Our Birthright is Joy because we live in an Abundant Universe

We live in a wildly rich, diverse and abundant universe. Yet it seems that so many of us do not experience this opulence in our lives and instead lead lives of dreary desperation. If joy and abundance are our birthright and yet many of us are not experiencing either in their life, then simply acquiring more material goods would seem to be the solution. But in case after case we find that no matter what the material condition of the person, the sense of abundance and joy is fleeting and the sense of lack is pervasive. This experience of lack has several contributing causes and we will examine some of the key issues and then suggest a remedy.

First, the foundational field that we are born into and grow up in creates a “race consciousness” or embedded theology that is the deep underpinning of all that we come to believe. Since it is our thoughts that determine our experience, the combination of our embedded theology and our conscious affirmative thoughts are the prime factors for our present day quality of life.

For most of us, our subtle memory of our childhood culture is laced with the vibration of not enough. The prevalent childhood memory for most of us is not usually joy and abundance. Rather, it is the trauma of not enough that registers most deeply for many. Current research studies have shown that it takes about 10 good impressions to overcome one negative impression. This explains why even the best parents end up with kids that often feel that they were not special enough, not loved enough and so forth. Couple this with the impact of the Great Depression on the scarcity thinking of the whole country in the 1930’s and you can comprehend the deep resonance of not enough that weaves its way into our subconscious.

The overlay of Madison Avenue helps cement the race conscious idea that we are not enough. Advertising stimulates and reinforces the belief that something is missing and that we need it to be ok. Madison Avenue advertisers make money doing one thing brilliantly and that is stimulating demand for products. They accomplish this through print, radio, TV, internet and every other manner imaginable (Billboards, product placement in films, display ads on public transportation, sports stadium naming rights… the list goes on and on).

The News Media also play a part in reinforcing our underlying consciousness of anxiety and fear that accompany a feeling of not enough. The 24 hour news cycle is predominantly focused on crisis, drama, problems and conflict. TV, radio, Newspaper and Internet News sites rely on our reaction to trouble to draw audience and customers. They exploit the underlying unconscious belief that there is not enough to generate “news” that hooks people into thinking that they need more details and more information and so forth.

Finally, many politicians play a role in sustaining the cultural idea that we are not able to thrive abundantly. They get elected by enticing people with “lack thinking” to vote for them by exploiting the underlying idea that they need something and cannot get it through their own efforts. These politicians then promise solutions that do not require much effort or contribution by the voters, which creates a cycle of not enoughness. They campaign relentlessly in this manner on issue after issue as they cobble together a coalition to reach an electable majority. This idea that we are better off with government help tends to lead to an ever greater and greater dependence on government solutions.

Yet, in the end, it is only through shifting our own consciousness that we find a way out of this culturally embedded perspective that spirals away from our joy and abundance and instead leaves us with a life of anxiety and insecurity. This brings us to the practical side of spiritual teachings and the complex intersection of spiritual law, our core beliefs and strategies to get our needs met.

More material goods will not bring a sense of abundance and joy. A mere 50 years ago, most families did not have an automatic dishwasher, self defrosting freezer, micro wave, color television (much less a wireless remote on their big flat screen color TV) and so forth. Now many families have multiple cell phones, I pods, personal computers, refrigerators with built in ice makers and all the other fixings. Yet, overall the levels of satisfaction and happiness have not changed.

The Joy of Surrender

I keep thinking about the idea that for each person and each situation there is a perfect balance between committed action and flowing with ease and grace.

There are several implications contained in this simple sentence. It seems to me that the most important is that committed action and flowing with ease and grace are presented as polar opposites which need to be balanced carefully by the wise seeker in order to manifest success. It seems that this is suggesting that if there is a perfect balance between committed action and ease and grace, then the more committed your actions are the less ease and grace you experience. The converse also seems implicit, that more ease and grace means that there less committed action.

The more I think about it, the less sure I am that this is true. In fact, the more I think about it, the opposite of this statement might be a more accurate statement of principle; that ease and grace appear only as a result of committed action. I am sure that I believe that half hearted actions taken with a lackadaisical intention lead only to mediocre results. Slackers may say they live with ease and grace but I doubt it. I think they live in a state of ambivalence and they inhabit a world devoid of success.

I can think of a few times where I felt ease and grace in my life that were coupled with success. I had spent many years learning and practicing the art of mediation. I had reached a level of skillful mastery. From this consciousness, I was able to facilitate high conflict situations to peaceful resolution with what appeared to be ease and grace. The ease and grace only showed up after many years of dedicated and consistent work on my part. I needed to learn the basics of mediation. I needed to develop the listening and speaking skills needed for success as well as the discernment of how to apply them.

These were the outer manifestations of deep inner work that was required to fully inhabit the spiritual principles of conflict resolution. In order to achieve this, I needed the willingness to heal many of my own inner conflicts. I needed to look deeply into my relationships and my failures in those relationships and develop empathy for those I had been close to and empathy for myself as well.

This brings me to the second implication in the idea that for each situation there is a perfect balance between committed action and ease and grace. That the only committed action that will inevitably lead to ease and grace is joyful surrender. This seems like a terrible a paradox. Until very recently I do not think I even considered that surrender was ever joyous. My only experience of surrender for many years was it occurred only when I was utterly worn down by repeated failure as a result of my committed actions. When I had nothing left, no energy or will, no reserves and no more ideas, then when I was faced with no other choice, I would surrender. At this juncture, I would be steeped in frustration and angry exhaustion. My moment of surrender would typically lead to a massive dose of humility and shame. I would feel grief and deep despair, even hopelessness over my failure to succeed through my determined plan of action.

But as I write this, I am aware that it was not my plan of action to become a gifted mediator. Instead, this idea literally came to me at a time when I was desperate and at the end of my rope. I was in counseling because my life was a mess. I was waiting in my car outside my therapist’s office trying to relax from another frazzled and frustrating day. My current romantic relationship was failing, my career was sinking and I had nowhere left to turn. Out of this nowhere a still small idea popped into my head that said I was a mediator. I did not even know what a mediator was, at that time I was a full bore, hard nosed litigator.

Yet this idea was so clear that I followed up on it immediately. I surrendered everything that I thought I knew about myself and my relationships and embarked on a path of learning to resolve conflicts with love rather than arguments or power. I began letting go of the image of the man I had become (hard nosed litigator) and began opening to the unknown man I was to become (peacemaker).

This moment of surrender was calm and peaceful but I am not sure if I saw it as joyous. The friction in my life at the time had exhausted me and the problems I had created did not dissolve immediately. But ease and grace entered my life in that moment. I found out that a once a year week long training for mediators began the very next Monday. I attended it. One thing opened up after another, not always the way I planned it. Not at all the way that I had hoped things would fall together, but in the end, looking back, I can see there has been a lot more ease and grace from that moment forward than there ever had been prior to my moment of surrender.

Here is a poem I came across by the Persian Mystic Hafez.

What is the difference between your experience of Existence and that of a Saint?
The Saint knows that the spiritual path is a sublime chess game with God.
And that the Beloved has just made such a fantastic move that the Saint is now continually tripping over with joy, and bursting out with laughter and saying "I surrender!"
Whereas, my dear, I am afraid you still think you have a thousand serious moves left.

Lessons from the Dragonfly

One Core Value about prosperity is that for each person and each situation there is a perfect balance between committed action and flowing with ease and grace. Of course it takes spiritual maturity and the wisdom that comes along with this maturity to discern that perfect balance point.

Today, it is a beautiful spring day and I spent some time working in our yard. I was weeding and heard this odd buzzing sound. I was drawn to it and saw that a large and beautiful dragonfly was caught up in the deer netting we put out over our blueberry bushes. The sound I heard was the terrified and furious beating of its wings as it tried to escape from the tangled netting. I could see immediately that there was no way the dragonfly could escape alone and so began to untangle the netting so that the dragonfly could fly free. However, each time I moved the netting, the dragonfly accelerated its own attempts to get free and instead got itself more entrapped.

Standing there, I wished that the dragonfly could remain calm just for a second. Then I would be able to free it easily. Unfortunately, it simply could not resist flying deeper into the netting each time I began to unwrap it. The dragon fly had no capacity that I could see for spiritual discernment about when to flow with ease and grace. Instead it seemed to me that it was driven by fear and frustration. Perhaps the dragon fly was not really frustrated but that the sound of its wings beating a million times a second sounded like frustration to me. (I was unable to find reliable research about how many beats per second a dragonfly flaps its wings, but I know it is a lot)

The one great gift that all dragonflies have is two pairs of wings that beat independently of one another. They are by far Mother Nature’s best aerodynamic animal or insect. They can fly in any direction, even backwards. They can accelerate their speed in an instant and then decelerate just as suddenly. They can change direction in as little as three beats of their wings. Thus, their maneuverability in the air is extraordinary.

Another magnificent attribute of the dragonfly is its acute vision. Their eyes have 30,000 lenses and they can see in 360 degrees very clearly. They are especially great at detecting motion. Unfortunately, for this dragonfly that was caught in the netting, the combination of its two greatest gifts were ensnaring it and keeping it ensnared. Each time I moved the netting, the dragonfly would in a millisecond spot the change and then instantly aerodynamically adjust its position and press up against the netting even harder. All that did was continue its getting caught in the webbing.

It was amazing to watch this beautiful creature force itself further and further into captivity. Fortunately, compared to this dragonfly, one of humankind’s greatest gifts is problem identification and solving. Using my human skills I could see the problem, diagnose it and solve it in an instant. Using my adaptive reasoning I was able to move the netting in such a way that eventually the dragonfly got free.

The prosperity value holds that for each person and each situation there is a perfect balance between committed action and flowing with ease and grace, (In this case insects count as people). In the situation with the dragonfly and the netting, the logical thing for me to want the dragonfly to do was to just be calm for a second so I could easily and gracefully move the netting and release the insect. But looking at this situation more deeply, if the dragonfly had not been committed to action in buzzing its wings, and instead rested quietly on a twig, I would never have heard it. It would still be sitting there calmly until it perished. Only by its committed action was it able to get free.

Even though it looked to me in the moment like the dragonfly’s committed action was a hindrance to its objective of disentangling itself from the netting, in this case it was the committed action that resulted in success. This brings me back around to the main topic, that there is a lot of discernment needed to determine when committed action is warranted and when surrender to ease and grace is called for.

Just like I initially did with the dragonfly, people judging from the outside are often projecting their own issues into their interpretation of what is going on. Thus their perspective about the balance point between ease and grace and committed action may not lead to the perfect balance point for you. That is not to say that seeking wise counsel about your actions is not often warranted- it is imperative. But go to someone who is not activated by your situation, who is able to be discerning and give you real disparity and insight.

Definition of "Prosperity"

As we consider our thoughts about “prosperity”, it is a good idea to understand what we mean by the term “prosperity” Here are a few contemporary authors and their definitions. You will notice immediately there is some overlap and divergence between each of these definitions posted. I hope that will reassure you that there is no single correct definition of prosperity. Undoubtedly, there are many additional definitions of prosperity that are to greater or lesser degrees workable. All of the definitions I quote are from reputable and successful authors and teachers.

Even though I discuss my thoughts about each definition, my intention is to share my own thoughts and stimulate your own thinking. I do not mean to be dogmatic. In the end, you are free to make your own call about the definition of prosperity that suits you. Or better yet, search your own heart to determine your authentic definition and understanding of prosperity rather than adopt someone else’s thinking. The benefit in doing this is that you will become clearer of what is true for you. Under anyone’s definition of prosperity, the idea of prosperity that you hold in your mind will be the one most prone to manifest in your life.

Ordinary perceptions on the concept of prosperity start with common definitions. Webster’s Dictionary sees prosperity in purely economic terms defining it as a condition of economic success or wellbeing. Under this definition prosperity is relative. Success implies failure. Wellbeing implies being unwell. Hence, under common perceptions, only a few can be prosperous at any given point in time. Moreover, Webster’s definition of prosperity is conditional. It implies a temporary state where the same person can be prospering at one point and then not prospering at another.

As a spiritual student, this type of definition brings up some interesting issues surrounding prosperity and spirituality. Is prosperity a birthright for all or is it a blessing for only a few? If it is a birthright, then how is it that some are born to wealth and others are born to poverty? If it is a blessing for the few, then how can some of the few have prosperity for a while and then vanish when economic circumstances shift?

If God plays favorites (the true believer vs. the agnostic) and if God rewards some (the obedient worshiper) and punishes others (the sinner), then in some cosmic way the problems with Webster’s definition are resolved. Prosperity is the blessing that is bestowed by God on his chosen few and the rest of us had better get right with God if we want a similar blessing.

But if we choose to believe in a God that unconditionally loves all human souls, then Webster’s conditional and temporal definition of prosperity does not work well. If God’s love is unconditional that means that it is available to all equally and all the time. A God that does not play favorites means that success and wellbeing are available to every one of us. Moreover, they are available all the time and everyone can have them at the same time.

Those of us on a spiritual path of Love need a working definition of prosperity that fits within the framework of unconditional love. That means prosperity cannot be dependant on outside circumstances that can change.

Edwene Gaines is a well known Unity Minister and a woman of power. She has elected to be 100% responsible for the transformation of abundance consciousness on Planet Earth. Her definition of prosperity has four components; 1) a vitally alive body, 2) thriving relationships, 3) work that we love and 4) all the money we can spend.

As I read this, and meaning no disrespect to Rev. Gaines, this definition of prosperity is all about material and physical wellbeing. It is really only an expansion of Webster’s definition to include enjoying good health and relationships. Her thinking does not seem to me to engage a spiritual dimension.

While I believe it is true that almost all of us can have vitality and wonderful relationships and fulfilling work, I think that a certain number of people are born without the apparent ability to manifest these blessings. Moreover, as I write elsewhere, prosperity and money have no correlation and so I take exception to the fourth component that requires prospering people to have all the money they can spend.

David Ritz, creator of the Keys to the Kingdom program, suggests that prosperity must include spiritual good in all its forms including health, happiness, peace, love, fulfillment and unlimited possibility. He says it is the “power to satisfy our needs and make our dreams come true.” This definition does include a passing sop to spirituality but, when looked at carefully, is only a minor improvement and expansion of Rev. Gaines’ definition.

The problem I have with Ritz’ definition is that it includes too much unconsciousness around possessiveness. Most people do not understand the difference between “needs” and “wants”. They want their needs to be met, sure, but they way they understand needs may include a massive dose of greed, selfishness, material conditioning and so forth.

Moreover, most people do not have any idea about their dreams coming true and the clash with reality caused by their egoic grandiosity. Thus, a fundamental definition of prosperity that talks about prosperous people having the power to satisfy their needs and make their dreams come true does not meet my need for clarity or truth. As this simple example shows, Ritz’ definition cannot be true. Say two people have a crush on the same person. Their dream is to be their beloved’s “one and only”. This dream cannot come true for both of them, especially if their supposed beloved isn’t romantically interested in either one of them.

Any definition focused on getting things outside of ourselves has this same defect. Shakti Gawain is another best selling author on the topic of prosperity. She wrote Creating True Prosperity. In a sincere attempt to skirt this problem she describes prosperity as the “experience of having plenty of what we truly need and want in life, material and otherwise.”

Her qualifier of need and want with the word “truly” and her inclusion of our nonmaterial good in the definition of prosperity are a step beyond Gaines and Ritz. The problem here is that people will be driven in circles trying to determine what they “truly” need and want. It goes back to the conditioning problem. Someone pampered and spoiled in life may really believe that they truly need something that the rest of us think of as a luxury. The collective unconsciousness about how to define “truly” means that this prosperity definition will not satisfy my need for unconditional inclusiveness.

I think the better definitions of prosperity describe a consciousness or a process of living rather than the things that one obtains or has. Grace Terry, author of Prosperity Guaranteed offers her definition: “A continuous process of joyfully receiving an abundance of everything we need and joyfully giving back from the overflow.” Terry begins by describing prosperity as a process but when she talks about receiving everything we need she falls into the same trap that befell the prior definitions; the difficulty in determining a valid need. Even if she had said “truly need”, I think this definition is really focused on having things rather than describing a state of being or a state of consciousness.

Another thoughtful teacher on the subject is Ellen Peterson, author of Choosing Joy, Creating Abundance. She says, “Prosperity is not what you have or how much you make; it’s actually how you think.” In other words, prosperity is a state of consciousness. If the consciousness in her definition did not rely on creating physical wealth to engender the joy, I would be more inclined to favor this approach. Instead, again, it is a better approach than some of the other definitions, but it still evidences the same shortcoming of prosperity being attached to physical wellbeing and success.

Maria Nemeth, author of The Energy of Money, says, “Prosperity comes when you participate fully in every aspect of your life. It’s state of growth.” What I like about this definition is that it is not conditional; everyone can be prosperous no matter what their circumstances. It does meet my need for prosperity to be a birthright available to everyone. It does describe a consciousness rather than possessions. On the other hand, this very lack of materiality might diminish the working value of the term ‘prosperity’. Prosperity might as well mean learning to live in a state of deprivation while learning to enjoy your own suffering.

Here is my current understanding of prosperity. Prosperity is the consciousness needed to bring about your heart’s joy, your mind’s inner peace, and your soul’s highest evolution in every material circumstance and condition.

Health and Prosperity Sore Ankle- pt 3

So here I am; in my dream job and enjoying my ideal romantic relationship. My Universe is all good. My life is better than it has ever been and gets better each month. And I have a sore ankle from gout. I understand there is a mind body connection. Intuitively, it just doesn’t make sense to me to be feeling so good in my life day to day and then hold the perspective that stress is causing my body pain. (See the prior posts on that topic)

There must be another way to understand these physical symptoms that appear even when things are flowing smoothly. There is. Some in Unity call this process “chemicalization”. It means the stored toxins and body memories located in our body begin to be released from our cells as our consciousness becomes more aligned with spiritual truth and less aligned with material goods and worldly matters. The natural and healthy result of transformation on the spiritual path is thus occasions of physical symptoms that we typically would deem undesirable and perhaps even bad.

This idea of chemicalization was so uncomfortable to folks at Unity Village that for decades they deleted this subject from one of their best selling books. There are those who want to present a dogma that prosperity consciousness leads to good health and thus, any experience of bad health is a symptom of unhealthy consciousness. But dogma itself is not the Truth, it is the attachment to a certain idealized concept in spite of the truth.

So let’s look at my gout and my life situation more fully. I sold my home in California at the height of the real estate boom. Its value went up over $100,000 between the time I decided to sell it and the time I could get it on the market. I put the vast majority of proceeds into short term treasury bonds, and so while everyone in the stock market got hammered with the current financial meltdown, my assets held their value. I have all the money I will ever need. I am so well off that I can offer to increase my own tithe to Unity just to make the lives of others I care about easier.

My relationship with Debbie is better than it has ever been and it is growing deeper and more intimate as we work together in co ministry. She is a gem and I love her dearly. After so many years of being single and failing at relationship after relationship I feel so utterly blessed to have her as my sweetheart. Our home life is good, our garden is flourishing, I am eating for optimum health more and more consistently. My relationship with my adult children is likewise better than it has ever been. My son is in college and I am supporting him in many ways to become the young man he always wanted to be. My daughter and her boyfriend plan to take an extended vacation with us soon.

Over the past year we have grown our ministry in a way that is very satisfying to me, in that we have focused on depth of relationship rather than numbers. We are solvent or nearly so each month and are more fully aware of our core values concerning prosperity as we make decisions. We have aligned our services with the intimate connection we crave rather than in a fashion that might appeal to others but is unauthentic to ourselves. Debbie and I are taking vacations together now, trusting that the church will thrive even when we are gone for a Sunday now and then. My job satisfaction is higher than it has ever been- and I have been working for almost 40 years now.

My men’s team had a recent retreat that I helped lead which was exceptional for the gentleness and kindness that we shared. My work in the Unity Association has been immensely fulfilling and has brought me into deep companionship with other ministers in way that I had not imagined a few years ago. The healing here is truly astounding.

So, all of this good keeps flowing into my life and yet I have gout. I think it is more than just chemicalization, I think it has to do with breaking the trajectory that my ego saw for me when it had a vice grip on my life. My ego’s first and foremost job is to keep me safe- safe according to its immature understanding of safety. It is amazingly scary to my ego for me to love my job, to be doing what I love in a way that I love doing it.

To my ego, it feels vulnerable to have a loving relationship and friendships based on authentic connection. As I live more fully each day by building supportive and authentic relationships it brings up the insecurity of rejection. Each supportive friendship takes a little power away from my ego’s grip on my thinking. Each moment of success on the spiritual path diminishes to some small extent the deeply embedded attachment I had to the unconscious thought that I did not deserve a good life. This idea that I am not worthy of success and enjoyment is utterly false and the more I release it, the more chemicalization occurs.

Even writing about my success here feels scary, like a jinx will take it all away if I am not careful. But each day that I claim my good, and live well, then I am breaking that trajectory that held me in the grip of scarcity and fearful living.

Thus, perhaps this gout is a form of retaliation from my old thinking. My unconscious fear-based conditioning is trying to hinder me as I move toward authentic thriving. It is trying to pull me back into victim thinking and away from co creative empowerment. It is trying to slow down my turbo-charged success and make me doubt the truth of who I am. My exponential growth is leading to more and more good flowing to me as I connect more fully with my spiritual center and that undercuts the power of the ego to run my life.

Today, I am more determined than ever to allow my good to flow into my life. I will find the blessing in every situation and circumstance. I will be my Christ Self. I am alive to possibility today and willing to feel all the feelings associated with being truly prosperous.

Health and Prosperity- Sore Ankle-2

Sore Ankle- part 2

This evening I have a very sore ankle. I am thinking about my good fortune and prosperity and believe there is a golden nugget to share with you about this. Prosperity is often understood by many to mean having all the money you can spend. An expansive view of prosperity might include having all the money you can spend and the good health to enjoy all of your wealth. It might even include having money, health and all the good friends that money can buy.

I think prosperity is something different. I believe that prosperity is having the consciousness to manifest all of your good with ease and grace. “All of your good” includes constructive and supportive relationships, it includes having all of your physical needs met on time and abundantly, and it includes an evolution of soul that is often hard to see in the moment as good.

My ankle is sore because I have gout. I have gout because my body produces more uric acid than it eliminates. Even with modern medication to impact uric acid production, I still have symptoms of gout. Why might this happen? My brother has gout too, so it is likely an inherited trait. Still, my gout only flares up periodically. My activity and exercise do not change radically. My diet is good and is stable. Why would gout flare up now and not at other times?

Traditional mind body metaphysical thinking suggests that stress can impact our immune system and produce reactionary physical symptoms such as gout. Stress is caused by a consciousness that is attempting and failing to predict and control outcomes and dictate events. We get attached to a certain strategy for a period in our life. The emotional response to our perception that our strategy is not manifesting correctly (to our specifications) is grief. But rather than feel this grief, we choose to believe that if we worry and struggle harder we can change the outcome to be more in alignment with our preferences.

That worrying consciousness is fear based and leads to stress. It is a sign of resistance to our good. The energy expended in resistance depletes our immune system and throws our body out of optimum balance which then manifests physical symptoms such as gout. The solution here is to release our resistance and allow the fear to wash over us into grief. As we do this, we naturally surrender more and more fully until we reach a state of peace. In this condition of peaceful surrender, our body has the optimum conditions to replenish itself and thus heal itself. The basic premise of this approach is that the physical ailments are unhealthy. They are seen as symptoms of a problem and are a signal that we are off track.

This may be very true, but there is also a catch. Seeing physical symptoms as a warning is still a fear based approach to living. Reacting with fear to a health challenge is not a consciousness of surrender, instead it is still a symptom of trying to predict and control outcomes. It is a consciousness focused on managing our health care. This is not to say that a proactive response is not called for when we feel illness or pain in our body. Many times this is exactly what is being signaled and is exactly what is needed.

I once worked in a job where I had a very sore back. I was a new hire and had been given a very old and broken down chair. I complained and they got me a new ergonomic lumbar support chair. The symptoms went away for a week or so and then they returned. I thought that perhaps I was not getting enough exercise and began to swim every day during lunch. That did little to alleviate my back pain. I thought it might be stress related and so began to relax more and meditate more and work less hours and so forth. The back pain lessened but was not entirely alleviated.

I finally, against my will, left that job and went to work for myself. My back pain promptly disappeared. Obviously, I was under stress in my former job- it was not the right situation for me and my body’s pain was communicating this to me. The pain got my attention, but I did not have the willingness of my own accord to take the steps to alleviate my pain. It took me getting fired before I realized what was causing my back pain was my attachment to the security of working for others rather than co- creating my own life.

If prosperity is about security and a good paying job then I have nothing to teach. I think prosperity is about allowing our good to flow to us in every situation. Following my true nature and soul’s calling healed my back pain. No amount of lumbar support, stretching, exercise, meditation and relaxation would be any help in the face of me not living my own life.

Prosperity is not about money

As we consider our thoughts about “prosperity” in these times of economic turmoil, it is a good idea to remember that money and prosperity are not correlated. I know this sounds radical to some readers who believe that prosperity and money are directly and 100% correlated, but let’s look at it more closely.

Jesus bluntly taught that prosperity as it is commonly understood is an absolute barrier to entering the kingdom of heaven. One day a seeker came to him who had been careful to follow all of the commandments and asked how to manifest the kingdom of heaven. Jesus said to make his move the seeker would need to sell all his possessions and donate the money to the poor. The seeker heard this guidance and walked away in dejection because he possessed a fortune. In one of his more famous quotes Jesus said “It was easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than it was for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.” Mathew 19:1-24.

Jesus further taught that material wealth was worth nothing in comparison to the joy and peace that come from spiritual living. In another teaching couplet that is perhaps a little more subtle he described the kingdom of heaven as treasure buried in a field, and one who comes across this treasure sells every last possession in order to buy the field with the hidden treasure. Jesus then says the kingdom of heaven is like a rare pearl and a wealthy merchant sold all his goods in order to purchase this single priceless pearl. Mathew 13: 44-45.

The Buddha says that the fool laughs at generosity. The miser cannot enter heaven. But the Master finds joy in giving and happiness is his reward. He says that the True Master possesses nothing and wants nothing.

From this perspective of giving it all away and not holding on to any attachments, then all things good come to us. The kingdom of heaven is a consciousness that is purely at peace no matter what the outward circumstances. Thus, this teaching is a paradox because if we had this sense of inner peace and harmony with our true nature, then we would not seek or need anything that money could buy anyway.

You might wonder if this teaching holds up in today’s complex mercantile world. I will tell you about a friend of mine, he and his wife had always dreamed of spending springtime in Paris. They went to Paris a few years ago during the spring to enjoy the beautiful cherry blossoms blooming, and he had a heart attack. They both had been working hard long hours to climb the economic ladder. .He was rushed to a hospital and lived. His heart attack cut their trip to Paris short but it made a great story.

His heart attack might have been a wake up call for my friend to ease off and enjoy life and to take better care of himself. He did some of that, but his consciousness did not really change. He still wanted the good life and believed the way to get it was with money. He and his wife both worked in Real Estate. They owned a million dollar mansion with a pool and landscaped yard. Beautiful furniture and art work graced their home. They had a huge library of books and CD’s, traveled frequently and enjoyed fine dining and entertainment. They had two very upscale cars as they believed this was required by successful agents. All this looked very good from the outside and was very expensive to keep up from the inside.

As you know, the real estate business softened and then collapsed over the past couple of years. My friend decided to get a paying job while his wife kept up their real estate practice. He went from one job to another and then to yet another scrambling to make ends meet.

Finally, he could not continue. He now hated his work, hated his boss and all the wealth and success he had accumulated was not worth another moment of unhappiness. He resigned from this third job and began to surrender his attachment to high wages and all that money could buy. He began to appreciate and cultivate his relationship with Spirit. He vowed to continue on this path of surrendered living no matter what it might cost him in outward treasure.

He and his wife ended up bankrupt. They lost the two fancy cars. They lost their mansion in foreclosure. They gave away all their books and sold their artwork and furniture. They have nothing left of their grand life. Their wealth is gone. Their credit is toast. Today he has a simple sales job. He and his wife have next to nothing in terms of physical possessions; they rent a very small apartment. They have each other. Oh, one detail, the job and apartment are located in Paris, France. So, their dream of enjoying springtime in Paris came true. They are living the good life in the kingdom of heaven and it has nothing to do with money