The hippie versus the businessman.
You have to choose one. You can’t be both. Or so the stereotype goes.
But I believe that is a false choice. I believe that a strong spiritual practice and inquiry will lead someone to success in business.
With one caveat.
Spiritual inquiry must come first. Success in business is a byproduct, not the main goal of the spiritual quest or path.
This is not a popular opinion within the spiritual community around the world. Many are stuck in a state of scarcity where they view money as evil and put material asceticism on a pedestal.
“You must suffer to be pure. You must martyr all that you are. You must sacrifice” is the underlying belief.
Yet this is a limiting belief just like all the others.
The key is not to be attached to it. Material prosperity will come. It will go. Can you be attached neither to the coming nor the going?
This is the key.
When someone rejects the material world they are acting from a deep seated attachment to it. They are denying it because they subconsciously recognize that they are attached to it. Instead of looking deeply at the attachment, they adopt the negative version of it. They are still stuck in duality.
This is the ultimate test for me. Can I respond accurately to the current conditions rather than some sort of belief in how the conditions should be? Can I get more in touch with reality rather than my projection of reality?
The overarching goal of my podcast is to answer the question that titles this post. Follow along if you want to find out.