Blog of The Happier Abroaders - Better Dating, Social Connection and Freedom Overseas: September 2008

An interesting critical review I found of the famous New Age author Wayne Dyer:

(Note: The original link broken, see the backup text of it in my forum instead)

https://www.happierabroad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4283

"A Critical Perspective on Wayne Dyer

Murdoch2555

17-08-2005 20:23:51

Let us consider that Mr. Dyer is a very spiritual and enlightened individual. An oracle of "source energy" that has codified his effusive wisdom into a series of books that retail somewhere in the vacinity of 25-30 dollars.

Wayne Dyer has certainly reached many people with his message of self actualization (Maslow) and reaching Source (Cost Plus World Market Lamp). My first question regarding Mr. Dyer is his lack of fecundity in regards to his work; what exactly is the river bed of Dyer's original thought? To me, it seems greatly lacking. True, the Daila Lama tends to repackage traditional Buddhist wisdom in his texts and has found a very popular market around the world. Yet it appears to me that Wayne sells himself as the worlds foremost thinker on "Self Development".

When one listens to Wayne speak, one is astounded by his use of quotation. From Emmerson to Einstein, Wayne tends to prologue all of his mystic wisdom with the ideas of other people. This would be okay if it were just used as a stepping stone, intended to develope on and expand an idea or principle...this does not seem to happen very much, and when it does they tend to exist as logical extensions of "rational" knowledge applicable to his spiritual dimensions of work. His most recent work, "The Power of Intention", the concept that one can manifest their desires through meditation that focuses on what they can have instead of negative thoughts in regard to what they lack, can be found through-out constant religious and spiritual texts through out time. Granted, Dyer does not hide this fact, and one finds it slightly frustrating, in the fact that not only does he rob ideas, he has no problem with advertising it.

Understandably, Dyer repackages many of these ideas in the same respect Teenage Christian Mission Leaders repackage christian themes in an MTV style, making it more palpable for teenagers. A balding man in a Cosby sweater on PBS is a slightly easier sell than an Eastern mystic in robes.

Another concern of mine is Dyer's use of stories both personal and universal that simply appear to be works of fiction. In particular his lenghty stories that appear on his PBS specials for the single purpose of getting some shots of women in the audience crying. One involves a young student who is very poor developing a special relationship with a teacher that helps him progress. Another involves a retarded child whose baseball fantasy is manifested through the care of other players. THe first story is surely false, as it orignated as a story in Chicken Soup for the Soul and found later popularity as an e-mail forward. The second one I have seen as an e-mail forward, though it's origin I do not know for certain.

Another concern regards his very purpose. Wayne has no problem letting the world know he is fabulously rich, even revealing he is in the top 1% income bracket in a letter to politicians on his website, which seems primary focused on his repulsion for having to pay alot of taxes.

If Wayne has access to secrets of spritual success and wisdom, why does he have siminars? What I mean by this is, why doesn't he write down everything he knows that can help people into a book, and send it to his editor?

One you've had access to the 10 secrets for success and inner peace, why on earth would you need the power of intention to manifest what you want? You now have success and inner peace if you used his last book, why is there always more wisdom to be sold for 30 dollars?

And as mentioned before, why, if Dyer truely wants to help the world, does he not simply scribe all the wisdom he can imagine into a book and pay airplanes to airdrop them into poor neighborhoods, instead of making fun of the garbage that poor people have on their lawns (Creating your life with thought, The Inner Wisdom Library).

Instead, to suppliment his wisdom, many people must pay thousands of dollars to see Wayne in person at a variety of new age spiritual events. It is not always this expensive ofcourse, but as anyone here who has been to a Dyer event knows, it is very expensive to listen to him speak.

Why is this?

Wayne is amazingly rich...why does he still feel the need to charge this money for his appearances?

Many might suggest that his PBS work is very altruistic, but infact, he is paid enourmously for those shows, and it is a wonderful advertisement for his books and all materials contained in his Enchillada packages.

On a personal note, I cannot help but noticed that Wayne appears to me to be an incredibly ego-centric man...I cannot exactly back this up with evidence, but it's simply a very strong feeling I get. To me, it's perfectly okay to be egocentric, it's just difficult to acccept this in somene who claims to have nearly transcended all of his ego ways.

Remember that Wayne also contradicts himself constantly. In the Power of Intention (I believe) he talks about a coworker who is sick with a cold, and how disgusting his snot is. 20 minutes later he tells us that we must find beauty in everything we see, even a homeless person urinating on the street (This was preempted by a story regarding the work of Victor Frankle the founder of Logotherapy, and him finding beauty in the head of a fish, which was given to him in his soup by his Nazi captors during the holocaust). Why can't he find snot beautiful?

This is simply one example I found particularly amusing.

I am not a very spiritual person, but I think it's good if people can find wisdom in Wayne Dyer.

However, it's not his wisdom.

I don't understand why he is more concerned with being rich than with making sure his message gets out to everyone.

His attitude towards the poor is to me disturbing, in the notion that poor people are slaves to their "intention" and that anyone can escape their socio-economic positions with what basically is wishful thinking. While this may be true in many cases, to dismiss the political and economic factors is to me, callous and un-"source" like, so to say.

He writes diatribes against paying taxes, but I've not seen his work urging politicians to do more to help homeless people, or, if he truely believes his work is what they need, why don't we see him going out and making sure that all disadvantaged people have his books, tapes, cds, dvds, yes, he even sells a pack of playing cards.

Finally, a woman posted a message on here that I will summarize as saying, "I am jobless, without a husband, am very shy and need money, I have been trying to manifest what i want with the power of intention, but it is not working".

This is very sad to me, I believe Dyer's "Intention" philosophy is very dangerous, as it gives hope to the hopeless in a very disingenious way. If this woman wants to change her life, she has to get out into the world and try to create a better life through action. Believing that her "thoughts" and "meditations" will manifest her life simply is a lie. If this were true, not only would everyone have Waynes book and be manifesting everything they want in their life, the economy of the world would have failed over night.

I am not one to disregard positive thinking or even "manifesting meditations" as a positive act; I do agree that our mental attitude effects us an aweful lot, but only as it relates to our actions from it. This woman was horribly frustrated because her attempts at manifesting were not working, and it makes me sad to think all of the people out there that have been duped into believing this.

The real way to manifest, is to become a self-help guru and make millions writing books of based on the works of others, and charging thousands for personal appearances.

Many of you will simply say this is "resistance" as Wayne is fond of saying to anyone who disagrees with him.

Just a critical point of view

Murdoch"

My Comments:

The article above makes some good points. Why do such wonderful and wise New Age gurus who want to transform lives make their teachings only available to the wealthy? Why not make them affordable to the poor too? Gee, I'm sure there's no ulterior motive in that. (sarcastic)

The same goes for Deepak Chopra. What's hypocritical is that both Dyer and Chopra teach the abandonment of one's ego and promote non-materialist values, yet they both charge thousands of dollars to appear in public seminars, and their books sell for an average of around $30 each! Definitely not for the poor or those on a tight budget. Anyone can see in their PBS seminars that the studio audience members appear to be upper middle class and above.

Isn't that ironic?

Could it also be that their "thought creates reality" teaching sells to the upper class because it allows them to take credit for their riches and status, whereas such concepts do not sell to the poor who have a more practical view of reality?

Fascinating. (as Spock would say)

Perhaps what they teach only works in making the rich feel better about themselves, but doesn't offer anything of use for the poor or struggling class who deal with harsh everyday realities. After all, it's easy to those with sheltered lives to sit, meditate and try to "manifest abundance" when they already have it. And it's easier for the rich to "create reality" with their "thoughts" than it is for the poor, because they already have the resources to "manifest their reality" of course.

Nevertheless, many poor people believe in the "thought creates reality" concept as well (e.g. pot smoking hippies, alternative/holistic-oriented youngsters, etc.)

But what I can't figure out is why Deepak Chopra is successful. With Wayne Dyer, it's understandable, because he's charming, personable, charismatic, and has a likable endearing persona as well as a gentle tender father figure image. And he's easy to follow, his voice captivates you and his personality is engaging. But Chopra's voice is dry, dull and monotone. And his personality is not engaging, captivating or charismatic. In fact, there are millions of well read spiritualists in India just like him with the exact same knowledge. So there is no logical reason why Chopra should be successful or famous in his field.

Nevertheless, neither of them seem to be good at logic or common sense. For instance, they can't answer these simple 15 questions of mine about the "thought creates reality" teaching, which are never addressed in their books and seminars. Using simple everyday examples, I show in these questions why their core teaching falls flat on its head.

https://www.debunkingskeptics.com/LawofAttraction.htm

Perhaps they aren't as interested in "truth" as they would have you think. Perhaps they too are only interested in what "sells". Thus they are prone to the same human frailties as you and I. So perhaps we should not put them up too high on the pedestal.

Addendum and Update:

To those of you who are defenders of Wayne Dyer and others like him, who claim that I am being "negative" or have a "failure mentality", let me clarify a few things so that we understand each other better.

Yes Wayne Dyer is nice and positive, and has some good advice, but like religion and the Bible, he mixes truth with lies, either knowingly or unknowingly, for marketing purposes, because BS sells, truth does not. Americans especially love positivity even if its false positivity.

Dyer makes MISLEADING claims which cause his fans to become delusional and sets them up for disappointment. Some examples:

"You create your own reality"

"Your mind is all powerful. There are no limits unless you impose limits on yourself. Nothing is impossible unless you believe it is."

Etc.

No these are not straw mans. Dyer and other New Agers say these things in their New Age books and lectures, literally. But these are common lies and misleading statements in the New Age and self-help industry. They are not even true. Your mind can influence your body and health yes, but that's it, they do not have power over your external reality. For example, those with genuine telekinesis can only move small objects like toothpicks under a glass bowl. Research parapsychology and you will see that. No one can move large objects with their mind like you see the Jedi doing in Star Wars. To claim you can is a lie. Yes psi does exist, but the effect is very miniscule.

Look up my friend Darryl Sloan on YouTube. He is one of the most honest researchers and has authentic psi demonstrations where he moves a paper wheel left or right. I've done this myself and I know it's real. But that's it. Very miniscule effect. NOT all powerful as Wayne Dyer, Gregg Braden, Bruce Lipton and other New Age authors claim! You do not create your own reality, if you could then you'd live in a dream world where nothing went wrong. Duh! You'd have powers like Q from Star Trek The Next Generation where you could manifest anything instantly. But no one can do that. Show me just ONE person, JUST ONE, who can lift large objects into the air like the Jedi do in Star Wars. JUST ONE! You can't! Because it's impossible, not because we believe it's impossible (as Yoda told Luke in Empire Strikes Back), but because it IS IMPOSSIBLE. To deny that is a lie. Yet Dyer and other New Age authors do just that, they lie and make false statements that delude New Age people and set themselves up for disappointment.

That's my beef with them. Do you understand? Yes New Age teachings do have truth, but like the Bible, it's truth mixed with lies, for commercial purposes and to sell too, because no one likes to hear that there are limits, everyone likes to believe that there are no limits, so to be a good New Age author you HAVE TO LIE and say that nothing is impossible and that there are no limits and that your mind is all powerful like God, etc. All of this defies basic logic and common sense and is EASILY DISPROVEN of course, but it SELLS in America, so all New Age authors have to say that. Even if they know it's not true. That's the sad part. America is the most delusional country on Earth. That New Age BS doesn't sell in Europe or Russia where people are more real and rational, for example.

Of course, it's also true as others here have said, that New Age teachings are very VICTIM blaming too because it falsely assumes that there are no victims and that everything that happens you must have attracted to you with your negative thoughts, even if it's not your fault. That's cruel and wrong and untrue and cultish too, because New Agers will believe that regardless of contrary data and common sense and basic logic.

Do you see my point? It doesn't matter if Dyer was a nice man. He makes a lot of highly misleading statements and false claims that are easily disproven by basic logic and common sense everyday experience. Thus he should be exposed and blamed for that, it's valid criticism for sure. This is true even if some of his advice is good. Of course you have to mix truth with lies in order to sell something. Sleazy used car salesmen do the same thing, because 100 percent truth does not sell, neither does 100 percent lies, in order to sell well you gotta mix truth and lies properly to create an attractive package full of positivity and lies and exaggerated claims. That's the formula for selling something well. If you think about it, you will understand that's the reality of how things sell in America, which is the land of BS.

One more thing: Yes I do love spirituality and am a very spiritual person myself. I believe in the paranormal and psi too, which has been demonstrated and proven in many ways (look up Dean Radin and Rupert Sheldrake on that). However, just because I'm into spirituality and metaphysics does not mean that I believe in New Age lies and BS claims like "You create your own reality" or "Your mind is all powerful, nothing is impossible unless you think it is" etc. Those are simply untrue and easy to disprove, super easy. Even a child could disprove those claims. So why do New Age adults buy them? It's so delusional. A lie is a lie, even if its cloaked under the guise of "spirituality" and "positive thinking". The problem is that in America, the land of BS, there is this false assumption that everything that sounds positive MUST be true, even if it obviously isn't. It's a strange delusion, but alas, America is a positivity cult essentially, that's why you always gotta give a positive answer when Americans say "How are you doing?" as we all know. Just because I'm spiritual doesn't mean I am going to lie like Wayne Dyer does and not call a spade a spade. A real truth seeker doesn't do that. Think about it.

http://www.debunkingskeptics.com/LawofAttraction#Appendix

Appendix: List of questions for those who believe that "thoughts create reality"

Here is my list of questions for those who believe that "thoughts create reality", which they seem to avoid for some reason. When I ask them, they tend to either avoid the question or go off into some irrelevant rant and then re-confirming that "thought creates reality" principle without even addressing any of my points directly. How strange. I would have expected better from so called "truth seekers". Nevertheless, here is the list.

1. If thoughts create reality, then how come we can't fly or walk through walls or move mountains with our thoughts? How come even if I believed 100 percent that I could pass through a solid wall, I'd still bump my head if I tried?

2. If thoughts create reality, then how come it's possible to trip or slip on banana peels? Wouldn't our assumption that it was safe to walk there create a trouble-free walk?

3. If thoughts create reality, then why did the Titanic sink when everyone "thought" it was unsinkable?

4. If thoughts create reality, then why are there surprises in life? Why do both optimists and pessimists experience events that turn out better or worse than they expected? Shouldn't they have manifested whatever they expected?

5. If thoughts create reality, then why do most things not go according to plan? By planning, wouldn't your thoughts generated during the plan create the reality in which things went exactly according to plan?

6. Is there any objective reality? If not, then how come you can bring a brown table into a room full of people, yet everyone will see the same thing, without you telling them what it is? And even if you told them it was a blue table, they'd still see a brown table. Doesn't that indicate that the brown table has an existence in objective reality?

7. To what degree do thoughts create reality? Are there any limits? If so, then why doesn't Wayne Dyer or Deepak Chopra define any? And aren't they misleading people into thinking that their thoughts are all powerful by not doing so? Or do they have a vested non-spiritual interest in promoting this concept? If there are no limits, then why can't you materialize and dematerialize matter in the physical universe like "Q" in "Star Trek The Next Generation"?

8. Another variant of this principle is that "expectations create reality" as well. In other words "Expectations manifest. You attract what you think about. What you expect will be drawn to you. And what you fear also will manifest." Now if that's true, then how come most things don't go according to plan and how come expectations often fail?

9. If "expectations create reality" then how come we don't always get what we expect? How come there are so many let downs and disappointments in life?

10. Another variant of this is that you will "manifest what you fear" as Wayne Dyer like to put it. If that's so, why aren't children who are afraid of the boogie man at night don't actually get harmed or taken by one? And how come children afraid of monsters under their bed don't get eaten or killed by them? How come people who get scared after watching a horror movie don't manifest the creatures from the movie into real life? How come Dracula, Werewolves, Frankenstein, Jason or Freddy Krueger haven't manifested into reality yet?

11. If we manifest what we fear, then how come many of our fears don't come to pass and turn out to be just due to an overactive imagination?

12. How come when the year 2000 came, many feared that a Y2K bug might wreak havoc in society by causing many crucial computer systems to shut down, yet the scare turned out to be nothing? How come their collective fears didn't manifest?

13. Do you really believe that if you drank cyanide or muriatic acid and believed 100 percent that it was just plain water, that it wouldn't harm you? I hope not!

14. Since a lot of you folks also believe that how you see yourself and what you think you are will be how others see you and what others think you are, then do you really believe that if you walked into the Pentagon and believed 100 percent that you were the President of the United States, that everyone there would think that you are The President? And what if I believed that I was Superman or Batman? Would everyone believe it too?

15. And what if an ugly fat woman walks around in public like she is super hot and sexy, and believing as such in her mind 100 percent? Would everyone then think she was super hot and sexy and desire her? Or that she was delusional? And what about the people in the insane asylum who believe they are Napoleon or Jesus Christ? Does society accept their claims? Do they then become that and become the ruler or savior of the world?

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