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What's Rich? - by Tony Mase
Recently, a customer wrote me with this dilemma (I've edited
out the personal details and slightly edited the message):
"In all the writings of Wallace D. Wattles, there's one
point I always had trouble accepting and thus, it's holding
me back from seriously applying his entire philosophy."
"It's about 'increasing life'..."
"In Chapter 5 of 'The Science of Getting Rich' (Increasing
Life), Wallace D. Wattles wrote:"
"In order to know more, do more, and be more we must have
more; we must have things to use, for we learn, and do, and
become, only by using things. We must get rich, so that we
can live more."
"Now, to explain my dilemma..."
"It's because I know that in his other writings Wallace D.
Wattles shows a deep spiritual philosophy, that I imagine
there must be a right way to interpret those words."
"Otherwise, it sounds materialistic to me, shopping-
orientated to encourage consumerism and competition, in a
society where it's already a problem."
"I agree that in the process of becoming rich we have to be
careful not to mix spiritual readings, or we'll likely get
confused and out of focus."
"However, still this repeating that we need things, to buy
things, and that we *must* get rich to live more, well,
doesn't match my belief that we should become free from
attachments and not relay too much upon material things as
it may lead to slavery and weakness in our inner power,
promoting desire after desire, in an endless run for
happiness and never being satisfied."
"So, please, I'd love a good explanation to be able to
practice Wallace D. Wattles' writings and feel that they're
meaningful and in line with my belief that we can create our
own abundance and in the mean time pursue a complete
spiritual growth with a feeling of freedom within. Thank you
heaps."
The answer to this dilemma lies in Wallace D. Wattles' use
of the word "rich" and how he defines it.
In Chapter 1 of "The Science of Getting Rich" (The Right to
Be Rich), Wallace D. Wattles wrote:
"The man who owns all he wants for the living of all the
life he is capable of living is rich..."
There you have it...
"The man who owns all he wants for the living of all the
life he is capable of living is rich..."
Now...
Notice carefully...
If you will...
Wallace D. Wattles *didn't* write:
The man who owns all he wants for the living of *more* life
than he's capable of living is rich...
He wrote:
"The man who owns all he wants for the living of all the
life he is capable of living is rich..."
In other words...
"Rich", according to Wallace D. Wattles, is...
Owning all you want for the living of all the life you're
capable of living...
Not *more* life than you're capable of living...
*All* the life you're capable of living...
There's a *huge* difference!
If, for example, *all* the life you're capable of living,
right now anyway (your "needs" for living *all* the life
you're capable of living will change as you continue to grow
and develop), requires a seven room home in a nice
neighborhood, a thirty-two room mansion on a hill would be
pure, unadulterated waste.
Nowhere in his writings did Wallace D. Wattles talk about
piling things up around you just to pile things up around
you, the disastrous consequences of which can be easily
evidenced in the news on almost any given day of the week,
without regard to your ability to use them to live a fuller
and more complete life... *all* the life your capable of
living.
As a matter of fact...
He said quite the opposite...
In Chapter 18 of "The Science of Being Great" (Jesus' Idea
of Greatness), for example, quoting Robert G. Ingersoll,
Wallace D. Wattles wrote:
"Suppose a man had fifty thousand pairs of pants, seventy-
five thousand vests, one hundred thousand coats, and one
hundred and fifty thousand neckties, what would you think of
him if he arose in the morning before light and worked until
after it was dark every day, rain or shine, in all kinds of
weather, merely to get another necktie?"
Great question, isn't it?
What would you think?
Although it doesn't make any sense whatsoever, sadly, this
is *exactly* what many people spend their entire lives
doing...
Don't you be one of them. :-)
Remember...
"Rich" is...
Owning all you want for the living of all the life you're
capable of living...
Not *more* life than you're capable of living...
*All* the life you're capable of living!
-----
Tony Mase is a serious student of the works of Wallace D.
Wattles and the publisher of "The Science of Abundant Life"
ebook by Wallace D. Wattles...
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