Did you ever fix your relationship with money?

The other day in one of my early morning semi conscious lucid dreaming meditative states...

I was reflecting on an event that took place in a small town in Thailand called Nakorn Nayok, north of Bangkok on the road to Vietnam.

There was a celebration meal being prepared, I can't remember what it was for, but what I do remember was many people collaborating from the village and co-creating a delicious feast and that some of the monks from the local temple were also invited to participate along with some 'helpers'.

I really didn't pay it much heed at the time, but I asked what the 'helpers' were there for. The response was that if anyone wished to make a donation to the temple that these helpers took the money. I asked, why the monks couldn't just collect it up, didn't seem a big deal to me. The response that came back was that the monks never touched money.

20+ years on I am now reflecting on this event as the mystery around this starts to dawn on me. The Buddhist way is to just take from this world enough to sustain them, to learn, to begin to understand the meaning of life to each of them, relationships, human nature, living in harmony with this planet, and what is really important.

Money has no part in this

We are the only species that has money, pays taxes... has debts. A tool for exchanging goods and services in a simple way has been corrupted out of all proportion and now is the cause of much misery in this world. People are committing suicide over the state of their 'monetary' affairs. What on earth have we created?

In a previous blog I discussed 'Are you trapped in the big scarcity scam?' Where those with the majority of the money have created an illusion that in order to be 'successful' we must be constantly striving for more of everything... We have been conditioned for decades (maybe centuries) to play this game... but in reality, quite simply we do not need to play it. In reality this game keeps us trapped in a sub game that disables us, and hinders our real development... but what game would we play instead?

You may well have heard the words 'First become happy, then you will get everything that you need'. Most people interpret this as... do the internal work on yourself, get to that happy state... then the money will arrive.  You will thus obtain those giddy heights of the top 20% just by doing it a bit differently... but perhaps that is not it at all, perhaps the statement has a deeper meaning, shall we explore?

How do we transition to happiness? There will be another blog going into this in more detail... but... clearly we must reduce the things that don't make us happy and begin to do more of the things that do. We will need to develop more self awareness of why we are leading the life we are, and whether it actually works for us any more (or ever did actually).

Changing direction 

Many of us have 'sub lives' within our life where we have begun to live quite differently after something has happened, we may have changed direction entirely. This is our life experience, there was a reason for it, we may not have understood why or taken time to reflect, but there will be an explanation. This collective experience is who we are, it is part of life's rich tapestry... what we were doing in our 20's is unlikely to work at all in our 50's, and interestingly the people in the theatre of our life might well have changed too!! ... not one for this post by the way!

Whatever the pathway and transition to happiness path is for us... the likelihood is we will fundamentally change in the process. Our self awareness and mindfulness leads to much higher levels of gratitude for the simple things in life. The small everyday things become far more significant as we notice more of what is going on around us.

At Yoga the other day as we focused on just breathing... the very fact that each breath which brings oxygen into our body and sustains our life is then superseded with another and then another. What miracle is this that just goes on without even a thought thousands of times per day.

Mindlessness... getting caught on the 'default' road

As we begin to take this journey of awareness, we realise that the constant battle for more of everything, the endless chase for money and the pursuit of possessions is a mindless exercise, a game to nowhere. But now we are are no longer 'No Mind'... we are using our mind to create a life that we want, that works for us, that has meaning.

But the world we desired when we entered this transition is no longer the world we seek now after self awareness has taken its course. We are irrevocably changed. As we approach happiness, and replace the hamster wheel that we were brought up with, and conditioned to accept as 'normal', we begin to see it for what it really is... We begin to value ourselves by who we are, what we bring to the table... not by what material possessions we have amassed.

Happiness isn't made from material items, nor money, nor from doing what others think is right for us. Being happy is through finding who we really are, and what brings meaning to our lives. We discover that when we reach this place... then we become starkly aware... we are already bountifully rich. Not in man made material items but in a far more powerful way.

We have exited from the robotic, automaton world of the capitalists and we are on a different path. We have finally resolved our relationship with money. Yes... in this transitional stage of the human race we still need to have some money... but instead of asking... how much do I need to do this or that? ... let us ask the question... how can I do what I am seeking to do and create alternative solutions for real problems... but without money? ... that might require collaboration, contribution, co-creation and reaching out to the community for new connections... everything is possible... we just stopped thinking about it in this way...

Final words

So... Let us get creative again... let us reduce the dependency on money... let's take it out of the loop wherever and whenever possible by working together collaboratively and co-creating new alternative solutions... then... then... we can truly have whatever we want! ... we can create abundance for all.