I’ve encountered two main approaches to money and the spiritual life:

One, the world is full of abundance. God wants us to prosper and to enjoy our prosperity.  There’s nothing wrong with creating wealth.  We can use wealth to fulfill material needs, support loved ones, and help others.

And, two, we can build our awareness of God through self-denial. Money can’t buy happiness.  A spiritual life is a simple life of prayer, meditation, and service to others.

I am drawn to both approaches to money.  I desire money and material things. But I also long for a simple life devoted to God.  That is why I am conflicted about Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich.

A Partial Summary of Think and Grow Rich

Napoleon Hill argues: your thoughts are the one thing in life you have control over.  Controlling your thoughts is the key to creating success in life.

The Origin of Success

According to Napoleon Hill, success originates in your thoughts and dreams.  When you feed your subconscious positive thoughts with positive emotions, you create faith in your dreams.  Your subconscious responds with plans for achieving your dreams.

Using the Imagination

Ideas that create prosperity come from your imagination, says Napoleon Hill.  With synthetic imagination, you synthesize knowledge that already exists into new ideas.  With creative imagination, you receive inspiration from your subconscious mind and from your sixth sense.

Ideas are the key, says Napoleon Hill.  You can find the knowledge to bring your ideas into reality through a variety of resources.

Other Keys to Success

It’s important, explains Hill, to be decisive. Make decisions quickly and change them slowly.  You also need to persist, he says, no matter what obstacles you encounter.

It helps, he says, to enlist the cooperation of harmonious, like-minded others.  They empower you to persist in pursuit of your dreams.  And they provide knowledge and ideas you can use to pursue your dreams.

Finally, he says, you must conquer your fears to succeed.  This can be done by making empowering decisions which neutralize your fears.

What’s Wrong with That?

As I summarize Napoleon Hill’s ideas, I think: there’s nothing wrong with any of this.  Yet I am still uncomfortable.  I struggle with the focus on money.

If the focus were on success, however one personally defines it, I would have no problem with this book.  But money?  It seems selfish to pursue money.

When I was a child, I adopted the idea that pursuing money was not as valuable as pursuing spiritual things.  On some level, I still believe that.

Why Money?

But Napoleon Hill has a good reason for focusing on getting rich.  Many people can’t focus on more meaningful things unless their financial needs are met.  For many people, their financial well-being is the basis of their self-esteem.  It also protects them from being taking advantage of.

I get that.  Sometimes I feel inferior to people who have a lot of money.  I’m tired of depending on disability and a part-time job to make ends meet.  I’m tired of worrying about how I’ll pay to maintain my car and what I’ll do if anything happens to it.  My worries distract me from living a meaningful life.

I also long for the freedom to pursue my dream of supporting myself as a creative writer.  It seems like I never have enough time to write.  And I believe that money would buy me time.  But where would that money come from?

My Deepest Desire

My deepest desire at this point in my life is experience union with the divine.  I crave joy that doesn’t depend on circumstances.  I also long to serve the highest good through my writing.

I’m uncomfortable with pursuing money as an end in itself.  I want money as a means to the end of serving others with my writing.

What to Do?

So, would it benefit me to do as Hill teaches? Write down a definite amount of money I want to earn by definite date in exchange for a service or product?  And then, as he teaches, should I read that statement aloud every morning and every night? Should I pursue any plan that comes to mind?

I don’t know.  It might work.  But I would feel kind of dirty focusing so much on making money.

Part of me thinks I would be better off focusing on serving others.

Where’s the Problem?

This raises the question, is it just me? Do I have a problem with making money? Or is focusing on making money a problem?  Different people would argue different things.

What Really Matters?

My desire for enlightenment and my desire to write are my two strongest desires.  I was the happiest I have ever been when I believed I had experienced an awakening. I thought I would spend the rest of my life as an enlightened master serving others.  I was delusional, but I was happy.

That leads me to believe my happiness depends on my spiritual development, not money.

But do I need money to have the freedom to seek enlightenment?

Keeping an Open Mind

I’m conflicted.  I don’t want to dismiss Think and Grow Rich.  I want to keep an open mind.  I think that’s the best I can do at this point.  Maybe I should try Napoleon Hill’s method and see how I feel.  Maybe by pursuing money I would find a way to serve others with my writing.

But would I awaken?  That remains to be seen.

What about you? 

Are you conflicted about pursuing money?  Do you think it’s possible to pursue money and seek God at the same time?  Share in the comments.