For this 3rd post in our series on abundance, Paula's publisher has graciously made available an entire chapter to share with you here, in 2 large excerpts ...
The Awakened One has no problem with wealth—for wealth is not the problem.
The unawakened one has a problem with wealth—for the sense of possession is the problem.
—Weekly Teachings from Sri Bhagavan, Week 56: October 9–October 15, 2011
After some time, I sold my townhouse that I could no longer afford, rented a less expensive apartment in a new neighborhood, and hung up my real estate license. I finally admitted to myself that I hadn’t been enjoying real estate sales for quite a while, well before the recession hit. I wasn’t thriving and felt little motivation or purpose. In retrospect, I saw that I could have left the profession earlier, but I’d been afraid. I didn’t believe I would earn an adequate income doing anything else. Without the recession, I may have kept half-heartedly plugging away for years to come, and might have been quite miserable. But it turned out that this nationwide crisis was my personal wake-up call, and I’m grateful for that bonk on the head, as painful as it was to go through.
After I gave up real estate sales, I tentatively committed myself to developing the healing practice that I’d kept on the sidelines, along with teaching, coaching, and a little blog writing for fun. I can say now, what a blessing! By huge grace, my work these days is immensely gratifying and flows from the heart. I’m also much happier living in a different location. But I can’t pretend that I knew this is how things would turn out; I was depressed, moody, and fearful during much of the transition. On top of it, I was in the midst of the breakup of a six-year relationship as well. I felt as though my life was completely falling apart.
True Abundance
In the center of all the anxiety-provoking uncertainty and change, Deeksha and Oneness courses supported me in undergoing a lot of inner shifts that gradually began ushering tremendous joy into my life. As I started to awaken to a new, closer relationship with my inner Divine, a different sense of security was emerging from the wreckage. Faith in a greater plan kept me going, for there was much evidence of a sacred hand bringing many new people and events to me, all of which brought a huge amount of inner abundance and gratitude into my life. Even though money was not yet showing up, a brand new and quite magical experience of true prosperity began to take root…
The external world reflects the inner world because the beliefs we hold dear create our experience of life. Those beliefs were instilled in us through our families, schools, and society. Financial prosperity is available for everybody, but one reason that some people have more and some have less is because of the mind’s belief system. Our beliefs can cause us to perceive life through the lens of lack. There’s no reality to that lack. The reality is that the universe is exceedingly abundant, and every single one of us has inherited a potential for abundance.
Whether we manifest that abundance or not depends not only on our beliefs and perceptions, but also on other factors such as our relationships, karma, and ancestors… Oneness teaches that our relationship with our fathers and mothers greatly affects our prosperity. It’s important to work on healing those relationships first. We can also seek from our personal Divine (or whatever you call that universal creative intelligence) the liberation of our ancestors and the release of karma.
If you’ve done or are doing the work to heal the relationships with parents, karma, and ancestors, and are still experiencing prosperity difficulties, then it takes some courage and honesty to take a deeper look within and examine limiting beliefs, perceptions, and emotions about money. Money is a very charged issue and most of us have lots of baggage to sort through in this regard. Oneness processes are available to help with this endeavor. What we find, as we deeply examine our beliefs and fears, is that we need the help of grace to free ourselves of all the limitations and resistance affecting our prosperity.
Oneness teachings on abundance and prosperity generally concern two different arenas. One area of focus is our inner world. The second area of focus concerns the outer world and our actions in it. The inner world and our awakening to the Divine within is where we begin, because once that relationship to our personal Divine deepens, and we are following its lead, we have a limitless and authentic navigation system for action in the outer world. As we become conscious of our beliefs, perceptions, and emotions, calling on grace for help, then the outside world begins to reflect shifts in the inner world. We still have our part to do in the outer world, of course, and Oneness courses can provide guidance on understanding what is ours to do.
The more aware I’ve become of the beliefs and the emotional charges I carry related to prosperity, the more I’ve been able to see how constricted my consciousness has been for most of my life. The consciousness of lack and limitation is tight, joyless, and narrow. The consciousness of abundance and wealth is just the opposite. Abundance is spacious, gratitude-filled, and flowing. Having a consciousness of wealth includes seeing all the natural abundance of our life. We see that our wealth includes all the richness of our relationships, the exquisite blessings of grace, and the huge capacity for creativity and growth we come by naturally. Wealth consciousness is a consciousness of gratitude and appreciation for all that we have, including our Divine within.
After 20 years of dutifully reciting prosperity affirmations and efforts to create positive thinking through many different modalities, I still was not demonstrating consistent success in manifesting a lot of money. I would see myself slipping in and out of positive thinking and I struggled with self-esteem and feelings of frustration about why making money was such a challenge.
When I started taking Oneness courses—and, most especially, after awakening—I was finally able to have a much deeper awareness of the limiting money programming that stifles joy, service, and creativity. I came to recognize the voice of programming, with its platitudes and fearful outlook. I saw that my unconscious programming is so deep and pervasive that I absolutely needed grace to intervene, for growth in consciousness requires the help of something far greater than the rigid, controlling mind. Once I saw this, and once the bond with my personal Divine deepened, I could ask for the grace of wealth consciousness and begin to see some results. I’ve been able to see the powerful impact of my deepening relationship with my personal Divine.....
[Stay tuned for Part 2 of excerpts from this chapter...]
Awakened Oneness Trainer
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Reprinted with permission of the publisher, from THE ONENESS BLESSING © 2015 Paula Rosenfeld. Published by New Page Books, a division of Career Press, Pompton Plains, NJ. 800-227-3371. All rights reserved.
Image: Buddha Moon - source unknown,
Green Waterfall by Jorge Gaep