Spirituality and Money
Jason Chan
For me, the spiritual path in the early 21st century has to include making money. Taking a vow of poverty is old style spirituality. In the East, spiritual seekers may still be supported by generous donations from their community. But in the West, spiritual seekers need to fund themselves! It is not acceptable in the UK to beg for money to fund your spiritual activities. On the other hand, it is acceptable in the West to charge a reasonable fee for your services, such as spiritual healings, in order to fund your own spiritual journey, and to facilitate your commitment to assisting others along the path.
Don’t be naïve about money. Look after your money and plant good karmic seeds for the future by being generous towards others. A lot of people moan about being poor, but this poverty is on the surface of their lives. They do not investigate the seeds they have planted that have borne forth this sour fruit. Giving to others plants good seeds that will one day bear forth abundant fruit.
If you want to be happy and fulfilled this lifetime, you will need some money. If you are a spiritual seeker it is no good to just sit back and say ‘God will provide’. God gives everything to everyone, but so many individuals live in poverty consciousness. They say to themselves ‘I cannot afford to go on a spiritual retreat’. ‘I cannot take time out to look for God. I have to keep working seven days a week to pay the bills’. Those living in poverty consciousness like this have not realised that they are poor because deep down they do not feel worthy enough to be financially abundant. But this is crazy thinking. Millions of people worldwide now drive around in fancy cars and live in big houses, and they are no more worthy of God’s infinite abundance than you or me.
Some individuals keep moaning about money, but I notice that these people tend not to be very giving. If you do not give to others, you will inevitably see a world of scarcity and lack. So whenever you feel poor give something to someone worse off than you. You do not have to give away a lot of money, but before you buy a new piece of clothing, for example, give some of your old clothes to charity. Before you go out for a meal, give a beggar some money to buy a cup of tea and a bun.
On the other hand, always balance your generous giving with common sense. A good rule of thumb is to give away 10 per cent of your net income with love. You should also commit random acts of kindness from time to time, but never give to others with even a twinge of resentment or you will poison the gift. If you give out of a sense of duty or guilt rather than love, you will be sharing resentment rather than abundance.
The amount of money you have to give is not important, what counts is your loving intention. Bill Gates may give £30 billion to his charitable foundation whilst you can only give £30, but the art of giving has nothing to so with the amount you give, it is much more important to develop an inner sense of abundance, and a genuine desire to share this abundance with anyone you meet who is still dwelling in poverty consciousness.
Please do not see the person to whom you give as a victim. See the beggar in the street as Christ in disguise. Learn from Mother Theresa. We can learn so much from her love for the sick and destitute of Calcutta. Instead of seeing a weak or destitute person, see the Christ in them. Instead of just giving charity to the poor find some way of empowering them to pull themselves out of poverty.
As well as giving away 10 per cent of your net income, I suggest that you save another ten per cent each month. Put 10 per cent of your income in a savings account each month and let your savings accumulate. Doing this won’t make you rich, but it will give you more confidence and freedom. Without any savings, you will continue to be so fearful of life. You will be afraid of your boss, your customers, your clients. If you have no savings, how can you leave a job that you hate?
When you have some savings, you can put away these worldly concerns and concentrate on far more essential matters. Everyone in our modern world needs an emergency fund, so do not be foolish and over-spend. Everyone can save 10 percent of their net income if they just trim their lifestyle a bit. Without savings, opportunities to increase your freedom will not come to you. Without savings, you can only dream about a project to transform peoples’ lives.
As well as giving to others, it is wise to invest in your own spiritual development. Some people say to me, ‘That Course in Miracles book is so expensive. It costs £30!’ But the lessons this book will teach you may take you three lifetimes to learn. £10 a lifetime for salvation is not expensive. Do not feel guilty in investing in yourself, if that investment helps you to grow and to awake.
I do not really like spiritual teachings that say to spiritual seekers ‘You already are the Light. You need do nothing’. In this world, we all learn through our own experiences and this life has many lessons to teach us. If you are still living in poverty consciousness, you still have some lessons to learn about money and abundance. You may also have some karma to clear around money issues. So don’t just sit there and wait for divine intervention. Learn all you can about the wisdom of giving and receiving, spending and saving, and investing in your own future and spiritual growth. If you see money as a bit grubby change your mind about it so that you can have at your disposal all the resources you will need to free yourself from being trapped in material concerns.
Please understand how this material world works and do not say to yourself ‘ I am so spiritual, I do not need to engage in worldly matters’. Many hippies tried this approach to life, but they did not achieve that much. They certainly did not convert the world to a path of peace and love.
Be well grounded in this world and invest in the tools you will need to be materially successful such as a good, reliable car and computer. Give priority every day to your spiritual growth but at the same time put some real effort into making your own dreams come true. When I first started out as a spiritual teacher, I continued to do an ordinary job for several hours each week to top up my very limited income. I did not just sit there and say to God ‘If you want me to do this work then provide me with all the funds that I need’.
The majority of individuals living in this world today have no chance of pursuing a spiritual path. All their time and effort goes into scraping a living for themselves and their family. If you are blessed enough to live in an abundant society such as the UK, do not waste that blessing by squandering your abundance on valueless trivia. Give and save money with wisdom. Learn the art of handling money wisely until you have accumulated all the funds you may need to pursue your deepest spiritual goals without any concern for earning your daily bread.
