Have you discovered during this current economic climate that it can be challenging to consider anything that is beyond your immediate needs of taking care of yourself and your family? Just putting some thought into retirement can be a monumental effort, let alone creating wills and leaving legacies for those that come after us. And yet, consciously or unconsciously, through the ways that we choose to live now, we are creating a spiritual-economic path for our future and that of generations to come.
I recently had lunch with a wonderful woman and law of attraction coach, Andrea Conway. Delighted to discover she lives here in Colorado, I asked her to meet me so that we could get to know each other better. She shared one of the most significant spiritual perspectives about our current economic times that I think I have heard to date.
She believes that we are collectively shifting consciousness so that we can embrace what is truly in alignment with our desires. We are losing and letting go of jobs that provided for our human needs, but did not meet the needs of our souls, so that we are free to discover greater inner alignment with our spiritual essence and intentions. You can read more directly from her at: http://www.successfulselfemployment.com/
I asked her if she thought that during this process we are also letting go of consciousness based in greed and fear-oriented wealth, replacing this belief system with prosperity consciousness that comes from a more enlightened perspective and trust in Divine process. She agreed and suggested that the future will be one where we have greater regard for both self AND community.
Both of us recognize that the path isn’t always easy. We often have huge learning curves when it comes to recognizing, embracing and fulfilling our purposes in such a way that we are also creating beyond our immediate needs, contributing to our personal futures and a greater future for the planet. Sometimes we need to be lovingly reminded that it is a journey in which we are learning and growing, not just a destination. We are shedding some old skin along the way.
Though it may be a challenging time for many of us, let us consider what this shift in consciousness is doing for generations to come. According to author Michael Baigent’s research, the ancient Egyptians considered greed to be the primary sin, so to speak. It was to be guarded against, and it was one of the primary responsibilities of the pharaohs to do so. Let’s consider why the Egyptians might have considered greed to be the primary sin to avoid.
When we are in our greed, we grab for all that we can out of fear that we will not have enough or that we will lose what we have. We take without regard for what that taking may do to others or the earth. Greed, it could be argued, is at the basis of damaging indulgences and addictions, power-hungry decision-making and abusive choices. And I’m not referring to other people out there. I’m talking about any of us. Most of us, if we were really truthful, could point to at least one time, if not several, when our greed led the way in our decision making.
When fearful, we are likely to act from our greed, because this is one of the ways we try to protect ourselves from our fear. The irony is that greed does not fundamentally remove our fears. In fact, engaging our greed is more like running away from our fear, causing us to eventually spiral down into the pain of separation from others and the Divine.
Think of something you are addicted to: the opposite sex, beliefs, money, power, drugs, sex, the authority of others, food, control, complacency—whatever it is—if you keep creating what you are addicted to in an attempt to allay your fears about surrendering to intimacy and trust in the Divine, yourself, or others; you will eventually spiral into a place of alienation, despair and loneliness. Oh, you might be high for a while. You might be very high, but it doesn’t last, does it?
When we no longer want to experience the brunt end of the others’ greed and we say, “Enough!” we are also going to get to look at greed within ourselves. When our growth in consciousness demands experiences of more profound intimacy in all of our relationships, we find ourselves called into greater honesty with ourselves. Subconsciously and consciously, we start creating opportunities to live more authentically and in alignment with our deeper beliefs.
That means jobs, houses, religious affiliations, cars, clubs, toys, friends, clothes, beliefs—whatever attachments that might be keeping us from living from our greater awakened state of intimacy with the Divine—die away so that we are free to step beyond our safety, and our greed. If we allow the death to be a conscious transition, we will be compelled to create from a place that is not limited by our fear, but motivated by enlightened perspective.
Now, imagine a world in which greed, and the fears behind it, no longer functions as a primary motivator. Imagine greed being replaced by conscious compassion, where you as the individual hold your needs and the needs of your community in equal loving regard. Imagine a world where you generate your income consciously aligning your purpose, values, and talents with choices that further economic welfare, individually and collectively.
Do you think there would still be poverty, starvation, toxic waste, war, or abuse? We would create a very different reality, wouldn’t we? That is what we are creating right now—a world that operates far above our greed. Though momentary needs and concerns may at times be consuming, this time of economic challenge is our opportunity to create a spiritual-economic path of higher consciousness personally and globally that this world has not yet known.
