The New York Times ran an article just over a week ago called "Seeing Yourself in Their Light," about a number of former New York City "Carrie Bradshaw" types who are now making a living as spiritual "gurus." I've been bothered ever since I read the article. Here is an excerpt:
"That night in her apartment in Greenwich Village, she anointed her hands in fragrant oil and, using a mixture of phrases gleaned from self-help books, meditation exercises and inspirational music, led seven young women seated on saffron and red pillows through nearly two hours of spiritual life-coaching."
“Hang out in the light,” she told the women, all in their 20s and early 30s, quoting from her forthcoming book, “Add More -ing to Your Life.” “Take action once a day to do something that ignites your life.”
The article next informs us that Ms. Bernstein no longer eats red meat or drinks alcohol. I have to wonder what this, and the fragrant oil, and the red and yellow pillows have to do with spiritual growth? And does she happen to have a special lamp under which she wants people to sit? What "light" exactly does she hope people will "hang out in"?
I'd like to say I don't begrudge Gabrielle Bernstein the $180 she charges for her four weekly sessions. People can sell whatever they can convince someone to buy. But, still, it offends me.
I haven't met Ms. Bernstein. I haven't seen her forth-coming book. I have no idea what her personal journey has been... but after reading the article, all I could think of was snake oil, hucksters and the next New York "vogue."
I realize it is unfair of me to judge. She could be as enlightened as the Dalai Lama or Mother Teresa. But picturing this woman scouring other authors' "self-help" books to share snippets with poor, lost souls while she eats her tofu and makes sure her iPod's "inspiration" playlist includes lots of bells and drums and sitars, as incense burns and the money rolls in somehow strikes me as no more "spiritual" than Jimmy Choo's sidewalk sale.
Same people, same image-driven fad... different day.
There are real teachers out there. There are people who have lived and learned and opened themselves to universal truths. People who have fallen and picked themselves up... who have sought and found themselves. They have written books worth reading and can provide the right advice at the right moment in a person's life to help them take the path for which they are meant.
True teachers understand that no two people's journeys (to enlightenment, to truth, to happiness) is the same. They share what they know but they do not pretend to have the answers for anyone else. And I just don't believe that they charge $180 a week to allow people to sit in their apartment and rehash The Secret or Eat, Pray, Love.
I really shouldn't come down so hard on Ms. Bernstein. As I said, for all I know she is the next Buddha and what she is sharing with the young women in Greenwich Village is priceless. It's just, from my experience, I don't think it's any more difficult hear God's voice after eating a thick, juicy steak then after a soy burger. I just hope she, and the other women in the article, are helping their audience to understand happiness and to find themselves, which requires living and making mistakes as much as it requires yoga, mediation and pilgrimages to an Indian ashram.
What I must admit is that these women have tapped into something: a common longing, a need, a quest... call it what you will. In James Redfield's 1993 best seller The Celestine Prophecy he talks about a world-wide awakening - the "first insight" - whereby a critical mass of people begin to experience mysterious coincidences leading to a new spirituality. Maybe that's what's happening.
Or maybe nothing is changing...
There have always been people seeking truth. People who want their lives to mean something; who want to follow their dreams; who want to understand who we are and why we're here; who want to know God.
And there have always been teachers (both genuine and not).
I, myself, am a seeker. I have learned from teachers such as Paulo Coelho and Plato. I have learned from my own experiences and from my friends and family.
Inspired, in a way, by the article, I have decided to blog about what I have learned and what I believe. Not because I am a teacher or a guru or have achieved "enlightenment." Not because I know any more than anyone else. But because I am happy now and I wasn't before. Because I have found love and am living the life I always dreamed of living... I have many of the things I know others wish for and for which I am incredibly grateful. And maybe someday just one person will read what I've written and in it, find something he or she can use...
I don't claim to have answers, but I'm happy to share my experience and my opinions, if only to clarify them for myself...
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