Should Spiritual Teachers Get Paid?
Like Apple, Google, Facebook and the many other brands we support spiritual teachers and conscious media brands require money to live and do what they do.
But there seems to be a perception that the latter should not be making money in their work. Do we perceive money as evil? Why do we give it so much power? Why are we willing to financially support something we know isn't good for humanity, but then are not willing to support something that is truly helping? This is a big one! Whether we are talking about guru’s, pastors, content creators, meditation teachers, conscious journalists etc, there seems to be this big question about whether or not these people should make any money doing their work. This is something that is also personal to me as I have been working in this space for 10 years now and have heard everything in the book about whether or not we should ever make any money as Collective Evolution. I can’t possibly put numbers down as to how much of the spiritual and truth based community feels this way, but we have certainly heard it a lot and have even been told that if we made money, we’d get corrupted and end up doing what many elite individuals do in the standard capitalist world. This is a funny one because when people find out we, as CE, used to be making almost $2 million dollars a year and never lost our vision, got corrupted or sold out, things begin to change inside their perception. This is a conversation I always enjoy having as seeing people’s eyes light up to the possibility that money doesn’t corrupt is a beautiful thing. Another interesting observation in this space is, it seems the average churchgoer has no issue keeping their community funded and flowing. Churches make millions every year. While some don’t always agree with how the money is spent, the communities thrive. We also, on average, don’t seem to have an issue spending money on things that we don’t truly support deep down. Example, the car you drive, the computer you use, the phone you use, the clothes and the shoes you wear. A good chunk of these were all likely built with materials that harm the environment and by people that were likely dramatically underpaid. But we see them as a necessity, and therefore we splurge. But what happens with spirituality outside of religion? What happens with conscious media? Do we not value it? Do we miss the connection to how these things are supported by us? This leads to what our perceptions of money might be. Many of us seem to view money as evil. I understand where this perception comes from. Many of us see how people chase money, how their actions or character may change when they get money, and how it appears that the world is run by greed and a lust for money. I get it. But is this true about money? Is this true about all people? Or perhaps just a few? This unbalanced judgement and relationship towards money, that many have in this space, ultimately causes three things: 1. an unclear observation of who the people are who are asking for money for their services, 2. a potential lack of money in their own experience as they are giving so much power to how ‘evil’ it is, and 3. the inability for things we value to thrive. Money is simply a tool. Energy defined in a form of something that is used in our current level of consciousness to obtain things. That’s all it is. What people have done with money is about them, not about money. Do we all want to live in a world where money is a roadblock in experiencing life? Where a lack of money contributes to people being hungry, sick or suffering? No, it’s likely that well over the majority of the world’s population does not want this. But money is here and we all have to use it for now. And the reality is, spiritual teachers or those working in the consciousness space have the same bills as everyone else. It’s common when I speak with colleagues in the space that their community, fans, followers, readers etc. will be hard on them anytime they sell something, ask for money or talk about finances. I want to be clear, not all are judging spiritual teachers or brands in this space, it is only some, but it does appear to happen in big numbers. For 10 years we have received flack for needing to make money to do our work here at CE. And after responding to thousands of emails over the years, I realized what one of the main things is that causes these responses. Aside from the many other less common reasons, the main one seems to be that communities don’t have a clear enough visual understanding of how much work, time or effort is being put in by the person or brand working to provide services. Thus there is not an understanding of the team it takes, the resources required and the costs to make it happen. This is what motivated us to reveal all of our costs, finances and plans publicly to our community so there could be a clearer understanding of why this work must be supported. As mentioned above, we seem to have no problem supporting Apple, Samsung, Google, Facebook and other huge brands we view as ‘the enemy,’ but when it comes to those working to truly make a difference, we put them under the microscope or don’t value the work enough to support. Again, this isn’t everyone, just the majority at this moment. I wrote this because for me it’s important to share the truth and real-life experience of someone, and a brand, working in this space. I also deeply value conscious media, spiritual teachers and those spending their lives helping humanity grow in their consciousness. I personally support a number of different teachers and brands out there because I know first hand that if you don’t... they won’t be around anymore. Further to those reasons, I was also inspired by a video from a friend and colleague, Seven Bomar, who perfectly discussed the question of “Should spiritual teachers get paid?” and I had to share it. He speaks about some of the bigger brands in this space who are making millions each month. He explores the legitimate questions and struggles any business owner in the space, including myself, go through in figuring out what to do to keep things going, all while having to do this very time consuming, but important work, at the same time. Check out what he has to say below. If you like Seven’s work and wish to support him, click here. If you like CE’s work and wish to support us, click here. .
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