Money & Spirituality

“Money is nothing but energy. We also know that all energy is love; therefore, money and love are equivalent.” - Arnold Patent

MONEY & SPIRITUALITY
By Simon Treselyan

One of the most consistently asked questions within the New age movement, and to it’s practitioners, is that of money and it’s role. Indeed it would appear to be the main barrier that any practitioner or teacher has to go through to find their true worth in life. Without conquering this basic obstacle we will not be able to harness the energies necessary to promote understanding and self-realisation on the physical plane.

From the dawn of time, Mankind’s primary consideration has been that of finding adequate shelter, clothing and food within his environment, to ensure a stable base for survival. Most of primitive Man’s time would have been taken up with hunting and gathering these basic essentials. To this day people still engage in ‘House-Hunting’ to find accommodation. We create areas to find food and clothing with ease in the form of shops. Before the advent of money as a physical reality, humans employed a barter system where the relative ‘worth’ of an item or a service was assessed by the parties involved, according to the value placed on it by the other party. It is interesting that today Local Exchange Trading Systems (LETS) are becoming increasingly commonplace around the world. Mankind has begun to realise that ‘price’ and ‘worth’ do not always correspond. Human nature accepts that ‘worth’ and ‘value’ are relative to the other person’s needs, desires and ability to pay. Anyone that has ever tried to sell a car privately will know what I mean.

Money is an agreed form of exchange that allows us to obtain essential requirements for survival according to need, and to create an ordered society. Try living in today’s world without its consideration and you are back into the survival mode of our ancestors.

To be able to work effectively in society as practitioners or teachers we have to work within the parameters that the majority of people accept. Being ‘too spiritual’ to be dealing with money, or by somehow believing that to be without is ‘noble’ or closer to ‘God’, alienates us from society and restricts our ability to relate to others.

Remember it is in any Government’s interest to extend the level of poverty, not affluence. Poverty and need restrict choice and control people, therefore it goes without saying that if you want freedom to choose, get rich!
There is nothing spiritual about being poor, and also nothing bad about being affluent. Many seem to have the opinion that to be rich you must have ‘ripped people off’ at some time in the past. Perhaps we should change our opinion to accept that at some time in the past that person, or their forebears, had the vision and imagination to extend their self-worth to become assured of their family’s survival.

We all accept that we cannot take our money with us when we die. I teach that all money does in life is buy you experience. Therefore if you die with thousands in the bank to pass to heirs, have you really achieved all you could have achieved? Why didn’t you see the Pyramids, or watch a Hawaiian sunset, or buy a meal for a destitute person? Use the energy received for your Soul’s progression whilst here, you may not be so lucky next time around!

You will find that generally speaking those persons who have difficulty dealing with money have a difficulty with receiving, and therefore, a problem with their own self-worth. When I first began to actively charge for my spiritual services I had a big issue with charging even the most modest amounts of money without feeling uncomfortable. It becomes easier not to address the problem by not receiving, thereby assuming that those uncomfortable feelings will just go away. Instead you end up resenting yourself for not accepting your worth and giving yourself bad feelings. Eventually you get into a negative spiral where you actually begin to repel affluence. If you appear to place no value on your service, why should someone else!

Another question often asked is “How can you charge money for a God-given gift?” Well no one would disagree that a gifted artisan or performer are in receipt of a God-given gift, yet no one would expect them to give their services for free. Michaelangelo was truly gifted and painted the Cistine Chapel for the Pope, a task in God’s service that he was paid handsomely for. I always say, my therapies are free, but my time isn’t!

My experience is that if anyone invests something in anything, be it time or money, they appreciate it more. What would you value most, the gift won in a competition or one that you had spent three months working and saving for?

Another important aspect in the Universal abundance flow is that of receiving. For someone to be able to receive, someone must give. The Native Americans have a ritual technique called the ‘Giveaway’ where the more that is given, the more people naturally receive. Most of us have experienced a person refusing a gift that you spent time or thought in choosing, they say “Oh you shouldn’t have”, or “I couldn’t possibly”. Does it not take away the joy you wanted to experience in giving? Why would you wish to put someone through that! Say ‘thank you’ and increase the joy of both parties. If we all did this how much joy there would be in the world!

There is a natural state of energy flow in the Universe. This is also true with love. It’s infinite supply means that the more we are able to give and receive energy, be it love or money, the more open we become to other corresponding energies, increasing our threshold for gratitude and thereby further increasing our ability to experience self-worth. As long as there is flow, both in and out, then a healthy and balanced state is maintained. When flow does not take place, like a river, it will stagnate.

One must always remember that the Universe is neutral and will support a person to be abundant or not, dependant on their decision. The support from the Universe to give us affluence is never greater than when our hearts are open with compassion and love for ourselves.

In conclusion, money gives us an accurate picture of how we judge ourselves. It’s flow allows us to perceive our vision of life, whether it is restrictive or expansive. It gives us a benchmark to gauge our self-worth, and provides a medium for experiencing the world in which we have chosen to experience. For us to restrict our relationship to money, is to restrict our spirituality.

Learn to receive, accept the riches that life can bring, and grow!