I am often asked how to deal with money problems. The only answer I have is that “money problems” don’t really exist. Worry arises from holding a false mental position, a false perception. In truth, you ate today and slept in a bed, so you are rich beyond most people’s wildest dreams.
In Panama, my wife and I saw entire families living in trees. And washing his clothes in the river. To be honest, I actually thought very seriously about joining them. It seemed like a great way to learn to let go of worldly attachments and become one with life. Nothing to do but watch the animals, make love to my wife and meditate. No more emails, no more web developers, no more criticism, no more personal responsibility, no more headaches, no more questions, no more problems.
*NICE* Hey, I can dream, can’t I…?
Jesus mentioned something about not worrying about money, I forgot the exact quote, but it was something like, “God provides for all the birds, don’t you think He provides for you too?” I like that. Money is God’s problem! My survival depends on God. It’s good to stop worrying.
Fear of homelessness arises. So what you do is imagine yourself homeless and see how you would handle this. Personally, I’d sit and meditate, and people would walk by and see me meditating, you know, and I’d put a can on the ground next to me, and people would drop change into it. They would give me more than others because I am not a beggar. And people respect meditators. I might even sell a little booklet on zen meditations while I’m at it. And the local homeless people would be jealous of me. Everyone would be jealous since I raise ten times more money than them, with my eyes closed, literally. Who knows, they might even join me, and next thing you know all the bums in my corner would light up.
With low consciousness people, life is about what you have, what you own, what you own. It’s about cars, money, fame, women, and having a bunch of cool toys. As people evolve, they realize that ‘having’ doesn’t satisfy, so the next phase is ‘doing’. Life becomes all about what you do. A job at the gas station is considered a total waste, because it is not important enough. People want to do something meaningful with their lives, they want to become leaders, politicians, teachers and ‘do-gooders’. They want to make a difference in the world through their actions. And while this is definitely a step forward, it’s a great way to live, you’re still vulnerable because what happens if you lose your teaching job, or if you don’t get elected, or if no one shows up for your rock concert? , and that? So you’re still vulnerable in this
level, you are still open to suffering.
Eventually you realize that the world is perfect just the way it is. There is no need to DO anything. It is no longer what you do or say, your actions no longer matter. Now it’s all about what you BECOME INSIDE. You are no longer willing to place happiness outside of yourself. Every job looks as good as any other job. As long as you’re serving humanity, it doesn’t matter if you’re peeling potatoes, washing cars, or doing a million dollar sale. It’s all the same.
I was recently watching the old movie, Midnight Express, where this guy is trapped in a Turkish prison where he is beaten and subjected to all kinds of suffering, lack of freedom. He believes that he has a “problem”, but in truth, the only problem is his own perception of him. People want to escape from prison by jumping over the fence, but then they return to a society that is just another prison. The food is better, and there are women, you know… but they keep suffering all the time. Everyone suffers almost constantly at every moment. The prison is within our own mind.
A prisoner has the opportunity to transcend suffering. There’s a book called ‘the dark night of the soul’ that was written in the 1500’s (or 1600’s) by this Christian saint who was imprisoned, beaten, starved, tortured, and actually used these experiences for his own benefit . He learned to transcend suffering while in that prison and achieved Enlightenment.
Couples love to blame money for their relationship problems, but that’s a projection. The problem is your own perception. The problem is that they do not know Unconditional Love, because if they did, everything would become an opportunity for them. All problems with couples come down to the fact that their level of consciousness is not yet high enough. Therefore, they must accept these stressful and problematic topics because they can always be used as a springboard to transcend to a higher level of being. From the higher levels, all so-called “problems” become opportunities to grow and ultimately fulfill yourself.
there really is no such thing as a “problem”, it was all just a projection, a mental position one was taking that created stress.
injuries,
Stephane Hemon
