Relinquishing the Quest for Material Abundance
By Dawn Mellowship
Millions of people around the world are on a spiritual quest, desperately seeking spiritual answers, eager to access their own inner wisdom and discover a profound and authentic sense of happiness. Conversely, millions of people around the world are on a material quest, hungry for money and lusting for physical possessions. This has not gone unnoticed by those who work within the ‘spiritual’ and ‘self-help’ fields, by individuals who understand and are willing to embrace the idea that promulgating a certain kind of spirituality is a profitable venture. Such individuals have crafted an equation that excludes the effort and humility involved in pursuing a spiritual path and morphed an admirable spiritual quest into the pursuit of material wealth.
Their efforts, usually accompanied by unsubtle marketing methods have encouraged individuals to believe that the search for material wealth can be synonymous with spiritual development. Money can buy us a great many things. It can help us to feel safe, secure and free from fear of mounting debt, and of course there is nothing wrong with that. Everyone should have a comfortable standard of living. However, accruing money is not and never was a spiritual adventure and cannot buy anyone spiritual growth or the ultimate happiness that comes from a steadfast connection with our souls, with our intuition.
Somewhere along the line, the pursuit of material wealth became fused with spiritual goals and some individuals cornered a sizable profit from it, but if the consumer is not really benefiting, where is the spirituality in offering easy answers that require the least amount of effort? Where is the wisdom in encouraging individuals to chase their physical desires, rather than embracing their spiritual nature? Not everyone can and will be rich. Not everyone wants to be rich. If you are poor and spiritually fulfilled, you will be rich and spiritually fulfilled. If you are poor and unhappy, you will be rich and unhappy. If you are reaching for the stars hoping that dollar bills will rain down from above, ask yourself if this is the best course of action to be taking for your fruitful progress.
I know of people who determinedly endeavored to amass material wealth, because in their search for happiness they had read self-help and ‘spiritual’ books declaring that this was easy for anyone to do. A few years later these people were exhausted and feeling utterly lost, despondent and a failure, because they hadn’t managed to attain what they were told was possible for anyone to achieve. The reality is that most millionaires work extraordinarily hard to build their fortune. All the will in the world is not going to get you what you want unless your actions match your intentions.
Secondly, material abundance is not the source of ultimate happiness. It is the currency of capitalism, an economic system where wealth is concentrated in the hands of private individuals and corporations. Money is paper, a physical object and no matter how much money you have, it will not make you a more spiritual person, or fill the missing piece of the puzzle where a connection with your soul belongs.
Spirituality for me means trusting in my intuition, allowing the universe to guide my thoughts and actions rather than trying to control my life. It was only when I let go of my physical desires that my happiness began to flourish. One of the wisest things we can do is to learn to want what we need and be grateful for all the wonderful lessons in life bestowed upon us by the universe, whether they appear pleasant or painful at the time. Learning the lessons of life offers us magnificent potential for spiritual growth.
Making money is not inherently bad in itself, but spirituality is a lifestyle choice. Giving money can be a commendable act, if for instance, you give money to a charity that helps those who are desperately in need, but that in itself does not make anyone a spiritual person. An individual may give a great deal of money away to good causes, but live an irresponsible and reckless life, where they commonly lie, cheat and abuse others physically or emotionally. Giving is only a spiritual act when it is accompanied by a spiritual way of life. There is a difference between heartfelt giving and hollow giving.
The most important thing we can give to ourselves and others is unconditional love. Whether that amounts to listening to others, disciplining our children to help them learn and grow, telling others the harsh truth if it will help them on their journey, standing back from certain people to encourage them to take responsibility for themselves, offering advice, not harming animals, treasuring the earth, living for our spiritual paths. Money is necessary for our survival in the material world in which we live, but we do not really own it. We cannot take it with us when we die. Spiritual individuals may make their fortune, but making money should never be the goal, it should be a by-product. In the big scheme of things, how much money you do, or do not have, is entirely meaningless.
For those who are relentlessly chasing material wealth, try relinquishing your quest and focus on discovering who you really are and why you are here. Ask yourself what really matters to you in life. If we live intuitively and with compassion the universe will bestow a great deal of wealth upon us, but it won’t be material wealth, it will be spiritual wealth and this, though it sounds trite, is worth more than all the money in the world.
As Benjamin Franklin once said, “Money never made a man happy yet, nor will it. The more a man has, the more he wants. Instead of filling a vacuum, it makes one.”
Dawn Mellowship is an author, journalist, spiritual teacher and a Reiki practitioner and teacher. Her main website can be found at www.dawnmellowship.com
This article was posted by Dawn Mellowship
