BIG ideas.

Money & Everyday Enlightenment by Dan Millman

“If you associate voluntary poverty with humility, goodness, and spirituality, then with what do you associate wealth? It is worth pondering, because what you believe about money will determine in large part your effectiveness in acquiring it.” ~ Dan Millman from Everyday Enlightenment

Amen. So, what do YOU believe about money?

As Dan says: “While the Western solution to managing money is to pursue it, the Eastern solution is to avoid it. Disillusioned with the outward drives of the Western world, some of us turn to Eastern spiritual philosophies and practices, confusing the idea of letting go of attachments with earthly goods... Giving everything up doesn’t mean giving everything away. Rather, it involves living a simple, functional, ordinary life without clinging, craving, or holding on.”

Part of a longer and important discussion we get into in various Notes on wealth (see Spiritual Economics, The Science of Getting Rich, Secrets of the Millionaire Mind and Rich Dad, Poor Dad for more), but let’s remember that money is neutral energy that we can use consciously as a means to circulate our values in the world--receiving energy/money as we give our gifts to the world and giving money as we consume products and services that support our growth and are resonant with our values.

It’s (obviously) REALLY important we don’t cut this energy off because, as Dan says, “If spiritual life begins on the ground, money forms a foundation on which to build.”