Today we ask that you look at the ways in which you are rich.

For most of you, this is not easy.  Most of you will say: “I do not have enough money!”

And what is so funny about this is that you will say “I do not have enough money!” if you have five dollars to your name, five thousand, or five hundred thousand.  

What a curious substance money is.  No matter how much you have, you never have enough.  It is like something out of a fairy tale.  Some magical substance that always leaves you feeling lacking no matter how much you possess.  It is like a witch’s curse.

What pressure it creates, this never-enough substance.  For even if a big pile of it were suddenly handed to you, you would feel only momentary relief.  Most of you would then become obsessed with “investing it” properly.

There is a reason why monks historically took vows of poverty.  There is a reason why mendicant monks would travel with begging bowls, and sustain themselves only on what the universe provided for them.

It is not because the monks had “abundance issues.”  It is not because the monks hadn’t read enough self-help books on manifesting wealth.

The monks chose, and still choose, to live this way because it is a path to great serenity, and peace of mind.

When they let go of their attachment to money, and trusted the universe to provide for them, they felt a deep sense of peace, and liberation.

They began to appreciate even the smallest things.  Some rice in their bowls.  Some milk.  The kindness of strangers.  Generosity experienced over and over, as kind people placed gifts in their begging bowls.

These are the true riches.  For, on the whole, the average mendicant monk is much more peaceful than a millionaire.

This does not mean “money is bad.”

But money can be very confusing for people who do not have a strong sense of self, and their connection to a loving universe.

So — those of you with “money problems,” this is what you are asked to learn.

You are asked to know that you have enough, right now.

You are asked to perceive the ways in which you are, even now, a rich person.

Ask yourself: how am I rich?

See what arises.

And if you are someone who likes “affirmations” and is always seeking the path to “abundance” — 

Just say: “I am a very rich person right now.”

You will see, it is true.