I'm going to address a growing problem within the spiritual community. This problem is pervasive, unfortunate and seriously damaging to the sense of empathy of anyone who chooses to engage in the type of cult-mind thinking I'm about to describe, and sadly, I've seen some really talented, intelligent, otherwise balanced individuals fall prey to this unfortunate trend. As a sufferer of an invisible illness (an illness whose symptoms cannot always be viewed from the outside-i.e. MS, fibromyalgia, Lyme disease, lupus, HIV, cancer) and someone with a background in science and fact thanks to my extensive education in psychology, I feel very fortunate never to have been the type to let myself get carried away with kookiness or goofiness, especially kookiness disguised as sage wisdom within the spiritual community. I'm not a fluffy bunny pagan. I don't believe in unicorns who eat happiness and shit rainbows. I believe in the earth, the universe, the elements and laws therein--I believe in cold, hard fact. Unfortunately, there are many out there who do not, and those types of people tend to be more susceptible to becoming brainwashed into believing some of the silly, worse yet scary and even downright dangerous self-help, new age, cult mindset nonsense that's out there disguised as, like I touched on just now, self-help.
Here are my thoughts on the matter as well as some facts for your viewing (i.e. reading) pleasure. First, let me emphasize how deeply hurtful and out of line it is for anybody no matter what the circumstance or how helpful they think they're trying to be to suggest to someone with an incurable illness (like myself), financial problems (like so many), mental or physical disabilities of any kind, etc or with loved ones with any of the same that they have somehow brought the above states of being upon themselves as bad living, bad energy or overall neglect made manifest. I have heard many times from many people-none of them of course who have actually ever lived with any such impediments I might add, who like to tell me and others that if we only think positively, let go of the pain, take some magic "supplement," get our lives "straightened out" (as if illness, accidents, injuries and misfortune only happen to deserving parties who have some intangible, indefinable sense of wrongness taking seed somewhere within that must be responsible for their current predicament), we'll all be cured and that can't we see how said predicaments are brought on by negative thoughts, sin, etc...? I personally find it hurtful and rather ignorant for anyone to believe that intelligent, successful and well adjusted people are just missing that one key fake supplement that one positive thought or that one piece of cultish, vague nonsense none-too-adeptly disguised as wisdom that some kook decided to make the selling point of their latest kooky self-help book, which would cure them of that pesky ole cancer, injury, illness or poverty. I of course can only speak for me, but I for one take excellent care of myself. I take my medicine (science, folks, Google it), I take my supplements (actual vitamins, not some sales based, mlm pyramid scheme sugar pill), I eat right, I meditate, I have an extensive yoga practice, I hike, etc etc and so on and so on. I find it deeply hurtful and offensive when it is suggested to me that I am somehow manifesting legions all over my internal organs because bad mojo, bad juju, sin and boogity boogity. That is impossibly, horribly, ridiculously offensive and deeply hurtful. Now, I'm not suggesting that everything that Tony Robbins, Napoleon Hill, Zig Ziglar, [Esther] Abraham-Hicks or whoever have no grains of truth tucked away in their largely nonsensical writing, but what I am suggesting is that anyone can become a self-proclaimed guru, that anyone can write a book, think up a catchy branding idea, or speak from the tops of their heads and call what they're saying fact without the burden of having to back any of it up.
I know that there are lots of good people out there who are looking for some uplifting, personal responsibility-based theory of life, but I'd like to invite and encourage said people to develop your own rather than adopting that of someone else. We are all equal on this journey. No one is above.
Following someone that you think has more information than you is hazardous to your own freedom at best and at worst, seriously undermines your ability to continue to possess and utilize that all important key part of the human condition: empathy. So, use your logic, use your intuition. Develop your own philosophy, but don't adopt views that can harm others. After all, there are no gurus. There's only you and me. And my right to believe what I want to believe and do what I want to do in life ends where yours begins. I mean to say that if what I believe could potentially hurt you, then what I believe may not be okay. If I believe that all purple is an affront to my god and your house and car are purple, I may want to seriously reevaluate my beliefs before I go and destroy your well earned home and automobile. There is no time or place in which it is okay for me to destroy your property or harm you in any way because of my beliefs. Does my right to believe that purple is sinful supersede your right to believe that you can have a purple car and house if you damn well please? No. It does not.
On that note, I'd like to encourage all of you to join with me in making sure that we're all respecting other people even as we strive to follow our own paths and fully participate in our own journeys. And might I add, that if you can't believe that random occurrences happen in life and that good things happen to bad people and bad things happen to good at least some of the time, at least try to be open to the possibility that everything that happens in this world isn't a matter of choice, punishment or reward. Do you get to choose what you look like (while here in this life)? No. You don't. Genetics are set in stone. Do you get to choose your parents or siblings (again, while in this life)? No. You most certainly do not. So why would you make the choice to lay the blame for such subjective happenings as illness, poverty or loss at someone else's feet? Is that a spiritual way to be? Is that empathetic? Is that kind? These are physiological and scientific issues, not manifestations of bad juju. C'mon people, it's 2015 now. Let's try to introduce some facts into the equation. Question everything in life. Don't seek out the question based on the answer you have or want to find and don't seek out answers based on your own desires. Seek out facts. Seek out truth. Seek out knowledge. Search within yourself. Question everything. And for gods sake, or for your own, put down the self help books before you hurt yourselves (or others). Don't lose your empathy for the low cost of $19.99 (or however much your self-help books cost you). It is worth much more than that.
(I had posted a link below when I originally posted this post on Facebook, you can look it up if you'd like-it's about a skeptic who collected some compelling and bad experiences relating to 'self-help' guru Abraham-Hicks)
Keepin it real,
Dominique
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