“Thoughts are mental energy; they’re the currency that you have to attract what you desire. Learn to stop spending that currency on thoughts you don’t want.”
—Wayne Dyer
 

ne of the things I embraced while I was training at the Zen monastery was the spirit of conscious, compassionate inquiry. I spent every moment evaluating if what I did supported my practice or if it did not. This inquiry helped most areas of my life, but it was especially valuable to me when it came to money.

As the cook, it helped me determine where our donated funds would go at the grocery store. It helped me see which ingredients were going to be the most in line with our principles. We didn’t indulge in processed foods that were expensive, but rather nutritious foods that were cost-effective. We chose organic when we knew the conventional options were the most heavily contaminated. We spent our money at the mom-and-pop shops for the bulk of our groceries because supporting our local small businesses was in line with our values.

This attitude of mind carried over to all the other positions I held during my stay at the monastery. When I was the gardener, it helped me determine which produce to grow: What did we eat the most? Where did most of our money go at the store and how could we save it? When I was operating the small business, it helped me determine the type of packaging we used for shipping: Was it made from recycled materials? Could it be entirely recycled on the other end once it was shipped?

You see, conscious, compassionate awareness understands that all of my decisions have consequences. Every good and every bad ripples and perpetuates. ONENESS doesn’t want to harm. It strives for sustainable benefit.

Even today, outside the monastery, I look around me and see what I surround my life with. What do I spend my money on? Where do I invest my attention? When I look around me, I will immediately see what I value. Without judgment, I can start to use what I see as guidance to inform what I want to shift. Is there too much processed food in my diet? Not enough exercise? Not enough fresh air? Did I help someone today? How am I spending my money?

Writing my last book was a huge investment of time, energy, attention, and money. When I left the Zen monastery, I made a vow that I was going to share what made the biggest impact on my life with the world. So this book was going to be my most helpful one yet, filled with some of the most powerful stories and lessons I could remember. I hired and paid an excellent editor thousands of dollars to ensure that A Shift to Love was going to be perfect.

In the back of my mind, I had voices yelling at me telling me that all that money was going to go to waste. It would never make back what went into it. But I didn’t care. I knew that the reason I was writing that book was to fulfill my mission, and my values were more important to me than anything else.

Again, I look to see if my money is going to what’s harmful or to what’s helpful.

In this way, my relationship with money mirrors spiritual practice perfectly. In meditation, I am investing all of my attention, energy, and effort into what leads to freedom, while withdrawing my attention, energy, and effort from what causes suffering.

May my spent money serve the same purpose as my spent attention, energy, and effort.

May I continue to make good investments and significant withdrawals.