When Finances Feel Urgent and the Path Feels Right
Cuando las finanzas se sienten urgentes y el camino se siente correcto
A student in the midst of a career transition, facing real financial pressure, asks whether practicing visualization techniques to generate a feeling of wealth contradicts the nondual teaching of surrender.
When Finances Feel Urgent and the Path Feels Right
A student in the midst of a career transition, facing real financial pressure, asks whether practicing visualization techniques to generate a feeling of wealth contradicts the nondual teaching of surrender.
I'm going through a really difficult time right now. I'm transitioning careers, and the path I'm on feels right, feels aligned. I'm doing everything I can, including letting go and being open, to help nurture this new direction. But finances are incredibly tight. I've only experienced this once before in my life, where I genuinely didn't know how I was going to pay rent or my credit card the next month. I don't usually live like this. I'm usually responsible and saving. But I've decided to go all in on this.
I've been trying to surrender, to allow, to trust, to listen to the signs and approach it all from a higher-minded place. But I'm concerned about money now. My question is: am I cheating on this nondual path by doing visualizations and meditations designed to generate an internal feeling of wealth? Is that counter to these teachings? I know so much of this is about surrender and trust, about recognizing that we are the one being and that it will take care of you. How does all of that fit together, and do you have any advice?
When we talk about things of the world, the human journey, there's a lot of room for error in our conversation. The more practical the advice, the more room there is for error. And when it comes to the non-practical, there's the challenge of putting into words something that can't be put into words, so there's room for misinterpretation and miscommunication. Consider that a disclaimer for this kind of conversation.
I know you're not specifically asking about practical matters, but your question is a mix between practical life navigation and this work.
Surrender is not a practice
From the base of it, the surrender I talk about is not something you can do. It's not something you can practice. Any pointing that says "you have to surrender" or "practice surrender" or "do this thing called surrender," I don't think that's possible.
I should say, too, that I can only speak to what I teach. I don't know what others teach. I know what some people teach, and I only know it through my own interpretation, so I can never fully know what is being taught or where it's coming from. Joe Dispenza, for example, I like. But what I talk about is different.
Realization, not discovery
What I would call the non-practical aspect, the aspect that belongs to awakening, is a realization. That's all it is. And what does that mean? It means something you can suddenly see which you weren't seeing, but which was right in front of you. It's not finding something that wasn't there, as though you searched somewhere else and it appeared where it hadn't been. It's always here.
In a sense, there's nothing you can do to get there, because you're already there.
Now, there is something you can do to see how you're not seeing what's already here. That's what I propose these conversations for. There are a million other explorations, but they are all about seeing what's already right in front of you. And it's not even in front of you. It's what you are.
The practical and the non-practical
Then there's the journey: you're transitioning careers, you've taken risks, there are challenges, and naturally there will be ideas about what you're moving towards or what you'll get if you go this way or that way. You're talking about cultivating an internal wealth, and you're referencing Joe Dispenza. I'm not familiar enough with his work to be surgical about his approach. In general, the little bit I know about him, I've liked. But it's very different from what I talk about. It might be more practical, or more valuable in the practical domain. It's not entirely unrelated; he is talking about aspects of waking up.
This is more of a clarification and a big disclaimer than a direct answer to your question. What, if anything, is coming up or resonating from what I've said? Maybe we can start from there.