Consciousness
and Money
by Ruth Ross,
Ph.D.
Continued
from Part I
What is
Money Really?
Money is
commonly defined as a medium of exchange. What we are
exchanging is energy. Money is a concept symbolizing the
exchange of potential energy. It is stored energy made
visible.
It is obvious
that, like everything else, money is in itself neither good
nor bad. It is neither moral nor immoral. To look at money as
a moral issue is as absurd as it is to decide that airplanes
are good or bad. We feel differently about airplanes when they
are used to drop napalm bombs than when they are used to drop
food supplies for starving people. Yet they are the same
planes. The moral issue is in the intention of the user -- not
in the plane itself. Money can be used to promote life and
love, and can be a blessing for many, or it can be used to
destroy the life force in a million different ways.
Loving
Money
Accumulation
of wealth has long meant having more than one's share, and
gaining at the expense of others. We are reminded of the
Robber Barons of all ages -- companies and individuals whose
assets are the result of exploitation. The get-rich-quick'ers
with a "to hell with the means" attitude have
poisoned our minds about money with the beliefs that (1) what
one has to do to gain wealth is to steal, and (2) wealth
(i.e., greed) ruins the human soul. When we point to those who
misuse money selfishly as proof that money is bad, we are
confusing the pirate with his ship.
A ship is
indifferent as to who is at its wheel. It responds just as
swiftly to a scoundrel as to a saint if both are equally
skilled in the laws of sailing. Carefully loaded, its hull
will carry contraband arms to thieves just as safely as it
would emergency medical supplies to a disaster area. Ships,
like money, are just there to be used as resources. How some
people in the past have used them does not change their value.
When we are
prospering naturally, we are using a holistic approach to
achievement within a "win-win" position. We do not
need to rely on taking from or exploiting others. With this
kind of prosperity, loving money is loving the good it can do
for us, and for everyone else. Prosperity in this sense is
appreciating money as a means for exchanging good for all.
Money as
Power
Money brings
power. Money has no power in itself, but having control over
how it will be spent gives us power. The more money we have,
the more potential power we have.
The
eighteenth-century German poet Goethe said, "Nobody
should be rich but those who understand it." His point is
that many can become prosperous quickly, but not always
develop awareness, scruples, or concern for others. They can
lose their money just as quickly, or in some way pay dearly
for it, if they do not develop their prosperity consciousness.
If we are
going to ask for power in great amounts, we had better be
prepared to handle it. An example of what happens when we are
unprepared for the power of money emerged during a recent
follow-up study of the million-dollar lottery sweepstakes
winners in Canada. The vast majority of them were broke within
five years. Their prosperity consciousness was not developed
to the point where they could benefit from the money for very
long.
You will
either control or be controlled by money. Awareness of the
power of money and of how to handle it makes the difference.
It is the conscious choice to use money benevolently that puts
you in control.
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