Gurus/ Self Help-BS?

Some time ago I wrote a blog that was a sort of lengthy book review for the book by Elizabeth Gilbert; Eat, Pray, Love. (If interested, it is below.) The nutshell version is that it's about a woman who goes on a spiritual journey that takes her to exotic places around the world over the course of a year. She goes to Italy, India and Bali and seemingly meets the perfect people at the perfect times.


My point is that not all of us have the luxury of taking a year off of work while still having plenty of money to travel the world. A spiritual journey is just that, a journey of spirit, why should it require actual physical travel? As to meeting the perfect people at the perfect times surely you have noticed how when one is looking for "signs" they are bound to see them. For example, if you see a 4 leaf clover on your way out of the house, even the smallest of things that can be passed off as lucky will surely be seen that way whereas if you don't see that 4 leafer on your way out and have the day go exactly the same, you wouldn't even be thinking of luck.

Spiritual journeys have nothing to do with location. Sure there are locations and people that can enhance your experience but ultimately the moments of enlightenment one has in their lives, those "Eureka!" moments...those moments of total clarity are experienced alone. Even if you are in a room full of people and they are all meditating they won't share that moment with you should you have it. There really isn't such a thing as a spiritual "group epiphany."

These moments can come while you're sitting under a tree, next to a stream or sitting on the floor in your room.


There are spiritual "self-help" books all over the book stores these days. There are "Gurus" and spiritual "mentors" to guide you. Spirituality is a 20 billion dollar a year industry that is in reality hurting, not helping people.

The bottom line is that indeed, some of these people are indeed enlightened, however, how they came to that enlightenment, that "program for enlightenment" they are selling you will NOT work for you because YOU ARE NOT THEM. End of story. The truly enlightened would of course know this and would also know that the best thing they can do is to live by example. To exude the confidence and clarity of mind an enlightened person has in a humble and respectful way not line their pockets with money on the premise that they can somehow give you that same confidence and clarity because the bottom line is, they CAN'T.


And by the way, India, famous for it's Guru's is likely the place where spirituality has had a price tag the longest, they are the master scam artists. Don't get me wrong, I dig Eastern theologies but not because I paid a Guru to explain to me what I can read in a book.


We think of monks, humble, poor....right.

Here's the Dalai Lama's house:



That poor man...must be rough.

Link to blog- Book Review of Eat, Pray, Love: http://bohemianz.webs.com/apps/blog/entries/show/12512535-eat-pray-love-by-elizabeth-gilbert