In the realm of what I am going to call, "spiritual discourse" as well as the realm I am going to call "ecological discourse" there are any number of apparent polarities or dualities on the planet at this time that we could talk about. Many people speak of and are aware of the perceived duality of Love versus Fear, for example. Some people spend a great deal of time exploring and talking about the perceived duality of good versus evil. There is also the perceived duality of Light versus Shadow. And there is also the perceived duality of scarcity versus abundance consciousness. I took the time to insert the word "perceived" there before each presented dualistic idea because while I believe each of these dualities has a specific and real energy of its own, ultimately they are like the yin yang symbol in that they are separate yet ultimately contained within an all encompassing whole.
One of my favorite stories that I believe illustrates this idea of perceived duality ultimately being an illusory perception is a story I got from one of the Conversations with God books by Neale Donald Walsch. I believe it was in the first volume in that series.
In the book the God entity and Neale are having one of their many discourses and the subject of Fear versus Love comes up and an opportunity for a brilliant teaching arises. The God entity informs an incredulous Walsch that ultimately love and fear are the same thing. The God entity gives Neale an example to illustrate this. Here it is: A parent sees her/his child run out into the street where there is the potential for great danger because of the present danger of the child getting hit by oncoming traffic. So the parent runs out after the child. The parent doesn't give a second thought about doing this. It is a reflex reaction. The question is then asked if the parents actions are an act of fear or an act of love. The correct answer is that the parents actions are motivated by both fear and love. The explanation that is given is that the parent is motivated by both the fear that the child may be hit by a vehicle and by the love the parent has for the child which includes an instinct for protecting the child from danger whenever possible. It is always difficult to say which, if either, of these emotional motivations is stronger or weaker in a scenario such as this. So with this story we get a tangible example of how one of the most spoken about dualities in spiritual circles, at least, can ultimately be seen as one experience. With this example we are able to see that love and fear can indeed be the same thing.
So moving a little bit further down the chain from ultimate reality I am going to now speak from a place of relative reality, where scarcity and abundance consciousness can be experienced as two distinct things.
One of the essential characteristics of scarcity consciousness is believing, "I don't have enough/There is not enough." It could be personalized as, "I don't have enough money, love, friends, beauty in my life, inner peace," etc. Or it could be a general life stance represented as, "There is not enough money, love, friendly people, beauty in the world or peace in the world," etc.
One of the essential characteristics of abundance consciousness is believing that there is enough of everything in my life and in the world and in the cosmos and beyond.
I am imagining it is relatively easy to see that ones life could easily develop along very different lines depending on which of those conscious stances is most consistently adhered to in ones life: There is not enough or there is enough
A fair amount of us are at a place in our personal development where we can then understand some of the basics around scarcity consciousness and abundance consciousness and the interplay therein.
Some of those basics include a fundamental understanding of how we chose to deal with things directly or obliquely and especially around money and how that dealing with typically expresses either our deep abundance or scarcity consciousness with not only money specifically, but also around all the areas money is always directly connected to--survival, safety, security, self esteem, sustenance, etc.
Additionally, many have come to an understanding of how all of that scarce or abundant energy around money is often directly reflected in how we approach intimate relationships, our political stances, our understanding of our place in the world and such. We can also begin to see how this can also often be reflected in the very relationships we have and encourage in our lives. I consider all of this to be the introductory level of understanding how either scarcity consciousness or abundance consciousness can work and be present in our lives.
Approaching A Deeper Understanding
At a deeper level I believe we may be able to begin to see how this consciousness (either scarcity or abundance) really comes into play in virtually every area of our lives and in some all encompassing yet very subtle ways. Specifically, it potentially comes into play around everyday choices and decisions we make that we don't tend to reflect on or give a second thought to.
Let us now look at some possibilities here:
1. We walk pass a panhandler on the street. What is our response and why? Think about this deeply before answering
2. We have a good friend, family member or even an acquaintance whom we know would benefit from financial, emotional, spiritual and/or psychological support from us. What is our response to this and this situation and why? Think about this deeply before answering.
3. We are tired, cranky and have a whiny child or friend or family member who is requesting, maybe even demanding attention from us. What is our response and why? Think about this deeply before answering.
4. We consciously take 1 or more alcoholic drink more than what we know is good or safe for us at any specific time of drinking. Why do we do this? Think about this deeply before answering.
5. We purchase the sale item that is 10% less expensive and 90% less personally satisfying to us than the more expensive item. Why do we do this? Think about this deeply before answering.
6. There is a television personality whom we assess as being very popular, very successful and very wealthy and who we watch regularly on TV and whom we do not know personally. We however, have decided, even though we watch this person regularly on TV, not to really like this person. What is really going on here? Think about this deeply before answering.
7. We read an article about someone we went to college with who did not do nearly as well as we did academically yet we read this person has become relatively famous in his/her chosen field and makes approximately 50 times more than we do annually. We can feel the emotions of annoyance and agitation arising in us while reading the article. Why? Think about this deeply before answering.
8. We are laid off from our job. Others are not laid off. We perceive some of those who were not laid off as really being less valuable, less talented and more problematic than us and we get angry once we admit to this perception. Why? Think about this deeply before answering.
9. We are broke or financially strapped. We are depressed and sad about this. Are we really depressed or sad or is there something more fundamental going on underneath the depression and sadness? Think about this deeply before answering
10. We never or rarely tip to the suggested degree when we go out to eat at a restaurant. Why do we really do this? Think about this deeply before answering.
Obviously there are many possible and valid answers to each of those questions that don't really have much to do directly with scarcity nor abundance consciousness. Still, are we willing to look at our answers to those questions deeply enough to discover if that is really true or not?
Also see these related posts at Moyo Aflame:
1. The Joshua Bell Experiment
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