Money -The Last Taboo?
Why money wounds are so challenging to heal and what we can
do to bring abundance into our livesValue starts from within…
Money may not be the root of all evil - but it is certainly
a very fundamental thing, reflecting our deepest feelings
about value and worth.
Money relates to the first chakra, the base, located at the
perineum. It is indeed the base, encompassing birth,
sex, death, and the physical world. Our ideas about
the value of money and our own self-worth reside here, and
indeed, our feelings about our very right to be on the planet.
The base chakra develops in our first two years of life, and
is the fundamental platform on which all the other chakras
- and our own development - rests.
It is so common for people to feel 'I'm not worthy' - I put
it down to the rather unenlightened parenting that sadly has
been our heritage for - ooh, far too long now. Any time
you see a toddler being shouted at, hit, shamed, made to feel
stupid and - worthless - do reach out a hand to stop it, won't
you? It is this kind of early mistreatment that creates
apologetic adults that cannot claim what they rightfully deserve.
(And yes, I DO know how annoying toddlers can be!)
A feeling of value and self worth is SO important. Really
it underpins everything that we do. For, if we don't
truly believe that we deserve the tremendous riches, joys
and incredible abundance that the universe showers us with
every day, we won't be able to open to it and accept it with
joy. Instead we either won't see it or won't recognise
it, or we will just push it away. It is pointless trying
to fix any 'outward' problems about money, without first addressing
any 'inward' problems such as these.
If you do feel any sense of ambivalence about being on the
planet, you may need professional help - I recommend 'Holographic
Repatterning' or Brandon Bays' 'Journey' work as an amazing
'fast track' for sorting these things out, should you feel
ready for it of course!
So, what is money, anyway?
Money is nothing more than an agreement among people.
Our governments and citizens agree to give a value to coin
or banknote. Money is just an idea, really. (Some
would say, quite an annoying one!)
What makes you rich? Who is rich? Is the Queen
of England, the richest woman in the world, really rich?
She has a lot of money, and a lot of 'privileges' so called,
but look at her lifestyle. She also has onerous and
weighty responsibilities, and very little freedom. Not
even the freedom to go to the corner shop and get a packet
of fish and chips if she feels like it! I remember reading
a story about the late Princess Diana taking the Queen to
a restaurant for the first time. The Queen, being used
to a 'set menu' at every state dinner she attends, was amazed
at the range of choices available on the menu! 'Can
you really have any of these?' she apparently asked.
I don't know if it is true, but it's a nice story.
Was Robert Maxwell (the late media magnate) rich? Well,
he was, but perhaps that was 'just a temporal thing!'
He actually had 'borrowed' his wealth (well, stolen it then)
from the pension fund of his employees and from his shareholders.
He had a fabby yacht, massive homes, sleek cars, yet, he can't
have been very happy, can he? Not if he threw himself
over the side, at any rate…
Vicks and Becks. Are they happy? How many designer
handbags does it take to create happiness?
How about the kebab seller with his little stall? Rolling
around, earning the equivalent of perhaps a few pounds a day,
yet getting enough to eat for less than a pound, and a free
place to sleep in his family compound. Do you think
he's happy with his lot? Or does he yearn for international
travel, cellphones, a shiny new TV…?
It seems to me that it's not the money that's important, it's
one's attitude to it that makes the difference between genuinely
rich and genuinely poor. By 'genuinely rich', I mean
'someone with a full and varied life, who is doing what they
love, with a sense of abundance and joy'. And by 'genuinely
poor', I mean 'someone who may or may not have large amounts
of cash or other resources, but is impoverished of spirit,
in terms of the way they are living their life'.
Dickens, the great British writer, who was a wise commentator
on his time and on human nature in general, summed up something
fundamental about money in his book, David Copperfield.
The character Mr. Micawber says: "Income twenty pounds,
outgoings nineteen pounds and ninety nine pence, result happiness.
Income twenty pounds, outgoings twenty pounds and six pence,
result misery". In other words, ones' income should
exceed ones expenses. Well, obvious maybe, but given
the parlous lack of a financial education most of us get,
maybe it needs to be said!
And Buckminster Fuller, clever theatrical person who designed
the first geodesic dome, (and the occasional Ubud amphitheatre)
defined wealth (in the design paper for the dome) as 'how
many days at your present lifestyle can you continue without
needing to earn more money'. In other words, how many
days can you keep going before you need to work again to earn
more? (Try it - how long can you go on for?)
How much do you need, in order to feel good? Strangely,
perhaps the less you need, the richer you are. Can you
be a Buddha in Bali on 10,000 Rupiah (£1) a day - happy
with your lot, and quite sufficient? Or are you a Blowout
in Bali on 1,000,000 Rupiah (£100) a day - and it's
still not quite enough?
And what do you need, in order to feel good? Can you
feel good just being you, in the clothes that you stand up
in? How are you, without your trappings? If you
haven't got your wide screen colour TV, laptop computer, flashy
car, house in the country, or whatever it is, how do you feel?
We often mistakenly attach large amounts of our self-worth
to THINGS, which effectively makes them into shackles that
tie us.
I recently had a difficult time letting go of my sports car
in England. It sat there, unused, for three years, before
I managed to overcome the emotional ties that bound us!
I discovered that all my feelings of 'success in business'
were wrapped symbolically round that car, and if I let it
go, I felt I'd be 'ruined, ruined!!' The reality was,
I was more likely to be 'ruined' if I DIDN"T let go of
it and release the cash that was sitting there doing nothing…and
which I needed! Ah me. These things are sent to
try us, and they do! (I did eventually manage to let
it go. But I got a lot less for it than I should have,
had I let it go earlier!)
'Dewi Rambut Sedana', the Balinese Money Goddess, Ink on Paper,
© by Putu S. From Ashram.
The more things we need, the less free we actually are.
And the more things we have, the more costly they are to maintain.
And the harder we must work to maintain it all… and
the less time we are likely to have to enjoy our lives!
Time, probably, is the greatest richness of all, along with
health. We only have our allotted time here on the planet.
How we spend our time is our greatest bankable asset.
And perhaps the least thought-about one. Are you spending
your days doing what you really love? With the people
you love? And if not, why not? Are you putting
off your 'free time' or your pleasure, for the future, or
for when you retire (when you may be too old to really enjoy
it)?
And health… it is extremely difficult to have a good
time here on earth if your health is not good. This
is one area where it is really worth making a regular investment
- exercise, giving your body the nourishment it needs, yoga
- do put some regular pennies in your health pot, won't you?
Coming back to possessions, it's an interesting lesson to
move to another country and rent your property out - all those
'treasured things' one possesses, suddenly metamorphose overnight
into 'meaningless junk that is tying me down'! It is
quite amazing to experience this transformation. It
happened to me when I moved from London to Bali, and realised
I just had so much stuff - it was really rubbish! And
a friend who is moving from Bali to London and thinking of
selling her property said 'I'll sell the house and keep the
contents' but then a day or so later she said 'I don't need
the contents, do I?' She didn't, and they would be more
of a hindrance than help, especially if she wanted to ship
them to another country - expensive and troublesome!
Letting go - flow - the more we release, the more we receive.
Let it go, and keep it all moving around - and let it come
back to you in another, hopefully more useful and more delightful,
form!
Attitude to money - Abundance
One's attitude to money is crucial. If you believe 'there
is never enough' - then there never will be. That statement
will be true for you, simply because you will be blind to
other possibilities around you. If you believe 'I live
in an abundant universe and all I need flows to me easily'
then that will be true for you, too. (I know which I
would prefer!) Just jotting down the beliefs that come
to mind around the subject of 'money' can be a very worthwhile
exercise. Why not sit for thirty minutes and try it
- and then make a conscious decision to chuck out any non-constructive
beliefs. Write new, positive beliefs for yourself, and
repeat them daily.
What would it take for you to feel really rich?
The Lottery always makes me laugh - people fantasise wildly
about their lottery winning dreams - yet rarely take steps
towards making those dreams a reality. Even if they
won, I wonder how many dreams would actually come true?
So what should you do with your money?
Well, first of all, you need to accumulate some, don't you?
And sadly, the lifestyles of many of us follow a rather unwise
financial pattern that seems to be an ingrained part of our
culture and society. Strangely, financial wisdom and
techniques are not taught at all in school. The 'Financial
Wisdom According To Schools' seems to be 'work hard, pass
your exams, and then you can get a good job'. Well yes,
it's so 'normal' we don't even question it, and it probably
seems fine. But really, it isn't.
Firstly - why would you want to put all your eggs in one basket
and earn only from one income source (ie your employer)?
Doesn't that make you rather vulnerable to lay-offs, downturns
in the market and so on? Secondly, what do people normally
do with their money when they get it? Spend it!
And spend it on 'things' - nice clothes, restaurant meals,
holidays, ever-bigger houses and possessions. All of
which, I'm afraid, come into the category of 'expensive junk'
as described previously!
Middle Class people may look rich (ie have lots of 'trappings')
but in actual fact they are probably in credit card hell up
to their necks. So they may APPEAR rich, but actually,
they are not.
Really rich people PUT THEIR MONEY INTO ASSETS. This,
apparently, is the key to wealth. Every month, before
you do anything, you must first use your money to buy more
assets. The definition of an asset is something that
is going to EARN YOU MONEY. Like, a rental property
(no, NOT the house you live in!), a business you own (and
where you do not work as an employee), stocks you buy, and
so on. Then, you use the EARNINGS FROM THE ASSETS to
buy more assets, and to live on (you do NOT spend your capital).
In that way, the assets just keep bringing in more and more
money (which is what you use to live on - but ONLY after you've
put your first tranche of money each month into BUILDING MORE
ASSETS). Ah me, if only I'd known this long ago!
Remember: 'The rich buy assets. The poor only have expenses.
The middle class buys liabilities they think are assets'.
Well, there you have it, in a nutshell. Read 'Rich Dad,
Poor Dad' if you'd like to know more, by Robert T. Kiyosaki
with Sharon L. Lechter. It's the tale of a millionaire
who had two fathers - a rich one and a poor one - and what
he learned from each of them.
And if you'd like to know 'how the other half really lives',
read 'The Millionaire Next Door' by TJ Stanley and WD Danko,
- a report on the spending, earning and lifestyle habits of
American Millionaires. It tells you not how millionaires
hang out on yachts drinking champagne, but, somewhat boringly,
how they live in mundane houses in inexpensive neighbourhoods,
remain married to the same person for forty years, and drive
slightly dented second hand cars. Well, that's why they're
millionaires, isn't it?
Fascinating reading! (You will be able to order these
books from our website soon).
I hope you manage to find an abundant path that includes richness
of spirit and quality of life, as well as free-flowing cash!
(And I hope I do, too!)
Workshops in May
'Light Language' - Ancient Shamanic Magic - with Amana Virani
is at Purnati Centre, near Ubud, from 16 - 26 May. Call
081 238 05240 or email: lightlanguagebali@yahoo.com. Website:
www.amanavirani.com. Brochures are available from Ashram,
Ubud, at the address below.
'Space Clearing' - if you missed the workshops, you can still
buy Karen Kingston's international best selling books 'Creating
Sacred Space with Feng Shui' and 'Clear Your Clutter with
Feng Shui' from Ashram, Ubud, at the address below.
NEXT ISSUE: 'Meditation out the karzi window - discovering
moments of magic and mystery in the strangest of places!'
Jeli Lala created the 'Ashram of Spiritual Jewellery and Art'
at no. 1, Sukma St., Tebesaya, Ubud, with her husband, Putu
S. She has studied yoga and many other spiritual practices
for more than ten years. She writes "As a life-long
artist, I've been exploring my inner world since I was a child.
In this column, I will share some of my personal experiences
and spiritual methods - hopefully, you'll find this interesting,
and maybe it will give some ideas for your own journey".
Jeli welcomes comments and may be contacted on:
Email: jelila@jelila.com
Website: www.jelila.com or www.imagine-retreats.com
Jeli Lala /Angela Torrington 2001, All rights reserved.
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