Success and Spirituality

Question: Can you be successful and yet spiritual?

Devean: Success in America is associated with wealth. But really, in short, success only means accomplishing a purpose. Whatever that purpose might be.

I myself have brought two companies into the 7-figure range by the time I was 27.

The problem with the idea of success is that you can’t have a purpose without a desire. The desire for the purpose traps you in a state of uncertainty and unhappiness. You’ll doubt whether or not you can ever achieve it, or if you’re wrong for thinking you could. You’ll be afraid of what will happen if you don’t achieve it. Essentially, your desire for the outcome is saying, “I’m not satisfied with what I have right now”.

For example, your idea of success is to have your own business. You desire it. Why do you desire it? Because you’re not happy. Why aren’t you happy? Because you answer to someone- because you don’t have as much money as you want. You think that when you accomplish this, you’ll be happy. Essentially the true purpose for attaining any success is to be happy. But many rich or famous people will tell you that they’re still not happy. I can tell you personally that achieving this desire will not result in happiness. At the point of achieving wealth and autonomy, you will still desire more. There is no end to what more you can desire.

From there, you can say, “okay, then I’ll only desire happiness”. But this won’t work either. It doesn’t matter what you desire, desire is still misery. It still says that I am not here, I’m dreaming about the future. If you’re dreaming of the future, then you can’t be here in the present. And the present moment is the only place you can find happiness. Desiring happiness means that it is far away from you. That it’s something you don’t have that you could attain. But you can’t attain it because it is right here. And you can’t find it if you are looking to the future.

Happiness can only happen when you’re in a state of no-mind. When your mind falls away. And desire is something created by the mind.

This doesn’t mean that you can’t do, and you can’t move forward. The universe itself is always expanding and moving forward. But not from desire, from the laws of nature. Without desire, you can still move forward with inspiration and presence. You’re only moving forward because it is natural to move forward. the universe and existence are pushing you forward. You’re inspired and you enjoying your motion. You’re mesmerized by it.

Can you be successful and still be happy? You can. As long as your happiness does not depend on your success. As long as success means nothing to you.