The Spirituality Industry is a Scam

Break Free from the Dream State Series #2

The spirituality industry hasn’t developed out of the blue; it’s risen from the dysfunctional and self-centered culture we’re all swimming in. Poverty, environmental degradation, racism, sexism, ableism, war, how we treat animals, pesticides, herbicides, less than 1% of people owning over 50% of wealth, on, on, on, on and on. One has to see that all this dysfunction is rooted in the same soil before one can move beyond it. Here’s the underlying truth: The root cause of all the dysfunction in the global culture and, therefore, in the spirituality industry, is because we’ve been told there is a personalized, individual* you separate from everything else, and you need to improve that self. Self-improvement and spiritual journeys overlap, but they are very different. Playing around with spiritual ideas and concepts seems to be part of any spiritual journey. Still, if we get lost in the trendy noise and take any one belief seriously, we can spend a lifetime going in ignorant circles.

First, the personalized self.

The original spirituality quest, the heroic journey, is about shedding all beliefs and identities and living as your true nature, as wholeness. It’s not about an experience, an insight, or a cool mind trick you can do. Buddha nature, wholeness, Tao, living fully in love, or any name you want to label it, is all about seeing clearly that all are involved, interconnected, and as it has to be. How can one get to this way if there is a belief in a personalized self they are trying to improve?

I know conceptualizing that there’s no you can be tricky. I’m not saying your body isn’t real or you’re in some alternate reality; I’m saying that the identity you call you, is fragmented and born out of false ideas and beliefs. It can be shed. The personality you hold on to so tightly is not you. For example: Are you introverted or do you have social anxiety? What happens if you have a baby? Will you become more nurturing and less self-centered? What happens if you have minimal resources? Will you become greedy? Which of these labels, traits, and personality characteristics are actually you?? And that voice in your head, who is doing that?? The adventure is psychological, subtle, and intimate.

The I, or this personalized self, is full of contradiction and fragmentation; therefore, those teaching about spirituality are likely full of contradiction and fragmentation. The teachings and preachings within the spirituality industry are stuck in capitalism, hierarchy, and personal motivations. The teachings are confusing, misguided, and promise empty objectives. Sure, a few are speaking from a useful lens, but unfortunately, they are overshadowed or misunderstood by all the inaccurate noise; 99.9% of the industry is a scam.

Manifestation, choice, karma, intention, ego, the moon, and astrology are often misunderstood.

For example, let’s break down the term manifesting. There is a common belief that one can manifest, or make things happen for themselves, if grounded enough, open enough, and in-tune enough with the universe. One might feel they are an all-powerful God (in the Judaic Christian sense of God- “I can control all.”). In one sense, we are all God, but in another, we have no control over the universe at all. If we forget the second part, that we have no control at all, there is a good chance we’ll get narcissistic, self-centered, and entitled. We start to think the universe revolves around us, and we matter A LOT. This God Complex is a big problem. Instead, if one can stop trying to control* everything and understand that everything is exactly how it has to be, happenings will feel like miracles and manifestations.

If one can get outside of personalized thinking, then yes, it will seem like things are manifesting for them. But it’s a waste of time to desire manifestation because if you truly live without personalized thinking, you won’t care if you manifest anything. You might think, “Narly! I thought that book looked good, and my friend just got it for me! Life is so neato.” Then it will end there. No special meaning added. No drama. You might tell a friend, but you won’t be telling them from a place of self-importance or meaning.

Stick with me around manifesting, but let’s bring karma in. If I kill my uncle, my aunt will likely be heartbroken and react towards me in some sort of way. Karma. Cause and effect. On a grander scale, if my culture is hierarchical and there are just a select few individuals who get most of the resources, there will be a majority of people without resources. Karma. Cause and effect. Now, in every thought, on a super micro scale, if I have jealousy in my being, I’ll act out of that jealousy and distrust my partner. My partner will respond to that action in their own way, continuing the conflict, and on and on the dance will go. Karma. Cause and effect. Karma exists because the universe works in a yin-yang fashion of opposites and interconnection. There cannot be up without down, nor can there be this table without space. Whenever we get caught in the manifesting game, we must think about its effect. There are currently over 8 billion people on this planet; if they are all manifesting a car, well, um, how is the earth going to even provide that? On a basic level, thought alone can prove that new-age manifesting doesn’t make sense.

Same with astrology. The moon. Tarot cards. Rationally, if considering the yin-yang of the universe, it doesn’t make much sense, but go a little further anyway… Why do we think we humans matter so much? If the moon is affecting us, then it’s affecting every species out there. Yes, the moon is cool. It might affect us a bit because of its gravitational pull, but if we’re thinking statements like, “Omg, I was so grumpy yesterday, now I feel alive and amazing! It must be because of the full moon.”… Probably not, unless every species on earth was grumpy yesterday??

There may be some cool coincidences with the stars, our birthdays, and those fun tarot cards, but it’s just because we want to create meaning in our lives. Humans are not more important. We are not more intelligent than anything else. We just are magically, beautifully here like everything else. Neat! Wow! It’s fun, so keep it light. Once we start calling beliefs, truths, we get all serious and righteous and call it things like religion. The spirituality industry is a religion. A very wealthy religion. The yoga industry alone is worth billions and billions of dollars*. When did spirituality and money coalesce? Why?

I have to give a shout-out alert to the term choice. We think we have choice because of the whole God Complex thing and the individualistic culture we’re swimming in. We struggle to understand how we can simultaneously be God and not have any control or choice. If there is no personalized self, who is doing the choosing??

Maybe think of it this way: If you have a desire or an intention*, then your ego* or personalized self is just messing around in the yin-yang-ness of life. Because who is doing the wanting? Coincidence, intention, karma, and manifesting mingle in the same dissection. Just take the self out, and you’ll find it has to do with us only because we’re here, part of the grand dance, nothing more.

Are evolution and consciousness useful and accurate terms?

Does being spiritually advanced have anything to do with evolution? What does being “spiritually advanced” mean and look like, anyway? Wikipedia defines evolution as; the change in heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. When people in the spirituality industry speak of evolution, they seem to be using the label to describe a more conscientious way of living, better than one’s past way of living, and good for humankind.

I can see some similarities between the definitions; both have to do with change. But who is changing? Who is getting better? If a judgment or measurement is being made, we fall into the trap of personalizing again. Who is evolving, and what are they evolving to if you are already it?

We all have mindbody navigational systems* that guide us if we let them; therefore, there is no where to get or evolve to. We are all born as our true nature, our unhealthy environments just get in the way. We seem to be talking about evolution to describe the journey to self-actualization, not a ‘back to nature’ place. A deeply self-actualized person may have a looser grip on their self, but they still very much exist in the enculturated sphere of cares, and identify with their self. Yes, we could say that until we get back to our nature we are on a journey, so therefore, we are evolving, changing, until we are back there. But if we say we ‘are evolving’ and ‘we are getting somewhere’, that’s not presence, that’s self again. It’s nearly impossible to talk about. When you stop talking about it, then that’s something!

Similarly, there is no sense of higher consciousness or lower consciousness when it comes to truth, love, or our true nature. Who knows how we’re defining consciousness these days, but what I sense is that we’re not defining it as aware-ing. If we define it as aware-ing; full presence, silence, meditative flow, be-ing, etc., then that’s something useful, perhaps, and worth exploring. But it seems it’s used in the spirituality industry as another place to “get to”.

If you can conceptualize that everything is included in the yin-yang, how can higher be better than lower? Don’t they need each other and exist only because of each other? You don’t need to care too much about this consciousness business theoretically. Just like everything else- the idea of consciousness, unconsciousness, evolution, stars, moon, your neighbor, your guilt, shame, happiness, coffee, sickness, pain; all are included and part of the dance of reality, what is. When it comes to truth and love, none of these things has priority over the other. None of these admired ways of being is special; if they feel special, breathe and get out of the personalized self again. Sure, talk, explore, wonder… but if you think you are getting closer to knowing something, start over. Get back into the unknown.

“Your truth” is personal.

If you have been on a long, strenuous, personal journey and came out on top, you have awoken to a new you, or, a new way to behave and think. You’ve discovered a deeper understanding of who you are, and you have personal truths under your belt. You’ve probably heard “It’s my truth”, but if it’s my truth, it’s still personal. This is awesome, and part of the journey, but keep going. Really, that’s mostly what I’m saying. Let’s all keep going. Let’s get humbled, over and over again, and keep going.

In summary: It’s confusing out there. Lean into teachings that help you feel into what you identify with, and avoid teachings that promote your personalized self.

Importantly and confusingly, we believe this self has somewhere to get to and something important to be. We are told we need to work on the individual, grow!, and this self needs to survive and thrive. In this culture, we seem to hold a strong belief that our individuality is important and worthy of praise and exploration. Thoughts about how to be better, more successful, healthier, prettier, the best possible human EVER engulf us. Yes, we care for others, but even that is often seen through the lens of the self. (“I am a good person. See?”). The belief that I, the personalized self, is separate from everything else is powerful and reinforced in this culture, therefore, the spirituality industry. We usually won’t slow down enough to see it.

Are you in the right genre? If you want to figure out how to live in this society healthily and find happiness yet stay in ignorance, I think you mean to be in the health and wellness genre. If you want to figure out how to question this society, everything, and swim through depression and anger and look at all the muck in you and around you, and then maybe figure out what reality is, then the actual spirituality genre is right for you.

Do you want to swim through the muck?! Here are my tips…

1) Slow things waaaay down.

2) Keep wondering without judgment or concluding about your thoughts, feelings, actions, and beliefs.

3) Don’t leave or try to escape. Keep coming back. Further. Don’t give up!

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*Individual original meaning: Early 15c., "one and indivisible, inseparable" (with reference to the Trinity), from Medieval Latin individualis, from Latin individuus "indivisible," from in- "not, opposite of" (see in- (1)) + dividuus "divisible," from dividere "divide" (see divide (v.)). Original sense now obsolete; the word was not common before c. 1600 and the 15c.

”Stop trying to control.” I’m not saying we should sit around and do nothing about all the problems we face and be completely passive because nothing matters. I’m saying that when we surrender, let go, and trust that our mindbody navigation system* will take care of things, we are in flow, and right action will come from that.

*There are many statistics on how much money the yoga industry is worth, and almost all of them quote numbers in the billions, so I went with that.

*The term intention is another term the spirituality industry butchers. If we have a goal or desire to get something or to get somewhere, we’re trying to control again and not trusting our mindbody navigational system. I think intentions are only useful when held lightly, with wonder.

*Ego: Misguided concept because who is me to have an ego? It’s really hard to write without using it because it’s so mainstream. I have wondered about this term a lot, and we’re quite certain it’s adding to mass confusion. It seems like self would be more accurate, and talking more about the mindbody navigational systems* is more useful.

*Garin Samuelsen coined the mindbody navigational system to describe the mechanism that helps us survive and thrive, both individually and collectively. Inherently, there is nothing wrong with the mechanism, but when it has to adapt to a dysfunctional system, it becomes dysfunctional itself.

Here are some quotes I think get to the point. Enjoy!

When you sit quietly and watch yourself, all kinds of things may come to the surface. Do nothing about them, don’t react to them; as they have come, so will they go, by themselves. All that matters is mindfulness, total awareness of oneself, or rather, of one’s mind. - Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

The real is as it is always. We are not creating anything new or achieving something which we did not have before. - Ramana Maharshi

Hope and fear are both phantoms that arise from thinking of the self. When we don't see the self as self, what do we have to fear? - Lao Tzu

Here’s the most directly I am able to say this: The one and only truth of any person lies like a black hole at their very core, and everything else—everything else—is just the rubbish and debris that covers the hole. Of course, to someone who is just going about their normal human existence undistracted by the larger questions, that rubbish and debris is everything that makes them who they are. But to someone who wants to get to the truth, who they are is what’s in the way. - Jed McKenna

Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it. -Rumi

Silence is difficult and arduous; it is not to be played with. It isn’t something that you can experience by reading a book, or by listening to a talk, or by sitting together, or by retiring into a wood or a monastery. I am afraid none of these things will bring about this silence. This silence demands intense psychological work. You have to be burningly aware- aware of your speech, aware of your snobbishness, aware of your fears, your anxieties, your sense of guilt. And when you die to all that, then out of that dying comes the beauty of silence. - Jiddu Krishnamurti