I would like to invite you to come with me on a journey over the coming weeks as we review “The Science of Getting Rich” by Wallace D. Wattles.
Below there are a series of question for you to consider in relation to the first chapter. In the comments section below you can add your responses to these questions, in the comments section of the YouTube video where you can include time stamps for your own reference, or record them in your own journal.
Consider reflecting on these at the end of the week to evaluate your learning. Repetition is key to supporting the solidification of the lessons here.
The Science of Getting Rich Study Questions – Week 1
Q1) Explain why it is not possible to live a really complete and successful life without money.
Q2) What is the object of all life?
Q3) Explain why riches are your birthright.
Q4) Is it right for one to be satisfied or contented with a little? If not, why not?
Q5) Why is an understanding of the Science of Getting Rich essential?
Q6) For a normal person, what is the desire for riches really all about? Who is rich then?
Q7) Of the three motives for which we live, which is the highest and why?
Q8) Regarding Q7, what is their relationship to each other?
Q9) Regarding Q7, in which area do you feel the greatest lack?
Q10) What is desire, really?
Q11) Where is a person’s highest happiness found?
Q12) What is the greatest service you can render to the planet, and how do you do that?
Chapter 1 The Right to be Rich
Review Chapter 1 of The Science of Getting Rich below.
Join us next week for a study of Chapter 2.
Day 1
Q1) A complete life requires the ability to participate in an economy and exchange value in transactions. Money, as a tool, allows this to be completed more efficiently than a barter based system. The barter system, operating under the coincidence of wants, limits efficient value exchange in a timely manner. Having plenty of money allows you to focus on the things that add value, rather than being consumed by what it is that you need to do to make money to satisfy the basic needs. Once you have these basic needs covered, and money is not an object, you can add value in areas that you might otherwise not be able to.
Q2) Development is the object of all life. Self development is key. It is through self development that improvement arises, and through enhanced skills and refined knowledge that greater capacity to add value in what you do is achieved. Bring more, be more, live more. That is the object of all life. Fruit trees bear abundant fruit under optimal conditions because they can. And the beneficiaries of that abundance are those who are around the tree, and so, life in the seed and the flesh goes on. A fruit tree unable to bear fruit feeds no one, least of all itself or it’s own objective in life.
Q3) We are born into a life on this Earth where the laws of nature see plants grow up through the cracks of the sidewalk without any man or woman assisting them. This is not by the design of any man or woman, it is by the deign of the laws of God and the universe. Life lives naturally and abundantly to the fullness of it’s own experience. Therefore, like the water and minerals in the soil are the birthright to that plant growing up through the cracks in the sidewalk, riches are my birthright because I am alive in this abundant world, and I am surrounded by all manner of riches.
Q4) No, not if you are capable of enjoying more then you should strive to have more, be more, do more in an effort to be as complete and content as you can. It is not about gluttony, it is about wholeness and being complete in such a way that you do not live with regrets grown from a seed of self imposed lack. The mechanisms of attaining more need to be based in integrity. A drive to gain more through exploitation is not in harmony with the universe and the laws of abundance. There is enough for everyone to have what they need to be enriched and fulfilled in their lives based on their own interpretation of what is sufficient which has not been manipulated by the ideology of others. You know in your own heart if you are truly content or not. And to not be content is not to be ungrateful, it is simply to be unfulfilled, and that feeling is yours to own as you and you alone are responsible for feeling that way.
Q5) Life without this understanding is a turbid pool of distraction. Knowing what being rich truly means at a personal level is polluted by the output of advertisers and marketing in todays world. We are told that we are not complete without this thing or the next. But is that really true? Am I incomplete without the drink that is markets as being from where I would rather be? Am I incomplete without the fast car that is displayed with a beautiful woman in the passenger seat? My riches are not these things. My riches are true to my heart and they bring me a feeling of satisfaction and completeness as they are more than enough for me to be truly happy. Distraction and adopting the opinions and values systems of others is what detracts from realising true riches and true fulfillment. Therefore, understanding the Science of Getting Rich is key to attaining my riches.
Q6) The desire for riches is a desire for a more complete and abundant life. It’s not in essence about money, as money is simply the tool used to attain abundance in an active economy. Riches are a personal framing of what abundance looks like. As they saying goes, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, or more rightly structured in my opinion, one man’s treasure is another man’s trash. As it was artfully penned in the classic book We of the Never Never where Dan said to Mrs. Gunn “Never saw a dog making its own chain before” this echoes the sentiment that consideration needs to be given to the thought ‘do you own your things, or do your things own you’? So, who is really rich when the energetic principle is considered here? The person loaded with worries about their possessions, or the person who is free to focus on what they love instead of maintaining a façade under someone else’s ideology of what complete and rich looks like?
Q7) No one of the three, mind, body, or soul is the highest. They cannot operate independently and require inherent connection to each other.
Q8) The body, mind and soul require completeness to operate and live fully. The things that nourish the mind, body and soul are good, and when in abundance, they nourish to the optimal levels. If someone is unable to access what is needed to live fully in these three areas, they will lack in their ability to live a full life.
Q9) In my case, the soul is arguably the least fulfilled as mind and body have all that they need. With that being said, this is in and of itself subjective, as the soul in a traditional spiritual manner may be less nourished in one sense, where in other senses it is fulfilled through the enjoyment that is experienced in the multidimensional abundance around me.
Q10) What is desire, really? Desire is possibility seeking expression.
Q11) The highest happiness is found in the ability to express and create. To live and feel like living a life is living completely.
Q12) The greatest service to the Earth that I can render is to be the best I am at creating the value that I do. Learning from the example of an abundant fruit tree, able to give fruit without prejudice.
Day 2
Q1) Riches (plenty of money) are required in order to possess things that are needed to live a complete and successful life that is full of talent development and soul unfolding. This is the basis of all advancement in life.
Q2) The object of all life is development. Everything in life has the unalienable right to development.
Q3) Riches are my birth right as it is the objective of life to develop. In order to live fully and completely there is a need to recognise and claim this birthright. This supports the purpose of nature.
Q4) It is not right to be satisfied or contented with a little as this does not support development.
Q5) This is needed to be able to attain what is required to unfold the soul and develop talent as a part of living a full life.
Q6) The desire for riches is all about being capable of all that you can become. The man or woman who chooses to, and then fulfills themselves in becoming capable of all that they can be is rich.
Q7) The three motives for which we life are to enrich the mind, body and soul as a part of an abundant life. No one of these is better or holier than the other.
Q8) Body, mind and soul are equally placed. They operate in connection with each other, and if not balanced and fulfilled equally the lesser nourished detracts from the experience of living a full life. It is not right to deny any one of these three for the favour of the other.
Q9) My greatest lack is in soul where I feel that I am capable of being more fulfilled in soul.
Q10) Desire is really the underpinning feeling behind the object of all life, that being development. Desire is natural in that creating something to nourish the mind and soul through the use of the body can nourish the mind and soul of another. This is best summed up through the example of art or performance which bring fulfillment to others who did not create them. Such an experience is a manifestation of experiencing richness.
Q11) Where is a person’s highest happiness found? The highest happiness is found in being able to express one’s self to the fullest. This can be represented by living fully in mind through intellectual works, music, art and the like. By living fully in spirit through helping others, charitable works, living through love. By living fully in body through giving the body what it needs in physical nourishment and exercise, feeling and deploying all available senses.
Q12) What is the greatest service you can render to the planet, and how do you do that? The greatest service that can be rendered to the Earth is to live fully and create to my own fulfillment with the bestowal of the benefits of these on others through their creation. Making things adds value. Rendering services adds value.
Day 3
Q1) It’s not possible to live a really complete or successful life without plenty money as the means to access the things to develop is diminished. Rationalising otherwise is able to be described as arguing for limitations, unless the experiencing of less in the eyes of the beholder is truly rooted in the mind, body and soul of the person experiencing their life with the perception of less.
Q2) The object of all life is to progress and develop. Living with the goal to undergo development and improvement is what drives living life.
Q3) Riches are therefore my birthright as they are necessary to experience development. Riches are the tools required to live all the life that I am capable of.
Q4) It is not right to be satisfied with less. However, one’s perception of less may not be the basis of reality for another. One may have all that they desire and be capable of their fullest development to experience all they want. Not everything is motivated on a material plane. For example, I do not own certain things, such as a Bentley. Owning a Bentley would bring me no more value than owning a car that is beautiful and functional. Having owned all cars I have from new I have been concerned with their being scratched or dented by the careless actions of others, and I have taken measures to prevent this as much as possible (sometimes extreme). They all eventually accumulated scrapes and scratches here and there, and with time my concern diminished. Instead of carrying stress and the expense of owning a Bentley or another high end vehicle, I can simply hire a different one each time I feel that I want to drive one. That way I have all of the fun, and none of the obligation or concern that comes with owning. I also get to mix it up and try something different each time. This way I get the fullest positive experience. This is not satisfaction with less. I have more room to direct my mind and soul through being unburdened in such situations to other fulfilling areas. Should I then choose to own a Bentley because I wanted my own, I can do that. But, this is not an energetic point targeted at a Bentley, the Bentley is simply a relatable illustration. I am not satisfied with less capacity to travel and experience adventure. These are my versions of luxury cars.
Q5) Without an understanding of anything, the pursuit of the object of it is flawed. If you seek riches in any dimension of life then you need to know how to attain these. Knowing how to attract what is desired is necessary for living a full and complete life.
Q6) The desire for riches is really about having all that is needed to support a complete and fulfilled life. At the very essence, this is all about a feeling. The material representation of what is at the base level a feeling, is something that is simply a container for delivery of that feeling. The richest man or woman is the one that knows how to access the feeling they seek in the most direct route possible. The things that delivery the feelings will then be made apparent.
Q7) Neither the mind, body or soul are higher than the other. They work in conjunction with each other, and when imbalanced they tend towards the neglecting of other areas in life and therefore the leading of a lesser, incomplete life.
Q8) Their relationship is that the living of a real life is full and complete when lived in such a way that the body lives it’s fullest life to be able to support a mindful life, and a soulful life. The same is able to be said for the others in that the highest happiness is able to be found in the expression of love (soul), and development of the intellect (mind) which require a healthy, functional and fulfilled body.
Q9) I am attracting more soulful fulfillment in my life to feel that I am living a more balanced and rich life.
Q10) Desire is a praiseworthy pursuit of all that is important to living a full and complete life.
Q11) The highest happiness is found in fulfillment and living a complete life.
Q12) What is the greatest service you can render to the planet, and how do you do that? By being the best that I can, and rendering the greatest service to my self, I am therefore as a result able to render the greatest value and service to my community, the Earth, and to God.
Day 4
Q1) Money is a tool to obtain what is required to live a full, complete and successful life. It enables a man or woman to be able to source what they need to have the resources (things) that are needed for use. To be the possessor of these things requires money (not necessarily currency, as we should correctly call it) so that the other resources can be attained.
Q2) Development is the object of all life.
Q3) Riches are my birthright in that for me to be complete and successful I need to become what I want to be, which requires a praiseworthy understanding of the Science of Getting Rich to be able to obtain what is required to then attain the goal in becoming all that I want to be.
Q4) It is not right to be content or to be satisfied with a little. I am capable of enjoying and using more, so, like any other form of life on the Earth, completeness is found in pursing more.
Q5) Why is an understanding of the Science of Getting Rich essential? Without understanding how the Science of Getting Rich works it is not possible to attain what is required to live a full and complete life. This is the basis of being able to become what I want to be.
Q6) It is really about the desire for living a full and complete life. The feeling that the experience is as whole as it can be.
Q7) Neither the mind, body or soul are higher than the others. They are equal.
Q8) They are interconnected and required to be fulfilled independently and to their most complete to be able to support the other and then contribute to a full and happy life. They are constantly requiring rebalancing as development in other areas is attained, and growth in these other areas is experienced.
Q9) I have a desire to attract more balance in my life through soulful focus as this is the most notably imbalanced at this time.
Q10) Desire is really the pursuit of a life that is richer and fuller.
Q11) Where is a person’s highest happiness found? The highest happiness is found in being of value and service to others. The capability of a man or a woman here is what supports their fulfillment through application of their fruits through the Science of Getting Rich.
Q12) The greatest service that can be rendered is to be the best and most complete that I can in order to bring forth value when I interact with others in anything I do or make.
Day 5
Q1) Money (currency) is needed to engage in transactions to secure the things that are needed in life which cannot be otherwise created or obtained.
Q2) The object of all life it to live a complete and successful life of talent and soul development.
Q3) Riches are my birthright as it is my obligation to fulfill the object of all life.
Q4) It is not right for one to be satisfied or contented with a little as this is limiting the ability to live fully.
Q5) This is the basis of all advancement in life.
Q6) The desire for riches is really about answering the inner calling to fulfill the development of one’s self in talent and soul. The rich man or woman is the one that has been able to completely and fully develop their talent and soul.
Q7) Neither is the highest. They are equally important.
Q8) The mind requires a healthy and fulfilled body and soul to be complete. The soul requires a healthy and fulfilled body and mind to be complete. The body requires a healthy and fulfilled mind and soul to be complete. Allowing one to suffer at the expense of the others is detrimental to the whole self and the object of all life.
Q9) I am getting better at pouring in to the soul for the development of the soul, mind and body as a whole.
Q10) Desire is really living fully in every function and being able to express completely.
Q11) The highest happiness is found in being of valued service to the community, the Earth, and to God.
Q12) What is the greatest service you can render to the planet, and how do you do that? The greatest service I can render is to develop myself to the fullest through seeking and applying riches to the betterment of myself and all around me. I do that by focusing on development and enhancing my understanding of, and application of the Science of Getting Rich.
Day 6
Q1) It is not possible for one who is in need of things (equipment and resources) to secure these things that they need without means to gain them. Money as a tool allows for this to happen. The assumption is that if you have the equipment and resources you need then you are successful. If you do not, you need money to secure these. Therefore, it is reasoned that without money, a really complete and successful life is not possible.
Q2) The object of all life is development of the mind, body and soul.
Q3) Riches are my birthright as they are necessary for me to be able to secure what I need to live a complete and successful life where I am able to experience the development of the mind, body and soul
Q4) It is not right to be contended or satisfied with a little if there is capacity for more. Life does not stop at a little if it can continue to live and through the form it undertakes, grow. To limit the growth of anything in life, including the development of the mind, body and soul is not right. It is considered by the Author as a sin.
Q5) Understanding of the Science of Getting Rich is essential in that it provides the basis for attaining all that is needed to develop the mind, body and soul.
Q6) The desire for riches is really all about the hunger to live and express fully. The man or woman who has the capacity to and exercises the ability to express themselves completely in all manner of talents (becoming what you want to be) through the mind, body and soul is rich.
Q7) None of the three motives (mind, body, or soul) are higher or more important than the other. They require balanced attention.
Q8) A life lived with complete expression and development of each of the three motives supports their counterparts.
Q9) I do not feel lack in any area as I am giving full attention to, and am grateful for being able to give my best attention to the development of my mind, body, and soul.
Q10) Desire is really the urge or need for a man or a woman to express themselves completely
Q11) The highest happiness is found in being of valued service to others, being able to bring value in interactions and support growth and development. This is once the development of the self has first been satisfied.
Q12) The greatest service I can render to the Earth is to develop myself completely in attaining riches to demonstrate to others that it is possible. The object of this is to inspire others to develop themselves too.
Day 7
Q1) It is not possible to live a really complete and successful life without money when considering the target audience as mentioned in the preface as there is a need to be rich to reap the fruits of full talent and soul development and live a complete and successful life. The things required to achieve this take money to obtain them. Therefore, money opens the door to this possibility as society is so organised that it takes money to acquire what is needed.
Q2) The object of all life is advancement through development.
Q3) Riches are my birthright as they are what is required to achieve the object of all life and inalienable through the application of monistic theory. Everything in life has the inalienable right to all that is required to achieve the level of development it is capable of attaining.
Q4) It is not right for one to be satisfied or contented with a little when more is possible. To be satisficed with a little in these cases is to be in opposition to the object of all life. The advancement and unfoldment of life is the purpose of nature, and to be satisfied with a little is unnatural.
Q5) An understanding of the Science of Getting Rich is essential as it is not taught in school or typically in other places where education is dispensed. To not know how the Science of Getting Rich works is to not be equipped with what is required to live fully and develop as is naturally intended. It is through this that more can be attained, and as a result, more can be distributed.
Q6) The desire for riches is really all about the desire to realise innate possibilities in human nature to become all that a man or woman wants to be.
Q7) Neither of the three motives for which we live are highest as they require equal attention and development to life fully. No one of these are better or holier than the other. The body, mind and soul are all alike desirable.
Q8) The body, mind and soul’s relationship to each other is one that sees the mind and soul benefiting from a healthy and fully functioning body, the body and soul benefiting from a healthy and fully functioning mind, and the mind and body benefiting from a healthy and fully functioning soul.
Q9) I do not feel lack in any of these. I am eternally grateful for my ability to satisfy desire in all of these areas of my life.
Q10) Desire is a natural function to experience life and express completely.
Q11) A man or a woman’s highest happiness is found in being of value. That could be in the ability to bring value to others in what they do, or what they make.
Q12)The greatest service I can render to the planet is to develop myself to the fullest extent and bring forth value that is as complete as possible in such a way that it is mutually beneficial to me and to those who receive it.