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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