This blog is inspired by a chapter in our founding teachers’ book, Wasteland to Pureland, by Doug Duncan and Catherine Pawasarat.
When was the last time you had an open, in-depth conversation about your attitude to money? Or to sex?
On such taboo topics, it’s rare that we consciously face what lies underneath our surface reactions and responses to them. Yet, sometimes we have to face them, and it may not be pretty.
With money, for example, which is linked to our sense of survival, our unconscious views about it can fill us with angst and doubt. Sometimes, because of things we haven’t acknowledged, we might show up as a martyr or tyrant around money and surprise even ourselves. You’ll know this about yourself or others if you’ve shared finances with a partner, at home or in a business, or been involved with a family dispute around inheritance.
Some buttons are bigger than others
- Money
- Sex
- Control/ Power
- Losing your job
- Divorce
- Your self isolation may last another two months
- Your last social media post got minimal likes and comments
The chances are, some items in the limited list above bring up tension, excitement, or some kind of reaction in you. In fact, most things come down to the core issues of the first three. In times like these, with all the fear and disruption caused by COVID-19, we’re likely seeing reactions in ourselves and others more strongly than ever.
Eventually, as a spiritual warrior, we need to look at how these foundational areas of the human experience work. If we’re looking to transform struggle and embrace vitality, we can’t leave any rocks unturned for the sake of control.
From Reflection 17 in Wasteland to Pureland:
“The nature of the ego is to seek self-interested versions of security and control in an attempt to be comfortable.”
In other words, we’ll do almost anything not to go there. Yet, there’s great freedom when the ego stops trying to control out of fear that we’ll be annihilated. This is shadow work, and in order to go there safely, consistently, we need a solid base of practice and support.
More resources:
Read an article on this topic on Planet Dharma (our founding teachers’ website). Our recent live Tuesday morning call focused on the archetypes that tend to come up for spiritual people around their money issues. Register here if you ‘d like to join future calls focusing on supporting issues that come up during this time, and take a look at our upcoming 6-week course.
Image Credit: Caroline Hernandez on Unsplash