Everything that is an object of desire is wealth to him who seeks it. All growth, expansion and progress come through the satisfying of desire, and if desires remain unsatisfied they cause depression and finally degeneration. The satisfaction of desire, the fulfillment of an aim, the achievement of an object causes pleasure, happiness or joy.

Pain is the natural force that arouses in the individual or in the society a desire for something better or higher, that is, for an environment or surrounding conditions that appear at least more pleasurable. If pain and suffering are regarded as agencies of destruction, they lead inevitably to poverty, disease and death. But, rightly considered, pain is the mighty dynamic that arouses desire, stimulates effort and leads to the increase and multiplication of wealth on every plane.

Every being naturally seeks its own highest development and self-hood, the fullness of its individual life. It does this by seeking what it considers good in its own sphere of experience and then endeavoring to add this good to its own being. Insofar as the wealth thus sought actually brings with it, when achieved, an increment of being, insofar as it is accompanied by real growth, expansion or progress of the individual or of the society, insofar as it is really desirable from a universal standpoint, only thus far does it bring with it real pleasure and true joy.

Those who seek wealth that is not actually a good to them, or who seek it merely for the temporary and evanescent satisfaction that it brings, or those who seek it where it is not to be found, or who seek it for itself alone or for personal ends alone and not also as an instrument of benefit for their fellows, or those who seek it half-heartedly and without any real conviction and earnestness, all those who fail to achieve wealth, whether material or spiritual, or those who decry wealth when found as failing to give the satisfaction that was expected, are just those who need the right help to enable them to rise out of their poverty, whether it be material, mental, aesthetic, active or spiritual. They need the knowledge of all the Reality and the realities that surround them, before they can learn how to adjust themselves continually to ever-changing conditions, before they can redeem themselves from their poverty of possessions, their poverty of mind, their poverty of beauty, their poverty of achievement. And those who aspire towards that greatest wealth of all wealth, those who desire the riches of the spirit, should the more eagerly seek contact with those who claim to possess the key to That which they desire above all.

Often those in whom the desire to acquire material or spiritual riches for themselves is weak or absent desire most strongly to give to others. The desire to give what one does not possess is vain, illusory and degrading unless it leads to efficient action to achieve wealth in order to give or to enthusiasm for efficiency whereby wealth may be secured; but the desire without the means to be charitable or without the most earnest endeavor to secure those means in every legitimate way is a base counterfeit that has the pinchbeck glitter of tinsel instead of the real glory of true gold. As the less is included in the greater, so material wealth necessarily enters into all spiritual wealth-getting. If the search for learning, the cultivation of beauty, the pursuit of technical efficiency, or of power, or of virtue, or of wisdom, or of love is indulged with too exclusive a zeal, without due attention to the acquisition of at least a modicum of material welfare, the life will either end in disastrous failure or it will become much more painful and laborious and hence much less fruitful than it would otherwise have been.

To all souls who are in any way awakened and who are struggling to achieve wider and greater spiritual possessions, the application to material wealth-getting often demands far more real sacrifice of immediate desire to ultimate and permanent progress than does spiritual wealth-getting. Yet for those living in the world a certain material success is usually absolutely necessary as a primary objective to the highest achievement in the spiritual spheres. Therefore the aspirant who has no recognized profession or art or craft or trade or occupation in the society in which he is, should first of all endeavor to normalize and organize his material position so that he can have at his disposition sufficient for his needs before attempting to aspire higher.

In a society where material wealth is largely considered an end in itself or as a means to gratify material desires, wealth when achieved is naturally perverted to wrong ends and very generally misused. This does not excuse those who aspire to higher things or those who would fain claim a superior culture or learning for despising material wealth as such. But rather should it stimulate them to secure power over material goods so that they may show their fellowmen and demonstrate in their own lives how material wealth should be rightly used to minister to the attainment of ever greater riches of the intellect, the heart and the spirit.

The channels of success are open to all. Wealth and prosperity, health and happiness, progress and enlightenment will surely come to those who have sufficient aspiration to acquire the knowledge, the joy and the earnestness which make possible the attainment of all other Riches.
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The reader who sincerely desires material and spiritual wealth so that he may grow to the fullness of his individual life and contribute his due share towards the prosperity and enrichment of his fellows and who is willing to take the necessary steps towards that aim, is invited to communicate further with the one from whom he has received this paper stating that he has read with interest the THIRD OPEN TABLET; or, if he does not know how to reach him, with the person whose address is herewith given. If he has not already received the Open Instruction on Aspiration and Attainment, on Knowledge, on Joy and on Earnestness, he should first ask to be supplied with them.