By Ben
So, here I am blogging away about spirituality. The goal being, in part at least, to make a living from it. But, is it ok to make money from spirituality? I’ve hit myself over the head with this question quite a few times because I would never want to sacrifice my spiritual growth for money.
“Life is about energy, and the exchange of money is the exchange of energy”. That’s what a friend of mine told me. He’s someone I look to as a guide and as someone who has more experience in all things spiritual than me. I thought about what he said and decided I needed to think on it more.
Here are some things to consider for the question of “is it ok to make money from spirituality?”.
If the thought of lack -whether it be money, recognition, or love has become part of who you think you are, you will always experience lack. Rather than acknowledge the good that is already in your life, all you see is lack.
1. Money Feeds The Ego
The pursuit of wealth and things is an ego driven venture. The ego, the ‘I’, wants to have success or wants to feed itself and money is usually a part of this. It can be the totality of it. The more wealth you gain and the more things you own, the further away you become from the goal of your spirituality. Now, this is different for everyone but there are some generalisations that we can make. Spirituality is about freedom, non-attachment, the realisation that this is all temporary.
To become attached to material things will always leave you wanting more. If money is the metric by which you measure yourself, there will always be someone better.
2. Karma Yoga
Karma is the law of cause and effect, the apparent spread of energy through thoughts, words and deeds. If we’re talking about money it is important to recognise that it matters how it’s gained and from where. For example, if you’re stealing or defrauding people then this is bad karma. If you’re helping others working in a homeless shelter, that’s good karma. There is a whole spectrum in between these two examples obviously.
Any money you gain by causing pain to others is not going to be ethical nor spiritual. Keep your work simple, true to you. Similarly make sure that there is a good end product and that you are not causing suffering as a by-product of your earning.
3. But I Can Do Good With My Money?
True, you can. And there are plenty of examples of entrepreneurs, philanthropists and celebrities etc who give thousands if not millions of pounds to good causes. However, don’t fall in to the trap of doing this for ego’s sake, for the recognition or status is gives you. You are simply maintaining the ego again. As much good as you might be doing, you are not growing spiritually if you’ve fallen in to this trap which can sneak up on the best of us. To grow spiritually you are aiming to reduce your ego and grow your internal witness. This is an easy trap to fall in to.
4. There Is A Reason Spiritual Leaders Aren’t Millionaires
Have you ever noticed how the most enlightening and spiritual people of our generation, and others for that matter, don’t drive Range Rovers or Porches. They don’t have great wealth or big bank accounts. Whatever wealth they do have is given away, it does not serve them on the path to be One with God, Source, the Universe, etc. However, they do not say you cannot earn a living from a spiritual life.
When people see money as energy and they see that there are karmic effects to holding onto energy and they also see that those karmic effects backfire, then they start to see that part of the responsibility of having energy is learning how to pass it through, learning how to trust, and to keep giving it away. People, especially in the business world, take money too seriously.
5. Why Do You Want More Money?
Before we ask “is it ok to make money from spirituality?” you must ask yourself why you want it? You should only have what you need, not look to become wealthy for the sake of it. What kind of person will you become once you have more money? What do you consider to be a lot? All these questions are questions for the ego, the ‘I’, the ‘me’. Again we’re coming back around to the sense of self that can drive this question.
6. Summary
“Your work should be something that brings you closer to your spirituality with your Sadhana (spiritual way, work, exercise). As you progress you may find that you need to change your occupation to fit in with your path. Or maybe change the way you carry out your current job to fit in with your new understanding of how it all is” – Ram Dass.
It is ok to make money from spirituality, nevertheless ensure that you align your energy with your ways of doing so and don’t fall in to that pesky ego trap.
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Realiser
Realiser was born from a dream to be in a realised state, a state of awaken. To be able to see the most obvious things having missed them for so many years. Subsequently I wanted to create something to serve as an example of how it could be. If only we might spend the time loving that we spend hating. Above all spending the time to be kind to others for no reason. You get the idea. I hope you enjoyed the blog on ‘is it ok to earn money from spirituality’. I will travel around doing what I can and would love for you to join me. Follow my path here…
