Hi JMG, while pondering the nature of money and relationships an idea sprang into my head and I'd be interested to know what you think. Many people have said that money has a negative spiritual resonance, which is why many New Age teachers prefer their followers to set up $1000/month autopayment arrangements rather than invoice them for individual classes. However, I'm starting to think that rather than being generally negative, the resonance of money is specifically -caustic-.
Money is a spiritual solvent, in other words, tending to dissolve bonds between people and things. Relationships seem to be more fragile and fleeting the more they involve money; it's often said that prostitutes are "really paid to go away afterward" and couples that spend huge sums on lavish weddings are known for quickly breaking up. When making a purchase, making a payment in full signals the completion of the deal and a breaking of ties between the seller and buyer, while delayed payment creates an unpleasant karmic entanglement between the parties.
This idea clarified many things to me. Environments and groups that strongly focus on making money are seen by many as dull and uninteresting; in creative industries, it's often said that the more money is involved in a project the less interesting the result will be. The presence of money corrodes away many aspects of things, leaving only certain forms that are particularly "acid-proof." Consider the spare glass-and-steel appearance of a modern office building and compare it to the Silver City from The Neverending Story, which sits in the middle of an acid lake.
While money in general may be caustic, the act of borrowing it has the opposite effect, creating a sticky bond between people that needs an act of repayment to dissolve it. People without enough money to spend can find themselves tightly ensnared in such bonds. Borrowing or stealing items you can't afford also causes unpleasant karmic ties. So the best use of money on a spiritual level amounts to having enough to avoid entanglements like debt but not so much that it prevents you from having any non-business-patterned relationships. One can imagine having children who must call your assistant to book an appointment to see you - such relationships are unlikely to be healthy.
How does this perspective sound to you? Thanks as always for hosting these Q&As.
The spiritual nature of money
Money is a spiritual solvent, in other words, tending to dissolve bonds between people and things. Relationships seem to be more fragile and fleeting the more they involve money; it's often said that prostitutes are "really paid to go away afterward" and couples that spend huge sums on lavish weddings are known for quickly breaking up. When making a purchase, making a payment in full signals the completion of the deal and a breaking of ties between the seller and buyer, while delayed payment creates an unpleasant karmic entanglement between the parties.
This idea clarified many things to me. Environments and groups that strongly focus on making money are seen by many as dull and uninteresting; in creative industries, it's often said that the more money is involved in a project the less interesting the result will be. The presence of money corrodes away many aspects of things, leaving only certain forms that are particularly "acid-proof." Consider the spare glass-and-steel appearance of a modern office building and compare it to the Silver City from The Neverending Story, which sits in the middle of an acid lake.
While money in general may be caustic, the act of borrowing it has the opposite effect, creating a sticky bond between people that needs an act of repayment to dissolve it. People without enough money to spend can find themselves tightly ensnared in such bonds. Borrowing or stealing items you can't afford also causes unpleasant karmic ties. So the best use of money on a spiritual level amounts to having enough to avoid entanglements like debt but not so much that it prevents you from having any non-business-patterned relationships. One can imagine having children who must call your assistant to book an appointment to see you - such relationships are unlikely to be healthy.
How does this perspective sound to you? Thanks as always for hosting these Q&As.