21st March 2013
Guest Writer for Wake Up World
More and more from my perspective of life, I find the immense value and importance of being conscious of moment-by-moment life. Just being conscious, meaning being ‘consciously aware,’ is so powerful it is enough to transform your whole life.
When you apply conscious focus to any issue in life, that issue begins to reveal itself anew. Note that word, anew. You see new angles, new approaches, new insights into whatever the issue is. In this article, I am going to look at the issue of money from a conscious viewpoint.
So many people think they have a money issue. For me to say, ‘there is no such thing as a money issue,’ is a very provocative and challenging statement, yet this is exactly what I mean. A money issue is a ‘you’ issue in disguise. And the disguises are many.
You have an ongoing relationship with life. You also have an ongoing relationship with self, and an ongoing relationship with Truth. I have no doubt that you are aware of your relationship with life, and also of your relationship with self, but are you aware that it is your relationship with Truth that determines the quality and expression of those two other major relationships?
[pro_ad_display_adzone id=”110028″]
Let me put it this way. You can have those relationships based in illusion – this is considered normal – or you can have those relationships based in Truth. And believe me, this is far from normal! If you want the ‘illusion’ relationship to continue, do nothing, and it will. If you want to change your whole relationship with every aspect of life, then read on – and act accordingly. Be aware that if I mislead you, I am the person who will suffer most consequences. Clever words without Truth can be damaging, and damage returns to its source.
What exactly is money? Some people will say money is crisp or soggy bank notes of varying currency values, others might say money is the power of your credit card. Yet others say it is the sum value of all your property assets, and it is what you are worth. And, in the illusion, all these are correct. Okay, so what really is money? It is very simple – money is energy. Nothing more, nothing less. And money energy that you so-call own is an energy that is connected to you by the strength of your ownership. For example, financial fear holds very tightly onto money energy, while inner-security holds it rather lightly. All that you are; your every inner program, your conditioning, your beliefs, your fears, your wants, your expectations, and your relationship with your parents and family, and much more, are all involved in your relationship with money. The energy of money is not your issue; it is your own energy of self-expression that is the issue. Your relationship with money energy is either clean or cluttered. If it is clean, I doubt you are even reading this, for you have no need to, if it is cluttered, then first of all, accept that this is your reality. You cannot get out of a cage that you deny being in! To acknowledge the cage is the first step to freedom.
I am going to take two extreme examples to illustrate what I am saying, but first, be aware that I am generalizing in this article, I am not writing about ‘your’ particular issue. There is the person born into wealth with a money problem, and the person born into relative poverty with a money problem. I will show you how, in both cases, money is not the issue.
The child born into a wealthy family faces many problems. Wealth is seldom just there, it has to be generated, and generating wealth requires a lot of focus and time. The child growing up in a wealthy family gets more than enough ‘toys,’ from the first train set, or doll, to the latest car, but the inner need of conscious focussed attention is seldom so well addressed. Generally, there is not enough time in the day to put in the hours that high-living money making demands. This ‘time demand’ powerfully affects the children. The wealthy often compromise by attempting to buy the love and respect of their child/children . . . and their future. A mostly futile gesture.
Somewhere in all this, the child begins a slow, smoldering anger and resentment. As the child grows, this becomes rebellion. By the time the child is a teenager, there is full-blown resentment, and withdrawal. All the evidence suggests to them that money is more important, more valuable than they are. Surveys in the U.S. indicate that the average time spent by a parent in focussed conversation with their child/children is about thirty seconds a day! This does not mean sharing the same room, it means conscious, focussed, aware, caring conversation. And this survey was not just about the wealthy, it was ‘average’ American families. Apparently, surveys done in other countries show a similar pattern.
The person who grows up in this ‘wealthy’ home is definitely going to have a money issue, along with a multitude of other issues relating to self-esteem. Generally, the child, now adult, has a program that says ‘money is more important than I am,’ or, ‘If I don’t make as much money as my parents, I’m a failure,’ or ‘money is the most important thing in life.’ And so on!
Okay, let’s look at the other end of the scale. This family is money poor, struggling for enough money on a weekly basis. Here, the most constant words will be, ‘money is hard to come by,’ ‘fortune favours the rich,’ ‘there are laws for the rich, and laws for us poor,’ ‘it’s the bloody government’s fault.’ And so on. So this, or some other constant negative quote is being hammered daily into the receptive mind of the child/children. They are being programmed for failure, programmed that life is all about a lack of money, programmed that life is a continuous struggle. And that money is boththe issue and the problem, the cause of all hardship.
These children grow up with a different anger. On this end of the spectrum, the anger and resentment is against the injustice of life, on how they are being suppressed, on how life is against them, and how money makes money and they have no bloody chance. The fact that so many people put in the effort to climb out of this financial mess is overlooked by the ones who are still in it. They got a lucky break! The money issues that come from this simmering brew of struggle are many, but again, they are nothing to even do with money. They are about the people, the power of illusion, and the misuse of energy in the forms of anger, resentment, and their many negative expressions.
Money is one of the most powerful triggers in human growth. Why? Because if you are into inner growth you are required to face ‘your’ issues, not your ‘money’ issues. The person who looks only at their money issues is either not into personal growth, or is seriously lost in the illusions of life. And this is so common. True Prosperity is a state of consciousness. It is about being conscious of yourself, conscious of whether you negatively react to life, or whether you positively respond. It is about being conscious of whether you see life as supportive, or destructive. Is life for and with you, or is life against you? Do you accept that your life is made by you, or do you believe that life has handed you a raw deal? A conscious acceptance that you are responsible for your life, and for your fortune, is the whole basis of true prosperity.When you decide that the illusion can never be manipulated for your total wellbeing – it can be manipulated to give you wealth – and you accept that there is a path of illusion and a path of Truth, then, and only then, are you ready to choose the path of Truth.
Truth is not an easy path, but neither is it difficult. This path will not suddenly make you wealthy, but neither will it make you poor. Truth requires that you leave the illusion, with all its comforts, and suffering. And crazy as this sounds, suffering is one of the major human addictions! Truth does, however, have one major requirement; you are obliged to live the Truth that you discover. If you are not living it, you do not have it. One of the serious illusions in this so-called New Age is that so many people believe that Truth is a set of empowering words that, if learned, have some way of transforming their lives. Nothing could be more based in illusion.
Truth can only be ‘lived.’ Truth is nothing to do with the intellect, it is about consciousness. So, when you bring Truth into the equation of, ‘I have a money issue,’ you must be prepared for Truth to blast the illusion into oblivion. It is ‘you’ that have, and ‘you’ that are the issue. And this ‘you’ issue manifests in money issues, relationship problems, the whole works! This does not make you wrong, or bad, or foolish, it means that when you accept this as real, you are consciously standing on the pivot of change. By taking responsibility for yourself in the moment, and by ‘consciously’ living life asit presents itself in the moment, you are moving into a place of newness.
True prosperity is not just about money, but it does include money. True prosperity is about the relationship that you develop with life, by living Truth. True prosperity is the fruit of this relationship. True prosperity is when your relationship with yourself, with life, and with money are all based in Truth, as you recognize and understand it. Your relationship with Truth will change and deepen, as will your relationship with self, and life, and money. And this is exciting.
One of the difficulties you will encounter will be the advice of other, well-meaning people, especially friends and family. The chances are they will oppose or resist your inner changes, because for them, this is a threat. You remaining the same is something very important for people who live within the parameters of ‘more of the same.’ Basically, this means that if you want or need advice, then you must approach and ask someone whom you ‘know’ is living in the way that you aspire to live. It becomes obvious that if you ask a very dear friend within the illusion how to handle this challenging moment in your relationship with Truth, you are going to be very disappointed with what they have to offer.
Be aware that you can have true prosperity without great wealth, and that you can have great wealth without true prosperity. If wealth is the result – and it often is – of your improved relationship with yourself, with life, and most importantly, with Truth, then you are certainly sailing the ocean of true prosperity. True prosperity balances your health with your wealth. Whereas many people spend their health to gain their wealth – poor trade! – you will find that as your health prospers, so will your wealth. What a far more sensible, intelligent approach.
True prosperity is the holistic path of intelligence, rather than the isolated path of the intellect. Intellect moans, ‘what if?’ while intelligence moves confidently ahead. True Prosperity is a way of trust. Trust in your inherent Self, in your intelligence, in your innate abilities, in your growing relationship with Truth. Intelligent and conscious trust is integral to true prosperity. You are a Being of Truth, and Intelligence … use it!
In Love and Light, Michael
About the author:
Born in England in 1937, Michael Roads discovered at an early age he was able to communicate with nature and go beyond linear time and space. He immigrated to Australia in 1963 where he was a beef and dairy farmer, and prominent in the early organic movement. He wrote the first book on organic gardening in Australia, which was an immediate best seller. After becoming spiritually awakened in 1986, Michael wrote about his metaphysical experiences and has since published 14 books, translated into 16 languages. 2012 marks his 21st year of traveling around the world giving talks and 5-day Intensives on unconditional Love and emotional balance. www.michaelroads.com
[pro_ad_display_adzone id=”110027″]
