Land of the Free

 

A common question that arises within spiritual circles is this: if what you're saying, doing, or teaching is real, then why are you charging for it? Such people often have a quick response regarding energy exchange, and I do not mean to discredit any such people with this article. However, for those asking the question, you are perhaps simply ahead of the game.

It is important to recognize that there are steps and levels of growth. We, as a society, as a species, as conscious beings, have only risen so high. Teachers, as profound as they may be, are still only scraping the bottom of wisdom and knowledge. If they do not openly admit this, then they are likely false teachers. Even if the teachings that come from them are from more highly evolved entities, even those entities know better than to teach what we are not ready for. You don't teach a baby to backflip before it knows how to walk, and if it knows tightrope walking over spikes is in its future, it may never wish to walk.

If a person's frame of reference is that bananas are holy beings, then one cannot teach such a person how to make banana bread. And that is the crux of the issue. The frame of mind that most teachers and earthlings operate from is that of commerce and effort. The average person, even if a prolific teacher of spiritual maturity, cannot fathom higher ways of living where commerce and effort exchange is not the primary means of operation. This is not to discredit them any more than I discredit an 8th grader who can't comprehend quantum mechanics and yet can teach high schoolers calculus. We are all growing here including myself.

But there is a time coming, as soon as we are ready for it and willing to make it so, where our means of operation is not that of recompense for work. Instead, we will simply do what we love and what we love will have value to others as it fills us immensely with joy. We will freely give as we have freely received. This can begin now with each of us individually, but the full culmination of it necessarily takes a village to achieve. Like minded individuals operating out of love can accept this teaching, but those who have not yet learned to live authentically and still operate out of lack, need, and forced outcomes will be unable to participate. Until those who have transcended this mindset gather together for common support, we will continue to operate mostly through exchange and commerce.

To better comprehend this teaching, consider our own families. When we raise our children, especially when they are babies or toddlers, are we looking for exchange? No, we are simply giving of ourselves to our children. For the mature parent, it is our privilege and our delight to satisfy the needs of our child. They do nothing but be themselves and we require nothing of them. Does this mean we are not fulfilled? Absolutely not. We enjoy their enjoyment. Their laughs and smiles melt our hearts and bring us joy. Their joy in what is new and wonderous brings smiles to our hearts.

If a person's frame of reference is that bananas are holy beings, then one cannot teach such a person how to make banana bread.

As children age, we tend to move into reciprocity. We expect things of them. You must do your chores, get good grades, clean up after yourself, and so on. The joy simply from their being ceases to exist for many of us. We demand. We require. And if their behaviors do not align with our expectations, our joy is often sacrificed. We begin to barter with our own family. You do the dishes and I'll get you a prize. Do your chores and I'll pay you money. This transition from being to expecting transaction occurs rather early on and it strains the relationship and stunts their growth. They begin to think transactionally rather than through spiritual maturity. They join the fold of our economic culture of give and take as opposed to joy in being and experiencing.

What can and should occur instead, is growth in maturity without transaction being the key component. I don't give you things simply because you give me things. I am spiritually mature and so it is my pleasure to aid others in their greatest desires and their spiritual maturity. This is where I will lose most of my readers. This comes with baggage. The false understandings ring out and cry foul that what I am proposing is x, y, or z. Whatever negative conclusions one may now be making are derived from a false narrative and a false expectation. This does not requiring giving to one who will use you. This does not requiring giving out of obligation. This does not require self-deprecation or any other negative aspect a reader may be envisioning.

The reason it works to provide freely out of maturity is because we are operating authentically and we train others to do the same. If we are instead standing on the street corner of New York simply doing the bidding of anyone that demands anything of us, this is the wrong paradigm to be envisioning this. Adults don't partner with babies to become ninja warrior champions. The paradigm works when you partner with equals in spiritual maturity aligned with this teaching. This is why communism always fails at a governmental level. Not everyone can live in such an environment if they are not mature. For those who can, they absolutely should. And they should teach their children likewise. If their children do not similarly grow into the maturity of the tribe, they are free to engage the world on the world's terms instead.

Be brave enough to become yourself without fear.

In short, when you question why money is always demanded for spiritual services, it is because you and that individual are not engaged in a community of higher consciousness. You are not operating at a level of spiritual maturity and authenticity where everyone gives out of the abundance of their hearts such that all become filled. But it is coming. It is coming as fast as we are willing and able to mature and participate to make it so. Until then, become yourself. Live as authentically as possible so that your own cup overflows in abundance. As such, when you give, it will not feel as a sacrifice. It will be itself a joy that further adds to the very cup from which you give. 

As we become our authentic selves, we will not require recompense for what we give. Be brave enough to become yourself without fear. Just be warned that your true self is likely far greater than what labels your small self has attributed, and the shrouds of fear and trauma may very well lead you astray in knowing who you truly are. But if you seek openly and willingly, you will know yourself in truth. You will find yourself and learn to live authentically beyond the labels. Your bravery in doing so will lead you to find the land of the free of which you seek.