Chapter 75 - Price, Cost & Value - Strength for the Journey
In this essay, I cover my meaning of a few common business/financial words. While I am officially a business school graduate, I do not pretend to represent the textbook definitions of these terms. I make use of terms as is convenient to my purposes in conveying esoteric/spiritual concepts, often more abstract & complex than ideas found in a marketplace setting.
Price is that obligation (energy) requested in exchange for an item, service, etc. Recall that all begins & ends with energy at the most fundamental level (that our minds can comprehend, that is). 'Free' is rarely a truism, for typically energy must be exchanged, somewhere, at some point, whether anyone is conscious of this swap or not. This requirement is not in place where Divine Mandate is a factor, but that's a topic for another essay. Price then is something of a demand traded for a supply. In a perfect world, Price is a True Need to be exchanged for another's True Need. This naturally balanced procedure creates Joy (energy) for all parties involved.
Cost involves a bit of focus on scarcity, or limited energy, and is therefore a 'false-ism'. Cost is an attempt to judge the amount of energy that has been 'expended' on a particular item, service, etc. Calculating Cost is a fear-based approach to quantifying exchange, distracting one from clarifying & chasing one's True Needs.
Value is the energy 'potential' of a commodity, interaction, etc. at its maximum point, that being in the perfect scenario of True Needs exchanged. Value can be perceived as relative, yet represents an absolute. Money is a false equalizer (on the surface, although upon examination of any falsehood, one see an interesting rebalancing process), giving us an illusion of a set of fixed value(s). This statement may appear to conflict with my assertion that Value is an absolute, so please allow me to explain.
Value is absolute, yet neither financials nor awareness are temporally fixed. Absolute Value entails Absolute Awareness. As distortion (aka ignorance or lack of awareness) creep into a situation, the relative value (price one can ask) shifts, at times dramatically so.
Our discussion here is rather complex because we are at once seeing with the eye of our infinite immortality, while yet retaining our time-bound Earthly perceptions & perspectives. As the oft-quoted phrase lays out, we are infinite beings having a finite experience. From an eternal standpoint, there are no 'problems', Love conquers all 'in the end', which is precisely where one is while outside of the confines of Time (in meditation, for example). While it is True that all is well, inside Time, this is not always visible or 'true'. Value is in a similar boat. 'Everyone is equal, but some are more equal that others' is a good way to describe this situation from a temporal view. This is all quite confusing to our egos, as egos exclusively live in Time. They have no ability to escape and come to understand Infinity in its totality, whereas humans can do exactly that (again, this is meditation). When one is living from (identifying with) one's ego, Fear, Scarcity, all the 'paper tigers' seem incredibly vivid and real, and in Truth, Time can (and very likely may) 'kill' our ego. If we decide to 'become' our ego, instead of changing our ego to 'become' our True Self, without developing our spiritual or infinite connection, we shall surely die at some point (sometimes this is 'after' our physical death, but that's a complicated subject for another day).
Nature creates and destroys, yet energy (also known as 'Consciousness') cannot be harmed, it merely shifts or transforms. We can grow ourselves to shift & transform along with this conscious energy, adding our personal 'flavor' to the great collective ocean of energies, or we can refuse to let go & detach from our temporal experiences and be 'destroyed'.
Esoterically speaking, Heaven is found in our True/Infinite/Higher Self, while Hell is simply the degradation, distortion or 'disconnection' from our Self, where we are jailed within Time & Space's 'artificial' limits. One can be in either Heaven or Hell in any time, place or situation, they are very personalized. 'Liberation' enables one to come to live in this Heaven at all times, for it is an internal experience of Joy & Bliss unaffected by Earthly conditions.
As I alluded to earlier, this entire essay is 'over the heads' of everyone's ego. Conversely, no human exists who cannot come to experience or understand these things, for we are all in essence the same, each containing infinite Value within. The mystic lives to bring others into contact with their own individual Divine Spark, destroying egos is something of a by-product of this work. Compassion is easy when we consider the pain & suffering inherent in the ego world of shadows, that all travel in travail. Bringing someone a reminder of their own Absolute Value makes ambassadors of us all.
Perceptions of relative value are created by each person's own ego, and the Universe responds to this inner perception by providing external experiences & situations that will eventually lead one to further realize their own Absolute Value. This is painful if/when we identify as our egoic & persona-based inventions, for we then constantly at risk of running up against direct evidence of our complete 'worthlessness' (True Value of the ego). This is meant to show us our True Self's infinite Value. When this occurs, bliss comes in. When instead we hold tight to the delusions, illusions & shadows of our ego, depression, anxiety & Fear result.
Life is 'in the end' bringing us to full realization of our Total Value. Within Time, this can be a treacherous, pain-filled, confusing & destructive procedure, as we cling to attachments and attempt to boost our self-esteem (egoic self-perceived value), egos being essentially a 'fake' reflection of our True Self. Egos are a 'necessary evil', as the saying goes, precisely because we all hold an infinite Value that cannot be crammed into the constraints of Time & Space. It is our own Greatness that can make us feel so small. When we come to see this situation for what it Truly is, our egos become ours to shape, control & transform into a kaleidoscope of infinite 'masks', 'costumes' or variations. These are as 'true' or as 'false' as we desire them to be, while we feel or know (Heart knowledge) that they are just selected & highlighted aspects of our immortal Self, honed & developed (hopefully) to demonstrate Joy, Truth & Beauty in this grand show we call 'Life'.