Money problems: stress and worries about money
I am often asked how to deal with money problems. The only answer I have is that “money problems” don’t really exist. The worry arises from maintaining a false mental position, a false perception. In truth, you ate and slept in a bed today, so you are rich beyond most people’s wildest dreams.
In Panama, my wife and I witnessed entire families living in the trees. And washing his clothes in the river. To be honest, I seriously thought about joining them. It seemed like a great way to learn to let go of worldly attachments and become one with life. Nothing to do but watch the animals, make love to my wife, and meditate. No more emails, no more web developers, no more criticism, no more personal responsibility, no more headaches, no more questions, no more problems.
* PRETTY * Hey, I can dream, can’t I …?
Jesus mentioned something about not worrying about money, I forgot the exact quote, but it was something like, “God provides for all the birds, don’t you think He provides for you too?” I like that. Money is God’s problem! My survival depends on God. It is good to stop worrying.
Fear of homelessness arises. So what you do is imagine yourself homeless and see how you would handle this. Personally, I would sit and meditate, and people would come by and see me meditating, you know, and I’d put a can on the ground next to me, and people would throw coins in it. They would give me more than others because I am not a beggar. And people respect meditators. I could even sell a little brochure on Zen meditations while I’m at it. And the local bums would be jealous of me. They would all be jealous because I collected ten times more money than they did, with my eyes literally closed. Who knows, they might even join me, and the next thing you know, all the homeless people on the corner of my street would turn enlightened.
With lower consciousness people, life is about what you have, what you own, what you own. It’s about cars, money, fame, women, and having a ton of cool toys. As people evolve, they realize that “having” is not fulfilled, so the next phase is “doing.” Life centers on what you do. A job at the gas station is considered a total waste, because it is not important enough. People want to do something meaningful with their lives, they want to become leaders, politicians, teachers and “dogooders”. They want to make a difference in the world through their actions. And while this is definitely a step up, it’s a great way to live, you are still vulnerable because what if you lose your teacher job, or if you don’t get elected, or if no one shows up to your rock concert? , So what? So you’re still vulnerable in this
level, you are still open to suffering.
In the end you realize that the world is perfect as it is. You do not need to DO anything. It is not what you do or say, it is no longer your actions that matter. Now it’s about what you CONVERT WITHIN. You are no longer willing to place happiness outside of yourself. Every job looks as good as any other job. As long as you serve humanity, it doesn’t matter if you’re peeling potatoes, washing cars, or making a million dollar sale. It’s all the same.
I was recently watching the old movie, Midnight Express, where this guy is trapped in a Turkish prison where he is beaten and subjected to all kinds of suffering, lack of freedom. You think you have a “problem”, but really, the only problem is your own perception. People want to escape from prison by jumping over the fence, but then they return to a society that is just another prison. The food is better and there are women, you know … but they continue to suffer continuously. Everyone suffers almost constantly at every moment. The prison is within our own mind.
A prisoner has the opportunity to transcend suffering. There is a book called ‘Dark Night of the Soul’ that was written in the 1500s (or 1600s) by this Christian saint who was imprisoned, beaten, starved, tortured, and actually used these experiences for his own benefit. He learned to transcend suffering while in that prison and achieved Enlightenment.
Couples love to blame money for their relationship problems, but that’s a projection. The problem is your own perception. The problem is that they do not know Unconditional Love, because if they did, everything would become an opportunity for them. Every problem with couples comes down to the fact that their level of consciousness is not high enough yet. Therefore, you must welcome these stressful and troublesome issues because they can always be used as a stepping stone to transcend to a higher level of being. From the higher levels, all the so-called “problems” become opportunities to grow and eventually you realize
in reality, there is no such thing as a “problem”, it was all just a projection, a mental position that one was taking that generated stress.
Blessings
Stephane hemon
