Money is a very muddled subject – both for the materialist and for those on the spiritual path. There are those who say “money doesn’t exist” – and they are right on a certain level of consciousness. For the materialist it is the reverse. “Money is everything”. Money is tied to sex, pleasure and life itself.

Both positions are wrong.

Spiritually considered money is not wealth. Wealth is consciousness. Money is only a symbol of value that people agree on. The symbols of value (money or whatever the current symbol is) are the side effects of wealth, not the cause.

That piece of paper that you hold. Can you eat it? Drink it? Of itself it has no value. Just a piece of paper. Many times in past history these pieces of paper lost all value. It was always the consciousness behind it that had value.

The materialist runs after the symbol – the side effect. And thus he or she is very exposed. The symbol can lose value, it can be stolen, it can be otherwise taken. The vagaries of the market can diminish its value. Because the materialist lusts after the symbol and not what is behind it he or she is very vulnerable.

The spiritual person doesn’t pursue symbols. He or she works to acquire the consciousness of affluence – the consciousness of wealth – the power and substance that is behind it all. Thus even if the symbol loses value (and there are hosts of reasons why this can happen) consciousness will produce other symbols of wealth.

Spiritually considered wealth can never be lost. The symbols perhaps, but not the actuality.

When I think about it, money was a great invention. It sped up big transactions. Imagine if you went to the car dealership and had to pay with tobacco (a symbol of wealth in the past) or with your current crop. Very tedious. Money enabled our economy to grow and expand.
The problem is not money per se, but in not having the right attitude towards it.