Woke and Broke: Escaping one of the common traps in modern spirituality

Many spiritual people are well acquainted with grand expressions of Truth like, "All things are possible," "Your thoughts create reality," "The ALL is Mind," and "If you can imagine it, you can create it."
While these are some of the most foundational ideas behind many New Age teachings, it's worth asking: why are so many spiritual people "woke and broke"?
Why is it that so many spiritual people blindly adhere to these ideas, struggling to "make them work", yet not experiencing the entrance to the "land of plenty" that is promised and that they so desperately desire?
At the same time, why is it that so many "un-spiritual" people, seemingly have no problem at all manifesting health, wealth, happiness, and love without believing in ANY of the previously mentioned noble expressions of Truth?
Is it possible that there's something about creation and manifestation that the spiritual community has misunderstood? And is it possible that by getting clear on what that misunderstanding is, it would change everything?
To solve this riddle, let's consider 4 stages of the spiritual journey.
In the first stage of the journey, people often say that "Life is happening TO me." This is a stage dominated by victim consciousness, feelings of not having enough, not being enough, and a sense that "there is something wrong with me." Blaming others, the government, the economy, your past, your parents, etc, is very common in this stage.
The seeker in stage 1 does not have a lot of personal power. They are unable to create what they want and often experience themselves as "stuck" in life. And it's to the people in this stage that "Law of Attraction" and other ideas behind thoughts creating reality are the most attractive.
The person in stage 1 is often in a desperate situation. Maybe they're in a bad relationship, maybe they're suffering from chronic pain or similar conditions. Maybe they're living paycheck to paycheck and are one bill away from being broke.
In other words, life is a mess!
This person has been exposed to various spiritual ideas and teachings, and while they desperately LOVE the idea that they can just think thoughts of health, wealth, or happiness and it will suddenly show up in their life and solve all their problems, this isn't their experience.
They struggle applying these principles. They sometimes feel like they need to "do it harder," like their intention or Will or ability to "broadcast" just isn't powerful enough.
Putting grand spiritual ideas aside, what would you advise someone in this situation?
"Raise your vibration" or "Get your act together"?
I met a guy once who had a cavity. He wanted to know how to heal it.
"Heal it, sir?! Get thee to a dentist!"
Please note, I'm not saying it's impossible to heal a tooth or perform any other miraculous feats of power. What I am saying is that this particular guy in that particular moment was not operating from a place where he had access to that kind of power.
He didn't take my advice. He tried to "positive think" his way to oral health. And several months later, I saw that he was doing an emergency visit to the dentist for an extraction.
So what went wrong? Did he not believe hard enough? Did he not try hard enough?
It's not that. It's that at his vibrational setpoint, he didn't have access to that level of power.
The yogic literature is full of accounts of people healing incurable diseases, levitating, disappearing, walking on water, turning water into wine, raising the dead, and stories more remarkable than even these. But these feats were performed by people at a VERY high vibrational setpoint and level of power.
If you're debating whether to get that broken arm, tooth, or whatever you're dealing with checked out by a doctor or if you'll just think positive thoughts at it, here's a quick test to perform first: can you walk on water? If so, you can heal that arm no problem. But if not.... if you can't yet walk on water, it might be worth taking a visit to the ER.
So while it's true that all things may be possible, it's also true that all things may not be possible for YOU... at your current vibrational setpoint.
So while positive thinking is wonderful and can help lift you up a little, it's probably not enough to take you from Stage 1 where life is happening to you straight to Stage 4 where you are life itself.
In Stage 2, you "wake up" from the victim consciousness prevalent in Stage 1 and start to realize that life is happening BY you. You can only be a victim if you choose to be. The person firmly in Stage 1 can't believe that statement. To them, they really ARE a victim, and how dare you try to tell them otherwise!
People in Stage 2 are ready to take control of their life. They're done being the victim, and they're also done with "wishful thinking." At some point they have the realization that the Universe isn't coming to save them, they've got to save themselves.
This is a really important point. In Stage 1, you can still be a very spiritual person, you can believe that thoughts create reality, you can even practice gratitude and practice raising your vibration and performing various manifestation rituals to try and bend the Universe to your will.
But 99.99999999% of the time, the person doing these things is doing them in order to get something. They believe that they need to raise their vibration in order to get healthy or wealthy.... BECAUSE THEY'RE NOT THAT.
If you were already healthy and wealthy, you wouldn't be trying to "raise your vibration" in order to get healthy and wealthy. You'd just enjoy being what you are. This is why you don't see Mark Cuban running around trying to raise his vibration or even practice gratitude. I don't know the guy, but I suspect he's deeply grateful for his life. And because that's WHO HE IS, he doesn't need to do it in order to make something happen.
So there are some big keys here. If you're doing any kind of spiritual shenanigans in order to make something happen SO THAT you can be happy, healthy, or wealthy, then you're simply confirming to the Universe that YOU'RE NOT THAT ALREADY. Which means no matter what you do, ain't nothing changing, baby.
In Stage 2, you realize you can have whatever reality you want... so long as you're willing to take responsibility for it and create it!
Now, this is NOT a message that the woke and broke crowd like to hear.
"You mean I can't just sit around watching Netflix and occasionally practice gratitude and visualize money falling into my lap? You mean I can't just stop going to the dentist? You mean I can't just ignore the check engine light and hope that everything will be alright?"
Well, you can certainly try. But in both Stages 1 and 2, problems that are resisted tend to get worse.
And there's the next key.
What keeps people stuck in Stage 1 consciousness is RESISTANCE. They're in resistance to their state of not enough health, wealth, or happiness, so they turn to spirituality to try and solve the problems they're actively resisting.
Think of everything you're trying to manifest into your life right now. More money? More love? Feeling better? Losing weight?
Whatever it is, would you say that you're RESISTING your current experience in that area of life? If so, it ain't going away! And the more you resist it, the harder the "woke and broke" identity will try to manifest over it.
Don't try and bypass your reality!
What happens if you accept the thing you've been resisting? Try it now. Is it your health condition, your bank account, your relationship status? What happens if you accept where you are right now? Accept what's going on. OWN IT.
Take responsibility for it. Did your soul choose this life experience for some reason? Is there a lesson here for you? Is there something you've been refusing to see?
Accept it. Welcome it in. Forgive the version of you that created this.
This is the only way to end the resistance. Which means, this is the only way to move forward.
This is awakening from Stage 1. This is where you realize, "I created this mess, and now I see that I can create something else!"
If you want to sail through Stage 2, practice acceptance. Seek out anywhere in life where you have resistance and accept it, welcome it in, and forgive it. Do that while realizing that YOU are in charge of creating your reality. And you can create any reality you want... so long as you're willing to be responsible for it.
When these realizations become deeply anchored, when acceptance becomes your norm, when you can accept whatever life throws at you, Stage 3 begins to reveal itself.
This is where life starts happening through you. Once you've taken responsibility for your life and you're ready to accept all aspects of the Universe, you start to get feelings, intuitions, guidance. You start to feel like you're part of something greater. In Stage 1, people are often trying to "ascend." They don't like this planet and they want to go "home." In Stage 3, there's nowhere else you'd rather be than THIS MOMENT on this planet. The world is a playground! You get to create any reality you want, and not only that, Infinite Intelligence is right there ready to literally GUIDE YOU and show you the perfect next step.
Life in Stage 3 begins to feel truly magical. You just follow your excitement and bliss. In Stage 3, your personal power and vibrational setpoint is way higher than when you were in Stage 1. You begin to have a presence that people notice. When you walk into a room, it lights up. People are drawn to you. Strangers will just start talking to you and telling you their life story. And even if you don't say a thing, they'll thank you and tell you how much better they feel.
In Stage 2, creation requires lots of time and effort. In Stage 3, it gets easier. You still have to do the work, but you're tapping into the Synchronicity Field. It's like you've got the cheat codes now. The Universe is providing the answers, the resources, and the perfect next steps (like it ALWAYS has been), and you're finally listening.
As life gets better and better, as your power grows, as dream after dream starts coming true, you begin to enter Stage 4. Life is now happening AS you. You realize you are Life Itself. And it's here that you finally understand: All things are possible. The ALL is Mind. If you can imagine it, you can create it. The crazy ideas that pop into your head that just sound compassionate, loving, and FUN can't help but spring into existence.
The things you heard in Stage 1, they were true. But they weren't YOUR truth until you took the journey. You had to pass through all the stages in order to get here. And that changed everything.
Note: using various meditations or spiritual practices, it's possible to "pop up" a level or 2. It's possible to get glimpses of Stage 4 before dropping back down to your normal vibrational setpoint. These moments are gifts. They show us what's possible. But we have to have the self-honesty and discernment to recognize where we are on the path. Just because we caught a glimpse of Stage 4 doesn't mean we should ignore that check engine light!
It's also possible to move up and down the stages. You may find yourself in Stage 1 on a certain day, then Stage 2 the next, then have moments of Stage 3 for a period of time. Then something can happen, and you're right back to Stage 1. Then you decide victim consciousness doesn't look good on you, so you move back up again. As spiritual people, we've often been exposed to ideas and tools that enable us to move up and down to a certain degree at will.
The mistake people make is assuming that once they've experienced a moment in Stage 3 or 4, they're there for good. They no longer have to work because they're "beyond" that.
We call those people "woke and broke."
Don't be woke and broke. Do the work. Accept where you are. LOVE where you are. Forgive yourself. Realize you create your reality, and start acting like it. Take responsibility for your life. Then take some more.
If you're SURE you've done that, open your heart to the world. Help others. Be of service. Tune in. Allow yourself to be guided. Allow the answers to come to you. Trust. Realize you're part of something so much greater than what you can imagine. Surrender to THAT... while still doing the work.
Need help applying this stuff? Just reach out.