The Inevitability of Poverty and Its End
In this article, I would like to look at poverty from two different perspectives. On the one hand, it is inevitability in the context of human consciousness, and on the other hand, it is an opportunity for change.
The inevitability of material poverty
First: This is not about portraying our collective consciousness as wrong or pathological, or even about naming culprits. It is about a rational analysis of why poverty was and is an integral part of our society. This analysis is based on the assumption that society reflects the people who live in it.
Recognizing that poverty corresponds to our collective consciousness opens up opportunities to alleviate it or even eliminate it altogether.
The view that the rich and powerful alone are to blame for poverty is, in my opinion, historically unsustainable and degrades us to powerless victims, which would not help to eliminate it, either. Of course, the powerful play their part, but if people, that is, us, were a little more mature, we would not fall into the trap of childish manipulation by the elites but would take responsibility for the status quo. This would mean a shift in power, this time from the top down.
My thesis is that our collective consciousness is structured in such a way that it must inevitably generate poverty.
It's quite simple really, we think first and foremost of ourselves, our family, our tribe or our nation; everything beyond that becomes secondary on the scale of importance. I am, of course, talking about the basics of collective consciousness, and I am aware that poverty is a multi-layered and complex issue. It is not about reductionism that conjures up simple answers out of a hat. It is about getting to the bottom of the inner essence of poverty.
There is no real holistic awareness that could eradicate poverty.
When it comes to what really matters, we are interested in our own poverty; the poverty of others comes second. These are harsh words, and they contradict our humanistic attitude. But there is an obvious gap between what we want/desire and reality. Aspiration and reality.
At this point, I would like to point out once again that it is not a question of portraying our collective consciousness as false or pathological.
It is absolutely logical that we think of ourselves and our immediate community first when we live on the first two levels of consciousness. These are the pre-personal and personal levels.
I will support my thesis with some examples that symbolize that we have a selective and limited perspective when it comes to poverty.
Why is growing poverty a top issue today and the fact that 25,000 people starve to death every day is not?
Why don't we give 10% of our income to those in need?
Instead of buying a new car every four years or constantly "needing" new things, we could give this money to the poor.
Instead of going on vacation, we could stay at home and donate the money.
Of course, we will find all sorts of reasons why we can't do that, and they will seem perfectly logical to us. And from the perspective of pre-personal and personal consciousness, it makes sense. It's completely pointless to discuss it. It's like trying to explain to a child what it means to be an adult. On the first two levels of consciousness, we cannot imagine a reality that goes beyond our own vision. But at the transpersonal level of consciousness, we understand very well that poverty is an expression of consciousness.
It is not about having basic needs covered, but about simply consuming what is absolutely necessary and sharing, giving away or donating everything beyond that. This is what we do when we realize the higher levels of consciousness.
Wealth is based on poverty
The inevitability of poverty is that there is personal wealth. You can't have one without the other. You can only have it as a package.
Our wealth is based on the unimaginable poverty we have created in other countries. And it is only logical that it has now reached us.
Honoré de Balzac put it in a nutshell: "Behind every wealth there is a crime".
It is much easier to blame the elites, and they are to blame, but they can only exercise their power because we let them. Besides, the capitalist system itself is based on *the few having much and the many having little*. As perverse as it is, we worship the rich and powerful; they are our role models, and we firmly believe in the principle of the leader. When we have the opportunity to become materially rich ourselves, or, in other words, to have significantly more than we need, almost everyone jumps at the chance.
We have created a society that worships the winner; *the winner takes it all.* Admiring people who accumulate wealth at our expense, which is not surprising in a system where money is God. We call this individual freedom; anyone can become rich, but this is only the freedom of the ruthless against the weak.
First, your happiness, and then mine
This is ancient Buddhist wisdom, and if we put it into practice, poverty would become impossible.
To eliminate, or at least significantly reduce, poverty, it is necessary to become transpersonal. In my opinion, there is no other way, and unfortunately, history proves me right.
What does that mean?
How can this be achieved?
Isn't that a utopia?
It is definitely a utopia. But it was also a utopia that women would vote, that slavery would be abolished, that there would be same-sex marriage, or that we would have a democracy. Even if I'm not sure about the last point, that's another topic for another article.
What makes us human is our ability to make the impossible possible. Today, we are able to do things that were considered miracles just a short time ago.
On the other hand, there is neo-nihilism and the technology of meaning. They tell us that we are powerless, and many of us believe this fairy tale.
Utopias are unrealistic until we realize them
What does "transpersonal" mean in the context of poverty?
What I mean by transpersonal may well differ from other views on it, but we all share the basic idea of going beyond personal identity.
In transpersonal consciousness, we cultivate a much broader vision of life. This view does not place the person at the center of existence, but life itself.
Here, life is a web of countless connections; there is no clear separation between cause and effect, rather it is a constant flow. Connectedness.
Transpersonal people are compassionate, open to dialogue, not dogmatic, extremely difficult to manipulate, strong, capable of analysis based on data and not opinion. They have internalized that the really important things can only be found within ourselves and not in material goods; they cannot be corrupted as they are fearless. These are just a few highlights of what it means to be transpersonal. However, it should be clear that these qualities are extremely useful when it comes to solving problems. Of course, they also have their downsides, but these are no longer problems and certainly no dramas. Negativity is part of nature, but in transpersonal consciousness, it is reduced to the natural level.
In the context of poverty, we see it as a consequence of our collective consciousness and not as an evil, not as an injustice caused by the powerful and certainly not as the childish notion of the "evil man".
Poverty is, of course, a tragic situation that needs a solution. But unlike the less developed consciousness, in transpersonal one, we do not add more negativity by making a drama out of it. Transpersonal consciousness takes the negative emotions out of the equation because they make it impossible to find a solution.
How this works in practice is beyond the scope of this article. But it should be understandable that poverty takes on a completely different dimension when we no longer focus on our own individual interests, but on the common good. If the well-being of our brothers and sisters touches us deeply in our hearts and we then act accordingly, then that is a game changer.
How and when society—the collective consciousness—will adapt to this remains to be seen. What counts, however, is that everyone internalizes and implements transpersonal consciousness for themselves.
Implementation
There are, of course, no universal recipes for implementing transpersonal awareness in the context of poverty. Therefore, I would simply like to share with you my own way of dealing with poverty.
It is proverbial for our society that when we think of poverty and wealth, we automatically create a link to money.
For me, poverty is primarily a matter of the heart and mind, where peace and happiness reside, not in the outside world. Material goods do not make us happy. We may experience a brief joy in them, but it doesn't last long. To make this clear, I am not an ascetic who lives in a cave and only eats grains. I live in the middle of society; I work, I'm in a committed relationship, I have friends; I make mistakes, and I alternate between tragic and happy moments.
According to the statistics, I am poor, and yet I am a rich man. That is my reality. It wouldn't take much effort for me to become materially rich, but I have made a conscious decision not to.
I live with the minimum and don't need more. Being rich means owning things, which in turn consumes attention and time. And since my goal is not material wealth but spiritual maturity, having little suits me very well.
Strictly speaking, I only have what I really need.
Accommodation, food, internet connection and the only luxuries I allow myself are my two Apple computers (both older models and second-hand) and a twenty-year-old Citroën (because I live in the countryside in Spain).
I spend my time writing, making art and helping others develop their consciousness. Having little and consuming little, i.e., being poor, reduces the ecological footprint to a minimum.
My transpersonal consciousness is focused on causing no harm and no suffering; this applies to all living beings and to all things that live. I don't eat meat, not because I am against killing, but because the poor animals suffer endlessly; they live in real poverty. I also don't go on vacation anymore, and I don't use airplanes (except in emergencies).
Likewise, I am deeply convinced that the really important things are not of a material nature, which does not mean that I neglect material things, but rather that a fat bank account does not make you happy, but contemplation does.
If I have more than I need, then I give it to someone who needs it. Simply because we are all one big global family and brothers and sisters help each other.
What has inspired me are the wise people of this world; they don't need material wealth; I have taken my cue from them. And they leave no doubt as to what real wealth is.
Now you can argue that it doesn't change the world, and that's probably true, but it's another drop in the ocean of consciousness. And the ocean is made up of drops, and at some point, there may be so many drops that poverty is simply no longer possible. I believe in that, and if I inspire even one person with my example, the change is unstoppable.
Life bless you
Certainly! Here's a gentle invitation you can include at the end of your blog post:
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