Inner
Work
For the week of: July 28, 2003
Wealth
and Poverty: External and Eternal
"It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God." (Matthew 19:24)
I have long felt that the
privilege of having time for meditation and other spiritual practice is
true wealth. Such wealth is available to nearly everyone, but requires
the sacrifice of not spending the meditation time on other pursuits. Yes,
we can and should multi-task our spiritual practice with our other activities
through inner work in the midst of life. But setting aside some time each
day exclusively for meditation or prayer remains an indispensable aspect
of our path.
Carving out that time, however, from a busy life presents
us with a continuing challenge. Life repeatedly questions our priorities,
our values. We cannot simply ignore the necessity of providing for the
material and emotional needs of ourselves and our families. And that takes
time. But with a creative, intelligent, and values-based approach to living, we can remind ourselves to provide not just for our external needs, but also for our eternal needs, for feeding our soul and serving the Divine.
This continuing sacrifice of our time,
this spiritual investment, inexorably leads to spiritual wealth, to joy,
meaning, satisfaction, generosity, and love. Paradoxically, spiritual
wealth actually arises through spiritual poverty, the relinquishing of
self-centeredness, of egoism, the inner emptying and opening.
All this
clearly does not mean that the materially wealthy person cannot also find
spiritual wealth. Examples can be found both in history and among those
we have met. The real issue regards what a person holds most dear: God
and family or the number of zeros in his or her net worth. With respect
to the path, these values need to translate to actual time spent in spiritual
practice. The regular investment of time in meditation and prayer creates
our soul, transforms spiritual energies for the Earth, and builds our
account in the higher worlds.
For this week, notice how you invest your time.
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