13 The Almighty vs. the almighty dollar: Which do we trust?

Money is often the tool used to turn us into puppets of the dark forces.

Money & politics

It may sometimes seem life is pulling us in all directions. But there are really just two sides tugging on us at all times: the light side and the dark side. Drilling down, the Guide teaches that the dark forces actually use three main strategies to get our goat. They are: separation, confusion and materialism.

When we are under the spell of separation, the whole world divides into “me vs. them”. So when we think we can win at life by taking what’s ours without concern for anyone else, we are caught in this version of evil. For in truth, we are all interconnected. So it’s not possible to cut off someone else without causing our own selves to be hurt.

The second source of misery stems from our use of confusion, distortion and half-truths. By skillfully using truth where it doesn’t belong, we subtly twist it into a lie and then present it like it’s a flower. This creates untold confusion while leaving us, we think, smelling like a rose. (Meanwhile, the entire Spirit World is holding its nose at our behavior.) We’re seeing this form of evil mushrooming of late; or perhaps we’re just getting wise to it and therefore catching it in action, more and more.

Last but not least, we can easily get ourselves wrapped around the axle when it comes to money. The Pathwork lecture titled Three Principles of the Forces of Evil says that over the last few centuries, materialism has come on strong. It has been severing our lifeline to the Spirit World and creating a global environment that lacks concern for nature. We have isolated ourselves into our own limited reality. All too often, then, we believe we are capable of doing everything all on our own.

This shift has had some upside, including our technological progress. It has also caused us to search more sincerely inside ourselves to discover how we are affecting our own fate. Not coincidentally, the study of the human psyche has emerged. With a better understanding of psychology, we are, in fact, now better able to explore our inner landscapes.

Where does all this leave us? For many, we feel stranded in a world of our own making. And we feel disconnected from the greater truth of a greater reality. We oftentimes feel isolated and unsure of who and what to believe. At the same time, we’re locked in a vicious race for the almighty buck. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could actually get a glimpse of what’s beyond all this. What’s it really like on the other side of the veil?

Money matters, or does it?

By reading many channeled messages received through Beatrice Brunner, a woman who lived in Germany during the last century, we actually do get a very clear perspective of what it’s like for people when they cross over to the other side after death. Turns out, it’s a real eye-opener for many. And the souls who came forward to share their story of “what I was like as a person and how that translated to my life in the Spirit World,” all report a common observation: money, in the greater reality, is not real.

What? How can that be? It’s what makes the world go round! After reading account after account from people—now free-floating spirits—who have been on both sides, it is indeed an awakening idea to consider that money may be a manmade thing.

Now, this doesn’t make money evil, in and of itself. It’s a reality in this reality, even if it doesn’t make it past the pearly gates. What’s key to consider is that while money is a necessary ingredient for a typical life, and while more money does add more amenities to said life, if the almighty dollar is the end-all-and-be-all of our life, we are lost. For it won’t buy the one thing that actual fulfillment of a valid spiritual task will get us: a satisfying, deep-seated feeling of success.

If our life is blessed with bounty, we’re being tested to see if we will stay connected with the Spirit World of God.

So if we think of money as a means to an end, we’re in good shape. It’s the same way with our health. It’s valuable for improving our quality of life and allowing us to do more things, probably for longer, but focusing on it too much will likely make us a fanatic.

More importantly, isn’t it true that we are more likely to turn to God when we are in crisis? Freedom from worries then can cause us to drift away from a spiritual path. For when we’re doing fine, who needs God, right? This doesn’t mean that if we have material goods we need to give them away. But more often than not, if our life is blessed with bounty, we’re being tested to see if we will stay connected with the Spirit World of God, or if instead will we get hooked by the temptation to think the world of matter is all that matters.

Our work is always to find the middle way regarding money. The way forward will be different for one who leans toward greed than it will be for one who spends carelessly. Don’t forget, there are two forces in play at all times here on Earth. This means that everything and anything that is originally positive—pleasing and fundamentally not harmful—can twist into its evil twin. No surprise then, money is often the tool that turns us into puppets of the dark forces.

And what’s the perfect playground for money-centered games? Politics.

How democracy meets distortion, from all sides

In the US, as in other developed countries, we have a form of government called a capitalist democracy. As pointed out in the Pathwork lecture called The Spiritual Meaning of Political Systems, unlike previous forms of government—such as a monarchy, socialism or communism—our current system gives us freedom of expression and the ability to create wealth through our own efforts. At the same time, through its intended design, it lets us care for those who still need help along the way, those who aren’t—for whatever reason—yet up to the task of fully caring for themselves.

Now this doesn’t mean those who find themselves in the latter camp get all the same goodies as those in the former. And at the same time, it also doesn’t mean that those who are investing more of themselves into their livelihood get to exploit those who are not. Democracy is not intended to be a way to justify anyone’s power drive to be a ruler. If that’s what we want, we need to go back to a monarchy, but bear in mind just how well that has gone historically.

What’s the catch? Democracy is going to ask for more maturity from all its citizens.

Democracy brings with it the possibility of fusing together two sides of a duality. Wow, here’s something that actually gives us a crack at unity! This is what makes democracy the most mature form of government to-date. What’s the catch? This also means that democracy is going to ask for more maturity from all its citizens.

The greatest risk of distortion in a democratic government is for the abuse of power by a stronger few. That’s what’s happening when willful leaders create disadvantages for those who are their followers.

To be fair, when the followers refuse to fend for themselves, they naturally create disadvantages for themselves. They can effectively become parasites that live off society at the expense of others. But when our leaders turn around and treat these people unfairly, exploiting them by amassing great wealth while the lower class of people are seriously struggling, the leaders have themselves become parasites. They are using these very people for own gain, and then accusing them of being the leaches.

Rather than helping the people who need help, such misguided—and often wealthy—leaders create a valid reason for the less productive or financially secure to be resentful and uncooperative, which leads to resistance, laziness, cheating and a general sentiment that life is unfair. Because it is! Such people are being victimized by the greedy. Good Lord almighty.

In short, a democratic system can be abused from both sides. Those who clamor for socialism would like to become more parasitic and blame the power structure for keeping them down. On the other side, those who are strong and diligent, who risk and invest, can justify their greed and drive for power by blaming the parasitic nature of those who they say are lazy.

Maturity means we all must become whole

All in all, capitalistic democracy gives a country the greatest freedom, but it comes with a greater potential for people to abuse it. This means that the more developed a nation becomes—and therefore the more free—the more chance it has of screwing the whole thing up.

But really, isn’t that the same thing going on inside each one of us?

We all want to be given enough leash to run our own lives, but the danger is we will choke ourselves. Self-responsibility, then, becomes the name of the flag we all must carry; compassion must be the rod that holds it up. Whether we are running a government or running our own lives, for us to succeed we are going to need to learn to weave together apparent opposites. And for that to happen, we are going to need to open up a channel to the Spirit World from which guidance and support abundantly flows to help us learn to mesh self-responsibility with compassion.

In the end, the only way to pull ourselves out of the quagmire is to pull together.

It’s not easy to learn to stand on our own two feet and avoid becoming a burden on our fellow-citizens. For some, this is our task and this is plenty. But it’s worth it to see for ourselves that we can’t ride on the coattails of others, effectively crippling ourselves into no longer feeling free. We might need to open our eyes to how we are doing this to ourselves.

For others of us who feel called to lead, our task may be to tap into that connection with the divine, opening our hearts to our brothers and sisters, and moving beyond the notion that we don’t need any help. Current conditions, in fact, indicate that higher help is much needed.

This is no small thing. It takes courage for a leader to acknowledge that they regularly seek counsel from a much more almighty God. It’s also asking a lot for such leaders to admit that it’s not easy to put self-interest aside.

But good leaders must lead by example. For the most part, they are taking on a task many who follow frankly wouldn’t want. Sure, there are perks that come with the position, but likewise, there is more that is asked from such individuals.

In the end, the only way to pull ourselves out of the quagmire of finger pointing, truth blurring and insult firing is to pull together. The work for all of us is to face our inner walls, bringing them down by eliminating the untruth that pins them in place. It’s these inner walls that block our channel to the divine; they do not serve the greater good. We can see an out-picturing of what their dismantling looks like where people have pushed hard for a better way to live; huge walls have come down as societies have slowly evolved.

Duality is a leaky container that can never hold us together. Unity, on the other hand, lets us hold far more truth and wisdom than we currently know is possible. It calls us to be our better selves, but it can’t work with only half. It requires we bring our whole selves into balance, so we can all come together to find new and broader perspectives. There can be rich rewards—both here and on the other side—if we are willing to work this way.

—The Guide’s wisdom in Jill Loree’s words