The Dharma of Money | Spencer Sherman
Spencer Sherman, CEO of Abacus and mindfulness teacher, discusses applying Buddhist principles to money. He shares practices like RAIN, the 'Enough Practice,' and the Brahma Viharas to transform fear and greed into equanimity, leading to wiser financial decisions.
Deep Dive Analysis
18 Topic Outline
Introduction: Buddhism and Money
Spencer Sherman's Origin Story: The Fire and Money Beliefs
The Iceberg Metaphor: Visible vs. Submerged Money Issues
Cultivating Spaciousness and Mindfulness with Money
Applying the Brahma Viharas to Finances: Equanimity
The RAIN Practice for Financial Anxiety
The Double Benefit of Mindful Money Management
The Eight Worldly Winds and Financial Impermanence
The "Enough Practice" for Contentment and Abundance
Sympathetic Joy (Mudita) and Overcoming Financial Comparison
Compassion (Karuna) for Past Money Mistakes and Reframing Beliefs
Generosity (Metta) as a Path to Abundance
Addressing Money Concerns for Those in Dire Straits
Examining Personal Motivations and Financial Choices
Values-Driven Investing and Diversification
The Wisdom of "Don't Know" in Investing
Advising Yourself: An Objective Approach to Personal Finance
Gratitude Practice for Financial Well-being
8 Key Concepts
Iceberg Metaphor of Money
This model illustrates that visible financial aspects (taxes, investments, mortgages) are just the tip, while submerged parts (fixed beliefs, fear, anxiety) are often ignored but drive behavior.
Equanimity (Upekra)
The ability to be okay with one's current financial situation and the inherent volatility of the financial world, recognizing impermanence rather than reacting with panic.
The Eight Worldly Winds
A Buddhist concept describing four pairs of ups and downs (praise/blame, gain/loss, fame/ill repute, pleasure/pain) that are an unavoidable part of human existence, including financial life.
The "Enough Practice"
A meditation or reflection designed to counter the cultural drive for 'more,' cultivating a mindset of sufficiency and contentment in the present moment regarding money, skills, time, and self-worth.
Sympathetic Joy (Mudita)
The practice of being happy for others' success and happiness, particularly in financial matters, as an antidote to comparison and envy, which often lead to unaligned financial decisions.
Compassion (Karuna) in Finance
Offering kindness and understanding to oneself for past money mistakes and current financial situations, and reframing inherited childhood money beliefs through compassionate reflection.
Generosity (Metta) as Letting Go
Viewing generosity not just as giving money, but also presence and attention, as a practice of letting go of grasping and cultivating a sense of abundance, happiness, and connection.
"Don't Know" in Investing
An attitude of humility and non-prediction regarding future market movements, which leads to a diversified investment strategy across many categories and companies, supported by evidence for long-term success.
10 Questions Answered
Buddhist principles can be applied by cultivating equanimity in the face of financial ups and downs, using mindfulness practices like RAIN for anxiety, practicing the "enough practice" for contentment, fostering sympathetic joy instead of envy, applying compassion to past money mistakes, and embracing generosity as a path to abundance.
Anxiety and stress about money often stem more from our thoughts and fixed beliefs about money, often inherited subconsciously, than from our actual financial situation itself.
Begin with awareness, slowing down to notice emotions and recirculating thoughts around every spending, saving, investing, and giving decision, which can reveal inherited beliefs and allow for more intentional choices.
The RAIN practice (Recognize, Allow, Investigate, Nurture/Non-identify) can be used to acknowledge and process these feelings without judgment, allowing wisdom to emerge and guide constructive action.
Yes, being in a more present, less reactive state with money can lead to better decisions, such as performing better in job interviews, at work, and making investment choices, reducing impulsive actions like selling at market bottoms.
The "enough practice" helps to defy the cultural current of "more" by recognizing and cultivating a sense of sufficiency in the present moment regarding one's money, skills, time, and self, which can paradoxically open the door to abundance.
The Mudita (sympathetic joy) practice involves sincerely wishing for others' success and happiness, which helps to quiet the comparing mind and can transform relationships and personal well-being.
Yes, studies show that investing with values (sustainable investing) does not necessarily mean giving up returns; returns are more driven by diversification and other market dimensions. Aligning investments with values can also foster greater engagement and personal well-being.
Embracing a "don't know" attitude about predicting the future of markets leads to diversification, spreading investments across many categories and companies, which evidence suggests generally leads to more long-term success than trying to time the market.
By asking oneself, "If I were advising somebody else who had my exact situation, what would I recommend?" This question helps move the brain into an objective space, allowing access to common sense and wisdom often obscured by personal emotions.
14 Actionable Insights
1. Cultivate Equanimity for Finances
Train yourself to be more equanimous in the face of financial ups and downs, as this will lead to making better decisions and reduce anxiety and stress about money.
2. Uncover Subconscious Money Beliefs
Identify and reframe long-held, often subconscious beliefs about money, which can otherwise cause suffering and lead to unfortunate decisions.
3. Apply RAIN to Money Anxiety
Use the RAIN practice (Recognize, Allow, Investigate, Nurture/Non-identify) when anxiety about money arises, to feel and acknowledge difficult emotions without judgment, allowing wisdom to emerge for better decisions.
4. Embrace the “Enough” Mindset
Regularly practice the “enough” contemplation to defy the cultural current of “more,” training your brain for present contentment and accessing wisdom for financial decisions by reducing grasping.
5. Reframe Inherited Money Beliefs
Engage in a “reframe meditation” by recalling childhood scenes of inherited money messages, offering compassion to your younger self and the adults involved, then imagining the message you wish you had received to loosen the grip of old beliefs.
6. Practice Sympathetic Joy
Cultivate sympathetic joy (Mudita) by wishing well for others’ success, which helps quiet the comparing mind, reduces envy, and can transform relationships and personal success.
7. Offer Self-Compassion for Money Errors
Offer compassion to yourself for past money mistakes and your current financial situation, as this helps to heal judgment and self-blame, fostering a more nurturing relationship with your finances.
8. Embrace Generosity in Life
Engage in generosity, not just with money but also with your presence, attention, resources, or skills, as this letting-go practice counters grasping, signals sufficiency, and can lead to abundance and happiness.
9. Mindful Money Interactions
Slow down and begin with awareness of every spending, saving, investing, and giving decision, because money is often laden with emotion and speed, leading to reactive choices.
10. Objectively Advise Your Finances
When facing financial decisions, imagine you are advising someone else with your exact situation to access common sense and wisdom, which can be blocked by personal emotions.
11. Cultivate Financial Gratitude
Engage in a gratitude practice, especially before making a big money decision, by appreciating what you already have, shifting your mindset from fear and scarcity to a sense of enoughness.
12. Contemplate Worst Financial Outcomes
Intentionally consider worst-case financial scenarios, either alone or with a trusted person, to realize that even extreme negative outcomes are often manageable, reducing paranoia.
13. Ask for Earning Feedback
If in dire financial straits, courageously talk to friends or colleagues, asking for feedback on your strengths and potential opportunities to earn more money, as this fosters courage for action.
14. Diversify and Embrace Uncertainty
Diversify investments by spreading money across many different categories and thousands of companies, embracing an attitude of “don’t know” about future market predictions, as this generally leads to more success.
7 Key Quotes
One of his central contentions is that our anxiety and stress about money has more to do with our thoughts about money than our actual finances themselves.
Dan Harris
I didn't even know I had this belief that money is more important than anything. It was just living in me. I was just responding to that belief in my life most of the time.
Spencer Sherman
Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (quoted by Spencer Sherman)
The Buddha said that grasping is the main cause of suffering.
Spencer Sherman
Be yourself, everyone else is already taken.
Oscar Wilde (quoted by Spencer Sherman)
Generosity is the path to abundance.
Joseph Goldstein (quoted by Spencer Sherman)
Knowing you're ignorant is wisdom.
Nisargadatta (quoted by Spencer Sherman)
5 Protocols
The RAIN Practice for Financial Anxiety
Spencer Sherman- Recognize: Identify the emotions arising (e.g., fear of interest rate increase) and their sensations in the body, getting as close to them as possible.
- Allow/Accept/Amplify: Permit these feelings and sensations to be present, resisting the urge to push them away or distract from them.
- Investigate: Ask soft questions like 'What's underneath this?' or 'What is this emotion trying to tell me?' without expecting an immediate answer, allowing for spaciousness.
- Nurture/Not Identify: Offer loving words and self-compassion (e.g., 'It's going to be okay, I'll figure this out') or recognize that the emotion is not the entirety of one's being, acknowledging inner wisdom and resources beyond the financial issue.
- Receive Benefits & Take Action: After the practice, sit for a minute or two to receive its benefits, then take considered action (e.g., calling a mortgage broker, discussing living expenses).
The Enough Practice
Spencer Sherman- Contemplate: 'I have enough money and resources.' (Recognizing current sufficiency)
- Contemplate: 'I do enough for myself and others.' (Acknowledging current efforts)
- Contemplate: 'I am enough just as I am.' (Affirming self-worth independent of external factors)
- Contemplate: 'I can, and I am responding wisely to whatever the winds of change bring.' (Cultivating resilience and equanimity)
Mudita (Sympathetic Joy) Practice for Financial Comparison
Spencer Sherman- Identify a person whose success (e.g., financial, professional) you tend to compare yourself to or feel envious of.
- Repeatedly wish them well using phrases such as: 'May your success increase,' 'May your happiness continue,' 'May you flourish in all ways.'
- Continue the practice with sincerity and intention, letting go of attachment to their success, even if it feels counterintuitive or doesn't immediately change your feelings.
Reframe Meditation (Compassion for Inherited Money Beliefs)
Spencer Sherman- Recognize the Scene: Recall a childhood scene (e.g., age 5-8) where a prominent money message was inherited.
- Compassion for Self: Offer compassion to your younger self in that scene, recognizing their confusion and the circumstances that led them to adopt the belief.
- Compassion for Caretakers: Extend compassion to the parents or caretakers who conveyed the message, understanding they too had their own imprints and motivations.
- Imagine a New Message: Ask yourself, 'What is the message I wish I had received growing up?' and contemplate this alternative message, even if it seems unimaginable from your parents.
Objective Financial Advising (Self-Consultation)
Spencer Sherman- When facing a personal financial decision or challenge, mentally step into the role of an objective financial advisor.
- Ask yourself: 'If I were advising somebody else who had my exact situation (or another couple with our exact situation), what would I recommend?'
- Allow this perspective to bring forth common sense and wisdom, unclouded by personal emotions and fixed beliefs.