Transactions of Insight • To Charge or Not To Charge? (BS006)
⁘ Created: 2026-01-10 ⁘ Updated: 2026-01-10
Should one charge for wisdom of life or spiritual teachings? An ever-green questions — opinions many and divided. Entitled takers. For-profit teachers. Where do we find a point of balance? Who gets the free meals? Who pays the bills? What gives?
Access to basic insight — self-awareness, freedom from suffering, wholesome mental states — is a basic human right. Shared in service of the many — without fees or paywalls. Private consultations? Compensated in proportion and to capacity. Right?
- ¶ The Basic Right for Wisdom of Life ↴
- ¶ Principle of Reciprocal Interaction ↴
- ¶ The Ethics of the Earnest Massage Therapist ↴
- ¶ My Personal Approach — 1:1 vs. Shared Space ↴
- ¶ Good of the Many and Direct Lines of Need ↴
- ¶ Collective is Free — Individuals Reciprocate ↴
Good morning. So, spiritual teachers, mentors, etc., charging for their services or not. That's an evergreen topic that keeps on dividing opinions. What do you think?
Being no alien to the concern in terms of my own vocation and operations, and knowing a fair spectrum of the good, bad and ugly on the scene with their diverse practices, I certainly have my takes on it.
The Basic Right for Wisdom of Life ¶
Now first of all, taking the sort of basic insight that one would consider a human right for a well-rounded life. Branding it, commercializing it for the masses, and paywalling it — that's just vile, right?
I mean, if you want to take esoteric symbols, mystic tales, weave those into a funky niche package, then knock yourself out. You're basically in the entertainment industry, not in the insight industry, so whatever you do there. Right?
But when it comes to things like basic self-awareness, path to freedom from suffering, cultivating wholesome mental states — these rank in the basic human rights category for me. They should not be sold on the market.
There's nothing proprietary there. There's no IP born of your significant creative input. You're just reflecting, conveying the plain old truths of life and existence. Really like a conveyor belt, transparent in what you do. So there's no price tag to be put on that.
Principle of Reciprocal Interaction ¶
Then you hear the bottom line apologists saying, "there should always be an exchange of energy, it's a law of the universe." Now while there's truth to that, it's often a whitewashing for your exorbitant price tags. So that's there.
Beyond that, what's actually legit, you do find even in the most ancient of sources — tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet, samit-pāṇiḥ śrotriyaṁ brahma-niṣṭham. From the Upanishads. "For the sake of that realization, seek out the teacher established in the spirit, and carry firewood to his abode."
As in, if you're going to be there at the ashram, bugging the old man all day long, and then when you're all done and you've gotten what you wanted, he still goes out into the woods looking for the firewood himself. That's obviously not the way it can function.
There is a certain reciprocity that must exist in order for our lives to be in balance. Then whether that's carrying firewood, chopping the weeds in the backyard, bringing a bag of rice, or transferring some playmarks to the bank account, the mileage varies. As it should, from individual to individual and their respective capacities. Sincerely expressed.
The Ethics of the Earnest Massage Therapist ¶
This sort of sincere to-capacity expression you find even in the less transcendental practitioners. Just the other day I went to a massage healing therapist for some excellent work, and I asked, "Do you take a fixed fee or how does it work?" He responded in line with the ethics I've come to know from the sincere among them.
"As you can, I cannot put a fixed price on it. I help the poor, I help the rich. When there's a group in the hotel asking for treatments, then yes, I do have my fixed fees." So he said, and I agreed. Yeah, if we're there, then someone else is also already charging, we are in the realm of fees — so you know, you charge as you need. But beyond that, let none in need be barred from healing or insight, because we've set a price tag that they cannot match.
My Personal Approach — 1:1 vs. Shared Space ¶
Now in terms of how I approach that in practice. Say you have your questions. Then we have the one-on-one private sphere and we have the shared public sphere. When we are in the shared space, then what you ask and what I may respond, it is not only for you — it's for everyone present. We are rendering a public service — so that's fine. In fact, in doing that, you are "carrying firewood". Thank you.
On the other hand, if you intend to be booking my time for hours on end, with your diverse questions, some of them more and some of them less to the point, on a private channel. We are not engaging in service of the many. Rather, we are satisfying your specific needs, and for that you need to compensate in some way to match.
Come here and clean the cat-shits from these 25 creatures. Go prune the tea trees on the backyard, there's like a 100 of them. Or send a donation to my PayPal account. Whatever. But you can't be an entitled taker, assuming that you need not do anything in return. If you have not a stance to reciprocate, and if you are unwilling to take it to the open sphere where the many can benefit — then tell me, why are you a priority?
Good of the Many and Direct Lines of Need ¶
Works for the good of the many are done without expectation. Even while support is appreciated. If you support works for the many, then good for you. Thank you.
In service of the good of the many, in service of all, I pour my time, attention, and energy, whatever of it is available at any given day. And for that, I cannot set up a price tag. I cannot erect a gated community with entry fees.
In time, as we have a platform for one-on-one questions and answers, consultations, studies, then in there, compensation will be expected. We'll certainly double-track it all, give you the option to keep it all in the open — for the many.
But if you need significant volumes of one-on-one attention, then that takes quite a bit of my time and energy. Right? And if I should choose to engage with some of you without the means, one-on-one, of my own will and accord, then you know, okay. But do not expect that. You are not entitled to that.
Collective is Free — Individuals Reciprocate ¶
Then the short distill from all of that. Never commercialize or paywall that which is universal and for the good of the many. For those with a genuine need and without the means, help without reservation as you can. And for those hoping to consume your time, attention and energy with their personal needs and quests – then let them compensate, matching their capacities.
In these principles, I find a balance in the necessary transactions of our lives. Let the many, the collective, be served as a matter of duty and honor in our lives. And let the individuals with their manifold needs come bearing firewood in proportion to their needs. Does that make sense to you? It makes a world of sense to me — and it seems to be pure in principle.