WHAT A GORILLA TAUGHT ME ABOUT WEALTH AND ABUNDANCE

Money is important…but there are serious limitations to constantly chasing material wealth. Can we feel resourced, wealthy and rich and access the deeper needs of our hearts — beyond money?

By Kamini Chopra

Simbi Yvan on Unsplash

The huge silverback came rushing at us from deep within the camouflage of the dense, leafy rainforest.

He stopped short just about 5 meters away and swung his massive arms beating at his chest.

I was first in line on the narrow muddy path.

I froze.

All my senses were hyper alert. I was in an almost 360 degree moment, aware of everything simultaneously. The smell of the rain as fresh as the remoteness of the forest, the wet mud beneath my feet, the mist permeating into large green leaves and the animation of existence symbiotic with my own presence.

My breath stopped and the hair rose on my arms.

My heart was the only thing I could hear pounding as I gazed at him in awe, almost in sync with the roar that emerged from the magnificent animal.

It was a mock charge. He turned around and vanished into the wilderness that was his home.

Later I had the fascinating opportunity to observe him with his family, playing with infants and protecting his clan and I was struck by our similarities.

Alive. Uplifted. Grateful. Humbled. Wealthy.

I write about this experience in Uganda because of how it made me feel.

I am no Dian Fossey. However, this moment with the gorilla was one where I found my soul to be truly uplifted and to be incredibly grateful for the experience of living.

There is deep fulfilment, aliveness and abundance to be felt when we develop the capacity and ability to feel something beyond our own existence.

When we can feel the magnitude of life way beyond our own personal realms, we recognise the abundance and riches which co-exist simultaneously.

There is joy and richness to be found in the plenitude of gifts that surround… if only we could use our innermost eyes to really see.

I’m sure you can relate to that moment of aliveness I felt with the gorilla. We all have these experiences when everything feels extraordinarily perfect and in harmony with life on this planet.

Isn’t this what it means to be rich?

To have access to an abundance of resources to meet your needs and feel a sense of purpose? If there is truth to this — then what are we doing spending all our time just chasing money and status symbols?

The answer is… well complicated.

I’ve spent a fair share of my life benefiting from material wealth. Now, at a later stage and with some more insight, I want to share my thoughts on the benefits and other aspects of wealth.

Gary Meulemans on Unsplash

What’s missing? How do we fill the void of existence?

We spend our time on this planet chasing after that search and fill the void with ‘things’.

All of us have an interminable and unquenchable primordial thirst within each of us. We are searching, searching, searching. What is this constant search? It is material and it is also spiritual — there is no difference between the two.

It’s over simplistic to define the desire for money as greed.

I’m a firm believer in abundance.

Hey, what’s the point of all that labor and sweat, blood, tears and strife, without reaping the rewards of being privileged enough to take that trip to Uganda. Or buying that beautiful car… or whatever floats your boat. Having fun. Having enough for old age, leaving a legacy for the kids.

We deserve that much at least and more. All of us do.

Yet, even after achieving all the various milestones, there seems to be a constant creepy feeling that something is off kilter.

Jing Xi Lau on Unsplash

Is the vision, despite its apparent immenseness and the toil towards making it all happen, perhaps a bit myopic?

Something is missing… Sounds familiar?

“I’ve finally got my dream house. What more could I ask for? All has worked out as per plan.”

Fabulous. No, it truly is and well done.

But, the new house becomes old news a few months later. And life continues with its chaos, every day with some damage control, more of the same old and more of the new ‘things’. When will it ever be enough?

Jon Tyson on Unsplash

The Ego will constantly keep you chasing for more.

It is a never ending, self-defeating, self- abusive burning for ‘more’. You keep feeding the constantly hungry beast and are controlled by constant need.

This is how we fill the void.

Living with existential questions.

“Is this it? What does it all mean? What’s the point of it all?”

And yet, especially during those times when we throw up our hands in despair, overwrought by it all, these are the words that are frequently voiced. You don’t have to be deeply philosophical to feel this way many times.

The mind switches off. There is no logic or rationale, and some elusive desire from the heart comes forth involuntarily to our tongues — before we shut it down and carry on as usual.

This is how we live, in a void that needs to be filled all the time.

Michal Matlon on Unsplash

***

Last year when I was in India, I gave a homeless man some money. Not a big deal, plenty of us do that. We see suffering, we dig our hands in our pockets for loose change, we give and we walk away feeling a bit better about ourselves having done the good deed for the day. Then we forget about it. It’s easier to forget so that we can also forget about our own responsibilities as humans.

But as I looked into his eyes that were sort of on the point where the light was going out, I considered what this must mean to his humanity. A light was still there but it was mostly taken over by other much darker things. He looked at me with a kind of abject gratitude which faded away a few seconds later, eyes glazed over to withdraw again into his own wretched existence.

I walked away feeling a bit shattered.

And again, humbled.

A feeling different and similar to the gorilla experience.

I cannot begin to imagine his reality. Yet he is right there, human, just like I am. There is so much more to our existence besides our own experiences that we cannot possibly fathom.

It signifies our fallibility.

***

When wealth can be used as a tool for fulfilment.

So wealth is hugely important. It fulfils us when used mindfully and meaningfully as an opportunity for personal growth.

I wish every single person had plenty of it. When I say every single person, I mean the kind of people who would use it to do some good. There’s no better way to put that across.

There are too many who do not do that.

To use an often used example, especially these days, of billionaires who exploit thousands of their own employees who barely make enough to survive. Yet the billionaires continue on this convoluted, corrupting journey, again and again for more, more and more.

Shane on Unsplash

The key to using wealth responsibly is humility.

Simply put — doing worthy deeds.

Humility will help use power and wealth for what still serves us first — fulfilment, purpose, love, compassion, joy. It comes from the heart and defies the logical mind.

We all have the ability to do this even on micro levels.

Think of it as a parallel existence to the present normal, where one does not have to be parasitic to the other. Rather, they complement each other.

We resist and reject what does not give us comfort or status or material gain.

Humility helps us transcend this.

Greg Rakozy on Unsplash

A need for understanding abundance beyond money as our salvation.

Finding abundance in our exploration towards achieving meaning, purpose and fulfilment.

We don’t have to be super rich at all to find beauty in the breath and rhythm of life, everywhere.

We can do without constantly buying ‘stuff’. We can come truly alive just like I did, in that rainforest, more often.

We can even sit at home and watch the rain shower onto searing soils and see life grow.

We can change our adulterated filters and see more clearly, and with more vision. We can respect the gifts of nature and creation and stop using it as a resource to be exploited.

We can use our money and wealth for acts that give us meaning and purpose. We can stop the self-abuse of trying in vain to satisfy our egos.

We can reach out towards each other in more meaningful ways through our collective humanity and similarities.

We can teach our children differently.

We can understand what that Search really is… on deeper levels.

We can practice gratitude.

We can find our power right along with understanding our fallibility.

I wish for everyone of us to have the opportunity to experience a diversity of wealth and abundance. When we do, I wish too that we always remember to have the humility in our hearts to channel this wealth for our own growth and the good of us all. This seems to be the only way to create the urgent changes required on our planet, right now.