Description: Melchizedek
We have all heard the warning, "It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God" (1) From a biblical point of view, money - or at least love of Money- is the root of all evil. But why?
From a spiritual point of view, money and materialism are illusions that hide the true nature and meaning of life. If our true purpose involves remembering and living a sacred journey that leads to the continued awareness of God's presence, then the obsession with wealth and possessions can lose us.
That said, we can realize that some of the most spiritually advanced beings who have walked the Earth have also been among the wealthiest individuals in their cultures (Saint Germain and Joseph of Arimathea come to mind.) So I feel that the Money concept is clarified, if we can begin to perceive it as energy. When we put it in that context, money is a "flow of energy" similar to Life Force energy -prana or chi- and that is not spiritually different from kinetic or atomic energy, electricity, heat, or Any other natural force.
As with all forms of energy, the flow of money follows the Laws of Creation. And as with all energy flows, balance is the key. Electrical appliances only work with the proper current flow. Too much, and the cables and equipment burn; Very little, and nothing works. It's the same with the heat that keeps us warm and comfortable. Too much, and we burn; Very little, and we freeze.
But what is "too much" for a human being? As with all other forms of energy, the answer to this is an individual question, depending on the function and purpose in Life. The appropriate amount of heat to make our homes comfortable would be deplorably inadequate to make horseshoes for horses. The amount of electricity that a digital camera uses would be like a drop of water in a bucket to operate a refrigerator. The amount of money that is appropriate for another is something we cannot judge. We can only determine it for ourselves.
But there is a criterion that we can apply to money, as to all forms of energy, and this must flow. Just as we experience the insufficiency of chi in the body as a disease, we also experience the insufficient flow of money as a deficiency. In our modern culture, the lack of financial energy flow generally becomes a form of stress that can distract us from our path. But the reverse situation is equally harmful. Too much chi, blocked and concentrated, leads to disease in the body. And the money that is accumulated with fear because we will not have enough, also leads to a condition of spiritual distress.
When we are in balance with money, we fully trust that whatever we need will be provided. We are not afraid to spend money on ourselves or to help others. Money itself is not the problem. We do what we come here to do, knowing that resources will flow to us and through us.
So the key seems to be the realization that abundance, like love, exists in an appropriate measure as soon as we release the fears around it. Like love, money simply flows to us as we need it and flows from us as we seek to create peace and beauty around us, for ourselves and for others. With the ease and understanding born of faith in ourselves and in the Creator, our financial life can become the manifestation of all that is good.
In love and service,
Drunvalo
Editorial of the December 2004 issue, Money and Prosperity Awareness, of the electronic magazine Spirit of Ma'at - Vol. 1, No. 12 - http://www.spiritofmaat.com/.
(1) Matthew 19:24. What some say about this controversial passage, is that the Eye of the Needle was a door in Jerusalem through a camel could barely pass, with what Jesus meant was difficult but not impossible, for a rich man to enter heaven. Others say that there is no such door and that the passage means that we must renounce our material possessions to be worthy of heaven. A third possibility is that Jesus meant exactly what he said. As we have to leave our possessions behind, it is actually literally impossible for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
Can you charge for the spiritual teachings?
By Drunvalo Melchizedek
I am about to share with you my own experiences about charging for a spiritual teaching. What I share is my gift, on a practical level, for those of you who are teaching spiritual information now, or especially for those who are about to teach. If you are a seeker, this may help you understand the precarious balance that spiritual teachers must find, if they want to remain in integrity with what they charge you to attend their courses.
How I started teaching
Almost twenty years ago, my guides asked me to teach what I had been instructed in the previous twelve years. I did not know, during all twelve years of my training, that I would be asked for this. So the request came as a surprise.
The request also caused me an impact. So much so that at first I said no. I didn't want to make my life public. I was just thinking about myself. But for a period of almost two weeks, my guides made clear to me the Spiritual Law that says, that when you receive a spiritual gift, you cannot keep it just for yourself. It must be shared with others. When I saw the truth of what they were telling me, I reluctantly agreed to teach what I had learned.
As I prepared to prepare to teach a course on MerKaBa meditation of ascension and Sacred Geometry, the sacred forms and proportions that generate the Creation in which we live - I was faced with an ordinary and everyday problem: Should I charge money for this spiritual knowledge, or should it be given for free?
This was a question that had never entered my mind until that moment. I really didn't know what to do.
Spiritual Traditions differ
My first thought, because I attended Catholic schools when I was growing up, was that the teachings should be freely given. Many Christians believe that because Jesus gave away his teachings, today's spiritual teachers should also do it.
But for the past twelve years, my guides had been sending me all over the world, learning from different sources and the spiritual masters and traditions that I encountered, all raise different ideas about Charge for spiritual knowledge.
For several of the twelve years, for example, I was a Sufi and the Sufi tradition says exactly the opposite of the Christian tradition. The Sufis taught me never to give away spiritual knowledge. The Sufi teachers with whom he studied believed that there should be an exchange. This did not have to be money, but there had to be an exchange or the student would miss the lesson.
From these two opposite poles, he began to contemplate what to do.
What will Jesus do?
Then I thought of Jesus. If he were alive now, could he preach the same way he did 2000 years ago? And I saw immediately that the answer was no. For starters, gathering thousands or even hundreds of people in the cities is illegal these days. If he tried, Jesus would be immediately arrested and fined. And if he continued to do so, they would put him in prison. To legally gather people, you would have to have hired managers to obtain assembly licenses, or rent premises within cities, which is very expensive. If I traveled outside the country where I lived, I would have to have a passport and air tickets.
In other words, if Jesus had developed his ministry under conditions of the 21st century, he would have faced the same problems of money that all the spiritual masters of today face. So, for simple and practical reasons, spiritual teachers should charge something or find someone to pay the expenses for them. Either way, expenses are a fact of life.
The first reality I faced was the undeniable fact that if I was going to gather hundreds of people under a roof, I would have to pay for the space. I didn't have any money, so how was I going to pay for this place? It became terribly clear that he would have to charge something or he could not even begin teaching.
Among others, I realized the costs to organize a seminar telephone accounts, mail costs, electronic and audiovisual equipment, PA systems, airplane tickets for several locations and Everything else became absolutely clear that it would cost money to teach, whether I liked it or not.
Moreover, if a spiritual teacher is going to devote his entire life to teaching, as I was asked to do, there had to be enough extra money to pay for the simple necessities of life - income, food, etc. And taking all these things into consideration, I realized that what was important in today's world was that the exchange that the Sufis spoke of was "fair."
There are spiritual organizations that require you to give them everything you own before teaching you and some that ask you for such high prices that only few people could pay for their spiritual knowledge. One, which I will not identify, asked students to pay more than $ 100, 000 for the information. These are extreme examples and in my mind they are wrong. They are not fair.
Give it away
Later, when I really started teaching, I discovered that no matter what price you put on the class or seminar you are teaching, for some people it will be too expensive. There are people who are so poor - especially in other countries - that whatever the price is impossible for them.
My first solution to this was to allow free places for those who could not pay.
And it was there that I began to experience directly the reason for the Sufi understanding, that you should never give away spiritual knowledge. I really didn't know why the Sufis believed in this idea, but the answer was now unfolding right before my eyes.
Course after course, as I gave free places to those who said they could not attend otherwise, I experienced that it was these people - who were allowed to enter for free - who never understood what was being taught. I even discovered that if someone else paid someone's class, there was the same problem. Free students were almost always those who were late and left in the middle. They were the ones who fell asleep or talked during class. And even more important, they were the ones who didn't really practice meditation after the course was over. Sufis' reasons for never giving away spiritual knowledge were obviously apparent.
A Fair Exchange
So what is the answer? I decided that the exchange was extremely important. If the students received the free teaching, it would have no meaning for them, but the exchange did not have to be money. Instead of money, they could give time and energy. In doing so, they would involve their desire to learn and it would have meaning for them.
For what I proposed to those who said they could not pay, that if they donated their time as volunteers in a charity such as the Red Cross - enough time, based on $ 10 per hour, to pay for the workshop - then they could attend free. I asked them for a letter from the institution to verify their time.
I still do that currently. And what is truly fascinating, is that only one person in every fifty really takes my offer! Although they are not working and could easily donate their time, it turns out that most of those who ask to come to my workshops without paying are not doing so because of a deep spiritual desire, but simply because they want to get “something for nothing.”
How Beliefs Affect Results
Another part of the equation of paying for spiritual knowledge is that whatever we believe is true about money affects the outcome. When I just started teaching, I decided that it was just $ 222 dollars for three days. I could barely pay all the expenses, but that amount seemed fair to me.
However, my secretary, who arranged the courses and talked with the potential students, thought that this amount was excessively high. Even when I could see in the books that we were really losing money, she still believed that the workshop was too expensive. And so, every time someone called to register for a course, their beliefs were transferred to the person who was registering. Inevitably, they asked for a payment plan. I ended up with hundreds of people making payments, which was slowly sending us into bankruptcy.
Then my secretary moved to another state and I replaced her with a woman who believed the opposite of her predecessor. She believed that what she was charging was definitely too little. So he convinced me to raise the amount to $ 333. And because she thought this amount was fair, since she arrived, not a single person felt she needed a payment plan. Not even one!
This story clearly shows that what you believe affects the outcome - even with money. (Incidentally, this is equally true if you have a healing practice, it does not apply only to teaching.)
Financial Success is Important
Today, after almost twenty years of experience on the subject of paying for spiritual knowledge, I believe more than ever that there needs to be an exchange. This needs to be fair, but not charging for a spiritual teaching does not work, neither for the teacher, nor for the student.
And what you personally believe about money will affect the result. Your beliefs about money will ultimately determine whether or not you have economic success.
And having economic success is important, because as long as you don't have it, you will be limited in your ability to share with others the spiritual teachings that God has given you.
Article of the December 2004 issue, Money and Prosperity Awareness, of the electronic magazine Spirit of Ma'at - Vol. 1, No. 12 - http://www.spiritofmaat.com/.
