The Missing Link Between Money and Spirituality

 Petrus Carstens helps to find your purpose in life

Text by Max Sim

 P etrus Carstens was a South African church minister who started a non-profit foundation. He was merely earning US$2,000 per month. Four years after in 2007, he turned his life around and became a millionaire businessman. With interests in shopping centres, game farms, and real estate, he created an investment portfolio of 20 US million dollars. You may wonder why he shifted careers but because he wanted to pursue his dream of supporting millions of Africans through Economic Empowerment and create a healthy and peaceful world. On his recent talk in Hong Kong, we went to interview him and find out more about spirituality, money and happiness, and the ‘soul purpose’ in life.

What made you want to go from studying business to being a church minister?

My father was a diplomat so I wanted to be a diplomat. And what I wanted to do was to get rich and retired as early as possible so I could do what I love doing. I was always interested in philosophy and I had a mind that was always seeking answers. In college, I heard a professor of Theology speak and he answered a lot of questions that German and Greek philosophers did not. One thing led to the next and I experienced the sense of a bigger reality that life could have a bigger purpose.

When you say purpose, it reminds me of Victor Frankl and Logo-therapy. Your approach seems to be quite pragmatic that the important thing is a sense of purpose. But what about the story you believe whether it is Jesus, Mohammed, and Buddha or as in Douglas Adam’s book that "the meaning of life is the number 42", is this less important?

That is correct. We have lost connection with our inner life, or our soul purpose, and have become outwardly focused. And yet there is still a connection. People can be focused on the external but when you speak of something that touches their heart, their eyes light up, they are fully present and they have full energy. Is it possible to live a life with your soul purpose, energy, and full focus? Maybe the further you get disconnected from your soul purpose, the more your soul dies and the more you have to fill your mind with everything outside there instead of being focused. What you said about Frankl was important. You become unstoppable when you connect with your soul, when you live your life, and when you breathe your last breath. It’s all worth it; you just have to accomplish all that you were meant to do.

We have discussed your religious phase. What prompted you to return to business and private equity?

What prompted me was connecting spiritual purpose with money. I saw the potential to make a big difference in terms of the empowerment of the poorer communities in Africa and then at that stage, I began to think about how I could do this. I realised money was a ‘capsule of energy’ giving me the leverage I needed to make a bigger difference.

You teach people to be happy and wealthy and yet university researchers at Harvard University and University of Pennsylvania show the diminishing returns you get from wealth. Why is money necessary for happiness?

I don’t think it is about being one or the other - it is about knowing your purpose. Money and consciousness can be two tools to express your purpose. With money you can decide what level you want to "play". You can make a difference one to one like a psychologist does, or you could do it at a national or a global level. Money gives you leverage. But it is more than about money: it’s about consciousness and the vision you have. Money is a tool. If you have big dreams to change the world, money can be a limiting factor if you don’t have it. Money is neither positive nor negative. It is a frozen energy and it is how you use it that matters.

In your courses, you talk about leaving a legacy and having a purpose. I have seen some of your students struggle with their ultimate purpose. What do you think the biggest challenge that people have in defining a challenge in the modern world is?

Our lives have become so outwardly focused that in context it will be difficult for people to find their soul purpose. There is no science to finding your purpose. It’s just about paying attention about what resonates with you. I always say it is like when you’re carrying a baby and when you feel it kicking, then something resonates with your heart and when something speaks to your heart that is what you need to be looking for. The question is: what would your life look like if you were doing the things you were most passionate about most of the time?

Do you feel the average person is connected enough and able to sense Soul Purpose through layers and layers of ‘shadow purposes’? Some people will define purpose as achieving CEO status by age 35 and yet some would say that they have something underneath that – a wound they are compensating for.

First of all, your soul purpose is not something that can be achieved. It is your eternal purpose. It is about your being not your doing. What I see, the type of purpose people set themselves, often when they achieve it their lives feel emptier than before. For example, some might say their purpose is to buy a Ferrari or sail around the world. That can be a goal but not a ‘soul purpose’.

I had a Ferrari at one stage that I didn’t drive. It just did nothing for my heart. If you achieve your goal, you may feel empty. On the other hand, your purpose may be bringing harmony and peace, fixing the environment, standing for other people or developing greater consciousness in the world. The main thing is looking inside of you, not about looking outside.

So it sounds like the litmus test of true purpose rather than a shadow purpose is not a delayed gratification; it is an instant gratification because you are feeling right.

Correct, and it is what you would die for. Nobody would die for a Ferrari or trip around the world. On the other hand, people would die for justice like Martin Luther King or Nelson Mandela.