Spirituality and Money
Written on April 2, 2008 by Tom Stine
With this video, I wanted to discuss a topic that seems to be important to a lot of spiritually oriented folks, namely money. I know I’ve had my share of issues with it, my clients seem to have issues with it, and, well, so does Wall Street, Main Street, Elm Street and every other “street” in the world. No matter where you turn, money is a hot topic.
But is there anything wrong with mixing spirituality and money? After lots of looking at this issue from various angles, I must say that the answer has to be no. Money is just money. It is a medium of exchange, a way for you and me to exchange our labors for what we need. It keeps me from having to grow wheat, pump oil and raise cattle just to eat and drive a car. Simple, effective system.
So why all the fuss? Well, for centuries, various churches and spiritual systems have given money a bad rap. The image of the poor priest and the Buddhist monk come to mind. Moreover, we all know a number of people with some serious money hang-ups, both in terms of poverty and in terms of greed. The image of Ebenezer Scrooge is one we all know. Or Donald Trump. Or a whole host of wealthy people we could name.
It seems to me that all of this distaste for money by spirituality probably has more to do with our attachment to money and wealth than anything else. There’s that word attachment, which seems to come up frequently in spiritual discussions. We grasp, we grab, we try to hold onto things, and we end-up suffering as a consequence. And that certainly is true with regard to money.
In my next video post, I will get into the discussion of spirituality and money more deeply. I hope to make as series of video posts on the topic.
So how do you feel about spirituality and money? Leave some comments and discuss.
on April 2nd, 2008 at 10:24 am
Tom, just wanted to say high! That’s what I am right now. I might have to up the dose on what I’m taking, to soon to know for sure. I tried to watch your tape I just can’t sit still or concentrate long enough to stay in my seat. Sorry.
on April 2nd, 2008 at 10:34 am
Hey Mark, take care of yourself! Check back when you can. No need to watch the video until you are able. I’m glad to have a very faithful reader.
on April 2nd, 2008 at 4:04 pm
Thanks for this interesting topic. I think that any solid spiritual approach, if it is truly robust, should not ignore money (or how we deal with resources). To the extent possible, I would hope that a spiritual approach to life would be a “theory of everything.”
Great food for thought, Tom.
on April 2nd, 2008 at 4:21 pm
@Clay, thanks for the compliment! I agree: spirituality too often avoids the problem of “the world we see and touch and feel.” Even the great sages had to eat and drink and take care of life. To my mind, things work better the more limitless we become, and the focus of life quits being obtaining more. But to put our head in the sand? I know a lot of spiritual folks, myself included, probably got into spirituality as a way to avoid dealing with real world issues. God bless us!
Again, thanks for the comment!
on April 2nd, 2008 at 5:09 pm
Tom, I’m a new guy here, and like the content a lot – lots of interesting perspectives I have not thought about before. On topic, it’s very sad that most schools do not teach people anything about spirituality of finance, but rather teach them how to be good employees. I believe getting in touch with yourself and learning money are the major things that will turn you into an employer, and get you out of the rat race.
I’m looking forward to more content, and will subscribe via a feed when I get home.
Alex
on April 2nd, 2008 at 5:49 pm
@Alex: Welcome! Always nice to have a new reader, or viewer in this case. Glad you enjoyed what you’ve seen so far. You said something interesting: getting in touch with yourself. You know, really and truly, if spirituality is anything, it is exploring the nature of your SELF. Too often it is perceived as a journey toward “the divine” or “God” or whatever, some higher mystical power outside of ourselves. But funny how whenever we seriously endeavor to go within, we end up finding something “divine” inside.
Again, welcome, and glad to have you joining in the fun!
on April 2nd, 2008 at 7:19 pm
Tom this is an interesting discussion. I am posting on Thursday about the amount of money I lost in the last year because of my knee injury. Your right money is just a tool to get what you want. In MHO you don’t have to have money to be happy. As you can see if you go to my post we can live on far less than we make if we really think about what we’re spending the money on.
on April 2nd, 2008 at 8:32 pm
Mark, you are preaching to the choir. While making money always gets all the attention, spending money is where it’s at. It was almost a revelation to me when I realized that over the years my issue wasn’t making money, it was spending money. I’ve been amazingly blessed that money always seems to come to me, maybe not in huge quantities, but still, it comes. But spending, well, that used to be the bane of my existence. I’m still on the lookout for ways to be frugal. Not cheap, but frugal. What do I really need? What do I really enjoy? What simply clutters and confuses my life? I think I know a post for this series of videos: spending money. Thanks!
on April 2nd, 2008 at 8:36 pm
Hi Tom,
Some comments.
2. Money is not only a medium of exchange. It is also a store of value. And this leads to the questions of compassion and how these resources are used.
1. Equating money with spirituality is not new. This is part of the story or Job. And Jesus said that those who follow God will be rewarded a hundred-fold in this world. This is quite different to some of the Hindu and Buddhist tradition. Even the most devout christian monks are allowed to touch money.
on April 2nd, 2008 at 8:38 pm
P.S. Something weird happens in the interaction between the video and the comments.
If you do want to do videos please provide a transcript if they are more than a few minutes long. Most videos are time wasters for me. It is much easier for me to scan text to get the guts of the information and it is much easier to go back and find particular parts too. This would be very helpful to me (and perhaps others who are as text-centric as me).
on April 2nd, 2008 at 9:03 pm
Oh no!! I agree with Evan.
on April 3rd, 2008 at 9:12 am
@Evan: Your points about money are good. What I meant to point out is that there has been a decidedly anti-money bias with regard to spiritual people in western religious traditions. The poor monk, the priests vows of poverty, etc. A religious, or spiritual man, must be detached from worldly things has been an almost universal mantra in spirituality until the past 100 years. And with the Secret, I might even suggest it has swung a touch too far the other direction? Maybe.
As for video transcript, if I had the time I would do them. I know that you and possibly others would like to read what I say, but a part of the reason I’m doing videos is to reach an audience that would prefer to watch or listen over reading. And, I find the challenge of talking into the camera or microphone fun. It activates a whole different part of me. So, for the time being, I’m sorry but I probably won’t be able to do a transcript. But I’m only going to do videos once every week or two.
on April 3rd, 2008 at 9:50 am
Evan, I just final “got” the tip you may or may not have intended to give me. I was only focused on the transcript suggestion. But the tip was “shorter videos are probably better.” Got it. I think you are right. Unless I’m doing a “how to” video or a product review, short and sweet is probably better. Next video: 5 minutes max. I can do it.
on April 3rd, 2008 at 11:43 am
Tom.Video isn’t necessarily the medium you need to use to reach your audience. Just a suggestion, why not put up a two week survey asking if your readers would like you to use video or not. For myself, your content in the written word supports itself.
on April 3rd, 2008 at 12:37 pm
@Mark: Hey, nice suggestion. One thing I don’t think I mentioned in my response to Evan is that I’m having an absolute blast making these videos. Since I’m having fun, and they could potentially reach people who don’t want to read, I’m inclined to keep doing them for now. It really is a great way for me to tap into my thoughts and ideas without having to stare at the computer screen. In a couple of months, I’m hoping to do a podcast or two. I want to do a live class and record it. I used to be a classroom teacher, and I’ve never lost my love of talking to people live. And, Mark, thanks for thinking my written content is all I need.
on April 3rd, 2008 at 10:21 pm
Tom,
Money has nexus with spirituality. I believe that chaste life leads to thoughts of creation rather than competition. A creative mind transcends all the malign associations normally related to money and thus becomes a driving force for a pure and spiritual journey.
Shilpan
on April 4th, 2008 at 3:43 pm
@Shilpan If I understand you correctly, you are saying that a chaste life helps to go beyond the usually negative aspects of money, ie, greed, etc. Now, a chaste life? If by chaste you mean a life that seeks a “higher” purpose, a spiritual end above all, then I agree. If you mean chaste in a very mundane sense, ie, pleasureless (no sex in many cases), then I probably will disagree. But I’m pretty certain you mean something more than that.
on April 4th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
I don’t think that money has any thing to do with being spiritual.A broke person could be just as spiritual as a rich person. In fact when Jesus said “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God”. He is letting you know that with great wealth will come harder times. We are all called to be good stewards of our money. A rich man will have many, many more temptations than a poor man potentially.Let me know if you have a different take on it.
Mark Krusen’s last blog post..Justa wondering what happened Frank!
on April 4th, 2008 at 6:08 pm
Hi Tom.
re video. I think providing different formats for content is a good idea. Different people prefer different media.
There are things you can buy that will make a transcript from your voice. (Probably horribly expensive though). When my blog (ie. me) is a bit more settled I hope to do podcasts too.
Evan’s last blog post..Your Neighbour and Your Self: Which First?
on April 4th, 2008 at 6:28 pm
You know, someone directed me to a site that allows you to do closed captioning. It was very cool, but required a lot of time. As for transcript from voice, I actually use speech recognition software at times. It would be possible to capture the audio for a podcast or video and let the software capture the text. I would have to go through to edit/correct mistakes, which at current accuracy levels, would be about 5-15% of the transcript. In 5 years, I think the speech recognition software will finally be highly accurate. And, I know of a company that will do transcription for $2.50 per typed page. I’m guessing $5-10 for a 5 minute video. I might consider it when the revenue from this blog gets high enough. Until then….
on April 6th, 2008 at 6:33 am
Hi Tom, very interesting video blog. I think this is probably the number 1 concern for many people today and how to achieve wealth and be happy at the same time. I was the one who was emailing you about going to David’s seminar this weekend. Take care, Mike
on April 6th, 2008 at 10:23 am
@Mike You got it. Money is a huge concern for most people. Money, relationships, health, what I like to think of as the Big 3 of spirituality and personal growth. I hope David’s seminar goes well this weekend. Let me know how the Sedona Method is working for you afterwards.
on April 24th, 2008 at 11:09 pm
Great post, Tom
I agree – it is the attachment that is the root. I like to think of money as energy – the ability to do work. Lynne Twist has a great book “The Soul of Money” I have her main points back on the deep.
http://in2deep.wordpress.com/2007/09/21/sufficiency/
I was also inspired by another article that illustrates how oblivious we often are to the power of our money in the choices we make when we spend it. Its surprising how unconscious we can be with that energy.