The second floor of Teance reminded us of an Indian Rickshaw, as forty people circled up to explore money as a lens for inner transformation. With money being such a hot-button topic, we were very quickly looking at a growing wait-list, and people tuning in via live stream!



After a period of meditation and a round of tea, Birju opened the circle by inviting us to look inwards at our own relationship to money, and shared his practice of shifting his story through experiments in the workplace.

A few powerful stories seeded the opening conversation. Jacob Needleman, whom we've affectionately come to know as Jerry, shared his understanding of the role of money as a quest for meaning in finding a balance between our two natures - one that is material, and one that is of a higher reality. Mark Finser spoke about his work in being a different kind of banker, and moved us with his story of how care-giving for his wife unlocked a new capacity of love in giving and receiving. Barbara Sargent shared her challenges of living into the mystery of receiving unexpected checks in the mail in her early twenties, to now finding great joy in stewarding the flow of money through a foundation that is aligned to inner messages of humanity.



Holding Jerry's invitation to "live into the questions" instead of "solving the problems", we went around in circle to share our current edges around money and some practices to live deeper into these questions. Among so many diverse reflections, a few themes emerged:

Stories from Childhood. Ripe in the spirit of Father's Day, many raw experiences from childhood were shared. So many of us related to the our parents expectations, with Eri's share of her father asking "When are you going to buy me a mercedes?", German meeting his father’s challenge of a shoeshine box, and the peace that Jerry found in knowing that "how much do you earn" was perhaps the only way his father knew how to express his love.

Emotions. Money was also riddled with emotion, from Cjay's share about the loneliness she felt when she couldn't afford transportation money to hang out with friends, and Evelyn's reflection on poverty when she had to live in her car for three weeks. Sri also spoke about the guilt in earning a hundred times more than the people he works alongside on his medical missions in Burundi.

Redefining Wealth. Questions were also asked on what it really means to be rich. From Anuj's share of growing consciousness, to Pam's share of going from net worth to simply being worthy, to Mark Dubois feeling like the richest person around in non-financial terms, it became evident that living a rich life was not just about the money! Tapan's humorous share of how uncomfortable he was sitting on his wallet at meditation became a metaphor for his dichotomous relationship with money which led to a practice of needing less.

Love and Surrender. Many practices explored aligning money with the intention of love, with money being viewed as energy that flows. Leah reflected on her 2-year-old teacher who gave away her favorite sticker, Guri shared that her walking pilgrimage living on a dollar a day shifted her beliefs of money as a means of choice and independence as a woman, to one of humility and surrender, and Gayle reminded us to receive the wholeness of the person when she received a blessing from the homeless.

There were also small experiments being practiced like Thuy's donation-based acupuncture practice, Mary's experience with Waldorf school that worked with families on an amount they could afford, to Stephanie's story of building relationships through barter and trade. Michael also eloquently spoke of Gandhi's idea of trusteeship and shifting from an economy of wants to an economy of needs.

When did I become so complicated? When did these walls go up? Audrey asked herself after being struck by a vegetable seller in India asked how much money she made. We realize that no matter how far we are on this journey, money remains a mystery and a constant work in progress as we evolve our beings in this material world. How can we understand the role of money in our lives, gain deeper understanding and clarity, and transform our story and language of money?

Nearing the end of the evening, Aaron brought the circle to close with a beautiful song in gratitude to the moment, that was created through everybody's presence, and the invisible hands who made the circle possible. Some photos from the night have been collected from collective cameras here!

Walking down the steps, we were greeted by a colorful display of food and lovely tags, from Leah's comics to Kozo's hand-picked sand-dollars, ending with a night of nourishing post-event conversations. I was deeply moved by the vulnerability and richness of the shares, and to be a small part of this rich conversation.

This is just the beginning, look out for the upcoming 1-day retreat!