Licking the Razor's Edge (2015)

Myth #03: focusing on “self-help” …
As we continue to awaken as a species, more & more of us are realizing that this glorious
life is so much more than the mere accumulation of material wealth, the fleeting whim of
fun & pleasure, or the hollow assurance of personal safety. And in response to this
growing cry for deeper Meaning and greater Contentment, thousands of “gurus” and
“experts” and “masters” have floated up from the depths to tempt us with their assurances
of “personal growth”, “perfect love” and “pure enlightenment” …
*We are told that meditation and yoga bring inner peace, and yet that calm remains
missing away from our mats & cushions …
*We are given healings using tones & colors & aromas – flower essences and “energy
work” and biofeedback machines – with crystals and magnets and herbs, and yet our
fears and our sadness and our anger continue to return …
*We are massaged and Reiki’d and Rolfed – acupunctured and acupressured and myofacially
released – tapped and twisted and titillated from head to toe, and yet our bodies
remain tense and in pain …
*We are sent on astral journeys, spirit quests and past-life regressions – we lay on the
therapist’s couch to come to make our past meaningful and we sit before our life-coach in
order to co-create a better future, and yet our present remains steeped in turmoil and
suffering.
Of course, to the degree that these practices (and any others like them) are sincerely
practiced, they can bring a temporary respite from our fears. And yet they too are
essentially self-centered, and as such, they too prove to be ultimately counterproductive.
There is a reason that one self-help book often turns into an entire shelf full of them …
There is a reason why the therapist so often asks for “just a few more sessions” and why
the guru keeps telling us that we “aren’t quite ready yet”. Our fears are born, developed
and nourished solely in the ego’s self-centeredness. As such, any practiced designed to
bring “health” or “peace” or “enlightenment” for yourself ultimately strengthens the very
ego that commands you to be afraid.
Byron Katie (& others) may tell you to engage “The Work” and be more joyful, and yet
doing so primarily for yourself will only bring you closer to sadness …
Eckhart Tolle (& others) may tell you to simply sit back and “be in the moment”, and yet
to do so primarily for yourself will only have you sinking into a meaningless despair …
Esther Hicks (& others) may tell you to “be positive” and “manifest abundance”, and yet
to do so primarily for yourself will have you living the most barren and impoverished of
lives.
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