I have gone through different phases in my life where I had different attitudes towards money. It can be a challenge finding out and keeping the right perspective. At least it has been for me.

I have found myself with internal struggles on this subject. I’ve had phases where I’ve been disgusted with the materialism of the U.S. I felt angry seeing people (including myself) who have so much material wealth and privilege in comparison to the rest of the world, and who take it for granted. I felt this way especially after spending time in countries where people get by on a small fraction of what the average American makes.

On the other hand, there have been times where I was very attached to making good money. I believe it’s healthy to have a desire to be financially responsible, save for retirement and be able to provide for one’s self. However, I have had some other desires in there as well. Like the desire to create an impression of myself as a capable, talented person by being able to make a lot of money. I went through this phase after having gone broke while trying to do service abroad. Or there’s been the desire to make money quickly so I can get to a point where I don’t have to work. I must admit I’ve fallen into the lazy, short-sighted “get rich quick” mentality. There are plenty of people on the web, and elsewhere, who promise their easy-to-follow method will have you making bucketfuls of money before you know it.

Beyond these extremes of aversion and desire there is a healthy balance. We shouldn’t be consumed by greed, but we must be able to sustain ourselves financially. And it’s o.k. to partake of some of life’s pleasures. This is a beautiful world we live in, and we should enjoy our time in it. We can even be deeply spiritual while earning a nice income, so long as our intentions are good and we are striving to live according to spiritual principles.

I sometimes have a hard time figuring out where exactly the balance lies in my life with service and making money. I have a limited amount of time and energy and I want to do service and make a positive difference in the world while also being financially responsible. I don’t think there’s a magic formula, especially when the dynamics of life are always changing. There are a few questions that I try to keep in mind:

• How can I best leverage my time and material resources to make a real, positive difference in the world?
• What am I doing to be financially responsible?
• How much money do my wife and I (and possibly a future family) need?
• Given all these inputs, what is the best way to manage my life?

I thought I would end with a couple of Bahá’í quotes:

Hold ye fast unto the cord of material means, placing your whole trust in God, the Provider of all means. When anyone occupieth himself in a craft or trade, such occupation itself is regarded in the estimation of God as an act of worship.

~ Bahá’u'lláh, Tablets of Bahá’u'lláh, p. 26

Know ye that by “the world” is meant your unawareness of Him Who is your Maker, and your absorption in aught else but Him. The “life to come,” on the other hand, signifieth the things that give you a safe approach to God, the All-Glorious, the Incomparable. Whatsoever deterreth you, in this Day, from loving God is nothing but the world. Flee it, that ye may be numbered with the blest. Should a man wish to adorn himself with the ornaments of the earth, to wear its apparels, or partake of the benefits it can bestow, no harm can befall him, if he alloweth nothing whatever to intervene between him and God, for God hath ordained every good thing, whether created in the heavens or in the earth, for such of His servants as truly believe in Him. Eat ye, O people, of the good things which God hath allowed you, and deprive not yourselves from His wondrous bounties.

~ Bahá’u'lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u'lláh, p. 275

Let your vision be world-embracing, rather than confined to your own self.

~ Bahá’u'lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u'lláh, p. 94

A shadow mistaken for a friend.

We grasp at phantoms
in the cold night air,
believing ourselves to be right,
to be justified,
when we are but lost children.

A brilliant ray of truth
shines in our midst,
too close for us to see.

We crawl through the wreckage
of a crumbling city,
desperately seeking a drink of water
while a shoreless ocean surges
through our hearts.

If we could only see
the wondrous light that we are
this broken world
would soon be whole.

I wrote this today at a coffee shop here in New Delhi. I was reading about how so many of the world’s problems come about because we fail to truly investigate reality. If we could clearly see the truth, we would live in unity because truth is one and indivisible. Abdu’l-Baha said it better than I could:

Reality or truth is one, yet there are many religious beliefs, denominations, creeds and differing opinions in the world today. Why should these differences exist? Because they do not investigate and examine the fundamental unity, which is one and unchangeable. If they seek reality itself, they will agree and be united; for reality is indivisible and not multiple. It is evident, therefore, that there is nothing of greater importance to mankind than the investigation of truth.

~Abdu’l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 62-63

In addition to coming together with a unified understanding of reality, we would also recognize the inherent light and nobility in ourselves. Once we are clearly able to see that within ourselves, it would only be logical to see that the same light exists within everyone else. There is a passage I particularly like from The Seven Valleys where Bahá’u'llá notes how the light of God is hidden within our hearts:

… the splendor of that light is in the hearts, yet it is hidden under the veilings of sense and the conditions of this earth, even as a candle within a lantern of iron, and only when the lantern is removed doth the light of the candle shine out.

In like manner, when thou strippest the wrappings of illusion from off thine heart, the lights of oneness will be made manifest.

~ Bahá’u'lláh, The Seven Valleys, p. 23

Of course, I can’t claim to have reached that state where I can always see that light and fully understand reality. That’s a lifelong endeavor. However, it is something that I aspire to.