Albert's Biz Talk posts

Can you be spiritual and rich?

One of the most persistent concerns that people of integrity and heart centered consciousness wrestle with is whether or not the possession of wealth will somehow 'pollute' them and make them into something else. The belief that being rich is somehow a proof of being venal or worse is often at the core of the resistance many of us have to abundance. It was true 100 years ago when Mr. Wattles wrote, "The Science of Getting Rich" and it is still true today.

The answer is summed up in Mr. Wattles own words, which are the opening of the SOGR. He said, "WHATEVER MAY BE SAID IN PRAISE OF POVERTY, the fact remains that it is not possible to live a really complete or successful life unless one is rich. No one can rise to his greatest possible height in talent or soul development unless he has plenty of money, for to unfold the soul and to develop talent he must have many things to use, and he cannot have these things unless he has money to buy them with. A person develops in mind, soul, and body by making use of things, and society is so organized that man must have money in order to become the possessor of things. Therefore, the basis of all advancement must be the science of getting rich. The object of all life is development, and everything that lives have an inalienable right to all the development it is capable of attaining."

I was very resistant to this concept myself. I viewed the actions of SOME wealthy people as being the natural manner in which wealthy or rich people acted. I thought that Greed, Lust, Unfairness, and basic Dishonesty were integral components of the rich person's personality. I am so grateful that I found Mr. Wattles' work and he began to open my mind and give me the perspective to accept that I could be rich and not 'cross over to the dark side.'

Mr. Wattles, presented a number of core concepts, which underlie his premise. The first and most important is the ideal of Universal Abundance. He begins by stating unequivocally, "NO ONE IS KEPT POOR BECAUSE OTHER PEOPLE HAVE MONOPOLIZED THE WEALTH and have put a fence around it."

Now that was almost heresy to me. Before I encountered Mr. Wattles I never questioned the belief that there was an exact and finite amount of 'stuff' in the world. The equal distribution of this 'stuff' would ensure that everyone lived a meager, restricted existence. I further believed that it was somehow sinful to desire more than that meager restricted existence, and the desire I felt for comfort, surplus, and luxury could only come at the expense of others. So I was left with the dilemma of the conflict between my desires and the resulting cheating of someone else out of their fair share if I achieved those desires.

These beliefs were also supported by the portrayal of the 'virtuous' poor, the Aesthetic Spiritual Being, the Renunciative Saint, and the Bodhisattva who gives away all that he owns to the poor.

Mr. Wattles set me straight by teaching me, "The visible supply is practically inexhaustible, and the invisible supply really is inexhaustible. Everything you see on earth is made from one original substance, out of which all things proceed. New forms are constantly being made, and older ones are dissolving, but all are shapes assumed by one thing. There is no limit to the supply of formless stuff, or original substance. The universe is made out of it, but it was not all used in making the universe. The spaces in, through, and between the forms of the visible universe are permeated and filled with the original substance, with the formless stuff — with the raw material of all things. Ten thousand times as much as has been made might still be made, and even then we should not have exhausted the supply of universal raw material. No one, therefore, is poor because nature is poor or because there is not enough to go around."

Having learned this lesson, all that remains is to learn the techniques by which anyone can become rich. That is to do things in, "The Certain Way."

Thanks, Wally.