Scarcity
by Guy Spiro

---

Someone close to me recently surprised me with an attitude. More of a belief really, but one that I left behind so long ago that I found it a little shocking to find it as close to home as I did. The circumstances and the identity of the person are not important, but the limited thinking that was exhibited is something that all of humanity needs to overcome.

Materialism is seen by many of the spiritual persuasion as one of the major problems to be transcended by those on the Path. Of course, there is a great deal of truth to that. It is usually said that Money is the root of all evil. The quote is actually, “The love of money is the root of all evil.” This a bit of an overstatement, but it is true that to be driven by money or any of the physical plane distractions to the point of losing touch with who and what we truly are is, indeed, the root of all evil. Leaving aside how one defines evil, and the debate over whether or not evil even exists, most if not all of the misery in the world can be traced back to the belief that the physical is reality. But that is the state of most of humanity. We have forgotten who we are, what we are, and where we really come from. Enlightenment can be seen as remembering these things.

The material world has a way of seeming so real that it is understandable how we have lost our way. As I’ve said in this column before, the Buddhist teaching that the physical plane is Maya is the truth, but when you stub your toe, it hurts. What we experience in physical life is so intense that it blocks out our perception of the higher realities. We then easily fall into belief patterns that perpetuate suffering. The leading cause of suffering is the belief in it.

Scarcity is one of the more suffering-inducing beliefs we can have. The statement that shocked me was, “The rich enjoy their comfort at the expense of the poor.” In a strictly physical plane sense, the belief in finite resources makes some sense. If there really is a limit to the good of the world, then it could be possible that one person’s good fortune is at the expense of another. But this is the worst form of materialism. I see it as far worse than the mere obsession with one or more of the earthly distractions. This particular belief perpetuates poverty, with all of its attendant suffering, like no other. Scarcity is the illusion. Stop believing in it.

We are all connected to the unlimited source of all creation by the individuated spark of God consciousness within us. When we remember that we do not live by bread alone, that the source of life is far beyond the physical plane, and indeed that our connection to the source is within each and every one of us, we see clearly that there is no limit to God’s creative energy. There is no limit to our ability to manifest good for ourselves and the world.