Charging Money for the Truth

Register here for the Free Tele-Seminar
on Thursday, July 1st, 2010
at 6pm PST, 9pm EST

What is your perspective on the relationship between spiritual awakening and money? You've certainly got a wide range of options to choose from, each of which has been well-explored and tested in many ways. During the last 40 years or so, there's been a huge influx of teachers from India, Tibet, and other oriental countries, bringing not only teachings to the Western world, but also setting up huge organizations with assets often in the millions.

A great many traditions have emphasized the fact that the truth of who you really are is already yours and cannot be associated with commerce. A traditional guru in India would never ask money for their teaching, but at the same time, there is a well-established tradition of "dana," that you don't go to a teacher empty-handed. Families in those cultures will give a significant portion of their income to their teacher.

At the other end of the spectrum is the idea that we only value what we pay for. If you give someone an insight, or a mantra, or a practice, or a transmission of energy for free, they may lose it or forget it very quickly. Attach a hefty fee to the same spiritual gift, and it has much greater value in the recipient's heart.

And yet another perspective is that the mechanics of teaching today costs money in a way that it never did in India or Tibet. The cost of maintaining a website, hosting tele-seminars, air travel to events in different locations, etc. etc. etc. can amount to an enormous overhead for the teacher or his or her organization.

So what's your perspective on all of this? Should teachings of spiritual liberation always be given for free? Should they be given on a donation basis? Can we trust the American psyche to be as generous as donations as it's oriental counterpart? Or is it simply a fee for services, like anything else?

Please join Arjuna Ardagh for what will certainly be a rich and fruitful conversation. You can participate in this tele-seminar live over the phone or by submitting questions and comments over the web.