7.2.6 What can you do to reduce the profound imbalances between wealth and poverty in our world?

Both individually and as a culture, as we lose sight of the unchanging reality that this is that, so, too, do we desire more and more of this. Enmeshed in the illusion that this is real in itself, we desire love, wealth, sex, fame, power and so on, according to our conditions and our individuality. In an age bereft of transcendentally vibrant models of reality, material success and fulfilment of the senses become the culturally approved goals.

Both individually and collectively, as we begin to regain a vision of the unchanging, all-embracing, transcendent nature of reality, so, too, can we come to accept that our true material needs are modest. Transcending the illusion, recognising and acting on the sound basis that this does not exist in itself but is a dependent product of that, we can learn to accept that what we receive is adequate for our true needs-provided that, as a minimum, we are able to feed ourselves and to have shelter, warmth, education, health, and a life free from unacceptable interference and control. In an age transformed, enlivened and enlightened by relevant and vividly alive models of reality, material success and prosperity tend to become much less important, both collectively and individually.

You will know from your own experience, as a relatively enlightened person, that progress along the spiritual path is neither hindered nor assisted by the absence or presence of money. The key to spiritual progress is freedom from attachment to this. Aware of the true nature of reality, rich or poor in material terms, you now live a life of inner wealth.

Witness now the gross obscenity of Western wealth and Eastern poverty. Witness the West’s constant struggle to remain materially wealthy, and witness the East’s constant struggle to acquire material prosperity. Observe with compassion the true spiritual poverty of East and West in the late-twentieth century.

This world-wide spiritual poverty can be alleviated through a growth in understanding of the relevance of transcendentally vibrant models of reality in everyday life. A shift in economic priorities can become politically acceptable when the will of the people is directed towards healing this. With the growth of widespread spiritual understanding will come a desire for economic policies capable of alleviating the developing countries’ material poverty, and as such policies become vote-winners there will arise politicians who are capable of implementing them.

Your contribution is twofold to this process of cultural maturing in attitudes to material needs. Firstly, live modestly in relation to your material circumstances, and follow your intuition in using what resources you have to spare for the benefit of others. Secondly, commit yourself to practising and teaching the world-healing meditation.