I am often asked ask to deal with money problems. The only answer I have is that "money problems" do not actually exist. Worry arises from a holding a false mental position, a false perception. In truth, you ate a meal today and slept in a bed, so you are there before rich most people's wildest dreams.
In Panama, my wife and I witnessed whole families living in trees. And washing their clothes in the river. To be quite honest, I actually thought very seriously about joining them. It seemed like a great way to learn how to let go of worldly attachments and become one with life. Nothing to do but watch the animals, make love to my wife, and meditate. No more emails, no more web developers, no more critisms, no more personal responsibility, no more heads, no more questions, no more problems.
* NICE * Hey, I can dream, can not I ...?
Jesus mentioned something about not worrying about money, I forget the exact quote but it was something like, "God provides for all the birds, do not you think He provides for you also?". I like that. Money is God's problem! My survival is up to God. It's nice to stop worrying.
The fear of homelessness comes up. So what you do is you picture yourself homeless, and see how you would handle this. Personally, I would sit and meditate, and people would walk by and see me meditating, you know, and I put a can on the floor next to me, and people would throw change in it. They would give to me more than to the others because I am not a beggar. And people respect meditators. I might even sell a small booklet on Zen meditations while I'm at it. And the local homeless people would become jealous of me. They would all be jealous as I collect ten times more money than them, with my eyes closed, literally. Who knows, they might even join me, and next thing you know every homeless guy on my street corner would become Enlightened.
With lower-consciousness people, life is all about what you have, what you own, what you posses. It's about cars, money, fame, women, and having a bunch of cool toys. As people evolve, they realize that 'havingness' does not fulfill, so the next phase is 'doingness'. Life becomes all about what it is that you do. A job at the gas station is seen as a total waste, because it is not important enough. People want to do something meaningful with their lives, they want to become leaders, politicians, teachers, and 'dogooders'. They want to make a difference in the world through their actions. And while this is definitely a step up, it's a great way to live, you're still vulnerable because what if you lose the teaching job, or what if you do not get elected, or if if nobody shows up for your rock concert , then what? So you're still vulnerable at this
level, you're still open to suffering.
Sometimes you realize that the world is perfect as it is. There is no need to DO anything. It's not what you do, or say, it is not your actions that matter anymore. Now it's all about what you BECOME WITHIN. You're no longer willing to place happiness outside of yourself. Every job looks just as great as any other job. As long as you're serving mankind, it does not matter if you are peeling potatoes, washing cars, or making a million dollar sale. It's all the same.
I'm was recently watching the old film, Midnight Express, where this guy is stuck in a Turkish prison where he's beaten and subjected to all kinds of suffering, lack of freedom. He thinks he has a "problem", but in truth, the only problem is his own perception. People want to escape from prison by jumping over the fence, but then they go back into a society which is just another prison. The food is better, and there's women, you know ... but they still suffer continuously. Everybody sufferers almost constantly at each moment. The prison is within our own mind's.
A prisoner has the opportunity to transcend suffering. There is a book called 'dark night of the soul' that was written in the 1500's (or 1600's) by this Christian Saint who was imprisoned, beaten, starved, tortured, and he actually used these experiences to his own advantage. He learned to transcend suffering while in prison, and he reached Enlightenment.
Couples love to blame their relationship problems on money, but that is a projection. The problem is theirs own perception. The problem is they do not know Unconditional Love, because if they did, everything would become an opportunity for them. Every issue with couples boils down to the fact that their level of consciousness is not high enough yet. Therefore, they should welcome these stressful, problematic issues because they can always be used as a springboard for relocating to a higher level of being. From the higher levels, all of the so-called "problems" become opportunities to grow, and eventually you realize
there is actually no such thing as a "problem", it was all just a projection, a mental position one was taking that created stress.
Blessings,
Stephane Hemon