There is no doubt that money is a source of concern for many people. Today’s popular culture is filled with references on how to succeed, how to get what you want, and how to achieve your dreams. Each of these goals seems to require money as a means to fulfill our deepest desires. The pursuit of money has made it evident that money has become an end rather than a means. We tend to forget about the experience we want to get and focus solely on money as the goal. Money thus becomes an idol or a god in itself.

When money becomes an end in itself, it also becomes a source of problems on its own. For example, it is well known that one of the main causes of relationship breakups nowadays is money. Families disintegrate over old grudges related to money, and even entire countries go to war over economic issues.

People with spiritual inclinations and students of A Course in Miracles are not exempt from this problem either. Many of us have completely or partially escaped the temptation to see money as an objective in itself. However, very few of us have escaped the belief that obtaining money is necessary to satisfy our needs and desires in this world. Some think that if they devote themselves to the spiritual path, they will live a life of poverty.

I have also met many people who wanted to dedicate their lives to God, run workshops, or offer psychotherapy, but they constantly find themselves limited by financial capacity or concerns. From a broader perspective, each of us has become dependent on money. Without it, we cannot live or thrive.

In the world of spirituality, there seems to be two main points of view regarding money. The first view, perhaps the oldest of the two, tells us that money is an evil force. In the Bible, for example, we find a passage that says that the love of money is the root of all evil. There is also the famous saying of Jesus that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.

On the other hand, there is a very popular view today that assures us that money is inherently good. According to this view, our goal is to have money and to live abundantly. God wants you to have everything you desire. Your abundance and the world you manifest are reflections of your alignment with God and His will. The topic of manifestation is very fashionable today, and books like “The Secret” teach us how to find God’s will and attain everything we want in this world.

As students of A Course in Miracles, we should have total clarity on this topic if we truly seek peace in our lives and aim to bring peace to the world as well. What does the Course say about this issue? How can we completely escape the illusion of money and the hold it has over our lives? How can we get what we truly want?

The topic of money is intrinsically tied to the topic of needs. We can hardly talk about money without referring to the needs we are meaning to fulfill through it. So, before understanding how the illusion of money took hold, we need to understand what the Course teaches about needs. This will be our focus in the coming days.

Next: Lesson 1: Why do we have needs?