Spirituality and Money

Alright, let’s hit a hot topic: Money

What does money make you think of right off the bat?

Abundance? Freedom? Limitation? Greed? What comes up for you?

We’ve all got unique perspectives on it, and chances are we all have our share of limiting (or unlimiting) beliefs regarding money.

Addressing Some Ideas of Why We Shouldn’t Want Money

In some spiritual circles, it’s really common to have the “poor monk” perspective. Basically it’s the mindset of “give freely of everything that you have, don’t charge for anything, and accept money only in the form of donations.” We see this very commonly in ascetics and beggars who are trying to give up everything in the name of needing nothing and going beyond the ego’s desires. You’ve probably heard that quote by Jesus talking about how it’s easier for a camel to walk through the eye of the needle than it is for a rich person to get into heaven or something along those lines. This has lead to so many people valuing being poor over being rich. But it’s not about the money, it’s about the attachment to money. You can be an enlightened millionaire or you can be an enlightened beggar. Enlightenment has nothing to do with one’s external conditions. It has to do with our attachments to the world of form.

There also seems to be a lot of resistance to people collecting money for their services, as if if you truly love something, you should only do it for free. You may even hear people say, “I love doing this so much, I almost feel guilty for making money doing it!” There’s nothing wrong with receiving money for what you love to do. As long as you don’t make money the priority over being yourself, giving of yourself, and living within integrity, allow yourself to receive money! The universe has to flow both ways! Money is just energy, like everything else, and all energy needs to flow. Give and receive…

Giving and Receiving

Speaking of which, there’s another saying, “It’s better to give than it is to receive.” Nonsense! You can’t have one without the other. In order for someone to give, another has to receive. They’re both necessary in order for either to exist. It’s 50/50. Neither one is better than the other. If you trace that statement back to its original form, it was actually, “It’s better to be in a position where you are able to give than to be in a position where you have to receive.” Now that’s quite a different statement, isn’t it?

There is tremendous value in both giving and receiving. I remember hearing a story about a father who would never accept gifts from his daughters on his birthday or on father’s day. He would always tell them to save their money and buy something for themselves so that they would be happy. One day someone asked him how it felt when he had the opportunity to give to his daughters. Without skipping a beat he responded that it felt amazing! The person then replied that by not allowing himself to receive from his daughters, he had actually been ripping his daughters off from the gift of giving for all these years. Upon realizing how much he had been depriving his daughters by not allowing himself to receive, he immediately burst out into tears.

Allow others to give to you by allowing yourself to receive. It’s something great you can do not only for yourself, but for others as well.

Money is Here to Support Us

In the way our society is structured today, money is an important part of our lives. It’s one common means of exchange. Although you can certainly do a lot without money, you can do much more with it. Money doesn’t determine what you’re capable of, but it sure can make things a heck of a lot easier!

You can live without money. I can be a pretty idealistic guy and I love the idea of no longer needing money, of everyone giving of their gifts and allowing the universe to synchronistically provide all that we need, without requiring money. So out of rebellion against people’s dependence upon money, I’ve been proving to myself the past few years that we can manifest what they want and survive without needing money. You can live off credit cards, exchange your time and energy for services from others, ask for the help and goodwill of others, manifest free gifts and free trips, and so on. I’ve done all of them and they all certainly do work. But something I’m coming to find is that we don’t have to invalidate money as a way of receiving abundance. Instead we can recognize that money is simply one more way of being supported in this world. By doing this, we can allow whatever form of abundance is the path of least resistance to come our way. Sometimes we can be supported by money. Sometimes we can be supported in other ways. It’s all good! Whatever the case may be, there is nothing wrong with having money. It is yet another way for the infinite presence of All That Is to show its support for us.

Money is not the source of our support and well-being. Money is one way that Source can demonstrate our inherent support and well-being. Big difference.

There’s a book I’ve never read but whose title I find hilarious: Even Mystics Have Bills To Pay

What Do You Think?

What is the purpose of money in life?

When we begin stepping out of ego-land, what then becomes the role of money?

In what way should we or shouldn’t we value money?