Sign InMy Account

Living by Spirit not Illusion

Posted By: Randy GageMarch 22, 2011

Poverty is an illusion. Live by spirit and experience bountiful supply.

So I tweeted that comment out on Twitter the other day and got called everything but a child of God.  People were making vigorous arguments for the existence of poverty.  And that’s certainly understandable if we go by surface appearances.  But here’s another view…

Let’s suppose you’re in a dark room.  Open the curtains in daytime and the sunlight will obliterate the darkness.  Now of course the sunlight does not need to think about this, strategize, or make an effort in any way for this to happen.  Why?

Because the darkness is not an entity in and of itself.  It has no reality of its own.  It is simply the absence of light; the absence of something real.

The darkness did not go anywhere.  It didn’t really exist.  Darkness is simply the lack of something (in this case light), and when that lack was filled, there was no longer lack.

We can say the same thing about all negation; all that is not light, love, health, and prosperity.  They are each the absence of the real.  In the face of the real, they disappear into the nothingness from which they came.  Real things are eternal, illusions are temporal.

Carrying this forward, poverty is not real.  It is simply the absence of prosperity, which is the natural and eternal state.  It seems to be real, because we have moved away from divine order.  But your natural state is one of prosperity: health, happiness and wealth.

So are you ready to give up the illusion and step into your true reality?

-RG

48 comments on “Living by Spirit not Illusion”

  1. Interesting analogy Randy. Don't think I've ever seen it put exactly this way.

    If I understand correctly, you're saying that the millions of poverty stricken people in third world nations are poor due to their lack of knowledge of prosperity consciousness and without knowing, they've made a conscious choice to live the way they do? I certainly can see that the fact that they've been given the illusion that it's the ONLY way they can live, that this 'illusion' is the only one they have to live by.

    Personally, I agree with everything you say with respect to acknowledging that prosperity is our natural state. Not living in prosperity is 'living in the dark'. The fact that we live in a Universe that is infinite, abundant and without any limitations for us personally or otherwise, is the ONLY belief I choose to have. On the other hand, I fully realize that I still harbor limiting beliefs but continue to eliminate them knowing what's possible. In other words, to let the "light" shine on my Life.

    Thanks so much. I'm grateful for your powerful and enlightening insights.

    1. The truth is, those people didn't consider themselves "poor" until "we" came around and told them they were poor.....to them, it was a natural way of life...I remember a story of a woman in one of the third world countries who had the little boy soldiers who would always come killing and raping, and one day they raped this woman.....she was seen the next day putting up a fence, about 2 ft. high, of wild grass reeds---certainly (in our eyes) nothing that would keep attackers out....when asked what she was doing, she was soooo proud of herself, she was totally convinced she was building a fortress to keep the invaders out.....she had no idea about the way things seemed to us---she was totally in her own belief, she was going to go on with her life and be happy....do you realize that until WE called them a third world country, they were "content" in their way of life....because they didn't come up to OUR standards of per capita income, we called them poor.....Same in Mexico and other countries....Granted, we are meant to help people, save people, save the starving and sick, but as far as rich and poor goes, some of the "richest" people in the world are the poorest, and some of the poorest are the wealthiest...

    2. I definitely don't think they've made a conscious choice to be poor. More like being ignorant of the possibilities and reacting on a subconscious level. And I certainly don;t mean ignorant in a mean-spirited or judgmental way.

      -RG

      1. Hey Randy,

        I don't agree with the minimalism this guy pushes, but he seems to echo some of the contents of "Why You're Dumb, Sick, and Broke"

        http://www.raptitude.com/2011/01/how-to-make-trillions-of-dollars/

        And in a forum on electronic music people were talking about how "all of the people in the scene now made it big ten years ago" and "it's not possible to make a living doing it any more."

        My reply was this:

        "I don't think EDM is dead. I think the scene everyone keeps reminiscing about is.

        1999 is over, and whole "they broke out before the fall" crap needs to stop. It wouldn't be the first time.

        Disco disappeared from the US almost overnight. Suddenly DJs in clubs no longer had records to spin. EDM exists in many ways BECAUSE PEOPLE ADAPTED. They took cheap synths and drum machines, turntables and did their own thing.

        They invented house, techno, rap, new age, and everything in between. It's gone full circle- these influences are heard everywhere now.

        A scene, like an industry is made up of people.

        People do, and change things. The people who don't just sit on their asses doing nothing sometimes succeed.

        What are you doing? "

    3. If you never knew that light existed on the other side of the curtain and you also didn't know that the curtains could be drawn open, then you would believe that darkness is normal. This is what I think Randy means when he says that people living in lack are ignorant. Ignorant just means uneducated or unaware, which a lot of people confuse with arrogant, which is an exaggerated sense of self-worth.

  2. Well said Randy. Loved it actually! Took me back to the day when I was studying Hidigger The Philosopher.

    Thanks great stuff

  3. I've read this a few times & will probably read it a few more to have it sink in. I'm guessing this is something I need to understand today, because I was just (2 min ago) listening to Abraham-Hicks who said something along these lines (I think). Abraham said "you can't go into a room and turn on the 'dark switch' because darkness does not exist. You can only experience darkness when there is an absence of light." Is this like saying poverty doesn't really exist; it is merely the absence of a natural thing called prosperity? I hope so, cuz I think I get that and your post is helping me get it :o) Thanks Randy Gage!

    1. I like the simplicity Abraham-Hicks brings to this concept. I beleive that polarity explains that sickness is the absence of health. If you had an absence of health without sickness, what would that be? You need the other side. You need the valley to appreciate the mountain and sickness to appreciate health. Without those diametrical oppposed states/attributes, that comparison is not possible.

      1. Me too Carmen! It has recently become my all-time-favorite teaching~besides Randy's, of course! Simple is so.....simple. Understanding all of this is so simple, as long as we don't complicate it by thinking it can't be that simple 🙂

  4. Randy,

    I tweeted this quote a while back:

    "The only place in the universe where poverty exists is the human mind."

    and received some colorful responses, to put it lightly. But just look around and you see proof of this. Is there a shortage of anything in nature? Don't think so. If everything has its origin in Spirit, how could Spirit "come up short." Ludicrous. Thinking lack creates lack, that's all.

    Just because you think something doesn't that make thought a reality.

    Thanks for sharing!

    RB

  5. That's an excellent article Randy.
    Are we victors not a victims? Living for someday or today? Attracting or clinging? Dragging or flowing?
    Thanks for the inspiration.
    Roisin.

  6. I just used that affirmation on a CD today! I complied 24 minutes of affirmations, recorded them, and burned them to a CD! 🙂
    It's about your perception! 🙂 I choose abundance.

  7. In every society there will always be hewers of wood and drawers of water. I've always wondered why some parts of the world are poor and some are rich (relatively)-vis a vis North America vs. India or some of those African countries. Look around you and you may find the natural order of things.

  8. Everything of this world then is an illusion. Everything we know here on earth is temporal even the earth on which we live is temporal. All material things are temporal.

    The only things then that are not illusions are of the spirit. Spirit I suppose will be around when our universe disappears?

    What you have said then has nothing to do with material wealth, only prosperity of the spiritual kind. In that case, you are absolutely right.

    I call this piece of yours today : JUSTIFICATION

    You are a child of God Randy. You are a critical thinker too, and truth is the light.

    1. So, I was still thinking about your post. I am not sure there is anyway to prove anything you have said above. I think it is really positive to believe everyone can have material wealth, and who knows perhaps it is true, I hope so.

      Poverty is far to complex an issue to reduce it to some kind of metaphysical happening. It might make us feel more inspired to reach our highest potential, and that is always good and positive. But what about truth and reality? There is so much duality.

      It is easy to say that the Light is knowing that everyone can have prosperity if only the are not to ignorant to claim it. However, such a statement as beautiful and well intended as it may be, does not encompass the entire truth. If your followers read the newspapers and expand their horizons and truly do some critcal thinking, eventually the light of the truth will dawn. Then fully aware that we live in a world where material and spiritual poverty are both real and all around us they can be a Light or the Light.

      We are interconnected and interdependent, and what one says and does effects the others. What one chooses to give or not give effects others. Whether we choose to give with the expectation of return or with only altruism. Whether we choose truth or a lie to believe. Whether we choose to love or hate. All of these effects the whole illusory universe. Knowing when and how to do these things is the hurdle.

      Love is the greatest of all.

      1. I can't speak for Randy, but I know he's a fan of Ayn Rand.

        A couple tenets of her philosophy which I think might help solve the issue of poverty if more people were aware are:

        "Man—every man—is an end in himself, not the means to the ends of others. He must exist for his own sake, neither sacrificing himself to others nor sacrificing others to himself. The pursuit of his own rational self-interest and of his own happiness is the highest moral purpose of his life."

        "The ideal political-economic system is laissez-faire capitalism. It is a system where men deal with one another, not as victims and executioners, nor as masters and slaves, but as traders, by free, voluntary exchange to mutual benefit. It is a system where no man may obtain any values from others by resorting to physical force, and no man may initiate the use of physical force against others. The government acts only as a policeman that protects man’s rights; it uses physical force only in retaliation and only against those who initiate its use, such as criminals or foreign invaders. In a system of full capitalism, there should be (but, historically, has not yet been) a complete separation of state and economics, in the same way and for the same reasons as the separation of state and church."

        1. Hi Tom,

          Thank you for taking the time to write that. After I read what you had written me, I took time out this morning to imagine you being really successful with your music. (I don't know what you look like but I did the best I could:) So, I am sending you a big hug.

          I agree with the capitialism part mostly. I wish it had happened like that in America. Perhaps one day it will be like that, and everyone will have the wealth they need or want. I for one am going to believe it will happen. Happy Free Healthy people everywhere!

          I haven't read Ayn Rand yet, but I plan to this summer. I would only add, that after one has acheived the highest moral good of their own happines and loving themselves, they will then love others as God loves us. I think. 🙂

          Go get 'em with your muscic Tom Mrak. Go Tom, Go Tom!

          Annie

          1. Thank you Annie.

            I wish you success in whatever you do as well.

            i will need to remedy that.

            In the 19 Century we did have something a lot closer. Corporations only have their power because government enables it, and people enable government.

            Tyrants exist because people would rather have safety and cruelty, than uncertainty and opportunity.

            Laws which were used to free slaves gave corporations many rights which you and I have, and it went downhill from there.

            Note, I am not against corporations, I am against what they have become. The 19th Century is long over. It's time to grow up and realize that you might make more money with happier people.

            America exists because people rebelled against the corporations running the colonies and the government which gave them that power. The irony of America is we are back where we started.

            We can change it, but it has to be people like Randy, and us.

            We can't wait for the herd or their "leaders" to do it.

            It certainly won't happen by watching "The Secret".

        2. Tom,

          I am impressed!

          If majority of people in America understood Ayn Rand's Objectivism, our country and its people would be the strongest, self-sufficient and wealthiest in the world.

          In 1987 a friend gave me a copy of Ayn Rand's book and told me, "here, you have to read this..., you talk just like her..."
          And sure enough, after reading the book and the rest of her library, I found my intellectual soul mate. If Ayn Rand was still here, she would be my best friend...

          "Just as I support my life, neither by robbery nor alms, but by my own effort, so I do not seek to derive my happiness from the injury or the favor of others, but earn it by my own achievement....Happiness is possible only to a rational man, the man who desires nothing but rational goals, seeks nothing but rational values and finds his joy in nothing but rational actions....men who do not desire the uneraned and do not view one another with a cannibal's lust, men who neither make sacrifices nor accept them."

          It is not only individuals natural state to be prosperous, it's every individual's responsibility.

          Victoria

          1. Victoria,

            I don't agree with her 100%, and I think people misunderstand her.

            I don't think her message was "everyone for themselves" or to "acquire as much as possible". Which are the common interpretations that I see.

            I feel it was more about being your own person and contributing by having your work be it business, art, being a doctor, etc., move you and thus move the world.

            People also think she was against Altruism. No, she was against FORCED Altruism. For example, the public demands that a millionaire share their wealth with the "right" religion.

            Let's say that millionaire wasn't religious, and loved art. It would be Selfish on his part because he loves art, it makes him happy, and would rather give to that cause. He is able to gain fulfillment, and the artists benefit a great deal, and world benefits from the work of the artists.

            A full circle of abundance, which would not be possible if the millionaire were forced into giving to a Church which he didn't believe in.

            I am an artist, and we're supposed to be Liberal for some reason. If being Liberal meant being for Liberty, than fine, but in America being Liberal is about Collectivism.

            I would say I am a libertarian with a small l.

          2. Tom,

            You just described ("Forced Altruism") exactly what happened on "Bringing Prosperity back to Japan" blog. Have you read the attacks on Randy's action?

            Victoria

      2. Hi Annie,

        I think you'll like Ayn Rand.
        Here is what she wrote about Racism:

        "In its great era of capitalism, the United States was the freest country on earth - and the best refutation of racist theories...Men of racial groups that have been slaughtering one another for centuries, learned to live together in harmony and peaceful cooperation. America had been called 'the melting pot', with good reason...Today,...America has become race-conscious in a manner reminiscent of the worst days in the most backward countries of nineteenth-century Europe. The cause is the same: the growth of collectivism and statism."

        Victoria

        1. Victoria,

          I totally agree with that observation her's.

          America has also become a very Class oriented culture which pretends it does not exist, which sickens me because it isn't based on value of any sort.

          1. Having been raised by people obsessed with Unions, I will say that a Collectivist attitude is quite harmful and enables the very tyranny which it claims to fight against.

  9. I like this post, Randy, because I never thought our family was poor or had a lack, though we did after WWII. Right now after the tsunami and earthquake, my mother was saying that it was like right after WWII with everything on ration or not available. Even the electricity! My mother was in Tokyo flattened after the bombing and my father in the internment camp and finally being allowed to work for the MIS when I was born a few years later after the end of WWII. There is plenty but how to share around the world. This is something we all need to think!

  10. POWERFUL & TRUE...

    JESUS CHRIST SAID THAT THE POOR WILL ALWAYS BE WITH US...IT'S A STATE OF MIND! ALSO, IN THE BIBLE IN HOSEA IT STATES THAT GOD'S PEOPLE WILL PERISH FOR LACK OF KNOWLEDGE!

    THE TRUTH SHALL SET US FREE...TO PROSPER IN ALL THINGS!

  11. To me, wealth is respect. People do not work solely to earn money, but rather to earn self-respect... worthiness. A persons life should be measured not in treasures amassed but in achievment. Life itself seeks to achieve... and it does so in a most remarkable way. We are life! Achieve!

    1. That is a cool way of looking at it.

      Unfortunately, the vast majority of people believe they have to work for money itself and feel unhappy.

      Unfortunately, we have a culture which encourages some to be Masters, and the rest to be Slaves. Randy has touched on this before.

      Some say the economy would collapse if people felt good about themselves and were more independent.

      I doubt that. I doubt music or the movies would go anywhere.
      Yacht sales could go up.

      I doubt people would stop buying clothes, or cars. I think they might even spend more.

      I'm sure businesses which preyed on people or needed government intervention to succeed would fail, but that is what Capitalism is supposed to be.

      Value for value.

  12. Thank you, Randy!
    This is so right! I translated it in my language (Bulgarian) and posted it as a note in my Facebook profile with a link to your post.
    Bless you!

  13. Randy, I am putting my swords down now. I consider the battle finished. Oh no, that does not mean I am leaving. So sorry! 🙂

    Anyway, I truly believe you manifested me! How do you like that? Well here I am. Are you loving it? Truly, I think this, because I was in the library looking for a senior's book on how to do photos on the computer, honestly, when I saw your book looking at ME! When I read the title, I thought amongst other things, it was the most accurate description of how most people feel. The man on the cover looked so nice and friendly, I could not imagine finding offense to anything he would say. 🙂 Serendipity, and here I am.

    I have been thinking about these disputes and wondering, have I won or lost? Am I right or wrong? Ultimately, I think I have done all those things. The result, we have all won, by knowing each other. There may be light and dark, truth and lies, yes they are out there for sure. Balance is found in all of it. That is why we can all be so happy right now. The world and all of us are perfectly balanced. We all have light and dark, right and wrong.

    We need each other too, to be balanced. We need to all have different opinions sometimes, so we can find our centers and truly be balanced.

    Annie

  14. Here's a quick example that I think illustrates what Randy is saying perfectly. Cesar Millan (who has a very successful tv show here in the U.S. as the dog whisperer), was born and raised in poverty in Mexico. The reality of his surroundings were poverty, and lack...but the he wasn't buying into these limitations...the difference was his thinking...the thoughts he entertained. He had a burning desire/definite purpose/unstoppable passion to be the best dog trainer in the world and to have much more for himself. So instead of simply buying into this reality of accepted limitation (which is truly what we're talking about...accepted limitation through programming and environment) that he was surrounded by, and agreeing that his life would be defined by it, he let his thoughts and mind fuel his journey. He snuck into the U.S. as an illegal immigrant, (leaving his family and security), with only a few dollars in his pocket, and slept on the streets for quite a while. But his passion/thoughts/dreams/beliefs fueled his forward motion. Btw, he spoke not a word of English at the time. The upshot of all this is, he is now a multimillionaire, with a vast empire including his own syndicated tv show, his own magazine, his own line of dog food, his own line of pet products, hugely successful int' lecturing tours, and oh, 4 best selling books! So, was the poverty he grew up with real? Of course it was! Sure the folks living in it were truly feeling the experience of being poor and having very little...but was it real in the sense of it being the only reality possible, or was it simply an accepted reality of perceived limitations? Most everyone he grew up with is still poor...so how come this one individual managed to turn the light on when everyone else was stuck in the darkness of poverty...Cesar didn't believe the darkness was real...that it was his only option. He came from the exact same circumstances, and yet created a massively different reality...how is that possible if poverty is something you have no choice in? If their circumstances were exactly the same, then the only thing that separated Cesar from the others (and this poverty that was a "reality"), were the thoughts and beliefs he entertained. His thoughts and beliefs created light where others simply bought into the reality of darkness and limitation. One thing is for sure, if he would have bought into the programming of his environment and succumbed like so many others, he would absolutely still be there, and poverty would absolutely be his reality. So my point isn't whether poverty is real in the sense of do people actually experience it...of course they do...but the real question is, do you choose to believe it is your only reality possibility. For if you do, you will most certainly remain there, within the confines of that accepted reality. I think that Cesar's story proves that your thoughts are the ONLY thing that determine/dictate your reality. he believed a different reality possibility, and created it. The people he grew up around believed in the reality of their poverty, and created and maintained that reality. So yes, it really is the absence of light that allows darkness to remain...and it's only our thoughts and beliefs that banish it...for they are the light.

    -Sean

    1. BTW, Caesar's show is simply amazing. People think he's training the dogs, but he's really training the people! He's done a lot of self-development work and it shows.

      -RG

    2. Dog shows are my favorite. I have not seen Ceasars' show to much, but I did love his calming presence. Dogs really need that, otherwise they get nervous. I just love those doggies.:)

      I have to say though I have seen much more "It's Me or the Dog", Victoria is great too! She gets the dogs and the people in line. I think she is giving out darn good therapy to people, and calling it dog training. 🙂

      I had to jump in because I LOVE Dogs, with their big wet noses, stinky breath and furry hugs! I have written a lot on this post, and I am not sure if any of it is on topic.

      Annie

  15. Great post, Randy.

    Darkness is lack of light. If day light needs to wait 12 hours before darkness is gone. If room is dark, someone need to turn on light or flashlight... So that need to generate light for that matter.

    Poverty is lack of prosperity, or lack of money. So how you wait for filling the prosperity/money or generating the prosperity/money so poverty is gone.

    Darkness won't leave until light is there. Poverty won't leave until prosperity/money is there for us to use...

    What do you think?

Leave a Reply to Linda Ryan Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


Warning: Undefined variable $key in /nas/content/live/randygagedev/wp-content/plugins/honeypot-comments/honeypot-comments.php on line 63

  • Stay Connected

    Subscribe to Randy’s Blog via Email

  • Recent Posts

  • 48 comments on “Living by Spirit not Illusion”

    1. Interesting analogy Randy. Don't think I've ever seen it put exactly this way.

      If I understand correctly, you're saying that the millions of poverty stricken people in third world nations are poor due to their lack of knowledge of prosperity consciousness and without knowing, they've made a conscious choice to live the way they do? I certainly can see that the fact that they've been given the illusion that it's the ONLY way they can live, that this 'illusion' is the only one they have to live by.

      Personally, I agree with everything you say with respect to acknowledging that prosperity is our natural state. Not living in prosperity is 'living in the dark'. The fact that we live in a Universe that is infinite, abundant and without any limitations for us personally or otherwise, is the ONLY belief I choose to have. On the other hand, I fully realize that I still harbor limiting beliefs but continue to eliminate them knowing what's possible. In other words, to let the "light" shine on my Life.

      Thanks so much. I'm grateful for your powerful and enlightening insights.

      1. The truth is, those people didn't consider themselves "poor" until "we" came around and told them they were poor.....to them, it was a natural way of life...I remember a story of a woman in one of the third world countries who had the little boy soldiers who would always come killing and raping, and one day they raped this woman.....she was seen the next day putting up a fence, about 2 ft. high, of wild grass reeds---certainly (in our eyes) nothing that would keep attackers out....when asked what she was doing, she was soooo proud of herself, she was totally convinced she was building a fortress to keep the invaders out.....she had no idea about the way things seemed to us---she was totally in her own belief, she was going to go on with her life and be happy....do you realize that until WE called them a third world country, they were "content" in their way of life....because they didn't come up to OUR standards of per capita income, we called them poor.....Same in Mexico and other countries....Granted, we are meant to help people, save people, save the starving and sick, but as far as rich and poor goes, some of the "richest" people in the world are the poorest, and some of the poorest are the wealthiest...

      2. I definitely don't think they've made a conscious choice to be poor. More like being ignorant of the possibilities and reacting on a subconscious level. And I certainly don;t mean ignorant in a mean-spirited or judgmental way.

        -RG

        1. Hey Randy,

          I don't agree with the minimalism this guy pushes, but he seems to echo some of the contents of "Why You're Dumb, Sick, and Broke"

          http://www.raptitude.com/2011/01/how-to-make-trillions-of-dollars/

          And in a forum on electronic music people were talking about how "all of the people in the scene now made it big ten years ago" and "it's not possible to make a living doing it any more."

          My reply was this:

          "I don't think EDM is dead. I think the scene everyone keeps reminiscing about is.

          1999 is over, and whole "they broke out before the fall" crap needs to stop. It wouldn't be the first time.

          Disco disappeared from the US almost overnight. Suddenly DJs in clubs no longer had records to spin. EDM exists in many ways BECAUSE PEOPLE ADAPTED. They took cheap synths and drum machines, turntables and did their own thing.

          They invented house, techno, rap, new age, and everything in between. It's gone full circle- these influences are heard everywhere now.

          A scene, like an industry is made up of people.

          People do, and change things. The people who don't just sit on their asses doing nothing sometimes succeed.

          What are you doing? "

      3. If you never knew that light existed on the other side of the curtain and you also didn't know that the curtains could be drawn open, then you would believe that darkness is normal. This is what I think Randy means when he says that people living in lack are ignorant. Ignorant just means uneducated or unaware, which a lot of people confuse with arrogant, which is an exaggerated sense of self-worth.

    2. Well said Randy. Loved it actually! Took me back to the day when I was studying Hidigger The Philosopher.

      Thanks great stuff

    3. I've read this a few times & will probably read it a few more to have it sink in. I'm guessing this is something I need to understand today, because I was just (2 min ago) listening to Abraham-Hicks who said something along these lines (I think). Abraham said "you can't go into a room and turn on the 'dark switch' because darkness does not exist. You can only experience darkness when there is an absence of light." Is this like saying poverty doesn't really exist; it is merely the absence of a natural thing called prosperity? I hope so, cuz I think I get that and your post is helping me get it :o) Thanks Randy Gage!

      1. I like the simplicity Abraham-Hicks brings to this concept. I beleive that polarity explains that sickness is the absence of health. If you had an absence of health without sickness, what would that be? You need the other side. You need the valley to appreciate the mountain and sickness to appreciate health. Without those diametrical oppposed states/attributes, that comparison is not possible.

        1. Me too Carmen! It has recently become my all-time-favorite teaching~besides Randy's, of course! Simple is so.....simple. Understanding all of this is so simple, as long as we don't complicate it by thinking it can't be that simple 🙂

    4. Randy,

      I tweeted this quote a while back:

      "The only place in the universe where poverty exists is the human mind."

      and received some colorful responses, to put it lightly. But just look around and you see proof of this. Is there a shortage of anything in nature? Don't think so. If everything has its origin in Spirit, how could Spirit "come up short." Ludicrous. Thinking lack creates lack, that's all.

      Just because you think something doesn't that make thought a reality.

      Thanks for sharing!

      RB

    5. That's an excellent article Randy.
      Are we victors not a victims? Living for someday or today? Attracting or clinging? Dragging or flowing?
      Thanks for the inspiration.
      Roisin.

    6. I just used that affirmation on a CD today! I complied 24 minutes of affirmations, recorded them, and burned them to a CD! 🙂
      It's about your perception! 🙂 I choose abundance.

    7. In every society there will always be hewers of wood and drawers of water. I've always wondered why some parts of the world are poor and some are rich (relatively)-vis a vis North America vs. India or some of those African countries. Look around you and you may find the natural order of things.

    8. Everything of this world then is an illusion. Everything we know here on earth is temporal even the earth on which we live is temporal. All material things are temporal.

      The only things then that are not illusions are of the spirit. Spirit I suppose will be around when our universe disappears?

      What you have said then has nothing to do with material wealth, only prosperity of the spiritual kind. In that case, you are absolutely right.

      I call this piece of yours today : JUSTIFICATION

      You are a child of God Randy. You are a critical thinker too, and truth is the light.

      1. So, I was still thinking about your post. I am not sure there is anyway to prove anything you have said above. I think it is really positive to believe everyone can have material wealth, and who knows perhaps it is true, I hope so.

        Poverty is far to complex an issue to reduce it to some kind of metaphysical happening. It might make us feel more inspired to reach our highest potential, and that is always good and positive. But what about truth and reality? There is so much duality.

        It is easy to say that the Light is knowing that everyone can have prosperity if only the are not to ignorant to claim it. However, such a statement as beautiful and well intended as it may be, does not encompass the entire truth. If your followers read the newspapers and expand their horizons and truly do some critcal thinking, eventually the light of the truth will dawn. Then fully aware that we live in a world where material and spiritual poverty are both real and all around us they can be a Light or the Light.

        We are interconnected and interdependent, and what one says and does effects the others. What one chooses to give or not give effects others. Whether we choose to give with the expectation of return or with only altruism. Whether we choose truth or a lie to believe. Whether we choose to love or hate. All of these effects the whole illusory universe. Knowing when and how to do these things is the hurdle.

        Love is the greatest of all.

        1. I can't speak for Randy, but I know he's a fan of Ayn Rand.

          A couple tenets of her philosophy which I think might help solve the issue of poverty if more people were aware are:

          "Man—every man—is an end in himself, not the means to the ends of others. He must exist for his own sake, neither sacrificing himself to others nor sacrificing others to himself. The pursuit of his own rational self-interest and of his own happiness is the highest moral purpose of his life."

          "The ideal political-economic system is laissez-faire capitalism. It is a system where men deal with one another, not as victims and executioners, nor as masters and slaves, but as traders, by free, voluntary exchange to mutual benefit. It is a system where no man may obtain any values from others by resorting to physical force, and no man may initiate the use of physical force against others. The government acts only as a policeman that protects man’s rights; it uses physical force only in retaliation and only against those who initiate its use, such as criminals or foreign invaders. In a system of full capitalism, there should be (but, historically, has not yet been) a complete separation of state and economics, in the same way and for the same reasons as the separation of state and church."

          1. Hi Tom,

            Thank you for taking the time to write that. After I read what you had written me, I took time out this morning to imagine you being really successful with your music. (I don't know what you look like but I did the best I could:) So, I am sending you a big hug.

            I agree with the capitialism part mostly. I wish it had happened like that in America. Perhaps one day it will be like that, and everyone will have the wealth they need or want. I for one am going to believe it will happen. Happy Free Healthy people everywhere!

            I haven't read Ayn Rand yet, but I plan to this summer. I would only add, that after one has acheived the highest moral good of their own happines and loving themselves, they will then love others as God loves us. I think. 🙂

            Go get 'em with your muscic Tom Mrak. Go Tom, Go Tom!

            Annie

            1. Thank you Annie.

              I wish you success in whatever you do as well.

              i will need to remedy that.

              In the 19 Century we did have something a lot closer. Corporations only have their power because government enables it, and people enable government.

              Tyrants exist because people would rather have safety and cruelty, than uncertainty and opportunity.

              Laws which were used to free slaves gave corporations many rights which you and I have, and it went downhill from there.

              Note, I am not against corporations, I am against what they have become. The 19th Century is long over. It's time to grow up and realize that you might make more money with happier people.

              America exists because people rebelled against the corporations running the colonies and the government which gave them that power. The irony of America is we are back where we started.

              We can change it, but it has to be people like Randy, and us.

              We can't wait for the herd or their "leaders" to do it.

              It certainly won't happen by watching "The Secret".

          2. Tom,

            I am impressed!

            If majority of people in America understood Ayn Rand's Objectivism, our country and its people would be the strongest, self-sufficient and wealthiest in the world.

            In 1987 a friend gave me a copy of Ayn Rand's book and told me, "here, you have to read this..., you talk just like her..."
            And sure enough, after reading the book and the rest of her library, I found my intellectual soul mate. If Ayn Rand was still here, she would be my best friend...

            "Just as I support my life, neither by robbery nor alms, but by my own effort, so I do not seek to derive my happiness from the injury or the favor of others, but earn it by my own achievement....Happiness is possible only to a rational man, the man who desires nothing but rational goals, seeks nothing but rational values and finds his joy in nothing but rational actions....men who do not desire the uneraned and do not view one another with a cannibal's lust, men who neither make sacrifices nor accept them."

            It is not only individuals natural state to be prosperous, it's every individual's responsibility.

            Victoria

            1. Victoria,

              I don't agree with her 100%, and I think people misunderstand her.

              I don't think her message was "everyone for themselves" or to "acquire as much as possible". Which are the common interpretations that I see.

              I feel it was more about being your own person and contributing by having your work be it business, art, being a doctor, etc., move you and thus move the world.

              People also think she was against Altruism. No, she was against FORCED Altruism. For example, the public demands that a millionaire share their wealth with the "right" religion.

              Let's say that millionaire wasn't religious, and loved art. It would be Selfish on his part because he loves art, it makes him happy, and would rather give to that cause. He is able to gain fulfillment, and the artists benefit a great deal, and world benefits from the work of the artists.

              A full circle of abundance, which would not be possible if the millionaire were forced into giving to a Church which he didn't believe in.

              I am an artist, and we're supposed to be Liberal for some reason. If being Liberal meant being for Liberty, than fine, but in America being Liberal is about Collectivism.

              I would say I am a libertarian with a small l.

            2. Tom,

              You just described ("Forced Altruism") exactly what happened on "Bringing Prosperity back to Japan" blog. Have you read the attacks on Randy's action?

              Victoria

        2. Hi Annie,

          I think you'll like Ayn Rand.
          Here is what she wrote about Racism:

          "In its great era of capitalism, the United States was the freest country on earth - and the best refutation of racist theories...Men of racial groups that have been slaughtering one another for centuries, learned to live together in harmony and peaceful cooperation. America had been called 'the melting pot', with good reason...Today,...America has become race-conscious in a manner reminiscent of the worst days in the most backward countries of nineteenth-century Europe. The cause is the same: the growth of collectivism and statism."

          Victoria

          1. Victoria,

            I totally agree with that observation her's.

            America has also become a very Class oriented culture which pretends it does not exist, which sickens me because it isn't based on value of any sort.

            1. Having been raised by people obsessed with Unions, I will say that a Collectivist attitude is quite harmful and enables the very tyranny which it claims to fight against.

    9. I like this post, Randy, because I never thought our family was poor or had a lack, though we did after WWII. Right now after the tsunami and earthquake, my mother was saying that it was like right after WWII with everything on ration or not available. Even the electricity! My mother was in Tokyo flattened after the bombing and my father in the internment camp and finally being allowed to work for the MIS when I was born a few years later after the end of WWII. There is plenty but how to share around the world. This is something we all need to think!

    10. POWERFUL & TRUE...

      JESUS CHRIST SAID THAT THE POOR WILL ALWAYS BE WITH US...IT'S A STATE OF MIND! ALSO, IN THE BIBLE IN HOSEA IT STATES THAT GOD'S PEOPLE WILL PERISH FOR LACK OF KNOWLEDGE!

      THE TRUTH SHALL SET US FREE...TO PROSPER IN ALL THINGS!

    11. To me, wealth is respect. People do not work solely to earn money, but rather to earn self-respect... worthiness. A persons life should be measured not in treasures amassed but in achievment. Life itself seeks to achieve... and it does so in a most remarkable way. We are life! Achieve!

      1. That is a cool way of looking at it.

        Unfortunately, the vast majority of people believe they have to work for money itself and feel unhappy.

        Unfortunately, we have a culture which encourages some to be Masters, and the rest to be Slaves. Randy has touched on this before.

        Some say the economy would collapse if people felt good about themselves and were more independent.

        I doubt that. I doubt music or the movies would go anywhere.
        Yacht sales could go up.

        I doubt people would stop buying clothes, or cars. I think they might even spend more.

        I'm sure businesses which preyed on people or needed government intervention to succeed would fail, but that is what Capitalism is supposed to be.

        Value for value.

    12. Thank you, Randy!
      This is so right! I translated it in my language (Bulgarian) and posted it as a note in my Facebook profile with a link to your post.
      Bless you!

    13. Randy, I am putting my swords down now. I consider the battle finished. Oh no, that does not mean I am leaving. So sorry! 🙂

      Anyway, I truly believe you manifested me! How do you like that? Well here I am. Are you loving it? Truly, I think this, because I was in the library looking for a senior's book on how to do photos on the computer, honestly, when I saw your book looking at ME! When I read the title, I thought amongst other things, it was the most accurate description of how most people feel. The man on the cover looked so nice and friendly, I could not imagine finding offense to anything he would say. 🙂 Serendipity, and here I am.

      I have been thinking about these disputes and wondering, have I won or lost? Am I right or wrong? Ultimately, I think I have done all those things. The result, we have all won, by knowing each other. There may be light and dark, truth and lies, yes they are out there for sure. Balance is found in all of it. That is why we can all be so happy right now. The world and all of us are perfectly balanced. We all have light and dark, right and wrong.

      We need each other too, to be balanced. We need to all have different opinions sometimes, so we can find our centers and truly be balanced.

      Annie

    14. Here's a quick example that I think illustrates what Randy is saying perfectly. Cesar Millan (who has a very successful tv show here in the U.S. as the dog whisperer), was born and raised in poverty in Mexico. The reality of his surroundings were poverty, and lack...but the he wasn't buying into these limitations...the difference was his thinking...the thoughts he entertained. He had a burning desire/definite purpose/unstoppable passion to be the best dog trainer in the world and to have much more for himself. So instead of simply buying into this reality of accepted limitation (which is truly what we're talking about...accepted limitation through programming and environment) that he was surrounded by, and agreeing that his life would be defined by it, he let his thoughts and mind fuel his journey. He snuck into the U.S. as an illegal immigrant, (leaving his family and security), with only a few dollars in his pocket, and slept on the streets for quite a while. But his passion/thoughts/dreams/beliefs fueled his forward motion. Btw, he spoke not a word of English at the time. The upshot of all this is, he is now a multimillionaire, with a vast empire including his own syndicated tv show, his own magazine, his own line of dog food, his own line of pet products, hugely successful int' lecturing tours, and oh, 4 best selling books! So, was the poverty he grew up with real? Of course it was! Sure the folks living in it were truly feeling the experience of being poor and having very little...but was it real in the sense of it being the only reality possible, or was it simply an accepted reality of perceived limitations? Most everyone he grew up with is still poor...so how come this one individual managed to turn the light on when everyone else was stuck in the darkness of poverty...Cesar didn't believe the darkness was real...that it was his only option. He came from the exact same circumstances, and yet created a massively different reality...how is that possible if poverty is something you have no choice in? If their circumstances were exactly the same, then the only thing that separated Cesar from the others (and this poverty that was a "reality"), were the thoughts and beliefs he entertained. His thoughts and beliefs created light where others simply bought into the reality of darkness and limitation. One thing is for sure, if he would have bought into the programming of his environment and succumbed like so many others, he would absolutely still be there, and poverty would absolutely be his reality. So my point isn't whether poverty is real in the sense of do people actually experience it...of course they do...but the real question is, do you choose to believe it is your only reality possibility. For if you do, you will most certainly remain there, within the confines of that accepted reality. I think that Cesar's story proves that your thoughts are the ONLY thing that determine/dictate your reality. he believed a different reality possibility, and created it. The people he grew up around believed in the reality of their poverty, and created and maintained that reality. So yes, it really is the absence of light that allows darkness to remain...and it's only our thoughts and beliefs that banish it...for they are the light.

      -Sean

      1. BTW, Caesar's show is simply amazing. People think he's training the dogs, but he's really training the people! He's done a lot of self-development work and it shows.

        -RG

      2. Dog shows are my favorite. I have not seen Ceasars' show to much, but I did love his calming presence. Dogs really need that, otherwise they get nervous. I just love those doggies.:)

        I have to say though I have seen much more "It's Me or the Dog", Victoria is great too! She gets the dogs and the people in line. I think she is giving out darn good therapy to people, and calling it dog training. 🙂

        I had to jump in because I LOVE Dogs, with their big wet noses, stinky breath and furry hugs! I have written a lot on this post, and I am not sure if any of it is on topic.

        Annie

    15. Great post, Randy.

      Darkness is lack of light. If day light needs to wait 12 hours before darkness is gone. If room is dark, someone need to turn on light or flashlight... So that need to generate light for that matter.

      Poverty is lack of prosperity, or lack of money. So how you wait for filling the prosperity/money or generating the prosperity/money so poverty is gone.

      Darkness won't leave until light is there. Poverty won't leave until prosperity/money is there for us to use...

      What do you think?

    Leave a Reply to Linda Ryan Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


    Warning: Undefined variable $key in /nas/content/live/randygagedev/wp-content/plugins/honeypot-comments/honeypot-comments.php on line 63

    © MMXXIII Prosperity Factory, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Legal Information, Sitemap, Site by PrimeConcepts