Consciousness and Money
by Ruth Ross, Ph.D.
Everything reflects our
consciousness,
and there is little value in staying in the consciousness of
poverty.
Prosperity has had only one
connotation for too long -- money. The subject of money has a powerful emotional
charge, equivalent to the subject of sex. Yet, we will usually talk about it
only like the weather -- in general economic terms. In this age of open
discussion on homosexuality, menstruation, and incest, it is interesting that we
are still very closed in what we reveal about our money. The subject of our
inner feelings concerning money is one of the last things to come out of the
closet. Why?
When we think of having money, we
think of opportunities for independence, leisure, privacy, time to do and act as
we wish. Unfortunately, a lack of money translates into yet another reason to
put ourselves down.
We have built a complex of myths
and voodoo around the idea of money as an entity -- an end in itself. We have
personified it, and attributed characteristics to it as if it were a savior. How
many times have we said, "If only I had enough money!" At the same time, we have
created a concept of money as an active, negative agent. We have done this
through our conscious and unconscious myths which support a negative morality
system about what money does to people. We end up both desiring and fearing
money.
I can remember a time when I
didn't want to talk about money, or even think about it. I felt squeamish asking
for money due to me. And in establishing a price for anything, I always hoped
that somehow the other person just "knew" how much was fair so we would not have
to discuss it. I even fancied what it would be like to live in a community of
total barter so no money would have to be exchanged.
It wasn't until later that I found
out I wasn't alone -- many people are uneasy when they must receive, ask for,
and speak of money. Fortunately, there are different ways of looking at money
what it is and isn't, what it can and can't do. Examining our concepts of money
can open up issues concerning giving and taking that are important in all
aspects of our lives.
Self-Esteem and
Money
The basis for understanding and
being comfortable with money is just one more aspect of our self-awareness. For
example, from repeated studies in human behavior, we know that one of the
factors by which we judge ourselves and others is money -- how much we make, how
we make it, and how we spend it. This constitutes part of our market value. To
many of us, then, speaking of income is really speaking of our value in
society.
When we have a low self-image, we
sometimes try to compensate for these feelings both by trying to increase our
value and by trying to keep this value hidden. We want to avoid facing a low
opinion from others if our value figure is not as high as we think it should
be.
An example of wanting to hide our
value is deciding not to invite people to dinner because we have only mismatched
glasses and china. When we are devaluing ourselves because of a lack of money,
we may feel ashamed at gatherings of friends of family who talk about travel,
shopping, or prestigious colleges for the kids. We may put ourselves down
because we don't have the money to shop or travel, or because our kids are only
going to work, instead of college.
The Morality of
Money
The self-esteem and money issue is
further confused by the rather shaky image of what having that green stuff
means. Although everyone wants more money, the idea of having wealth is tainted.
On one side of the coin, money is thought to be highly desirable; on the other
side, it is considered bad and almost dirty.
Most of the cultural arguments
that make prosperity a moral issue are never made out loud. The ideas that we
can't or shouldn't be financially prosperous are projected subliminally in the
form of myths or beliefs. Whether we live it or not, one of our strong beliefs
is that hard work and toil are rewards in and of themselves. It is also part of
our tradition that poverty is a virtue. Certain religious teachings from the
Bible have even been interpreted as confirming that poverty is somehow
holy.
For example, the biblical passage,
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven," has been
frequently quoted to condemn wealth and praise poverty. With better
understanding of the old Arabic translations, however, new interpretation among
biblical scholars shows that the original intention of this and other passages
was positive.
With new research, we now know the
word poor originally meant humble and receptive, not poverty-stricken. To
receive is to open oneself to one's vulnerability -- to let go of control. The
message seems to have been that the world is full of givers; what we need to
learn is to receive -- to open ourselves to our vulnerability.
Other biblical passages, such as,
"It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man
to enter the kingdom of heaven," have been used to prove that being wealthy is
morally wrong. According to modern-day scholars, this passage originally
referred not to having money itself but rather to the difficulties inherent when
we are controlled by our possessions rather than being in control of
them.
Everything reflects our
consciousness, and there is little value in staying in the consciousness of
poverty. Someone has remarked that the best thing we can do for the poor is not
to be one of them. This is not being unloving. It is a statement of not
accepting poverty as inevitable. Poverty helps no one.
Other biblical passages point out
another, more prosperous attitude toward life:
Ask and it shall be given
you
Seek and ye shall find
Knock, and the door shall be
opened unto you.
Environmental support for the
negative attitudes we hold about wealth is found in cliches we often hear
repeated:
Money is the root of all
evil.
Money won't buy you
happiness.
Easy come, easy go.
I may be poor, but I'm
happy
I'm sure you can recite many more.
They imply that not only is there something wrong with money, but, by
implication, there may be a lot more wrong with you if you have
it!
What is Money Really?
Money is commonly defined as a
medium of exchange. What we are exchanging is energy. Money is a concept
symbolizing the exchange of potential energy. It is stored energy made
visible.
It is obvious that, like
everything else, money is in itself neither good nor bad. It is neither moral
nor immoral. To look at money as a moral issue is as absurd as it is to decide
that airplanes are good or bad. We feel differently about airplanes when they
are used to drop napalm bombs than when they are used to drop food supplies for
starving people. Yet they are the same planes. The moral issue is in the
intention of the user -- not in the plane itself. Money can be used to promote
life and love, and can be a blessing for many, or it can be used to destroy the
life force in a million different ways.
Loving Money
Accumulation of wealth has long
meant having more than one's share, and gaining at the expense of others. We are
reminded of the Robber Barons of all ages -- companies and individuals whose
assets are the result of exploitation. The get-rich-quick'ers with a "to hell
with the means" attitude have poisoned our minds about money with the beliefs
that (1) what one has to do to gain wealth is to steal, and (2) wealth (i.e.,
greed) ruins the human soul. When we point to those who misuse money selfishly
as proof that money is bad, we are confusing the pirate with his
ship.
A ship is indifferent as to who is
at its wheel. It responds just as swiftly to a scoundrel as to a saint if both
are equally skilled in the laws of sailing. Carefully loaded, its hull will
carry contraband arms to thieves just as safely as it would emergency medical
supplies to a disaster area. Ships, like money, are just there to be used as
resources. How some people in the past have used them does not change their
value.
When we are prospering naturally,
we are using a holistic approach to achievement within a "win-win" position. We
do not need to rely on taking from or exploiting others. With this kind of
prosperity, loving money is loving the good it can do for us, and for everyone
else. Prosperity in this sense is appreciating money as a means for exchanging
good for all.
Money as Power
Money brings power. Money has no
power in itself, but having control over how it will be spent gives us power.
The more money we have, the more potential power we have.
The eighteenth-century German poet
Goethe said, "Nobody should be rich but those who understand it." His point is
that many can become prosperous quickly, but not always develop awareness,
scruples, or concern for others. They can lose their money just as quickly, or
in some way pay dearly for it, if they do not develop their prosperity
consciousness.
If we are going to ask for power
in great amounts, we had better be prepared to handle it. An example of what
happens when we are unprepared for the power of money emerged during a recent
follow-up study of the million-dollar lottery sweepstakes winners in Canada. The
vast majority of them were broke within five years. Their prosperity
consciousness was not developed to the point where they could benefit from the
money for very long.
You will either control or be
controlled by money. Awareness of the power of money and of how to handle it
makes the difference. It is the conscious choice to use money benevolently that
puts you in control.
Money as
Responsibility
The stored energy that money
symbolizes is there to help us grow. This energy must keep moving. Effectively
directing this movement of energy requires an understanding of how the laws of
prosperity operate in giving, receiving, spending, and saving. Responsibility of
money is knowing where we want to go with this energy.
Prosperity Key
(#3)
To receive more, we must be
willing to give more.
Money doesn't grow by being
hoarded. Hoarding is for beggars. It doesn't benefit anyone to grab as much as
possible and keep it stashed away in vaults or coffee cans. Trying to prosper by
bottling up money through accumulation will result in the opposite negative
effect. We hear tragic stories of those individuals who die each year in poverty
with their "wealth" stuffed in their mattresses. It served no one, least of all
them.
In all of life, receiving depends
upon giving. There are no separate rules for money. All spending is part of the
circulating flow of giving -- when done in the right spirit. Try it out. Next
time you spend, see yourself as giving to benefit others as well as yourself.
Spending with love can be a new experience. Just as work can be love in action
so, too, money can be love expressed. When we give in this spirit, our return is
multiplied many times.
Spending is no problem for some
people. It can be too easy, in fact. After a few experiences of succumbing to
the temptation of unlimited credit, leading eventually to unlimited debt, they
quickly discover the pain of overspending, of being out of balance at the other
end of the spectrum.
Part of the responsibility that
goes along with the power of money is knowing how to save and invest for a
purpose. Poet Ralph Waldo Emerson, for example, saw money as a "stewardship" or
challenge. To him, each person with money has a mandate to use that money to
"carve out" work for others.
How do you use money? What plans
or direction do you see for your money? What seeds are being planted with your
money?
If the farmer has no plan, and
throws her seeds hither and yon, she not only wastes her resources, she has only
a small crop in return. And she cannot tend her crop if it is scattered. Start
planning for your future now by investing in yourself. Spend some time today
thinking about how you feel about money. Ask yourself:
Are you willing to create the
money your life dream would cost?
What does "being poor" mean to
you? How does that feel?
How do you feel about wealthy
people?
How do you feet about earning "a
lot" of money?
How do you want to receive your
money?
How do you want to help others
with your money?
How are you uncomfortable around
money?
What do you want to have achieved
with your money when you die?
Far too many people never sit down
and think concretely about these kinds of questions; yet, for prosperity, it is
vital to know your feelings about money. How do you feel when you spend money?
Pay attention the next time when you pull out your wallet or checkbook -- are
you spending from a sense of loss or giving? Listen to what you are saying to
yourself as you hand out money.
What is your attitude about
giving? When is it easiest to give? When is it hardest to give? Listen to the
clichés ringing in your ears during your transactions with money. Our attitudes
toward money are often indicative of our attitudes toward life itself. Do you
give freely of yourself? Is it hard for you to receive?
In order to achieve prosperity on
a continuous basis, we must develop balance. Momentary desires will have to be
balanced with long-term goals; savings, spending, and investing plans will have
to be devised. Prosperity requires planning, clear intent, and commitment.
Becoming friends with money and recognizing what it can and cannot do for us is
an important preliminary step.
Money in itself cannot make us
happy, but with intention it can provide the means of unlimited good for
ourselves and others.
 Article excerpted
from:
Prospering Woman: A
Complete Guide to Achieving the Full, Abundant Life
by Ruth
Ross.
©1995. Reprinted
with permission of New World Library, Novato, CA 94949. 800-972-6657, Ext. 52.
http://www.nwlib.com
Info/Order book
About the Author
Ruth Ross, Ph.D. (1929-1994) was the
daughter of a tenant farmer, and lived a childhood life of poverty. She decided
at an early age that she would never be poor again. Ruth was a spiritual person,
an ardent supporter of women's interests, and a creator of self-awareness
seminars.
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