money mirrors consciousness
How you view and handle money reveals your inner state.
Or to put it another way, your relationship with money mirrors your level of consciousness.
There are many experts on consciousness, and various frameworks for determining where an individual falls on the consciousness spectrum. A few of my favorites are Dr. David Hawkins’ Map of Consciousness, Tara Springett’s Nine Steps of Consciousness, and George Kinder’s Seven Stages of Money Maturity; I’m not sure Kinder would call his Seven Stages levels of consciousness but the way I see them they are and I’ve even mapped them to Hawkins’ Map of Consciousness–I’ll be working on adding Springett’s Steps to this soon.
Before we look more closely at how your views on money mirror your level of consciousness, I want to share some important points:
Consciousness does not mean intelligence. Many highly conscious individuals are not intelligent in the traditional sense of book smarts, taking tests, etc. And there are many intelligent and brilliant people who reside in the lower levels of consciousness.
Higher consciousness does not mean being rich. Many highly conscious individuals do not have much money. And there are many rich people who reside in the lower levels of consciousness.
Being rich is not necessarily the goal or the outcome of higher consciousness; being in the higher levels of consciousness does not guarantee you will have millions of dollars.
The levels of consciousness refer to understanding, view of life, and view of Self–they are not numerical, measured in money, or representative of “success.”
Consciousness doesn’t exist on a plane, and I’m not sure if we truly elevate and grow in consciousness or just change, but I’ve chosen to use terms like elevate, grow, and expand to represent going to levels where consciousness is greater. This may not technically be correct, but this isn’t a quantum physics paper, and I think those words help the reader to understand what I mean.
It is my belief that as you move to higher levels of consciousness, money takes care of itself, and you will always have what you need—the amount will vary from individual to individual. If your goal is to improve your financial situation, elevating your consciousness should be part of the plan.
Ok, let’s take a look at the connection between money and consciousness and how it serves as a mirror.
Money Consciousness
Most financial experts recommend that individuals begin with the basics when building their financial foundation or starting the financial planning process. This often involves conversations and exercises on cash flow, budgeting, and, maybe, the fundamentals of investing. The beginning of the financial planning process will include discussions about retirement, college, and other “goals.” These are all very important conversations and concepts, but you can see in the chart above how an individual’s level of consciousness will impact how they view and handle money.
Suppose an individual is not yet at a level of consciousness that enables them to develop the behaviors and habits necessary for a healthy relationship with money. In that case, more time should be spent progressing through the levels of consciousness to reach a point where they can begin to change their relationship with money, rather than focusing on cash flow and budgeting.
Trying to help an individual understand the importance of cash flow and budgeting will be an exhaustive effort if they are in Kinder’s Innocence stage of Money Maturit as individuals in the Innocence stage often exhibit behaviors like believing everything will workout without planning, view money as neutral or purely functional, overspend due to a lack of awareness of consequences, and ignoring financial matters altogether. They are unaware of the energetic nature of money, carrying forward the stories learned in childhood; they don’t yet see money as energy or as a mirror of consciousness—they simply accept what they’ve been told, call it truth, and allow it to shape how they see wealth, worth, and their Self.
The stories, family habits, and cultural norms behind their truth will keep them from outgrowing their bad habits and from viewing money as a limiting, scarce resource.
In order to understand the importance of cash flow and budgeting, to change how the individual views and interacts with money, and to have these new understandings stick, they must progress to more advanced/higher/greater levels of consciousness–they need to move from Innocence, to Pain, to Knowledge, and to Understanding in the Kinder model as quickly as possible, which if we look at where that will place them on Hawkins’ Map of Consciousness, will move them to levels where they will have a different understanding and views on everything in life–they are interconnected.
If your internal state is a mess or you find your Self in Hawkins’ survival paradigm, then it is highly likely that your financial affairs are a mess as well.
However, if your internal state is calm and peaceful and you find your Self in Hawkins’ Reason paradigm, then it is highly likely that your financial affairs are in good order.
Money mirrors consciousness.
A couple of thoughts that I want to mention, but couldn’t quite fit them into the paragraphs and maintain the flow:
I am not suggesting that people should put off financial education, establishing financial planning fundamentals, budgeting, and other important components of a financial plan until they reach higher levels of consciousness. For one, there is no timetable for how quickly or slowly an individual might progress in their consciousness growth. And for another, the education, fundamentals, and other components will only aid in the growth of consciousness — remember, money and consciousness are interconnected.
It is possible to be at different levels of consciousness in different areas of life. So an individual COULD be at higher levels of consciousness in their understanding of their Self and purpose in life, but at lower levels with money. However, I do think that for most people, their money consciousness will mirror their overall consciousness.
I want to encourage you to pick up copies of The Seven Stages of Money Maturity, The Stairway to Heaven, and The Map of Consciousness Explained and begin to learn more about the different levels of consciousness, determine where you currently are, examine your relationship with money and where you are in consciousness, and begin to see if you can understand the interconnectedness of money and consciousness.
I hope you can begin to see that, if you are trying to improve your financial situation, one area to look into that will have a significant impact—and that you probably won’t find in most financial self-help books—is your level of consciousness. Unfortunately, this is an area I know I can’t convince you of through a post; you have to reach your own conclusion and belief.
I can, however, plant the seed!
Keep pursuing,
JC
