that these sayings are taken from, the Holy Bible, also says "Blessed is the man who fears the Lord ... wealth and riches shall be in his house" and "Honour the Lord with the firstfruits of all your increase ... so shall your barns be filled with plenty".
Further, in that same book, Jesus confirmed that we live in a world of abundance. Jesus gave the example of the lilies in the field, and the birds of the air, how they are abundantly looked after, and asks how much more will God's Universe look after us!
WHY IS MONEY SO IMPORTANT TO BEING SPIRITUAL?
Money is a material manifestation of the abundance of the Universe. Money in itself is nothing; it is the fact that money allows you to buy the things that you love; to provide for your needs.
That is, you can grow your food on your land and live on it. Or you can buy your food from someone else who has done just that (or buy from a shop that themselves buys from farmers).
Everyone has the right to live abundantly, and have their needs provided abundantly.
By living abundantly, you develop self worth. By contrast, living cheaply lowers your self worth. It lowers your love, your sense of gratitude and appreciation to God, to the Universe.
Not just that, but you cannot transform the world that you live in with money. As well as the need for survival, if for example you want to establish a training centre that teaches people laws of the universe, or an orphanage in a third world country, guess what? These projects need money!
Someone has to give the funds to make it happen.
Money enables you to live your God-given purpose. We are placed on earth by God to fulfill a purpose that fits in with the bigger purpose for mankind.
If we don't know our purpose, we drift along and live as survivors without focus, purpose, maybe listless and despondent. Any money that we make is used on meaningless activities; the more money we make only increases our misery and sense of desolation.
If we do know our purpose, by contrast, we are loving and grateful, and living our life on purpose. We have focus and commitment. The money that we make is used to fulfill our purpose. Any money that we make increases our ability to fulfill our purpose, it makes us more loving and grateful, and our sense of connection with God and the Universe.
If you asked any of the world's entrepreneurs, healers and philosophers how they feel about money and spirituality, they would agree that the more prosperous you are, the more impact you have.
Indeed, without prosperity, you can only bring about change at the level of consciousness that causes your own lack, ie. people who are "in synch" with your own lower energy vibration.
One can only conclude that true spirituality and abundant money go hand in hand.
CHARGING IN HARMONY WITH YOUR SELF WORTH
There is another reason why money and self worth go hand in hand.
To be grateful, appreciative, loving and well balance, it is important, indeed critical, that we charge our true worth in any business transaction.
This stops us becoming resentful and unappreciative, and disconnected with God (as God is love).
Another carry over from our religious teaching in our culture is "you cannot be spiritual if you charge for your talent or knowledge". That is, if it is truly charitable, or spiritual, or connected with spiritual teaching, you cannot charge for it, otherwise it somehow "taints it".
BALANCING SPIRITUALITY AND MONEY
To truly be loving, appreciative and spiritual, we must achieve a balance between spirituality and money.
On the one hand, if you are obsessed with money, and pursue wealth at all costs, your spirituality will be compromised. You won't be balanced. You may achieve wealth but at the cost of fulfilling your purpose and the sense of being whole and at peace.
On the other hand, if you pursue spirituality and ignore money issues, at some stage, you will come to a crossroads. You will discover how hard it is to fulfill your purpose with limited funds. Many people who start on a spiritual journey end up self sabotaging because they run out of money and have to go and get work (which they feel resentful about). Alternatively, they subsconsciously resort to greed, and get caught in money scams or resort to dubious means to get "quick" money.
Such people have lived poor for so long that they don't know how to make money, and when they are short of money, they act from desperation and greed. Or else, they learn to live in poverty, below an abundant status, and resentment and illness creep in.
THE BIBLE AND MONEY
Many people with a Judeo-Christian background use the Christian Bible to justify a lack of money.
The Bible is NOT a good book to justify being in poverty. The Bible is full of passages that support the idea of universal abundant supply, and becoming wealthy.
For those of you who have Bibles, see for example:
Matthew 6:25-34
Proverbs 3:9-10
Psalm 112
Psalm 128
Deuteronomy 28
Just to name a few.
Case Study: Mother Theresa
Mother Teresa renounced her worldly possessions.
She is used as an example of true spirituality, ie. giving up all your wealth for a spiritual purpose to help others. Yet people forget that Mother Theresa's purpose required massive funding. She attracted all the resources and money she needed to support, feed, and spiritually heal millions.
THE LAW OF EXCHANGE
The law of reciprocity, or fair exchange, states that we give in order to receive. There will be no harvest without a period of prepping, planting, and fertilizing.
Further, the giving must be proportionate to the receiving to constitute fair exchange. Without fair exchange, imbalance results, and karmic consequences ensue to bring balance.
Let's take an example.
If my best friend fixes my gutters and builds a patio at the back of my house, and doesn't charge me for it, an issue of fair exchange results. My best friend may receive his fair exchange because I have previously helped him with an IT matter (if I am an IT contractor). Or our close friendship, and years of my giving out to him, may be his fair exchange. However, let's assume that he has been doing favours for me for years and getting nothing in return. Resentment will arise unless he gets fair exchange by me doing something in return, or paying him a fair price for his work.
There are times when people have offered to do a service for me for nothing, but I have refused, because I see a lack of fair exchange, and I know this will cause problems down the track.
When we get something for nothing, there is a part of our innermost being that rejects this "handout". We intuitively are unhappy with the "freebie" because we didn't earn or rightfully deserve it. Additionally, we are not spiritually or physically prepared to manage the offering.
Have you ever played a sport and won because the other person didn't even try? Imagine how flat you would feel! It is the challenge that excites you; you would feel like you hadn't really won.
The issue of fair exchange is also seen with lottery winners. Approximately 70% of all lottery winners squander their money in the first few years, and end up bankrupt, divorced or in family disputes.
People that don't pay for something (either in money or in some other way) do not value it. There is no sense of accountability, or commitment to follow it through.
Further, under this law of fair exchange, if you aren't willing to work hard, either in employment, or in developing a business system or product, you have no right to demand prosperity. Poverty and desolation awaits you, and rightfully so. Everyone must pull their weight in this world of ours.
CONCLUSION: PROSPERITY AND SPIRITUALITY GO HAND IN HAND
The biggest limiting beliefs stem from our religious culture. Our ancestors have had great difficulty accepting that you can spiritual and have money; quite the opposite in fact!
We have problems charging what we are worth.
We have problems in living our purpose; we tend to survive.
Daily, much of society is living out of balance with the law of fair exchange.
To be truly spiritual, you must be prosperous. This is your higher calling. You owe it to yourself and others to prosper in mentally, emotionally, financially and physically, and be an example.
Warren Black is an inspirational speaker, business coach and attorney, with a core mission to empower people to success and prosperity in all areas of life.
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