October 2008 Prosperity Thoughts

Prosperity Thoughts October 2008

Affirmation: My consciousness, and only my consciousness, defines my sense of well-being.

Isn’t the key to experiencing prosperity rooted in consciousness? Let’s look at this idea. I think we all we know of people with wealth and material possessions who feel empty and impoverished. Since we also all know of people who are fulfilled and content even though they do not have much in the way of material goods I think it stands to reason that the actual fact of money or things does not predicate an experience of prosperity.

Moreover, I have known people that believe that acquiring some thing that they have been lacking will bring them a sense of prosperity. Then they get that new thing- a new job, a new relationship, a new house, or whatever, but within a short while they are still feeling that same sense of emptiness and impoverishment.

Thus, I think we can conclude that the experience of prosperity or poverty does not arise from a thing. Therefore our experience of prosperity and/or poverty must transcend the thing itself and come from our thinking about the thing. This is another way of saying it comes from our consciousness.

This leads to an interesting conundrum. Say someone is experiencing an impoverished existence. The question is, is it more productive to focus on changing their circumstances or to leave their circumstances alone and focus on transforming their consciousness? You see, I have found that many people are not even open to changing their consciousness about money and prosperity until they are feeling desperately impoverished. Yet, even in this state of desperation, they want to focus on how to make more money or to get a new relationship or some other strategy to get them out of the feeling of lack that is so painful. The thinking that got them into the experience of poverty retains its hold on their choices. Due, I think to the very desperation that leads them to be open on the one level, also leads them on another level to a life of struggle and stress. It seems to me, that for many, the only options they can see to get out of their financial predicament lead to more hard work and struggle. They are so attached to the idea that if they work harder and smarter then they can get out of poverty using external things to alleviate their sense of lack that they are almost totally resistant to a different approach. Our attachment to money and other things as security and as a manner in providing us with our good is just about as all encompassing a belief as we have.

It is, in my experience, a rare person that is feeling desperate for money and work who is willing to step back and examine all their thinking that led them to that desperation in the first place. In my own journey, I was once out of work, having been fired from a series of jobs and desperate. Instead of searching for work, I searched for truth and I spent about six months not looking for a job at all. I was committed to transforming my consciousness first because I did not want to repeat the same pattern of thinking that got me into a desperate jam in the first place.

It was during this period of intense pain and deep reflection that I first learned of the idea of “right livelihood”. I first began to look at how I could serve and support others on their journey rather than how I could make money. I began to notice that my well-being and happiness did not depend on my paycheck or how well I did in my job because I did not have a paycheck or a job.

Once we understand and integrate the idea that our consciousness determines our sense of prosperity, then we can intentionally use our consciousness to expand our sense of prosperity. We can focus on spiritual growth as a tool to fulfillment and abundance rather than continue to try and achieve prosperity by acquiring ever more things.

Generosity and Gratitude are the two classic tools we can use to shift our consciousness away from impoverished thinking and into abundant thinking. I will write more about them over then next few weeks.

Bless you