What can money teach me?

I got a whole new paradigm on it from the Awakin Call with Jacob Needleman.

And that is - money can teach meaning of life.
       




How so? Money is about pursuing material things; isn’t meaning of life about what’s inside?


Jacob's explanation: Our world consists of two parts; there are two currents, two directions to our life –

Outer World – it is about our socially conditioned self, our ego.
Inner Word – this is the pure consciousness, or inner reality that we are. We are not our ego, we are that true consciousness. How do you connect with the inner voice? How can it express itself cutting through layers of ego?

How do you bridge the two worlds? That is at the core of spiritual wisdom.

In our current civilization, the social technology that we call money, hones all aspects of our outer world. So, if you would like to create that bridge, it helps to understand money, as it underpins our outer world today.

We are so much more preoccupied with money and materials. That is a major source of imbalance.



So, in order to restore that balance, would you rather not preach running away from money?

Not at all - We need to understand money closely, rather than running away from it.

Q is not to get rid of the external part or deny it, but to deeply understand it. It’s the way one half of our world – the external world, acts. Understand it. And deep understanding requires deep observation. It is a spiritual quality.

When you observe your relationship with money, you are observing your own thoughts, your emotions; you are observing your attachments and trappings to the material world. And this is the beginning of building that bridge where your inner world, your true self shines through your ego, or your needs, or your worries, or your stress.

Cultivate the attitude of warm objectivity – not like or dislike – simply try to understand. See things as they are. Self honesty is the first step in bridging the two worlds.




The transcript and audio recording of the call is available on the Awakin page for Jacob Needleman.
 
 



A couple other ideas from the call that resonated with me -

The true human nature is to give. When we reach out, when we show kindness, when we help others, when we are kind to others … we are naturally letting the inner consciousness to come out. In place of me …me …me … “I” comes out – that “I” is our soul, our true consciousness, and a piece of divinity that is inside of us.

Communal life connects us back with the inner world – family, friends, people around us – meaningful connection, relationship with them go a long way. It’s about being part of community that brings the balance of inner world in our life (rather than individualism or isolation :).