The rich have a higher chance at enlightenment than the poor

[Altair]

I generally agree, because of opportunities, though there are obvious traps in wealth as well..

1) There's more opportunity for rest and living in a relaxing environment that does not hinder spiritual practices like meditation. In developed countries, poor people, at least in the cities, tend to live in the most crowded and noisy neighbourhoods. Richer people usually don't live next to a railway station, a highway, or close to a smelly factory..
2) Wealthy people, at least in the developed world, are more likely to eat and drink healthier, and not smoke. A healthy body goes a long way to make it easier to relax and go beyond physical and mental issues. Looking back at school times the class differences and living healthy/unhealthy were observable..
3) Being wealthy or growing up in wealth also means you're more likely to be exposed to higher education and seeing something of the world. This all helps to become aware of life's variety, and having a lot of luxury can also lead to an empty feeling. People like 'Buddha' but also St Francis of Assisi would probably have not made their observations if they grew up in poverty..

And you can of course start doing spiritual practice by yourself, but more often than not it will be helpful to gain advice from others (That means offline. Online it's too easy to walk away) and that will usually cost money as everything is pretty much commodified these days. I'm sure it can be said that being wealthy means you're engrossed in materialism but most poor people are very eager to jump along the train, so is it really a disadvantage if you compare?

It also seems many spiritual teachers grew up with the privilege and the wealth, and decided to use their resources for their spiritual growth..

Of course.. much will depend on the individual. What I am saying here is wealth creates more opportunities, which can be used for one's spiritual benefit.

[JohnHermes]

Wealth does give the opportunity to give more time for someone to work on themselves. But again, enlightenment isn't a dependent on material status. A homeless man can be happy with life living with nature or in the woods fending for himself. Then you can get a depressed billionaire who suffers this life.

[FallingLeaves]

the official storyline was written with this concept in mind: we've all been seduced into believing the #1 goal is to let angels in and keep demons out.

And this is a good thing according to what we all know and believe.

unfortunately the seduction was off and if we didn't 'know better' we wouldn't have been inclined to buy it in the first place.

But buy it we did, and we live and die for it every day.

People who aren't rich aren't always able to build walls high enough to keep that fact out the door. In fact the less you have in the material sense the more it hits you in the face. Which makes people who are rich unfortunate in the sense that they have effectively been able to more completely block out what might otherwise be important parts of life.

Note that everyone else has the same problem: it is the fact that the rich can more completely indulge in encouraging the wanted and blockading the unwanted that gives them the disadvantage.

************************************************** ****
well that is the official storyline, take it or leave it.

OTOH I notice that otters often swim whereas squirrels often climb trees. So different creatures do different things?

Honestly, we gotta get over this idea that all men are somehow the 'same' just because they look similar. Just look around you, it obviously isn't true.

If the rich are blockading themselves out of a certain reality (and we have some teachers to thank for the idea this might indeed be the case) what is the big deal? why do they HAVE to exist in the same reality as others might long for?

OTOH even if one isn't rich there isn't much contribution being made. What good is it to have hundreds of monks meditating for lifetimes to reach enlightenment or whatever? Why do we find that so admirable? When it hasn't really improved life for any of the rest of us in all that time?

The rich might not be the only ones stuck in a rut yet still being inclined to praise its virtues...

[Heatherkey]

Originally Posted by thespiritual1

I will explain three reasons of my foresaid opinion.
1. A rich person will have more exposure to life as compared to a poor or middle class person. He can do all kinds of things in life. He can do stuff that the poor people do but the poor can not do what the rich can do. So basically a rich person will have a greater experience of life than the poor. This will give him a better and satisfied mind, unlike the poor. Such a mindset will be more meditative than the unsatisfied mind of a poor.

2. Maslow's Heirarchy: A person first needs some basic necessaties such as food, shelter, safety. After that he needs love, affection, acceptance in society. In the end, when he has everything, he looks beyond this world towards spirituality. Simply put, a rich person is most likely to be interested in spiritualism.

3. I say this from personal experience that I would like to sit and meditate in a room where no one disturbs me but I am unable to do that. I dont have the time to do that, nor do I have the place. I am a middle class student and I have no choice but to study and establish my career so that makes it impossible for me to become enlightened. Only if I was a rich person, I would buy a place and a refrigerator and I would store a lot of food in the refrigerator and then I would sit down to meditate for as long as required and then I am hopeful I would become enlightened.

What are your thoughts about the relation between wealth and enlightenment?
Also share your analysis of my opinion. Thank you.

The idea of spiritual enlightenment is for sale to anyone that can afford to buy it. But you dont have to buy into it. One thing about being poor is that you cant follow some of the ways that are said to lead to enlightenment, so you find it for yourself. Its not abundance that creates the survival of a species, its the ability to adapt. I believe the same is true of finding our connection with spirit.

[Molearner]

Take a minute and just contemplate the reasoning for taking a vow of poverty. Seriously, does anyone have a goal of becoming wealthy so that at some time they will have the opportunity to become enlightened?

[ocean breeze]

If its between the rich and poor, yeah i would also say the rich has a higher chance.

Originally Posted by Molearner

Take a minute and just contemplate the reasoning for taking a vow of poverty. Seriously, does anyone have a goal of becoming wealthy so that at some time they will have the opportunity to become enlightened?

There could be many reasons a person may take a vow for poverty (probably out of foolishness) or seek to become wealthy. I don't think anyone actually seeks enlightenment. More likely seeking something else in the name of enlightenment. Regardless of income status, one is more likely to stumble upon enlightenment without realizing it. Like walking through a garden only to stumble and fall into a black hole.

[Ariaecheflame]

I'd like to be comfortably wealthy enough to be able to contribute a degree of funds and resources into conservation, art and humanitarian projects.

My motivation for having greater abundance in general is so that I have more resources available to help build and create better systems.
In general those who I went to school with who grew up in resource rich environments also had a lot of parental and community support to develop their potentials. They had a wealth of abundance and what came along with that was a sense of safe foundations for them to explore and develop themselves.
Some of my peers went off in all sorts of directions with the intent of changing things from within. Engineers who were driven by a deep desire to find solutions to climate change, artists who started their own businesses and raise awareness of our image connectiveness, unconventional up-starters and others who went onto complimentary medicine, sports coaching, motivational speakers and the like. They were well supported to gain a degree of level headedness and a strong desire to create better ways of co-existing.

I grew up fairly poor and have spent the first few decades of my life rewiring my brain which was hardwired into survival mode.
Not that I haven't been able to follow a spiritual path... I have, but I often wonder how much more of myself I could have accessed and potential I might have developed if I had access to those resources when I was younger.

It just means that now, I have to access these resources as an adult instead.

[NoOne]

Suffering and sacrifice is needed for spiritual advancement and most rich people will obviously want to avoid that, plus they have the means to.

Osho is perhaps the best example of someone who preached wealth as a prerequisite for enlightenment, I'd say subsequent events have proven him wrong.

I think the middle way is probably closest to the truth, you need the basics taken care of and you need time and a quiet place to meditate and advance spiritually. But, it doesn't have to be anything fancy, a simple park will do or just the privacy of your own room, no mansion is needed.

I used to meditate a lot on the banks of the Thames river in London and in the Gardens of St Paul's Cathedral. No money was needed for that and I wasn't bothered by anyone. In winter, I had my room. Even the bathtub can be a good place for that.

So, in conclusion, you only need the basics to be taken care of, the rest is superficial and not needed. The real work happens in the spiritual realm, which is invisible to most people anyway, so material wealth makes absolutely no difference to it. Plus, when you die, you only carry your spiritual achievements with you, the rest will crumble to dust in no time. It therefore pays to pay attention to the former at the expense of the latter.

[Mr Interesting]

I have been rich and poor and as a rule, given my tendency to being lazy, prefer being poor.
Even then, and maybe because of the supposed disparity, it's always the perception, from within, of either which really defines it.
I am though poor within a rich country and that, if anything, allows my poorness to be a kind of privilege to roam free unburdened by a need to acquire, and if I do acquire, let it go easily.

[Ariaecheflame]

I'm a fan of the middle way as well
Balance in everything.