“Blessed are the poor in spirit! For theirs is the kingdom of Heaven”, said Jesus. But what did he mean by poverty? Why did he make this quality preeminent? Various interpretations of his statement were given, and perhaps you were taught to believe in one of them.

For example, some believers used to say that Jesus literally meant poverty – that is, lack of material possessions. This doctrine was especially popular during the Dark Ages. Monks and priests took vows of poverty in their desire to follow the Lord – and their example led millions to think that true spirituality implies financial limitations. This delusion exists even now.

But if all the teachings of Jesus has to do with the inner realm of an individual, why should we interpret this saying in such materialistic way? He clearly said that we come to blessed life through “the poverty in spirit”, not in earthly possessions.

Other people assume that Jesus meant humility. Could it be true? It mostly depends on how do we understand humility. Preachers insist that to be truly humble is to recognize that you are a “worthless sinner”. According to them, only those who admit their wickedness and utter helplessness could enter into the kingdom of Heaven. But their arguments do not convince me anymore.

One of the laws of mind action says that like attracts like. It we sincerely accept a notion that we are worthless and miserable creatures, our thoughts about ourselves will become self-fulfilled prophesies. We will create for ourselves unpleasant experiences which will prove our low opinion of ourselves.

As I studied the Bible it became clear to me that Jesus never emphasised human sinfulness. Quite the opposite, he taught about our divinity and intrinsic worth.

“Has it not written in your law, “I said, You are gods?”
“The kingdom of God is within you”.

Let us now consider two parables which will give us better understanding of what Jesus meant by “poverty in spirit”. They illustrate different aspects of the same mental process.

“Again, the kingdom of Heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which when a man has found it, he hides it, and for the joy of it goes and sells all that he has, and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls; who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it”.

What is this “treasure hidden in a field”? It is our divine nature, “the kingdom, or the realm of God within us”. This treasure it is not evident. Looking at ourselves, we see just “earth” of humanness with its failures, shortcomings, and infirmities. But once in a while we ask ourselves: is that all of us?

We might be tempted to answer “yes”. We don’t know our real value and our potential, just like the previous owner of a field knew nothing about treasure. This treasure has to be made available to us through the process of “buying”. So we come to the second parable which describes a merchant.

A merchant in this parable is a searching, seeking, and exchanging quality of our mind. Who is a successful merchant? The one who exchanges items of lesser value to those of greater value. Most of us do the same, whether consciously or not. We look for ideas which seem to be good, true, and valuable to us. The only problem is that this «inner merchant» sometimes becomes inactive. He “falls asleep”, and we are encouraged to “wake him up”.

This is why Jesus said, “Seek, and you will find”. For one reason or another, some people stopped seeking.

A merchant from this parable was willing to sell all of his possessions in order to acquire one pearl of great price. From the outside he could look like poor – yet he made the greatest investment of his life. This is why I think that “poverty in spirit” doesn’t contradict deep realization of our divine worth. But it certainly requires our willingness to let go everything which is less than divine.