Unity's teaching on prosperity has two crucial components:
- Why does the experience of prosperity rest on our capacity and our willingness to form a "mental equivalent," without an attachment to outcome, of that which we desire?
- Given that we do form a "mental equivalent" in consciousness of that which we desire, how does this really impact the manifest realm?
Dan Gilbert's research helps explain both questions.
Question 1:
This video from Dan Gilbert will help explain why "Prosperity is a rich state of mind" rather than a rich state of the manifest world of changing forms. A "rich state of mind" might be called "synthetic prosperity" in the same way that the speaker refers to "synthetic happiness." I hope this explains why "if man is to become prosperous he must first become rich in his consciousness through right thought activity" (annotation 1). Prosperity, as understood by Unity, is an "experience simulator."
Question 2:
Answer: for the same reason that we have evolved our human brain; the mental equivalent (even given the limitations described in this talk) allows us to chose the most prosperous course of action without trial and error.
