In the same way service and prayer are common
to all religions, so too is the Christian practice of tithing. While each
form is different, giving a percentage of ones income to a worthy cause
remains an act of worship for Jews, Christians, Muslims, Sikhs, and Hindus.
And, like other religious ideas, tithing too, has found a place in the
new age movement amongst people seeking a new relationship with money.
Compared to the average charitable gift – less
than one percent of the average monthly wage according to the Charities
Aid Foundation – a tithe of ten percent upwards can represent a great
leap of faith for the giver. Given freely, any gift, of money or in kind,
benefits the receiver. But to make a gift of money before the bills are
paid, which tithing suggests you should do, can benefit the giver beyond
the tax breaks offered by charitable giving. Sharing a percentage of our
income without foreknowledge of how the remainder will provide for our
needs, opens us to the possibility the divine is the source of our supply.
As long term ‘tithers’ have discovered – and
it seems it can not be proven by any other means other than actually doing
it – tithing develops our awareness of the Divine, by whatever name we
call it – grace, the law of harmony, or the Tao.
Money - the idol of idols
Within the world of form, money is the one thing in which we have invested
the most fear. Without it we might starve, lose our home, and worse, perhaps
lose face. Indeed, whatever our worldview, our cause, or bone of contention,
we believe money is the only thing that can solve our problems. Within
our world, money has become the idol of idols. From a practical standpoint
this is a perfectly reasonable position to take. The distribution of wealth
in our society is wildly out of balance; favouring the few, excluding
the many.
Of the many dissatisfied with the current state
of affairs, the anti-globalisation movement campaigns for statutory or
even constitutional reform; others have sought to dispense with money
as a token of exchange entirely, preferring Local Exchange Trading Systems
instead; while charities continue to undertake great works to help the
disadvantaged.
But do these efforts ultimately help us address
why money has become such a focal point for both our hate and desire?
When the Berlin Wall was pulled down, we celebrated a victory in our march
towards a caring and sharing world, and yet the recent construction of
a wall around the West Bank suggests that collectively we are no wiser.
Perhaps it is not money that is wrong, or even
the means of exchange in which it is supposed to flow. Perhaps the distribution
of wealth is so wildly out of balance because our society is like an engine
trying to run without oil. The oil we seek is the grace of non attachment,
through which the world of spirit wishes to flow freely, redistributing
what wealth we have, and, creating more.
Another spiritual platitude? Maybe not. It is
only through cultivating the grace of non attachment in our daily dealings
with money that we might learn that like all matter money is impermanent.
Indeed, without this awareness, we may quickly prove the prophecy of a
wise Lakota Elder, by destroying the planet before realising that money
has little nutritional value.
Mastering the game of life
So why tithing? It’s obvious many of
us with spiritual leanings would like to think non-attachment to money
means not having any, or not being involved in the society in which it
moves. But, maybe money is the lesson we must master to win the game of
life. As is often the case, the paradoxical nature of Spirit might equally
require us to use the basest of tools we have at our disposal – ‘dirty
hard cash’ – to reveal its glorious magnitude.
Tithing, in its true form, can be differentiated
from any other form of monetary gift, because the giver is asked to consider
the money has been returned to the Source in recognition that is where
it originated. Not unlike the farmer who knows the wisdom of returning
a portion of their harvested seed to the earth, to enrich the soil. Regardless
of belief system, the only way such an act can be made is fearlessly,
before any bills or other needs are met, even if at the time of giving
the remaining ninety per cent will not be enough.
In requiring the giver to let go of their attachment
to how their remaining needs will be met, the act of tithing invites a
greater power to move through their lives. When we do this we face our
fear at the most fundamental level of life. We confront our fear of losing
what status or livelihood we may have already acquired, but we also confront
another fear many will hardly be aware of. That, in fact, we are not forsaken
or alone in the universe. That in truth there is a Divine Agency, which
is abundant in nature and apparently generous by accord – happy to provide
for our needs – rich or poor - if given the chance, as so much religious
scripture has suggested it will.
Lord Francis Bacon once said ‘Money is a great
treasure that only increases as you give it away’. It remains for the
bold to discover this truth through their own experience. Tithing at a
basic level is a prosperity principle, but in truth it is a spiritual
discipline. Like any spiritual practice the best way to practice is on
a regular basis. Taking up the practice of meditation, and practising
when we feel like it will lead nowhere. But daily practice will, over
time, cultivate great peace and contentment. The same is true of tithing.
When we tithe we start to cultivate the awareness, which will in time,
open us as a channel, or conduit, through which the Source, can move.
In time the tither may too realise that the Source actually desires to
move through them, significantly increasing their wealth - not increased
as a special reward for having done a good deed, but that simply through
practice they have become more receptive and therefore are able to give
more.
Non attachment
Non attachment as an intellectual concept is one easily grasped by most,
but to experience it is another thing. Through actions, such as tithing,
we have the opportunity to understand that non attachment actually describes
a result or condition of being. We can actively practice non attachment
in the choices we make, but ultimately it describes the net result of
our practice. Thinking about it is simply not enough!
Systematic tithing over a long period of time
can cultivate two qualities which seem to underpin the experience of non
attachment. Non-stealing (Asteya) and non-grasping (Aparigraha) are two
of the five yamas, or deaths, described by Patanjali. Taken literally
they are easy to achieve, but deeper translations, such as that by MSI
in his book Enlightenment![1], suggest more.
Asteya is less about stealing from others, and
more about not adopting any false beliefs which separate us from the Truth.
Of these, the belief of ownership, is the most persistent in separating
us from experiencing the Divine in its Fullness, as we amass material
wealth as a way of insulating ourselves from pain. Tithing challenges
us in the first instance to give money as an acknowledgement that the
Divine is the source of our supply, and yet over time, it may come to
expand our awareness to recognise that all our needs have been met by
the Divine, and always have been. Indeed, that our ownership of our personal
chattels is but a temporary condition of our time on earth – what the
Christians call stewardship. Still deeper, tithing may lead us to the
awareness that that somehow we are not the author or owner of the thoughts
that proceed the action of tithing, and that they too have originated
from the Source.
By the same token, Aparigraha describes how tithing
impels us to let go of our investment in how our tithe will be used, or
if it will be returned. Indeed, the more we let go, the less likely we
are to try and shape our worlds to protect ourselves from our fear of
change. Placing our trust in a Divine which is always working for our
greater good, whenever we act in alignment with it. And as regular Tithers
note, when given a chance, unfettered by our need to control, the Source
will instill our financial affairs with a new experience of both harmony
and prosperity .
The wealth we truly seek
Although almost everyone secretly harbours a wish for instant wealth,
tithing is not a get rich quick scheme. Get rich quick schemes like the
lottery, or gambling, are the stuff of fairy Godmothers, and buried treasure.
But there is nothing lucky or random about the way this aspect of the
divine works:it simply reflects whatever we do. Belief in fairy Godmothers
and buried treasure comes when we believe we are separate from the Source,
and project our true nature outwards. But the buried treasure really lies
hidden inside us; it is what we are. It is possible that tithing may just
reveal that the abundance we seek is in fact our true Nature, and that
its wealth is priceless. Now that is something worth sharing!
Amongst the many laudable ideas that guide us
to make the necessary inner changes that allow the Grace of spirit to
transform our world, tithing has been given scant regard. Yet, it may
be that tithing en mass may represent a viable way of working for world
peace.
----------
Tithing
Tithing is always ten per cent of your
income before the bills (rent, food etc) are paid.
Regular tither’s note they are invariably drawn
to give to the source of their spiritual inspiration.
Tithes should always be given joyfully and freely,
but ideally systematically on all income received.
Decide who to give to in the moment by asking
for guidance from within.
Do not broadcast your giving. Give then move
on.
Money paid to support the upkeep of others including
your family is not a tithe.
Tithing definitions
Christian – From the Old English ‘teotha’
meaning a tenth. One tenth of annual produce or income formerly taken
as a tax for the support of the church.
Muslim - Muslims give Zakat meaning to increase,
or purification on property at 2.5 per cent p.a on all income, and Zakat
after Ramadan.
Jewish - Tzedakah meaning ‘doing the right thing/charitable
giving’. Rabbis advocate giving Ma’aser meaning a tenth part.
Hindu – The Vedic tradition guides Hindus to
give according to their ability and position.
Buddhist – Right livelihood and action guide
Buddhists in their relationship with money.
Sikh – The Sikh Code of Conduct advocates ten
percent of income should be given to charity. ------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1]
ENLIGHTENMENT! The Yoga Sutras of Pantanjali, a new translation and commentary.
MSI. ISBN 0-931783-17-8
This article was originally published in Caduceus
magazine, Issue 64, 2004. www.caduceus.info
First copyrights reserved Nick Kettles, 2005.
The author (Nick Kettles) is happy for this article
to be republished by anyone who wishes to do so, as long as they acknowledge
where it first appeared www.caduceus.info
. Would you please however first contact to inform him where and when
it will appear.
Nick Kettles is a freelance journalist.
His credits include The Times, The Observer and The Independent.
His interests include consciousness and meditation, personal growth,
new science, health and complimentary medicine. Having previously
worked extensively in the personal growth field, he has a keen awareness
of the need to clearly communicate the benefits of the many therapies
on offer. Nick can be contacted at
or via his website www.newmythcreate.com
