Beware of those offering them too

Photo by Steve Halama on Unsplash

So many people are searching for answers these days. Thankfully … or not … ‘answers’ of all kinds are readily available and can be found all over the place in the medium of your choice. But are all these answers helpful? And can the people offering answers be trusted?

The people of today have so much depression and anxiety and carry a heavy burden of woes such as burnout and debt; some may even wrestle with existential dread. Meanwhile, even those who have found success feel like somethings missing, and they still don’t feel genuinely happy in spite of their accomplishments. It seems like people everywhere are feeling exhausted and starting to question: What’s the point of it all? Although the exact questions will vary by individual, the types of questions being grappled with are serious.

Faced with doubts and worries like these, there’s a resurgence of people turning to their spirituality, and/or embracing spiritual or quasi-spiritual practices. I think this is a good thing! I myself closely feel the presence of God, Jesus Christ, and my Saint in my life, and their presence gives me comfort, guidance, encouragement, and peace.

But people looking for answers to ‘the big questions’ like those above might not be in the best place mentally or emotionally. It could be an intensely painful life event that has made them ask the questions in the first place. When people aren’t in a good place mentally or emotionally, they can be easily preyed upon by those who know how to do so. Even if they aren’t in a bad place, it’s easy for both salespeople and scammers to prey on a person’s hopes and desires for better days, more happiness, and more love.

There’s a plethora of spiritual practices out there, being presented by all kinds of people. They run the gamut … there’s a whole lot having to do with meditation and yoga … chakras … crystals and moon rituals, and so on. Meditation and yoga are another story. It’s the crystals and so on that I want to address. I’m certainly not opposed to someone starting up their own business on Etsy or something, making and selling crystal pieces or other sorts of charms. But those are basically just lucky charms, like rabbit’s feet, and of course they’re not being presented as such (that would be bad for sales). Yes, with so many people turning to spirituality for answers and relief from the woes of our modern life, many clever businesspeople have figured out how to profit off of these answer-seekers.

I’m not entirely opposed to them doing that. I definitely support people being entrepreneurial and taking risks, and I love to see people starting their own businesses to create real wealth for themselves and to stop working for others. And certainly not all of them are in the spiritual scene so that they can make money off the desperate. That being said, there are people who are in the spiritual scene so that they can make money off the desperate. And to take advantage.

Some might just be in it to sell a course or eBook and leave it at that. They entice people with titles designed to prey on people’s hopes, dreams, desires, dreams … and greed. Titles like: “The Law of Attraction: Manifest all Your Desires NOW!!!” or “It’s Time to Manifest ANYTHING You Want!!” [These aren’t actual titles, I just made them up as examples.] Of course this grabs buyers through their desire to have their hearts’ desires — immediately. Targeting that desire is a very easy way to covertly persuade someone to buy a product or course, etc. It’s a classic tactic! Everyone wants to get rich quick. And people who are unhappy will gladly pay for what they think will show them how to be happy. Sadly for them, what they don’t understand is that the keys to our own happiness lie within ourselves and nowhere else!

Mature people understand that there is no instant gratification (not for anything worthwhile, anyway), and they understand the value of putting in time and hard work to get what you really want, something amazing. In my own life experience, I’ve learned that taking shortcuts will screw you up worse in the end (there’s nothing wrong with efficiency, but a shortcut seeks to skip some of the work, and that will make things worse overall). Practices such as “Quantum Jumping” (you can look that up if you like, I won’t explain it) are shortcuts, and are often claimed to get you all the money/love/fame etc. that you desire … ASAP.

The people expounding these practices make their sales off the material they sell, such as courses or eBooks, and they probably get their views off their YouTube channel (etc.) too. Good for them I guess, at least we know that someone is making money for real off of quantum jumping :D

To some extent I can overlook opportunistic online entrepreneurs here. But there are others who have darker agendas of control and manipulation. They seek to prey on people in a much more serious way. They’re predators, sometimes even cult leaders, and they harm people who are desperately seeking relief from their struggles, and a happier life. Sometimes, they’re even seeking a reason to live.