Abundance Over Fear: Rethinking Wealth, Success, and Spiritual Life

Abundance Over Fear: Rethinking Wealth, Success, and Spiritual Life

We live in a culture that equates success with accumulation—bigger paychecks, larger homes, more possessions. Yet beneath the surface, many of us remain anxious, fearful, and unfulfilled. In this article, I explore the spiritual trap of materialism and the illusion of financial security, using Jesus’ teaching about the camel and the eye of the needle as a guide. True abundance, I’ve learned, is not measured in wealth but in presence, love, and generosity. Whether you are rich and afraid of losing what you have, or striving and afraid you’ll never have enough, the path forward is the same: release fear, embrace trust, and live into a deeper definition of success.

Abundance Over Fear: Rethinking Wealth, Success, and Spiritual Life

Introduction

When I began my spiritual journey almost a decade ago, I was firmly entrenched in the Western rat race. I had married young, had two children, built a successful career, earned a Master’s degree, bought a beautiful home, juggled two cars, student loans, and a mortgage—all before I hit 30. On paper, by American standards, I was on track for a happy and fulfilled life.

But inside, I was dying. Anxiety and depression stalked me, worsened by the grief of losing my brother. No matter how much more money I made, the pressure never lifted; if anything, it grew heavier.

I had checked all the boxes I was taught to check, but happiness eluded me. Each year seemed only to add to the burden of my existence. Spiritually, I wandered: I had explored atheism, wrestled with Christianity, and settled into a brittle, anxious agnosticism that gave little comfort. I was lost.

The first crack in the shell came during a fateful experiment with psilocybin mushrooms. The journey itself was messy (poor set and setting), but it propelled me into deeper exploration. Through psychedelics, I tasted the presence of the divine, and that experience set me on a path I could not turn back from.

The transition required burning down much of my old life and stepping into the unknown with no guarantees. I had to dismantle the very metrics by which I once measured success.

In this article, I want to explore that journey and share what I have learned about the intersection of spirituality, abundance, and materialism. My aim is not to advocate for abandoning all possessions or retreating to an ashram in the hills of India. Rather, I hope to gently challenge the Western definition of “success” and show that an abundant, spiritually fulfilling life can coexist with—but must not be enslaved to—the material world.

Materialism and Fear

I remember hearing in Bible study: “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God” (Matthew 19:24).

For years, I wrestled with this verse. I don’t believe Jesus was saying that wealth itself bars entry to heaven. Rather, He was pointing to the fear that wealth so often creates—the fear of losing it. That fear is a powerful snare, and we see its fruits all around us. Miserly billionaires and families living in opulence fill the headlines, often accompanied by stories of divorce, addiction, and despair.

This isn’t an invitation to hate the rich; in fact, I see their plight as tragic. They may possess everything money can buy, but they often remain profoundly unfulfilled.

So what is life really for? If there is any universal lesson, I believe it is this: to overcome fear and to find love despite it. This is why Jesus spoke so absolutely about the wealthy. For many, wealth amplifies fear: the fear of not being secure, the fear of falling, the fear of losing status. Yet, for the rest of us, don’t we make do with far less? Why is “having less” seen as such a dismal outcome?

Abundance and the Illusion of Security

The truth is that financial security is an illusion. Wealth can vanish in a market crash, a medical emergency, or the inevitable decline of health. At the end of our lives, no one clutches a bank statement with pride. What endures is not what we owned but who we were: the depth of our spirit, the love we gave, the courage with which we lived.

Abundance, as I have come to understand it, is not measured in possessions but in presence. It is knowing that life itself is a gift, that each breath and every relationship is priceless. And unlike wealth, this kind of abundance cannot be lost, it only multiplies when shared.

Materialism feeds on fear: the fear of not having enough, the fear of falling behind, and the fear of losing comfort or status. Spiritual abundance, by contrast, is rooted in trust: trust that life will provide, that generosity replenishes rather than depletes, and that we ourselves are enough without proving it through endless achievement.

This is the deeper meaning of the “eye of the needle.” The gate is narrow not because God despises wealth, but because fear and attachment burden us with loads too heavy to pass through. To enter abundance, whether rich or poor, we must lay down our fear.

Redefining Success

In my own life, I had to dismantle the Western dream and rebuild from the inside out. Success was no longer salary, degrees, or square footage. It became something quieter, more enduring:

• Was I truly present with my children?

• Did I love and allow myself to be loved by my partner?

• Did I offer my gifts in service to others?

• Did I choose courage over comfort, even when fear pressed hard?

• Did I take risks to do the right thing

  
  

These questions became my new compass. And unlike money, their rewards grow the more they are shared. Love expands in the giving. Presence deepens in the practice. Kindness multiplies with each act.

Practices for Living Abundance

So how do we step into abundance, especially in a culture that preaches scarcity and accumulation? The answer is not abandoning responsibility or despising wealth but transforming our relationship with it.

Whether you are rich and afraid of losing what you have, or striving and afraid you’ll never have enough, the root issue is the same: fear. And the path forward begins with trust.

1. Face the Fear- For the wealthy, fear often shows up as anxiety about losing what’s been built. For the striving, it appears as the gnawing worry of never arriving. Begin by naming it: What am I really afraid of? What would happen if I lost, or never gained, what I seek? Beneath fear lies the truth: life still holds. We are still breathing, still capable of love.

2. Redefine Security- Security is not found in possessions but in connection with God, with self, with community. For the wealthy, this means loosening the grip on money as the sole means of safeguarding wealth. For the striving, it means not postponing peace until some imaginary financial milestone is reached. Safety is found not in what you own, but in who you are and who walks beside you.

3. Practice Generosity- Generosity is the antidote to fear. If you have much, give freely. If you have little, give presence, kindness, or service. Either way, generosity declares: there is enough, and I am enough. Each act of giving is a seed, and from abundance, more abundance flows.

4. Steward, Don’t Hoard- Wealth is not evil; it is energy meant to circulate and nourish. For the wealthy, stewardship means directing resources wisely and openly so they bring life to others. For the striving, stewardship means tending carefully to what you do have—your talents, your relationships, your opportunities. Stewardship is not about how much you possess, but how you channel what you’ve been entrusted with.

5. Presence Over Possession- Ask each day, not What did I acquire? but How fully did I live? How present was I? Presence is the true currency of abundance—accessible to all, regardless of wealth.

 

Closing: Abundance That Flows Forward

At the heart of abundance is the recognition that life is not something to clutch, but something to share. Fear teaches us to hoard and cling. Love teaches us to open, give, and trust that what we release will return—not always as money, but as healing, connection, and joy.

This is why generosity is not just a moral act, but a spiritual practice. When we release what we have —wealth, time, or presence —we step into the current of abundance itself. We proclaim that life is more than accumulation, that our worth is not bound to possessions, and that the fruit of our lives can nourish others long after we are gone.

The WholeMind Foundation was created in this spirit. Its purpose is not merely to gather funds, but to steward them wisely, sustainably, and lovingly—so the gifts of one generation ripple forward into the healing of many others. Each donation is like a seed planted, bearing fruit not only for the healing of individuals today, but for the transformation of the world tomorrow.

Abundance is never static. It is a living current. And when we choose presence over possession, love over fear, we discover that the kingdom of God, or a life well lived, is not a far-off promise but a reality breaking into our lives, here and now.

I will leave you with this, the Prayer of St. Francis… Spoken daily within WholeMind as a reminder that in sharing our abundance, abundance will return to us. Not as an expectation but as the natural order of the Universe.

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:

where there is hatred, let me sow love;

where there is injury, pardon;

where there is doubt, faith;

where there is despair, hope;

where there is darkness, light;

where there is sadness, joy.

O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek

to be consoled as to console,

to be understood as to understand,

to be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive,

it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.