Does God Want You To Be Rich?

There's a lot being written right now about whether or not God wants you to be abundant. So far, everything I have read missed important points.

First, I believe that anthropomorphising God is unnecessarily limiting our idea of God. We are still laboring under the impression of a bearded man who lives in the sky and randomly acts in mysterious ways. God is the unlimited, omnipresent soul of the Universe, of which we are all a part. God wants us to be whatever we desire - rich or poor. Above that, God wants us to realize our unity with the Universe, and that we are the outprojections of God and not separate beings.

So, should we take a vow of poverty, or go for the gold? The answer is: whatever makes you happy and brings you closer to God. For most people that is abundance, for some it is not.

Some people use the manifestation of abundance as a spiritual practice. Money and things are just symbols of the energy they are learning to attune to at will. They build an unceasing awareness of God as the only source of everything. This is great.

Some people join monastic orders and take vows of simplicity and poverty, spending all day in meditation. They gain experience connecting consciousness with their inner God-mind. This is great too.

Problems ensue when people lose sight of God. When money becomes their God, or when they are overcome with pride and fundamentalist attitudes. It's great to be rich as long as you are using your inner God-consciousness to do so. It's great to live austerely as long as you are becoming more in tune with your God-mind.

Both paths can bring you to the realization that you are manifesting the Universe with your consciousness. There are many traps along the way, but they all come in two flavors - attachments and aversions. Attachments are those things we cling to, and aversions are those things we push away. God, the Universe, is a great teacher and has a way of taking away the things we are attached to, and giving us more of our aversions. Giving up our attachments and aversions, we manifest everything a will.

Seek what material things you will, but remember that God is the source.