Blog

By Cathy Eck 

In the ancient world, abundance was considered natural and normal.  The idea of rich and poor was a fallen state just like the state of good and evil.  The ancient masters manifested whatever they needed when they needed it.  That was living from the abundance mentality.  They didn’t feel the need to save for a rainy day because the idea of a rainy day didn’t exist in their mind.

We are all born with an abundance mentality.  But we are also born tiny and helpless.  We can’t get what we need without a parent or caregiver.  This causes us to begin to create beliefs or assumptions about the world.  We also borrow the beliefs of those around us as we witness the reality that they are creating.

Being born helpless causes us all to adopt some beliefs that veil our natural abundance mentality.  Most of us believe that our abundance comes through others just as our milk and love came from others as an infant.  We may feel that we can’t have what we want if our early caregivers never met our needs.  If our needs were not met, we probably developed beliefs about how to get those wants and needs met.

All of these beliefs formed our false self.  We express our false self through our persona.

An abundance mentality is not a persona we can wear; it is who we are.  We can’t create an abundance mentality.  We find our natural state of abundance by finding our true Self.  And we find our true Self by letting go of the false self that camouflages it.

What is Abundance?

The best way to understand natural abundance is to imagine having everything you want and need with a single, focused thought.  The ancient masters said that, “All is mind.”  The physical world that we see is the effect of our state of mind.  It is an illusion, made up of all of the beliefs that we project out into the world.  We can’t see the illusory world of beliefs and the true world of abundance at the same time.

When our mind is clear and true, our world demonstrates that mental state.  The Garden of Eden represented that natural abundant state of mind.  It was also called the virgin mind by the ancient masters.

It is that natural, pure state that we must return to if we are going to live an abundant life.  The quest for eternal life or paradise is a mental, not a physical, journey.  And all of us can achieve that state of mind once we know how.  No one is too far off their path to return to paradise.

There are plenty of stories and myths that describe people with this pure state of mind.  But over time, we labeled these people superhuman, magic, or genies.  We forgot that all humans have the same capacity if we are willing to let go of the false, ego mind.

Can Money Buy Happiness?

Most people don’t live abundant lives even if they have lots of money.  Abundance is the natural reward for following your heart or true Self.  It is a joyous state.  We say that “Money can’t buy happiness,”  because you can’t buy the true Self with money.  You don’t have to get rid of your money to get to the true Self.  But you have to give up rich and poor thinking.

Recent studies have shown that once people reach earnings of $75,000 per year, they have peaked out in the amount of happiness that money can buy.  More money after they reach that point, doesn’t bring much more happiness.

In truth, people don’t even want happiness; happiness and sadness are opposites just like rich and poor and good and evil.  People want joy with no opposite; and money clearly can’t buy that.

Joy and abundance are states of the unified true Self that knows its place in the world.  It follows inspiration, and its needs and wants are all handled easily.  Most people experience moments of this state; and we call it serendipity or synchronicity.  Some people are lucky enough to find an aspect of life where they can express their true Self; and they feel abundant even if they are not materially rich.

We love stories such as the lawyer who gave up his seven-figure practice to open a dog grooming business.  He exudes joy in his passion for working with animals that screams of abundance even though he now lives on a five-figure income.  Other people live on the streets and then start expressing their gifts and are richly rewarded.  The key is that both of these people are joyous, creative, and abundant.  That is the state of mind that we all truly want.  You see, abundance is a state of mind, not a dollar amount.

Wealthy, Rich, or Abundant

Most people are in a state of rich or poor.  The two opposing states of being are roles within the false mind.  The ancient masters taught that poor can’t exist without rich, and rich doesn’t exist without poor.  We must let go of our beliefs about both sides of any duality.

Abundance, however, has no opposite.  When we pick up the dual idea of rich and poor, we identify personally with either rich or poor.  We project the other side out into the world.  The more we identify with rich, the more poverty we notice in the world.  If we identify more with poor, then we see rich people flaunting their possessions and status everywhere.

Rich and poor exist in the win-lose world.  The projected aspect of any pair of dualistic ideas becomes our opponent.  This creates the idea of competition or opposition or even evil.  The people we want to fix or help are also our projections.  The ancient ones taught that we are always fighting or fixing ourselves.  As Einstein said, “Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a persistent one.”  Wealth is the same as rich with a greater dosage of persistence.

Our mind wants to return to wholeness so we unconsciously keep pulling our opposite back toward us until we let go of the belief that it is true.  Eventually, we break through the persistence of the false reality.  And we find that our true Self has been waiting for our return.

This is often hard to see because some groups of people have very strong thought forms, which perpetuate their wealth.  They make wealth look easy.

One who comes from a royal family or is born to a billionaire is mentally wired to perpetuate wealth.  They identify with rich thoughts easily; and their life reflects those thoughts.  These people project their equally strong thoughts of poverty into the world.  They feel superior to their own projection.  This is sometimes called the superego.  It is an ego or false self that feels superior to its own ego projection.  Sadly society often worships these people.  A good example is the English royalty or the way we place our political or religious leaders on a pedestal.  We often think that these people have it all, but they are just as lacking in abundance as a homeless person.

This is a time of great shifts.  At this time in history, these superego rich leaders all have countries with economic crises.  They can’t fix the problems of their countries because they are seeing their own poverty projection reflected back to them.  They are in a pickle since the masses have now started to demand that problems be fixed.  We are no longer blindly obedient, submissive slaves.  We are no longer willing to take the blame for what we did not cause.

Business executives who pay poverty wages to their employees also fit this bill.  Their mental state is a product of the ancient master-slave relationship, where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

Society at large holds many beliefs about wealth.  We might believe we need to get the right education or be the best at a sport.  Some people feel wealth is about luck, and their belief in their own personal luck either supports them or harms them.  These widely accepted ideas look true and real, but they are simply beliefs with a lot of support.  The true Self doesn’t need the right degree or pedigree.  Abundance manifests uniquely for everyone because everyone’s true Self has value.

What About Poor People?

Poor people are not victims although they often feel that they are.  They often sense that they are living in the shadow of the wealthy.  But they can’t be in poverty without beliefs to support their state.  Both sides of any dualistic pair hold beliefs that cause them to be where they are.  No one is really stuck although it often feels that way.

Because of their upbringing or religious beliefs, they might feel that poverty is virtuous.  They may see money as evil.  They might believe that rich people are greedy or prideful.  Often they long for the lives of the rich and famous but won’t allow themselves to have them. They feel jealous of the rich; and even get a sense of excitement when a rich person has a problem or falls from grace.  This pull of opposites is always a sign of the realm of the false self.  These people often have false humility, which can keep them stuck.

Dismantling Rich and Poor

Jesus said that the rich have a very difficult time getting into heaven, and many interpreted this the wrong way.  They saw wealth as a sin.  But nothing could be further from the truth.  Jesus was pointing out a fact that was taught by many of the ancient masters.  You are much more likely to give up your false beliefs when they don’t work for you.  The poor person is more likely to examine their rich and poor mentality than a wealthy person.  The wealthy or rich person thinks they have found the answer.  They hold on to their wealth mentality and never get the joy and freedom of living from the true abundant Self.

When we let all our beliefs go around money and finances, we fall into our natural abundance.  We get exactly what is necessary for us to fulfill our dreams.  You can’t put a dollar amount on abundance.  More or less doesn’t mean you are a better or worse person.

Someone who is a nomad does not need much money, their abundance comes in the form of animals crossing their path to eat or pools of clear water to drink when they need them.  On the other hand, one who was born to create movies needs money for production costs, and they also get whatever they need.

One of the signs that we have arrived at this state is that we don’t think about money anymore.  We just have trust that everything is perfect.

What About Others

As we move into an abundance mentality, we don’t see lack in the world.  If someone asks for our help, we can help them to see the error in their thinking.  We can remind them to let go of the lies their false self is repeating in their mind so that they can join us in abundance.  But we can’t give them abundance; they have to find it for themselves.

The best support we can give another is to remember and support their true nature, which is powerful, creative, and resourceful.  The ancient masters said that when all was said and done, the students of the very best teachers felt that they did it themselves.  People can sell us fancy programs and help us to get rich.  But abundance is different; we have to find it in ourselves.

Cathy Eck has studied the wisdom of the ancient initiates for over two decades.  She shares their wisdom freely with the sincere desire that it will make life easier for others.