I’ve been asked by a number of readers to give a few tips on what to do in the event of an economic collapse. And this brings to mind a few things in regards to the changing economy that is coming. Since there are countless books on surviving this event, I don’t want to rehash anything. Besides, my teaching is just three lessons.
1.) YOU MUST LIVE IT NOW. What? Yes. Look here, you cannot hope to prepare for something you have no experience in dealing with even from a conceptual point of view. That being, to think you’re going to go from some posh, comfortable suburban TV-watcher into a lean, mean, survival machine is simply not going to happen. First off, it’s not going to go from Beverly Hills to Mogadishu overnight here. Right now we’re in what I call a “cascade reaction”. That being, certain factors are all coming together as the avalanche rolls downhill.
What this means is, you need to start learning how to live on as little as possible right now and accepting it as a way of life. And then celebrating it. In other words, the economic collapse could be a year away or it could be ten years away. But if you’re already living frugally, does it make a difference? The point here is living this as a way of life. There is something valuable to gain from this, above and beyond that. That being, it affords you more freedom. The less hold money has on you, the less you decide to deal with it beyond having enough for buying essentials, the less time you waste with it. But if you’ve put eggs into the financial world basket or the “lifestyles” it sells you, you’re enslaved by money already. And who prints it? That’s who you’re ultimately enslaved by. When the money collapses, all these master-less slaves will be running around looking for new masters, won’t they?
A person can eat well and healthy for $5.00 per day. And I’m not talking bread and water, though water is certainly the drink of choice that cannot be denied as being the healthiest. If you eat a chicken then throw away the carcass, you have a lot to learn. You’re throwing away several good meals and nutritious broth. People have never been as wasteful with food as modern Americans. And this is only the beginning. You have to learn to live with less right now. And you do this by practicing those skills and then making them a way of life. These skills are not hard to learn. They’re also fun. The more you learn self-sufficiency , the better able you are to enter the way of “hand-made” versus “store-bought”. It’s not a mystery. Your ancestors did it.
2.) YOU MUST BE CENTERED IN A PRACTICE. I have observed people living in remote desert areas alone who did not realize I was studying them. They fall into a few categories, but there is a pattern. Those who had a strong spiritual practice based on time-proven traditions, or people with a strong belief system in something that keeps them centered kept their sanity. Those without such beliefs or faith often went insane over a period of time, or began to lose touch with reality. These are the people that begin to open fire on people they feel are “on their land” and, one day, wind up under arrest or dead. Over time, these people even begin to lose the ability to truly take care of themselves.
If you have not placed the very core of your being in an identity such as “I’m an American” or other such imaginary concepts, it becomes easier to accept things just as they are. That is, when the economy starts collapsing, it makes no sense to pine away for the past or place hopes in some better future that probably won’t happen as far as the economy goes. But if you accept the present and live in it and find ways to enjoy it, the present will not be the disaster everyone else thinks it to be. How so?
Because many people have become attached to this notion that the value of life is to be found in lots of money, endless entertainment, fast cars, and so forth, they fail to see that life can only be discovered when all of those things are absent. This is what a grounded, centered spiritual practice teaches. Every major religion teaches this if you go back to the very core principles in their teachings. The American government does not teach this. They teach pining away for a past that cannot be recaptured and hoping for a future that will not come to be in the way they wish it to. What, therefore, will happen when these people discover the future to bring less and less of the things the government promises? They will be bereft of hope. We see this happening right now, with the increase in teen suicide.
3.) YOU NEED TO SHED ILLUSIONS. The illusions are created by “right around the corner” utopias created by the government, Wall Street, Hollywood, and other entities telling us several myths. Myths such as being entitled to some grandiose way of life because we happened to be born in some comic opera called the United States of America. Lots of people buy into these illusions because they’re attractive. People desire things such as these brand-new “muscle” cars out on the market now. One day, they will not be able to afford refueling these vehicles and so much of their personal image that has been constructed around this vehicle (or motorcycle, or clubbing, or being a “foodie”, or whatever) will come to a screeching halt, if you’ll pardon the pun. Extinguish the desire for the things the government and Wall Street wants you to buy, and when those things are not available, it will make no difference.
There will be vast numbers of people who will be infuriated when their promised “American Dream” cannot be delivered. If we have already realized the American Dream is a laughable farce created by the government itself to entrap the gullible and convince them to sacrifice their lives for a vehicle, some cracker-box called a house, and expensive clothing and lifestyles, we will not be disappointed. Here is The Secret: You must have a WAY OF LIFE, not a “lifestyle”. Get it? Major religions originally called their teachings a “Way” for a reason. It’s a way of life, not something to pick up and discard when it’s no longer a fad. And this is why it will save you when the bottom falls out on all of the things that create “lifestyles” for those who have put faith in those illusions. Yes, the “American Dream” is an illusion.
It’s not how much food you’ve got stockpiled, or the types of firearms you have that will ultimately bring you through the changing economy in relative harmony. It is in having the centered practice and way of life that does not find meaning in the meaningless. When there’s no shiny car, nice house full of possessions, and financial portfolio to gloat about, can you be happy? If you cannot—and be honest—then there is no point in doing anything whatsoever to prepare for economic collapse. Economic collapse means life without those things. And you can only be truly be prepared if you’re already living a way of life that has not placed faith in those things.
This is not something new. Buddhist monks for a couple thousand years survived on three robes and a bowl and nothing else but what was given to them by people just as poor. Christian hermits 1,500 years ago went into the desert and survived there by weaving baskets to sell from raw materials they found. Wandering Buddhist monks went back and forth on the Silk Road for a thousand years, owning nothing but a staff, a pair of sandals, a bowl, and their robes. These people were not forced into this. They chose these ways of life and the ways of life were based on strong, sound spiritual teachings and practices. See what I’m saying here? Forced into a way of life, you might survive for a while. But over time, you will not have that “center” that has kept you in balance long before the new way of life was forced on you.
What, in closing, can wandering monks and religious hermits teach us? Isn’t it obvious? They did not place their faith or base their ways of life upon a government, an economic system based on pieces of paper, or some “lifestyle” they read about in some kitschy magazine. And if you study their teachings, you will discover for yourself the greatest survival guides ever written.
