I have enjoyed listening to some of the Hay House authors. But often, My instinct hears a sales pitch and not genuine help. Funnily enough, one of them is Anita Moorjani who says she is NOT a spiritual leader and we should be our own guru. Learn to love yourself because you are magnificent.
I'm a bit of a nerd and tho I realize we humans can't know everything, I really bristle when I hear scientific bunk as 'proof.'
As a TMSer, I believe in the power of the mind/brain to both hurt and heal. But I don't believe in magic.
Hi Mouser,
Your last sentence is so true. No reason to not believe in magic though, but I get what you are saying. I have given some talks at senior centers with a magician friend of mine and I start out by fooling some in the audience to believe they have psychic powers (my magician friend is a shill in the audience), then ask if anybody would be interested in learning how to develop the power of their mind through some courses that would help them develop their mind. When I first go in I ask for a show of hands of how many believe in psychic abilities ( I am a NYer, so there is usually only a 20-25% positive response) when I'm done though, I ask the same question and the response rate goes up to 50-60%. That is the first part of my talk. For the second part, I introduce my magician friend and we unravel for the audience how we were able to do what we did and in such a short period of time. (he also entertains them with some illusions and sleight of hand).
Words, and the use of words in the hands of one wanting to influence can be amazingly effective. Just because someone uses a negative like the person you spoke of does not go to the veracity of the person, or, what they are proposing etc. Part of the big draw of JZ Knights Ramtha is that it/she/he claims the reason he has decided to present himself in a womans body is so no one will idolize him. That he is not a guru or spiritual leader, in fact, he/she/it deliberately separates its self from those like that and says that those who follow it's teachings will learn to be their own God.
RSE claims it is based on ancient mystery schools within which it takes 7 years to complete, yet there are those who are still there over 30 years and their lives compared to when they first joined (financial, health, emotional) have diminished, not improved, but the hook of completing in 7 years is long since forgotten replaced with fear and doubt of the outer society and all information that comes from it.
The internet has become a powerful tool for spreading influence that is reflected in related stock prices all the way to the spread of hateful ideologies such as ISIS and Neo- NAzi groups and everything in between.
Words can be used to insert thoughts that bypass your normal critical thinking processes especially when used in the negative such as "don't think of a black cat".....see what I mean.
I often explain in order to help unravel and ease the self blame which often comes when someone has been deceived into group through deceptive measures the difference between magic and what they have been through even though the same techniques might be present.
When one goes to a Magic show, they go with the expectation to be fooled. If you can see how the tricks are being done you would think the price of your ticket may not be worth it. However, while there, you do look to see if you can find out how the tricks are done (in, fact the magician uses this propensity to fool and distract you).
However, when you go to a spiritual, health, self-improvement, political event you do not have the expectation of being tricked. So if a spiritual experience is provided for you, a rapid health improvement is provided, an "ah-ha" moment, etc. you feel it internally and are not aware that it may have been orchestrated from the outside.
This then becomes a very hard experience to examine or even want to because in most cases it is positive and felt VISCERALLY.
I have often come across in my dialogue with those who have been exposed to influence tactics a total disregard as to the history of their leader,guru, politician etc regardless of the severity be it that they have abused power through sexually exploiting members, absconding with funds, outright lying, etc. I often get a response similar to "Say what you will, I know this ( being the doctrine, philosophy, power of the teachings or theory) to be true, I know it with every fiber of my being!" I attempt to get the person to explain if they are saying that truth= reality.
In the case of many "new-age ers" I get the answer, "That's my truth" Which is a thought stopping device meant to keep out material that creates cognitive dissonence within them.
If I have been able to gain enough trust to proceed, because at this point there appears to be no way to explain intellectually what is going on, I ask if they would be willing to participate in a short experiment which would require them to be blindfolded for a min or so (I have pre-prepared if I am in an environment I have control over, if not I improvise).
I blindfold the person sitting at a table (RSEers are particularly open to this as they spend a great portion of their time doing disciplines blindfolded) , I then quietly put a bowl or pot of very hot water (not hot enough to scald) on one side and a bowl or pot of very cold water on the other side and then place a bowl or pot of room temperature water in the middle. I ask the person sitting to point out one finger on each hand and explain that I am going to be putting each of their fingers in a glass of water for 15 seconds. I proceed and while the fingers are in the water I ask them to tell me what they feel. They state the obvious that one glass feels cold and the other hot. I then tell them that I am going to be putting their fingers in two other glasses and place them in the room temperature bowl and repeat my question. They reply that one is cold and one is hot. I ask them if they are sure and they confirm they are certain. I remove the blindfold to show them that both fingers were in water of exactly the same temperature as a thermometer would prove.
I explain that I have never been in doubt as to what they felt or questioned that. However, I just wanted to point out that felling sometimes does not represent the reality of the situation. They usually find this of interest and ask questions about it which tells me that their critical thinking has been engaged and I proceed to explain how their feelings and perceptions had been altered by the fact, not only that they had been blindfolded, but that because the event immediately proceeding the room temperature water (reality) that they were exposed that is what changed their perception of reality however, when the blindfold came off, it enabled them to understand why they had interpreted reality in a misguided manner.
Pain is one of the easiest things to change a persons perception of, be it by altering their perception of it, giving them knowledge about how and why it may be occurring, providing a distraction so they are not focused on it. Much of this could be given by grandma kitchen table common sense and does not need a more complex explanation. Sometimes any explanation is not currently available. This is not to say that the person experiencing it is making it up, exaggeration it, or, that they may come to believe that they are the one creating it, or have little or no control over it. I have read in places on this site that it is thought that 80% of all pain is psychogenic. I find that statement to be difficult to wrap my head around given my own experiences and view of my my surrounding culture. I do believe that 80% of the population can be aided by pain relief methods that involve psychogenic techniques.
