Spiritual Poverty and Its Psychic Wounds

By: Gita Saraydarian

It is a great day for humanity when people from all walks of life discuss the very serious subject of poverty that face us in rich and poor countries alike. Millions of people all over the world lack the basic needs for their physical, emotional, and mental development. There is also the lack in many parts of the world an expansive, unifying spiritual nourishment that gives hope and allows for the development of the internal qualities that sustain all of life. This is a most serious, sinister, and hidden form of poverty. It inflicts psychic wounds that prevent the complete development of the human being through lifetimes.

Poverty in all its forms affects us in this life and in the next life. Poverty on the individual level has far reaching effects for the entire human family. As we heal the wounds of individual poverty, we will be able to see the healing of the entire planetary body. The wounds and pains of deprivation will no longer affect the next generation of incarnating souls. What a great vision this can be for all of us and for all future generations!

Eliminating poverty in all its levels requires spiritual magnanimity in the hearts of all of us, especially those who are religious and political leaders and opinion shapers in all fields of life.

Magnanimity comes from a deep love and understanding of the divine origin of every human being. It is enhanced when we see how life is affected on tangible and intangible levels, through multiple generations, and when we truly understand that whatever we do to others comes back to us in some form. Spiritual magnanimity means to be spiritually mature beyond the boundaries of a particular religious belief. Religions can be a source for good or can be very separative and exclusionary in nature. True spiritual values and principles go beyond a specific religious belief system and focus on the inner and deeper values that are the foundations of all religious and spiritual practices. Caring for others, compassion, forgiveness, the concept of one human family, hope, faith, healing, and dignity can be a motivating factor in all our actions.

Physical, emotional, and mental poverty leave long-lasting wounds. The wounds of physical poverty are easily visible. Emotional poverty leaves scars on the physical and emotional bodies and is even more lasting. Mental poverty takes us into a deeper crisis: it results in the inability to have a healthy mind that is used for serious and critical thinking. Such individuals and groups of people are more easily manipulated. Fear and separatism and the ugly and base belief systems are easily sold and find ready ears. Mental poverty inflicts wounds on the physical, emotional, mental bodies and is perpetuated through the generations.

Then there is spiritual poverty, which affects the physical, emotional, mental, and soul bodies of individuals and groups of people in this world and beyond. It exists where there is hatred, racism, the demonizing of people, or using people as pawns in political and religious warfare. These kinds of conditions inflict psychic wounds that are the most sinister and long-lasting.

We can kill the spirit even where there is physical, emotional, and mental “food”. More importantly, without the spiritual foundation, we kill hope and vision. Human beings who have no hope and vision hate themselves and hate others. Hatred in this world and beyond perpetuates more hatred and atrocities and creates a cycle of hatred and violence in both worlds.

Damage done by poverty comes back to us, lifetime after lifetime, until the root causes are eliminated. Those persons who live and die in poverty and suffering add to the pain and suffering of the subtle worlds, which in turn develop into a psychic cloud over humanity. By continuously causing harm and suffering to human beings, we perpetuate the suffering and hatred in our own lives.

When individuals achieve their potential, at whatever level that may be, every life form is enriched. Once we nurture and “feed” humanity in its multiple forms, eventually, every incarnating human being will be healed and will be able to contribute to the betterment of the world.

The cause of poverty is not the lack of resources. It is not the lack of ability, knowledge, or talent but rather it is the lack of spiritual understanding. If we could embrace the spiritual values that enable us to find solutions, we will see the quick alleviation of poverty in its many manifestations.

Poverty can be eliminated when we

1. Have the courage to change our internal belief system from separatism to unity.
2. Have a fundamental faith in the human potential for good.
3. Firmly believe that every human being is divine in origin.
4. An understanding that all resources to alleviate poverty are consolidations of the loving, living energy of divinity. We certainly have plenty of resources when we have the love and will to share and distribute.
5. An understanding that the greater the realization of love toward humanity, the more we will instill those values in our daily life that sustain life, help others less fortunate, and put into office those leaders who truly reflect our ideals and hopes for a better future.

This expansive spiritual understanding forms the philosophical foundation for alleviating all levels of poverty. When we change the mind-set that conditions our decisions and actions, we will be able to remove the heavy walls of separatism that hinder human development. Eliminating poverty will then be an easy task. We will see that ensuring the health and well being of every individual, on many levels, is the best course of action for our present and future lives. It is the duty of every individual to work toward this goal.

It is a privilege for me to be part of this global action on poverty and to be able to contribute my thoughts on this very serious issue.

Thank you.
Gita
President, TSG Foundation
www.tsgfoundation.org
Participant in Blog Action Day 2008 – Poverty: http://blogactionday.org/

Gita Saraydarian is the Founder and President of TSG Foundation, an organization dedicated to the Ageless Wisdom Teachings. Complete list of past blogs is available online.

Copyright Notice: All of Gita’s Blog articles are copyrighted by The Creative Trust. 2008