why do people gravitate toward flowery enlightenment teachings?
Vic Shayne
author
13 Pillars of Enlightenment: How to realize your true nature and end suffering
There are a number of very popular spiritual lecturers who have large followings of people glued to their messages of enlightenment. They appear on the conference and talking circuits and rub elbows with others of their ilk at nonduality gatherings and the like to discuss spiritual truths and concepts. There is a great attraction to such people and they are adept at discussing all the sage wisdom that has come before them. But to be successful as semi-celebrities, they need a strong following. Who, then, is this following, what are they seeking, and what do they get out of the teachings?
Let’s be clear that there is nothing wrong with a desire to quell one’s fears, feel calmer, and fill oneself with hope. After all, the world is a scary, unpredictable place. But are so many people who say they are seeking enlightenment, which is a completely different thing requiring a person to face his sense of self and be done with it. Or are people being misled by their own sense of self that uses enlightenment as a pretense to sate their egoic desires?
the drive to feel good about ourselves
What is inside of us — part of our feeling and thinking process — that creates an urge to latch onto esoteric teachings and promises of enlightenment? Do you do this? I know that I used to do this for most of my life. It’s fairly common for spiritual seekers to steep themselves in a teacher’s ideas about truth and reality. And the more they listen and memorize ideas, the stronger their beliefs are cemented. This applies to New Age ideas, enlightenment teachings, religions, cults, and certain philosophies.
Whether the teacher is Joe Dispenza, Eckhardt Tolle, Sadhguru, or an actually enlightened guru such as Nisargadatta, Ellie Roozdar, or Krishnamurti, it is the individual who must test the personal teachings through her own self-enquiry. Otherwise, the nonsense purveyed by Sadhguru shall be placed on the same plane as the wisdom of Krishnamurti, which is in the field of thought.
What purpose does it serve — what intrinsic need is met — to be a follower who elevates the supposed teacher to a status that is often divine? Why do people not question what they are assuming, based on clever and appealing words — is the truth? And how can a teaching be tested other than by trying to acquire more knowledge from other teachers or books?
truth is not conveyed by a teacher
Here is a sobering truth about truth: Truth can never be passed along by a teacher, whether that teacher is sincere, enlightened, or a fraud. Truth is that which becomes known to consciousness through awareness. Our brains and bodies afford us awareness, but realizing truth takes a personal investigation and not the blind acceptance of another person’s words. Truth takes setting aside the egoic mind that is full of hope and lured by promises in favor of observing what is; what is present beyond the sense of self and all phenomena and expressions.
A true teacher or guru may guide one to find the truth, but cannot transfer it in the same way that one person cannot smell a flower’s perfume on behalf of another.
what do people really want?
What drives people’s need to settle into a belief system? It is the same thing that makes them believe in everything else: the conflicted, divisive, insecure sense of self. The egoic self, which is the sense of a “me,” craves security, and ideas that promise security are appealing enough to adapt as one’s personal truth. Accepting a teacher’s words as truth is easier than finding truth for oneself.
Desire is a critically important factor in the process of entangling a person in ideas instead of finding truth for herself. If we understand what people want then we can understand why seekers are not really seeking much beyond security and ego gratification. People are afraid of this cold, cruel world and they latch onto the words of a charismatic, well-spoken teacher who overtly or subtly promises to make sense of it all and offer a way out. Because we are trained to find ways to distract and soothe ourselves, such promises can be all we need — unless we are sincere in what we want, in which case we will stop at nothing but a personal realization of what we are.
salvation soothes the self
Reincarnation, karma, enlightenment, heaven, and higher consciousness are ideas that promise salvation. Teachings about such things soothe the troubled soul and allay people’s fears. When life is too much to handle, many people seek refuge in a form of life that is beyond this physical plane — one filled with images of bliss, acceptance, peace, love, and humility.
But, alas, life is what it is — a singular flow of consciousness that brings all the good and bad together in one movement. This troubles the egoic self to no end, but there is no escaping this reality, though so many teachers promise otherwise. There is really no one of a higher consciousness, there is no higher self, there is no god or savior who can take away our suffering, and there is no salvation in being a better or more aware person. These are all appealing to the ego, but defy the reality of consciousness.
the path to salvation
The Hindu Upanishads teach that the path to salvation is as narrow as a razor’s edge. But salvation is found beyond the egoic self and not on a spiritual journey or from teachings. All of the teachings, concepts, ideas, promises, and practices must fall by the wayside to apperceive the way life really works and to understand how we fit into the scheme of things. Appealing to the egoic self and trying to make it feel better with promises of salvation and flowery teachings will never change or improve consciousness, so the question for each of us is really: Do I want to know what I am or do I just want my fears and insecurity to be pacified?
