We have talked about calling in the abundance to have anything your heart desires, but this week let's talk about the attachment to them and how to walk the fine line of having but not coveting. I share one of my favorite Indian parables about a king who is also a saint.
Thanks for listening. Be sure to like, subscribe, and share with friends!
Come connect with me on Instagram and TikTok!
Find out more about me on my website.
xoxo
We have talked about calling in the abundance to have anything your heart desires, but this week let's talk about the attachment to them and how to walk the fine line of having but not coveting. I share one of my favorite Indian parables about a king who is also a saint.
Thanks for listening. Be sure to like, subscribe, and share with friends!
Come connect with me on Instagram and TikTok!
Find out more about me on my website.
xoxo
Rise and shine, everybody. It's time to wake up with Susan. (0:05) Spiritual awakening can be a beautiful, messy, and sometimes lonely journey.(0:09) So let's do it together. I'm your host, Susan Sutherland. I'm an intuitive healer and spiritual (0:16) mentor.We are all called to rise up above our conditioning and limiting beliefs and shine our (0:24) light on ourselves and others. So let's get to it. Hi folks.I want to add something real quick (0:31) before you start with this episode. There is a good bit of God talk in it. And what I want you (0:36) to understand where I am coming from, and I know where Paramahansa Yogananda was coming from, (0:43) is that the God we speak of is not the old white man with a beard in the clouds ready to condemn (0:49) and judge you.It is the divine intelligence, the source of all that is that you are a spark of, (0:55) and I am a spark of, and that is all loving, all knowing, and all loving. And so as you listen, (1:02) listen with those ears that the God we are seeking and keeping our eyes upon is that eternal love, (1:11) that love that is within each of us and every being on the planet. We are just destined to (1:19) uncover it, to remember it.So just wanted to add that note for you. Hello family. Thanks for (1:25) joining me.I feel like it is time that I reintroduce myself, that we've been doing this (1:33) for a little while, and maybe there's some new listeners. And I just want to remind you of who (1:41) I am in this lifetime, of kind of the labels that I'm claiming as my own for right now, which is (1:48) wife, mother of three. I've got three kids who are 10, 13, and 15, which is a fun way to challenge (1:58) myself in how to share that is comfortable for me, that will still be comfortable for them, (2:06) and how to really use the information that I'm receiving in downloads and messages and help (2:15) other people.This podcast, I actually started almost as therapy for myself. Spirit said start (2:22) recording and I did it. And it has been just an incredible experience to be able to share (2:29) the things that I'm doing and learning with other people.It makes my time, my personal time, (2:39) which is a lot of my time, to connect with Spirit. It makes it feel so purposeful and not really (2:46) selfish, even though it's not selfish anyway. But when I know that I am able to use that time (2:53) and that connection to help other people, it has, it's just, it's changed my life to be able to (3:00) share my experiences.So I thank you for listening. If you haven't subscribed, go ahead and subscribe. (3:05) You'll have the next episode available to you on your device.I appreciate you listening for, (3:11) um, sometimes I have to pretend that I'm just talking to myself and nobody will ever hear it (3:18) to say what I need to say. And sometimes I picture your face there and I picture the people I'm (3:23) speaking to and the conversations that we're having because that's what this feels like to me (3:28) is a conversation. So because I did an abundance episode and I'm telling you, I really hope it (3:38) resonated.I really hope that you know how worthy you are of a comfortable, abundant lifestyle. (3:45) And that's abundance in love and health and money and all of the ways that you can, can even imagine (3:54) abundance. But I think it is one of the ways we block ourselves the most.And definitely for me, (4:02) it has been really an experience of understanding my relationship with money. Where is my money (4:12) story coming from? Who, who told me how to believe things about money? Um, and kind of repairing that (4:22) or, or choosing a new story. And so I, I really do hope you are focusing on doing that for you.(4:29) You do not need to be rich to be happy, but stressing about money will cause health problems. (4:38) Stressing about money will cause relationship problems. And so I want you to know that money (4:48) can flow to you effortlessly so that you can live the kind of life that you would like to live (4:54) without stress and anguish.Because money is just a currency that we've decided, you know, (5:01) the energetic exchange for goods and services on this planet. It has no value other than what we (5:07) assign it. That's why a two bedroom house in one place can cost this and a two bedroom house, (5:13) you know, 10 miles down the road can cost double.We've assigned a value. You can pay for a water (5:19) bottle for 50 cents on the side of the road, or I'm a kid in a cooler, or you can, you know, (5:26) spend $8 for the same water bottle at a stadium. We assign things their value.So I don't want you (5:32) to get caught up in a numbers game. I want you to find flow and ease in your life. And so that's (5:38) what that's about is figuring out what story you're telling you that is blocking that ease and that (5:46) flow.All right. So the other thing we have to talk about with regard to abundance, I feel like (5:54) they are one in the same and often are like co-teachers, maybe like the teacher and the (6:02) assistant teacher. I'm not sure who would be the boss in the relationship, but we have to talk (6:07) about attachment.Now, this one is tricky because you can have all that your heart desires. You can (6:19) have all of that. The key is not to be attached to it.To be of the world, but not in it is how (6:28) Jesus said it. And I've got a really cool story for you. It's one that Paramahansa Yogananda (6:35) quote often.It's an Indian parable, but I think it's really good at understanding that it is not (6:44) in the having. It is not in owning the things or having the relationships or the followers. It is (6:56) when you derive your value from them.It is when you find upset when they are lost or taken from (7:06) you. And often when you have that attachment, that is when they'll be taken from you because you need (7:12) that lesson. You need that understanding.So we've been doing A Course in Miracles since January 1st (7:20) in my book club. And it's really interesting because I do not find myself very attached to (7:27) material possessions. I rent my clothes for the most part.It's kind of like a cycling rotation (7:34) so that I don't have to own. I can just switch out clothes. I just don't have a whole lot of things (7:41) that I'm really that I care about.Well, we had friends over on New Year's Eve and the kids were (7:50) up in the playroom, which used to be the playroom and is now my meditation and healing room. But they (7:57) were in there and we started on day one of A Course in Miracles and it was talking about giving value (8:05) us giving value to everything that is there. Whatever value it holds is what you have assigned (8:12) to it.And that's why looking at a picture of my mother resonates very deeply for me than it would (8:20) for you. If you look at a picture of my mother, you'd be like, that's a picture of a woman. You (8:25) know, big deal.But for me, it hits my heart because I've assigned it a value. Anyway, so I think I'm (8:33) good to go with attachments and I go up into my room and those little kids have messed with my (8:38) crystals in my room. And I was like, no, you didn't touch my things.And Lord have mercy, when you need (8:47) a lesson, it will be there for you. Day one on this teaching in A Course in Miracles, I was going (8:54) into it because I record all of the lessons in advance and then I do them with the book club. (8:59) I listen to it and do the practice with them.And so I recorded it a week before and as I'm (9:06) recording it, I'm like, oh, I got this. I'll have a week of hanging out before we get to new (9:13) stuff for me. And day one, there I am and they mess with my things.And I was like, Lord have mercy. (9:20) Okay, I hear you. I hear you.Anyway, so when you have an attachment to a relationship, (9:30) that is the problem. When they say, if you love something, let it go. If it comes back, (9:37) it's yours.And if it doesn't, it never was. Well, it's not really let it go. It's like don't (9:43) hang on to it.Know that your wholeness and then your completeness has to come from you. There's (9:52) no better half. You do not have a better half.You are a whole being trying to be so healed (10:00) that the vibrational match for you is another whole healed being. That's what we're shooting (10:07) for. But there's nobody who is going to provide you something that you are not meant to be looking (10:15) for within.And so when you cling on to a relationship, when you have these codependent (10:20) relationships or you're finding value in their validation, that's an attachment that we have (10:28) to be careful and we have to release. Of course, we are attached to our children. Like that is a love (10:37) that it's not even it's not attachment.It's it's the most profound love. Right. But when we (10:44) become so enwrapped in their schedule, in in their living, in participating in their existence, (10:52) you lose you lose yourself.And that's a wrong form of attachment to. And so I'll tell you, (11:00) um, Mark and I are are in a relationship that is very yin yang. He is helping me grow and understand (11:11) in ways that I certainly would not be pushed or or guided without him and the same for him.(11:20) And it's very interesting to me because he has not had he's not working on money issues like he is (11:27) good to go on that and worthiness. And he came from a third world country. And I was really (11:32) thinking about it the other day.But he came from the third world country in which he was (11:39) of the affluent class, like he grew up in South Africa during the apartheid. (11:45) And so even though we would see his country as poor in his country, he was the he was among the haves. (11:53) Um, like consider there is great discrepancy at that time between the haves and the have nots.(12:02) And I don't know if that's where his expectation that I will be affluent like there's just no (12:10) question of value for him. He doesn't have any qualms about spending money knowing more is (12:16) going to come in. He is a very good business person.Also, he runs a very successful company. (12:23) But I think there are people who are very good business people who are still have really big (12:30) struggles with money. And so it's interesting to me to see the work that I've had to do, (12:37) A, to be okay with money and to call more money in and not feel icky about it or to feel guilty (12:47) about it.He doesn't have to do any of that. But the boy's got some attachment issues like you (12:55) wouldn't believe. And that is another part of his upbringing where they didn't have, you know, (13:03) a hundred different pairs of shoes.My kids don't have a hundred different pairs of shoes, (13:09) but my oldest probably has ten because he likes shoes and my middle child just no. But, um, (13:18) Mark will hang on to a pair of shoes that he hasn't worn in six years. And I'm not, it's that (13:25) like another one's not coming.So I have to cling on to this. And that is also scarcity mindset, (13:33) but in a different way. It's, it's a scarcity mindset, not of, you know, you can't order a (13:41) spray at dinner because we're not paying $2 for a spray at dinner where I had to catch myself (13:47) because I was, I was repeating my parents programming about that.And then I was like, (13:53) there's probably other really good reasons you shouldn't have a spray at dinner. And I shouldn't (13:58) make it where it's about the, the $2.50 they're going to charge us for it. But you have to catch (14:03) yourself in these situations to figure out what your relationship with money is.Well, his is, (14:10) shoes weren't replaced quickly. They had to really take care of their things. And I'm telling you, (14:17) he takes care of his things in a very obnoxious way to where, um, I just say at ease.It's a thing. (14:27) We're going to be, we're going to be all set. But he takes very good care of his things, (14:30) which mean they last forever.Significantly past his use of the thing. And he is also, (14:40) also loves shopping. So he has replaced it a hundred times over, but does not get rid of things.(14:47) So anyway, um, we have to look at our attachment to things because we will be taught how to (14:58) let go in uncomfortable situations. If we start having attachments that are inappropriate, (15:05) and that is our soul's journey of teaching us. And so it's really important.First of all, (15:14) to love what you already have. If you love what you already have, then you are very likely to (15:22) call in more things that you will love. But when you are constantly finding what's missing, (15:29) guess what you're attracting? More experiences of not having.Lack attracts lack and abundance (15:38) attracts abundance. Anyway, I'm going back to abundance and I really want to talk about (15:43) attachment. So I want to share with you a story, um, this Indian parable, because I just think it's, (15:51) it's so amazing of how you can experience abundance without guilt and without attachment.(16:02) So anyway, long ago, there lived a great sage named Vyasa. He was the writer of the Hindu (16:09) scripture, the Bhagavad Gita. By his divine power, he invoked a saintly soul to enter the womb of his (16:17) wife.As the baby grew within the womb, he taught the unborn child the secrets of the scriptures (16:23) through the subconscious mind of the mother. The baby, when born, was named Shukadeva. Because of (16:31) his prenatal training, he proved to be a unique child.At the age of seven, he already was versed (16:38) in the difficult Hindu scriptures and was ready to renounce the world and devote himself fully to (16:45) his spiritual quest. In India, it is customary for a devotee to seek out spiritual teachers (16:51) until a true master is found, one who is recognized as the devotee's own God-chosen guru. (17:00) The unusual child had a tremendous urge to seek the divine.In his fervent search, he was directed (17:08) by his father to go to King Janaka. As Shukadeva entered the palace, he saw the king sitting on (17:17) an elaborate jewel-encrusted golden throne. The king was surrounded by courtiers and by court (17:23) damsels who were fanning him with palm leaves.This sight shocked Shukadeva. He turned back (17:29) and started to walk briskly out of the place, muttering to himself, (17:33) A matter-soaked king! How could a worldly man be my teacher? (17:39) But King Janaka was both a king and a saint. He was in the world, but not of it.(17:45) Highly advanced spiritually, he telepathically sensed the thoughts of the fleeing Shukadeva (17:51) and sent a messenger after the boy, commanding him to come back. Thus, master and devotee met. (17:58) The king sent his attendants away and at once entered an absorbing discourse on God.(18:05) Four hours passed. Shukadeva was getting restless and hungry, but he dared not disturb (18:10) God-intoxicated King Janaka. Another hour passed.Suddenly, two breathless messengers arrived, (18:18) exclaiming, Your Majesty, the whole city is on fire. The flames threaten to spread to the palace. (18:24) Won't you come and supervise the efforts to fight it? (18:28) The king replied, I'm too busy discussing the all-protecting God with my friend Shukadeva.(18:33) I have no time for anything else. Go and help the others put out the fire. (18:38) When another hour passed, the same two messengers came running to King Janaka.(18:43) Your Majesty, please flee. The flames have caught the palace and are fast approaching your chamber. (18:50) The king answered, Never mind, don't disturb me.I am drinking the nectar of God with my friend. (18:57) Go, do the best you can. Shukadeva was puzzled by the king's attitude, but he (19:02) too tried to remain unaffected by the excitement.A short time later, two scorched messengers leaped (19:10) in front of the king, shouting, Mighty king, behold the flames approaching your throne. (19:16) Run before both of you are burned. The king replied, Save yourselves.I do not fear the (19:23) audacity of destructive flames. His messengers fled. The flames leaped toward the pile of books (19:30) that Shukadeva had by his side, but the king sat motionless, indifferent.The alarmed Shukadeva (19:37) lost his poise. He rose from his seat and began slapping the flames in order to save his precious (19:44) books. King Janaka then smiled, waved his hands, and the fire miraculously disappeared.(19:52) Shukadeva was in great awe and sank back to his seat. The king said, Oh, young Shukadeva, (19:59) you thought of me as a pleasure and matter-drenched king, but look at yourself. You (20:05) forsook the all-protecting thought of God to save a pile of books, while I paid no attention to my (20:12) burning kingdom and palace.God worked this miracle to show you that although you are a renunciant, (20:19) you are more attached to your books than to God, or than I am to my kingdom, even though I live (20:26) in the world instead of a hermitage. Attachment to possessions, and not possessions itself, (20:33) is the source of misery. In this world, we do not own anything.We are only given the use of things. (20:41) Some have more to use than others, but remember, the millionaire and the poor man alike (20:48) have to leave everything, all possessions, when death comes. Isn't that amazing? I just love (20:56) that story as a reminder that having things is not bad.You should not feel guilty for having things. (21:04) Money is not dirty. The more money you have, the more you can assist others.But when you have that (21:12) attachment to things, that's where you can get yourself into trouble. I'll tell you a little (21:18) story since I don't think he listens to my podcast. We had a situation months ago where (21:25) Mark couldn't find one of his water bottles, and he's got a dozen for, you know, different things, (21:32) but there's a blue water bottle, and it was missing.And it was after work, so I'm sure, (21:40) you know, stress levels were high. He just wanted to go to the Peloton. That is the specific water (21:44) bottle he uses for the Peloton, and he unleashed, you know, on the kids, like, who took my water (21:51) bottle, blah, blah, blah.We're talking about, like, a $10 water bottle. I don't know that there's any (21:57) water bottle worthy of this kind of reaction. But the message that was sent was, this water bottle (22:05) is more important than how I am making my family feel.Because he went to town about, you know, (22:13) not respecting his things, and it was all about the things. And I'll tell you, he is very good (22:20) in our family, and so I hate to tell his stories, but y'all, I gotta work with what I got. So, (22:28) hopefully, he'll forgive me.But that's what we have to understand, is his attachment to this (22:35) water bottle resulted in behavior that he wasn't proud of. After he stopped to reflect on how he (22:42) treated the people in his family that may or may not have, I was actually the culprit. I had had, (22:49) I had the water bottle, and so the kids got unleashed on, and they didn't even do anything.(22:54) And I think he unleashed on me, too. I just don't care, because it's like, dude, it's a water (23:00) bottle. But that's because that's not what I'm working on.That's not one of the things I'm (23:06) working through at this time. Though, you know, let me, let me have y'all throw around my crystals. (23:15) I'm not free of it, for sure.But that is something he is more working through than I am, (23:21) is attachment to things. And so, while he can call in the abundance very readily without doing (23:31) the work that I'm having to do, he does have the source of misery, which is attachment. Like, (23:38) that water bottle situation ruined an evening for a family.It made him so mad, and then his reaction (23:47) was so ridiculous that it caused tension in our whole family for an evening. And that is what (23:54) attachment does, is it puts the value on the wrong things. So, this will likely get its own episode, (24:02) but it is really important to remember what you are taking with you from this lifetime.And you (24:10) get to take all of the talents and the characteristics that you nourish and that you (24:19) develop, the skills that you learn in this lifetime, you get to take those with you. And what (24:27) you don't get to take with you are your things. You don't get to take any of your things with you.(24:34) And so, while it is important to have a flow of abundance so that you can feel comfortable, (24:43) so that you can be in service to others, so that maybe you have time, freedom to help others, (24:49) to live your passion. That is really important. What's not important is your collection of stuff.(24:57) It doesn't mean that you can't find joy in having things. Just know they ain't going with you. (25:04) They are not going with you.And so, when you focus your time and your energy, let it be on (25:13) something that is eternal. If you learn to be a brilliant painter, you get to keep that. And so, (25:22) if you want to spend your money on paint supplies and really nourish that talent, (25:28) that you get to keep.But your fancy designer purse is not going with you. Now, if it brings (25:37) you joy and you love having it, great. If you're buying it because you think other people will (25:45) respect you because you have it, I'm going to go ahead and say that's a hard pass.Don't do it. (25:50) If it doesn't really stir up joy in you, don't do it. That's why I really like services, (26:00) travel, and experiences.That's how I like to spend money. That's what I like. I find (26:08) the most joy in spending in those ways.And that's why I'm not a (26:16) thing person as much. It just doesn't give me the same amount of joy. Mark seems to really find (26:25) joy in watches.I don't know yet how authentic that is or if it's the, this watch provides (26:36) me validation because what I think of other people when they're wearing them, I want people (26:41) to think of me. I can't do his work for him, so I don't know where he's at with that. I don't (26:48) know if he like really likes how the mechanics of a watch work or if it is about being perceived (26:54) in a certain way.But that's not my journey. So I do want to, before I close out, read the (27:01) other part of this little parable because I also think it's so brilliant and I want to share it. (27:07) King Janaka put Shukadeva through a process of discipline to teach him the art of living in the (27:13) world without acquiring misery-making attachment to it.One day, the king gave his new disciple (27:21) two cup-shaped lamps filled to the brim with oil. Janaka said, hold a lamp on the palm of each hand (27:30) and walk through all of the rooms of the palace. Come back to me after you have seen everything, (27:36) but remember, I will refuse to train you further if you spill a single drop from the lamps.(27:43) King Janaka instructed messengers to accompany Shukadeva and to refill the two lamps with oil (27:50) as quickly as they burned down. It was a hard test, but after some hours, Shukadeva returned (27:55) triumphantly without having spilled any oil. The king said, young Shukadeva, tell me in detail (28:02) what you saw in each chamber.To this, Shukadeva replied, royal preceptor, (28:09) my only accomplishment was that I did not spill any oil on your carpets. My mind was so concentrated (28:17) on the thought of not dripping oil that I did not notice anything in the rooms. (28:23) King Janaka then declared, I am disappointed.You have not completely passed my test. (28:27) My injunctions were that you should see everything in all the chambers of the palace, (28:33) and that you should not drip any oil from the lamps. Go back with the lamps and remember, (28:39) do not spill the oil while you carefully look at everything in the palace.(28:44) After several more hours, Shukadeva calmly returned. He had not allowed any oil to drip, (28:50) nor was he perspiring with excitement as before. He could answer all the questions about the (28:57) contents, however minute, of all palace chambers.King Janaka was pleased. (29:03) My son, he said gently, one should not live a one-sided life, thinking only of God and (29:09) neglecting one's duties in the world, such as you were concentrating on the oil lamps (29:15) and not seeing the palace. On the second trip, you kept your attention principally on the lamps, (29:22) seeing to it that you did not spill the oil, but at the same time you thoroughly saw everything.(29:29) So should you keep your attention on God, not letting a drop slip away from the lamp of God, (29:36) revealing wisdom, and yet devote part of your attention to performing efficiently the God-given (29:43) duties of maintaining yourself and others given in your charge. So I really like that about finding (29:50) the balance of living and experiencing this world and enjoying. We came in for a worldly