Of absolute followers and discernment on the spiritual path

[Guest guest]

The more I look into the New Age subculture, the more it strikes me

that so many folks out there are just desperate to find a pre-packaged

answer to all their questions. Many of them will buy into anything,

till they are ready to move on to the next theory dished out by yet

another guru-of-the-day. Needless to say, consumer capitalism has a

ball with these folks--always ready to buy the latest book,

meditational CD, magazine subscription, magic potion, crystal, etc. in

their quest for external guidance and escape from themselves.

 

I am not speaking against faith and belief. However, I think that we

shouldn't be too eager to shed our power of discrimination as we

approach the spiritual path. Willingness to buy into any nonsense just

because it is out there won't do anybody any good. As I always tell my

students, there is so much more value in pausing and thinking

critically instead of gobbling up whatever story we are being fed.

Somebody wrote that all you need to know about yourself, the world,

and the divine is inside you already. Reaching out won't help, if you

are not willing to look inside.

 

I hope nobody will feel hurt by my observations. Some folks may object

that I am a snobbish academic trapped in duality. Maybe. But I also

feel that gullibility is part of the reason why so many New

Agers have made, and keep making, so many mistakes--falling prey to

exploitative gurus, abdicating their humanity, succumbing to extremist

ideologies just to mention a few.

 

Critical thinking is not the opposite of faith. It's its necessary

complement on a difficult, and often slippery, path.

 

Love to all,

 

Sel