I’m seeing on my twitter feed this podcast with Eckhart Tolle and Russell Brand and it makes me chuckle wondering what alleged insight a fraud and a former Court Jester could possibly have for me. To be fair, Jesters, even clowns, are complicated and multifaceted characters, like big ass, many layered, cakes of crazy. Meanwhile, I’ve never been cookie-cutter enough to appreciate Eckhart Tolle just scavenging around after age old wisdom and regurgitating it to make money off of vulnerable people. Vulnerable, people with credit cards who don’t want to be guided by genuine insight so much as they want to buy someone else’s. And Tolle is selling. And what he’s selling is also someone else’s.
The truth is, there are loads of people “out there” who feel that there’s something missing in their lives and like the well-trained pups they are, they are sniffing around looking for someone with a leash. People like Tolle just want to put the short leash on them. "Buy my books, attend my over-priced seminars so I can impart to you the wisdom of the ages." Russell isn’t totally off the hook either, he’s also for sale these days and while I find him more relatable, he’s still in no position to offer me advice about being spiritually aware in a physical word. How can you give me advice about the world when you don’t even live in it?
Turning to millionaires for spiritual guidance is like turning to honey badgers to fix your car, they just aren’t equipped for the job. Even if these billionaires were once poor, long, long, ago, they don’t relate to regular people now in any way shape or form and are far less equipped than I am to deal with the strange things the world is throwing at me.
People in general are guilty too though. They want to put it on their feed, “I went to this spiritual retreat or that yoga retreat” or “I took a head full of aya in the Amazon with a shaman named Izzy.” It doesn’t matter, none of it is lasting unless you live it when no one is watching, and if I’m being honest, based on observation, most don’t. Especially if they can’t put it on twitter, tiktok or IG. There’s no, “Live a spiritual life Challenge” out there. Living this way isn’t built for this culture of narcissists any more than a honey badger is built for replacing the transmission in a Ford F-150.
I say, be your own guru. Put the “self” back into self-help and just do the right thing. You know what it is, we all do, it's innate. The system is set up so people who can't even relate to regular folks are getting rich giving them insight they already have. People act like YouTubers, or worse, tiktokers, have a deep understanding of mental health while they are demonstrably unstable. How can people not see that?
If you aren’t living the life of Riley in some really swanky home with plenty of food, all the accoutrements and plenty of money in the bank; so much money in the bank in fact, that you don’t have to work, then you’re with me. And if you’re with me then trust me, you are far more able to deal with the world and your own spiritual health than Eckhart or Brand or anyone else because you live in it, without a net.
Time for people to take their power back, not by going around screaming and yelling and trying to take it from others, but by taking back the power they have within to elevate themselves in a healthy and balanced way. Not by making others kneel so they can stand taller in their ignorance, by coming to understand the world better through genuine, humane connections. If nothing else, it's time for people to at least start realizing their own worth and stop giving out discounts.
Save your money and your time. Redirect your efforts into living as your best self by practicing being your best self out in the real world. If you feel like you already are, then keep it up, go forth and be an example of awesome in this world. That means being positive rather than negative. Sounds easy doesn’t it? Have you looked outside lately? And not from some lofty perch in a gilded neighborhood either, from the ground.
My point is that we are the grounded, not the celebrities people insist on putting on pedestals or treating like experts on life and mental health. Remember, when they fall, they never fly. They don’t have some keen insight, they just have all the time and money in the world to put on a good show and sell it to you. Spiritual awareness isn’t about the show though, it never has been and never will be.
The world is ready for people to pull their heads out of their asses and that’s too messy for the likes of social media and celebrity “gurus.” When you do find yourself unbent though, don’t look outside yourself to find the inner answers you are looking for. Our interactions with other real and genuine people are what we learn and grow from. When was the last time you considered another persons value and what they mean to you and why?
It’s not just for Sunday and social media, and you won’t get it at a $3,000 dollar weekend seminar. You’ve had it all along, Dumbo, actions speak louder than words, so go do the thing. Not for clout, not because it's Sunday, not because of who's watching, do the right thing because that's just your habit.
The truth is, there are loads of people “out there” who feel that there’s something missing in their lives and like the well-trained pups they are, they are sniffing around looking for someone with a leash. People like Tolle just want to put the short leash on them. "Buy my books, attend my over-priced seminars so I can impart to you the wisdom of the ages." Russell isn’t totally off the hook either, he’s also for sale these days and while I find him more relatable, he’s still in no position to offer me advice about being spiritually aware in a physical word. How can you give me advice about the world when you don’t even live in it?
Turning to millionaires for spiritual guidance is like turning to honey badgers to fix your car, they just aren’t equipped for the job. Even if these billionaires were once poor, long, long, ago, they don’t relate to regular people now in any way shape or form and are far less equipped than I am to deal with the strange things the world is throwing at me.
People in general are guilty too though. They want to put it on their feed, “I went to this spiritual retreat or that yoga retreat” or “I took a head full of aya in the Amazon with a shaman named Izzy.” It doesn’t matter, none of it is lasting unless you live it when no one is watching, and if I’m being honest, based on observation, most don’t. Especially if they can’t put it on twitter, tiktok or IG. There’s no, “Live a spiritual life Challenge” out there. Living this way isn’t built for this culture of narcissists any more than a honey badger is built for replacing the transmission in a Ford F-150.
I say, be your own guru. Put the “self” back into self-help and just do the right thing. You know what it is, we all do, it's innate. The system is set up so people who can't even relate to regular folks are getting rich giving them insight they already have. People act like YouTubers, or worse, tiktokers, have a deep understanding of mental health while they are demonstrably unstable. How can people not see that?
If you aren’t living the life of Riley in some really swanky home with plenty of food, all the accoutrements and plenty of money in the bank; so much money in the bank in fact, that you don’t have to work, then you’re with me. And if you’re with me then trust me, you are far more able to deal with the world and your own spiritual health than Eckhart or Brand or anyone else because you live in it, without a net.
Time for people to take their power back, not by going around screaming and yelling and trying to take it from others, but by taking back the power they have within to elevate themselves in a healthy and balanced way. Not by making others kneel so they can stand taller in their ignorance, by coming to understand the world better through genuine, humane connections. If nothing else, it's time for people to at least start realizing their own worth and stop giving out discounts.
Save your money and your time. Redirect your efforts into living as your best self by practicing being your best self out in the real world. If you feel like you already are, then keep it up, go forth and be an example of awesome in this world. That means being positive rather than negative. Sounds easy doesn’t it? Have you looked outside lately? And not from some lofty perch in a gilded neighborhood either, from the ground.
My point is that we are the grounded, not the celebrities people insist on putting on pedestals or treating like experts on life and mental health. Remember, when they fall, they never fly. They don’t have some keen insight, they just have all the time and money in the world to put on a good show and sell it to you. Spiritual awareness isn’t about the show though, it never has been and never will be.
The world is ready for people to pull their heads out of their asses and that’s too messy for the likes of social media and celebrity “gurus.” When you do find yourself unbent though, don’t look outside yourself to find the inner answers you are looking for. Our interactions with other real and genuine people are what we learn and grow from. When was the last time you considered another persons value and what they mean to you and why?
It’s not just for Sunday and social media, and you won’t get it at a $3,000 dollar weekend seminar. You’ve had it all along, Dumbo, actions speak louder than words, so go do the thing. Not for clout, not because it's Sunday, not because of who's watching, do the right thing because that's just your habit.