096: Overcoming Spiritual Materialism with Sahara Rose

Namaste, it's Sahara Rose. And welcome back to the Highest Self podcast, a place where we discuss what makes you your soul's highest evolvement. This word came to my head and I wanted to do an episode on it. And the word is spiritual materialism. So two words, really. And what spiritual materialism means is to believe that you need certain belongings in order to be spiritual. These belongings can look like crystals and tarot cards and essential oils and palo santo and all of these beautiful, beautiful tools that I also have and I also love. But where it becomes spiritual materialism is when you lose your sense of spirit without these tools. You know, I go to a lot of spiritual type events, and I see great marketplaces, and they're gorgeous, and they have amazing decorative items and things for your walls and so many things. It's like, I just want to pull out my credit card and be like, just take my money. But what ends up happening is you end up in that same exact cycle of materialism that you came to spirituality for. And what I've seen are people who are unable to make their own decisions, and they carry all these crystals and all these cards and all these tools with them all the time, and they're like, constantly pulling the card for the answer to what they need to do today. And that can be great. I love cards. They can be a beautiful part of your practice. But when you are unable to make choices without relying on an external substance, that's when it becomes a problem. You can have your crystals, but know that the crystals aren't what give you energy. It's you that gives yourself that positive energy. And you can use essential oils and they can really help. But when you don't have them, are you going to be lost and stressed out and burnt out because you're reliant on this external factor? And then I see a lot of people coming into spirituality and they think spirituality is to wear the free people dress and to have the nicest boho waves in your hair and to have the mala beads and this and that. And it becomes a checklist of tools that you now need to go buy and preserve and maintain and acquire more of in order to have your space spiritual carrying card. And that's when it becomes the spiritual materialism. So use your crystals, use your essential oils, but don't let them use you. Because at the end of the day, it's only you that can change your vibe. It's only you that can expand your energy. All of the tools that you need exist inside of yourself, and everything else is just a toy. It's icing on top. And you can love it and have fun with it, but you must never be attached to it, because at the end of the day, you are that crystal. You are emitting that life force that changes the vibration of everyone that you come across. So instead of feeling like, now I need to buy this sage, and now I need to buy this wallpaper, and now to buy this reclining Buddha statue, be that vibration that you believe that these items will bring you. Be that inner peace. Be that source of strength. Be that inner compass. Be that wisdom that you know exists inside of you. And the only reason you're clutching onto that Buddha statue is because you're trying to just remember who you are. So be the deck, be the crystal, be the tarot. And have fun with them, but know who you are outside of them. Namaste. That.