What is Wealth?

December 2024

Being wealthy means a lot more than having a lot of money. Below are some of less common ways of thinking about wealth.

1 - Love for God 

The amount of Love for God each of us feel is the ultimate measure of wealth. It is the ultimate thing that we will take with us after our time is done on this earth.

The Baha’i writings are pretty emphatic that true wealth is that of the love of God. Baha’u’llah tells us:

The essence of wealth is love for Me; whoso loveth Me is the possessor of all things, and he that loveth Me not is indeed of the poor and needy.

He goes further to imply that in order to really love God, we must detach ourselves from the love of this world & the things that are a part of it.

If thine heart be set upon this eternal, imperishable dominion, and this ancient, everlasting life, forsake this mortal and fleeting sovereignty.

In order to have this degree of detachment, we must choose to actively love God vs. love of this world.

For every one of you his paramount duty is to choose for himself that on which no other may infringe and none usurp from him. Such a thing—and to this the Almighty is My witness—is the love of God, could ye but perceive it. Build ye for yourselves such houses as the rain and floods can never destroy, which shall protect you from the changes and chances of this life.

How do we increase our love for God? That’s a big one for another reflective post.

2 - Time

Our amount of free time available to be spent on new activities is a measurement of wealth.

We have finite time on this earth and finite amount of time in any week, month, year or life to spend. I don’t we think of the finite amount of time we have on this earth enough or make the most of it. Most of us become blinded by the day to day.

A lifetime could be divided into 3 31 year chunks of a billion seconds. An infant has roughly 3 billion seconds to spend in their life, or 3 31 year chunks.

In one year, there is roughly 3 million seconds to be spent. They can be spent working, playing or some combination of both.

For the time that we have on earth - wouldn’t it be great to enjoy the seconds that we have and be happy in the moments? The moments matter & why should years be spend in misery trucking along. If we’re not happy right now, at which point are a planning on getting there?

I think enjoying your family life, your time outside of a profession & enjoying your work are big ingredients to enjoying our time. Time Working + Time Not Working = Your Life. If you can enjoy the time you spend working & the time you spend not working, you have the ingredients to enjoy your life.

I think we should also remember that the chunks of time that we have pass. And certain opportunities only present themselves based upon our current age:

3 - Health

Being in good health is one of the ultimate measures of wealth. I feel incredible when I’ve slept through the night, been exercising regularly, my mind is clear and I don’t have any nagging injury or sickness.

When everything is fine, it’s easy to take our health for granted, when it isn’t okay, it’s the only thing that seems to matter in our lives. I once had a bout with Reiter’s syndrome that caused swelling all over my body. It was the only thing that I could think about for over a year. I would have paid everything I possessed to fix it.

Maintaining our mind & body requires dedicated time. Without 7-8 hours of sleep a night, regular exercise, time for reflection, prayer and exercise - our health inevitably deteriorates.

4 - Money

Physical money is a measurement of wealth.

But money is like blood. We need it for our body to function but amassing of money, much like the amassing of blood, is harmful, unless it is expended properly.

The Baha’i writings actually state this:

Wealth is praiseworthy in the highest degree, if it is acquired by an individual’s own efforts and the grace of God … and if it be expended for philanthropic purposes

So - it’s okay to acquire money but it must be expended on others. Hording it up is actually detrimental to the person that does the hording unless it is expended for philanthropic purposes.

I think we all kinda know that having large amounts of money does weird things… what I’ve seen is that it becomes a barrier between people. It also can become a barrier to our own reliance on God day to day.

Know ye in truth that wealth is a mighty barrier between the seeker and his desire, the lover and his beloved. The rich, but for a few, shall in no wise attain the court of His presence nor enter the city of content and resignation. Well is it then with him, who, being rich, is not hindered by his riches from the eternal kingdom, nor deprived by them of imperishable dominion.

I think physical wealth presents itself as a barrier with God because of all the esteem & power that other provide to you once it is amassed. Being “rich” can cause others to treat you a little like a celebrity - where you are a special person to be treated differently than others. This feeds our ego, distancing ourselves from God.

Also being in possession of in-ordinate amounts of wealth can cause us to stop working day to day -> which in itself can lead to a spiral of idleness and sloth.

We’re often provided with a message that our goal is to acquire so much money that we an retire and chill in leisure for the rest of our lives.

Baha’u’llah is pretty emphatic that we should always be focussed on bettering ourselves and others:

It is enjoined upon every one of you to engage in some form of occupation, such as crafts, trades and the like… Waste not your time in idleness and sloth. Occupy yourselves with that which profiteth yourselves and others.

I think we should view the acquisition of money as really just getting to a point that we are provided with a financial safety net to secure us in old age or in times where we are not drawing a salary. It shouldn’t be used as a justification not to work and stop contributing to the betterment of society.

Work - in its highest form - is regarded as worship as when it is done in the right attitude, one is directly contributing to the betterment of society.

5 - Assets

The assets you possess is a measurement of wealth.

Assets are of two classes - appreciating assets: things that increase in value over time, like a fine wine, and depreciating assets - things that lose their value over time, like a car.

There is a special class of assets which can be enjoyed & also have the potential to increase in value over time. One’s physical home and fine art both all fall into this category.

There’s also passive investment assets which you do nothing with & they just appreciate in value over time or pay you for owning them. Owning private or public stock is like this. You do nothing & the value of the asset increases with time and some will pay you dividends just for possessing the stock.

6 - A Loving Family & Community

The amount of love that exists in our immediate family, broader family & community is a huge measurement of wealth. When there is love & unity in our relationships, everything feels easy day to day.

Note​ ​ye​ ​how​ ​easily,​ ​where​ ​unity​ ​existeth​ ​in​ ​a​ ​given​ ​family,​ ​the​ ​affairs​ ​of​ that​ ​family​ ​are conducted;​ ​what​ ​progress​ ​the​ ​members​ ​of​ ​that​ ​family​ ​make,​ ​how​ ​they​ ​prosper​ ​in​ ​the​ ​world. Their​ ​concerns​ ​are​ ​in​ ​order,​ ​they​ ​enjoy​ ​comfort​ ​and​ ​tranquillity,​ ​they​ ​are​ ​secure,​ ​their​ ​position​ ​is assured,​ ​they​ ​come​ ​to​ ​be​ ​envied​ ​by​ ​all.​ ​Such​ ​a​ ​family​ ​but​ ​addeth​ ​to​ ​its​ ​stature​ ​and​ ​its​ ​lasting honour,​ ​as​ ​day​ ​succeedeth​ ​day.

To think how debilitating the lack of love in a family is, think about the reverse. When a couple are in the middle of a divorce or two family members are not speaking to each other, how hard it is to do anything.

Baha’u’llah tells us:

Nothing​ ​whatever​ ​can,​ ​in​ ​this​ ​Day,​ ​inflict​ ​a greater​ ​harm​ ​upon​ ​this​ ​Cause​ ​than​ ​dissension​ ​and​ ​strife,​ ​contention,​ ​estrangement​ ​and​ ​apathy, among​ ​the​ ​loved​ ​ones​ ​of​ ​God.

Having a loving community around us provides joy to human beings - human beings are in their nature, community focussed creatures. Interactions are core to our survival and thriving as a species - we crave the interaction with others.

Abdu’l-Baha tells us:

Man cannot live singly and alone. He is in need of continuous cooperation and mutual help. For example, a man living alone in the wilderness will eventually starve. He can never, singly and alone, provide himself with all the necessities of existence. Therefore, he is in need of cooperation and reciprocity…

So anyone who has is immersed in a loving community, is very much ahead in life.

Many of the happiest times of my life have been the times when I had the least money but had the strongest and most loving communities around me.

7 - Experience

The places you have been, the people you have interacted with, the things that you have done in your career, all sum up to the wealth of experience of an individual.

Like education, our experiences help to form who we are as individuals. Like education, our experiences act like potential energy - allowing us to impact the world in ways.

While I appreciate all the amazing experiences of travel, business, community building that I’ve done in the past, day to day, I find almost no enjoyment that comes from the experiences. They are just memories that I have that form who I am today.

8 - Education

Ones education through traditional & untraditional methods is a great asset.

Our education & professional experiences are like potential energy - they represent the potential for future contributions to the world.

9 - Service

Man’s merit lieth in service and virtue and not in the pageantry of wealth and riches.

Doing selfless things for others, without any expectation of recompense, creates love & community in the most organic way. We think in doing something for others that we’re doing them a favor but to the person who realizes that wealth comes from connections to others - isn’t this the best thing possible for you to do for yourself?

How great do we feel when we do things for others? It’s therefore a huge asset to be able to find activities that we can continually do that are of the benefit to others.

10 - Character

Our soul, personality and character is what we ultimately take on with us when our time in this world has come to an end. It’s through the iteration through trials and challenges of bettering the world that our character is formed.

The wealth of a good character forged in the love of God is ultimately what we would like to take with us from this world.

In this world he (humans) must prepare himself for the life beyond. That which he needs in the world of the Kingdom must be obtained here. Just as he prepared himself in the world of the matrix by acquiring forces necessary in this sphere of existence, so, likewise, the indispensable forces of the divine existence must be potentially attained in this world.