How to Deal with a Paid Internet Troll. 03/20/2013

Illustration: Darryl Thomas

Did you know that there exists on the Internet people who are paid to invade social networking sites like Yahoo, Facebook and others, and try to influence others with premeditated trolling. I myself ran in dozens of trolls when I moderated the Desteni Forums a few years ago. Actually, trolls were instrumental in my Internet education when I began participating on bulletin boards many, many years ago. There was a soccer fan site called Matchnight that was full of them. Don’t look for it now, it’s defunct, but it was literally the Wild, Wild West of online male dickholery. At times even the moderators would troll their own threads. I formed a thick skin learning the tricks of word games and emotional manipulations trolls love to play, and by the time I became a moderator, when I spotted a troll, I mercilessly mocked, irritated and banned the hell out them. Eventually, I read on another board that one shouldn’t mess around on the Desteni board because it was tightly moderated. Damn right it was.

But I didn’t dream that there were fools who were actually paid to write crap that is meant to piss people off. Not when so many of them are willing to do it for free.

But they are out there. And they follow the members of Desteni around the Net like a wretched, ghostly  hyena spreading misinfo, disinfo, slander and outright lies in order to… I don’t know what they want to do because they should realize by now that we’re not going to “crumble under the pressure” of their pathetic, futile, libelous bullshit. (And I say “they” as if they are more than a handful of them – you probably could count them on one hand).

So it is with great pleasure and gratification that I post the following exchange between an “anonymous” troll who had pestered a bulletin board for several days (in a manner a la Rick Ross’ Cult Infotainment Forum) and Sunette Spies. I could say that it was truly a Master Class of Advanced Internet Beat-down of a faceless Anonymous Coward, but that wouldn’t be fair to most cowards. Please carefully read the anonymous user’s “question” – it’s classic Trollery. And carefully read Sunette’s answer as she strips away the bullshit to get inside the troll’s head just using the troll’s own words. It brought a tear to this jaded, crusty eye. Well played, madame. It will be a loooooooong day before this anonymous coward will want a second helping.

Enjoy!

Anon User

Sunette Spies.Lets open up a rational dialogue here. I am firmly convinced that if you answer some of the questions I have about you and your group- we can all come to a better understanding of the truth.1. If the Rick Ross forums have spread mis-information about your group, then why don’t you point me to a specific list of facts that are incorrect. Without giving me some examples of incorrect facts that I can verify myself I can only conclude that THEY must be telling the truth and you are only upset about it and calling them liars. I need empirical proof of lies or falsehoods.2. The fact that I am anonymous is to protect my identity. We have already been over this several times. Users who submit answers that you don’t like, even if they are FACTUALLY CORRECT get their answers downvoted just because you don’t like them. That is wrong. You and EMS should not do that. I do not want my answers downvoted and so I REMAIN anonymous.A further point. WHAT WOULD CHANGE if I was no long anonymous? What WOULD you do if you knew my name? Would you try to go and try to make up some lie about me so that what I have to say seems less important?I am surprised that you don’t understand this yourself. You used to be a waitress am I right? You used to be a nobody, someone whose name didn’t mean a thing to people who had not met you. Just because you were not someone people knew didn’t mean what you had to say was not (in your and other’s opinion) potentially important.I am a nobody, but that doesn’t mean that what I have to say about your group is not important, just like you. If all people are equal, don’t I deserve the same dignity and respect as you? Don’t I deserve to be heard out regardless of who I am?A final question that I have for you, is the Destonian group a non-profit religious organization or is it considered a private enterprise?

Sunette Spies 19 votes (show)

Ah, very interesting opening line “rational dialogue” – which would lead an individual to from that premise believe that the rest of your statements/questions would be “rational”, when it is in fact irrational. Such as your irrational fear to remain anonymous just because of fear of down voting – I mean, can you not even stand by your own name/words out of a silly fear/reaction to being ‘down voted’ – you should be able to stand by your name and words whether being down voted or not. Thus, showing that you determine who you are and the words you speak based on how others would react, which would basically then come to question everything about you in your life with regards to how much of who you are is determined by others/what others think/how others may react – such as something as simple as down voting and how much of you is in fact standing for anything? You should be able to stand, no matter what – which is saying, here, much about who you are.

What would change with not being Anonymous – understand, this is not about us, but about you and what it says about you with remaining anonymous and how little of what you say can be trusted with remaining anonymous, with reacting to something as simple as ‘fear of being down voted’ ‘fear of exposing your identity’. I mean, here we stand, here I stand, with my name, process, information walked Openly as who I am and what I stand for –and even despite ALL the deliberate attempts to spread / provoke the contrary to what we’re saying/showing: we Stand. And, even with the Point of Portalling – which, for me, being something Natural, with having walked it consistently for 7 Years now with a massive amount of information available from various beings, on a daily basis, walking the One Principle of showing the process of how human nature can change and with individuals walking their processes to prove this with regards to how they changed themselves and their lives and to show the potential that there exist more in this existence than just Human Consciousness, and how everything aware: it is unfortunate that Human Consciousness wants to believe that all that exist is ‘human intelligence’ and that nothing else in existence has an awareness/intelligence, because human beings are the only apparent ‘dominant force’ in existence. So, I mean – I understand why human beings may find it difficult to conceive that there’s more to existence than only Human Consciousness, that one can communicate with animals, nature, the environment that is in fact aware, but not on a level of consciousness that the human is existing within. In and through the Portal, we explain the different levels of consciousness –the conscious, subconscious, unconscious, quantum mind and quantum physical, and where human beings’ awareness is now only on the conscious/subconscious mind level. And this we explain in absolute detail for the individual to see, realise and understand how little awareness of the human in fact exist – even in relationship to our own thoughts, memories, emotions and feelings and how they in fact operate and function.

So, with this – this is all we’re doing/showing: that there’s more to existence than human consciousness, and we’re reaching to those who are willing, in this life to consider this, and to re-align our relationships/considerations to only the self-interest of our own Lives and dedicate our lives/living to considering/regarding/realising that there is an ENTIRE physical existence/humanity that is here that we haven’t been taking responsibility for, individually and collectively and simply expanding this awareness to dedicating our lives to better ourselves and this world/humanity as a whole with the potential that does exist for this to manifest.

Therefore, if you’re not able to consider, in this lifetime, that there is more to us humans/this physical existence than the intelligence we believe we are, and that with expanding our awareness in understanding ourselves, our relationship to the mind, the physical and this existence as a whole – that we came become more/make more of our lives for ourselves AND for all in this physical existence: then don’t. We’re going to walk this, whether you do or don’t. So, within this – if you don’t want to consider this, then – why “attack”? I mean, it’s not like we’re going to each individual human in this existence and knocking down their doors/minds and interfering in their forums/blogs etc. and attacking/provoking like you are now. Your reaction would imply that you actually in fact do see the potential of something like this existing/manifesting- but you’d rather in your life preserve your interests, than consider dedicating yourself/your life to something greater/more/better. Because if you didn’t ‘personally react to try and preserve interests that you feel are being challenged’ – you would have simply looked at the information and walked away.  And simply because we’re challenging held beliefs/acceptances and allowances such as “this world is the way it is because it’s always been that way” and showing that, hey – by accepting/allowing such a statement we’re keeping it all this way, by not standing up for change within ourselves and this world – everyone goes into immediate “reaction”. All we’re ‘challenging’ at the base of it all, is – there’s more to this existence than only human consciousness and what we now accept/allow life on earth to be. So, if you react to being challenged to consider something MORE, then that’s your personal process. We’re here to stand with those who are willing to move beyond their own reactions, challenge themselves to consider something more to self and what life on earth is/has become. If we remain in the ‘lesser’ version and definition of ourselves, without challenging ourselves to consider more – how are we ever going to change ourselves or anything in this existence to something better, because our acceptances/allowances/definitions is what is keeping ourselves/this world limited, therefore to expand, to change, we have to expand how we see/view/interact and consider things.

With this, getting now to the question regarding Dignity and Respect: I would argue the following with how we at Desteni look at things and how I also have looked at my relationship to humanity/this World and asked myself a question: Can I stand in self-respect, in dignity – with having a look at my life on earth that I have walked in relationship to humanity/this physical existence as especially for example this current World System/Money System and say that I have lived in respect/dignity to my fellow man, to the animal kingdom, the nature/environment, the earth? No. Why? Because – how can we say, that we have lived a “dignified life” when the very life that we do live, in relationship to what Money provides – that Money that provided the ‘life’ I had lived, for me to have the money I have – was at the sacrifice/cost/expense of other human beings lives, animals, nature, the environment, the earth. That, for me to have a ‘life’ – that opportunity of ‘life’ had to be taken away from other human beings/other life forms; which is how this Current world system is set up in terms of catering to only a minority of human beings, while the majority struggle to survive with the amount of money available to them and the “cost” of living in this world is rising more and more and more, and more human beings are being filtered out of the World System to live/survive in this world/reality. I would also suggest watching the documentary the Power Principle – showing the process of how this current World System came into being with deliberate interventions with populations/peoples who have proven that self-governing is possible, to exist in harmony and equality where everyone works together for the betterment of all of the society/environment and deliberately taken over by the World System frontrunners to have control. Then, to the point of Respect – how can we claim respect, when we cannot even respect/consider/regard LIFE-itself, that is existent in each human being, each child that is born, each life form that birth within this physical existence – with regards to how this current World System/Money System blatantly disrespect the opportunity for life/living for humanity within this physical existence? I mean, you can do your research with regards to the extent of abuse/violence and even to the consequence of extinction of species is existing simply for profit, for greed, for money, for self-interest – and then we support/participate in such a System that so deliberately disrespect the life of such beings: what does it then say about us?
So, what we suggest considering is a “Dignified Life” and “Respect” – with regards to presenting such an opportunity for humanity, where each child born is ensured/secured a future in this world/reality, where we can assist/support ourselves to actually co-exist for ourselves and for all, and stand within/as Respect with regards to looking at/investigating alternatives / solutions to our current relationship to nature, the animal kingdom, the environment and the Earth. I mean, it’s fascinating that human beings alone is being blamed for this earth’s slow but sure destruction – when it’s the current World System/Money System and our accepted and allowed relationship to it, that is governing/managing all the relationships in this Physical Existence and so: all we’re showing is that we change this Entire System, re-align the Relationships to real consideration/regard in relation to Respect and Dignity that is Physically Visible within this Existence.

With this, all of us are not yet equal – at all, equality would be where we’re able to Co-Exist, as Equals, as Human Beings and work-together for the betterment of ourselves, each other and this world as a whole. Yes, we most certainly understand this process we’re Undertaking is a Massive Task and will be a Process to walk – but, despite all the odds and individual such as yourself who just cannot at this stage conceive of such a Solution – we know the potential exist, and so we walk it. You’re equal-to and one-with what you accept and allow in our mind and your life – at the moment, everyone is accepting/allowing themselves to be equal to only consciousness, only this current world-system/money system and so in that definition, are in fact limiting ourselves to considering the potential that exist for ourselves and life on earth. So, for those that are ready to step beyond such limitation, acceptance and allowance in the Mind and this World/Money System – we’re walking ourselves beyond such limitation to/as considering more.

Now to the point of defining me as a ‘nobody’ in your question/statement – this in fact does not define me, but defines you. I did not see myself as a ‘nobody’, nor did I define myself as that. I was simply living my life, unaware of anything/anyone – but my own mind, my own survival: exactly like most of humanity are existing/living now. Completely caught up in our minds, our personal lives and especially survival/money. I have been there myself. However, this process – had made me Aware, that – there’s most certainly more existing in this existence than JUST me, made me Aware that – I am currently living in, accepting and allowing a World / Money System that is causing unimaginable harm/abuse/consequence to the rest of humanity/this physical existence, which in this also brought me to the question “where was I my whole life that I had lived to ignorantly in relation to money, the world/money system, other human beings” – I mean, it was not even registering/being considered in my consciousness/mind, so closed-minded I was. So, now – I am more aware of my responsibility to me, how my mind shape/create/manifest me/my life/living, how to change me to become the directive principle of who I am, and so my responsibility to what I accept/allow in this world/reality with regards to our current accepted and allowed relationship to this World System/Money System. So, my process has not been from a “nobody to somebody” – more from ignorance to awareness. Your reference to ‘being a nobody’ is unfortunately how you are seeing yourself, which if you continue to do so – is how you will remain in your own mind/life. You are already a ‘somebody’ in terms of ‘individuality’ and what you accept/allow to live in thought, word and deed – so, no one is a ‘nobody’ in fact.

With regards to the Rick Ross Forums – as we’ve said: We’ve been walking for 7 Years, all the information / videos and writings are available on the Forums in which the individual can walk the time / reading within and as their own Process. Thus, the responsibility to Ask and Cross-reference information is in fact the Individual that accept and allow themselves to believe the Rick Ross Forums – which have put together bits/pieces of information from material/videos/forums we have walked for 7 Years and framed it in a way to define it according to their own intentions/definitions/beliefs.
Thus, individuals that are genuine and have consideration/regard and awareness – would ask questions/cross-reference/read/check from/of the actual source of information, which is ourselves. Everything is open and available.

And lastly, we’re a Non-Profit Organisation – Non-Religious.

With this – we have now, with various individuals walking / sharing / showing Desteni / Equal Money expressed what we stand for and as. All the links to the REAL information: Desteni – Group of people exploring Equality & Oneness principles,Equal Money System,http://www.desteniiprocess.org. Because, clearly – all you’re going to deliberately continue with is attempt/try to harass/provoke and misinform; but we have now spent sufficient time in standing/showing/directing to/as the real information and context that we stand for and as.

So, we’re going to continue walking our process with those who are ready to consider more to self/life, and for those who do read this – to again, consider, and see – how this individual, anonymous, is simply constantly, continuously finding little things to draw out of ALL that we say to continue provoking/harassing and misinform. And that we have now been clarifying/showing/revealing much – all this individual doing is spamming the Forums with questions/answers of hidden intentions and we’re rather, on the Quora Forums going to interact with individuals serious about / genuine about considering more to self and life.

So, all the relevant/real information is available on our sites  – also our Facebook page/Groups that we share our processes, and welcome to in your own time – research, investigate and walk.

The Human Potential Movement Part 2. The New Age

The “Secret” with dealing with Rhonda Byrne? Sign the contract.

Human Potential Movement  and the New Age
At the beginning of the 20th Century, the followers of a Greek-Armenian mystic with a message of awakening to a “higher consciousness” promoted George I. Gurdjieff (1866?-1949) as an enlightened spiritual master. Gurdjieff claimed that human beings were helplessly caught in a “waking sleep” unable to perceive reality fully, thus Gurdjieff’s teachings were necessary in order for the student to transform his life into one of enlightenment and clarity.

Gurdjieff’s theories were allegedly given to him through a mysterious association of a secret spiritual group called the “Sarmoung Brotherhood,” an esoteric Sufi group that Gurdjieff claimed descended from the Assyrians who live somewhere in the “heart of Asia.” Modern critics claim that the Sarmoung was a fictive device Gurdjieff used to promote is ideas.

In America there was a concurrent, if small movement that taught that humanity was spiritually evolving. In 1924, Baird Thomas Spalding (1872–1953) began publishing a series of books called, Life and Teaching of the Masters of the Far East. These books allegedly depict Baird interviewing beings of great spiritual power, “Ascended Masters” much like the “Mahatma” figures made popular by Helena Blavatsky and the mysterious Sarmoung Brotherhood of G. I. Gurdjieff.

Guy Ballard (1878–1939), who happened to be a friend of Spalding, claimed he met the Ascended Master “Saint Germain” on Mount Shasta. The message from the Ascended Masters was that they were once human beings after becoming perfect during reincarnation; their spiritual perfection allowed them to be immortal, residing in the higher planes of existence. They invariably mentioned that their evolution from human to god was destined to occur for all humanity, in accordance to the Divine Plan.

Even though the core of the HPM was wrapped around the pole of existential humanism, there was a metaphysical slant that appeared at the beginning, thanks to Esalen’s attraction to Zen Buddhism, and Esalen’s attraction to the ideas of Sri Aurobindo (1872-1950), who had worked on his theories of spiritual evolution and what he called, the “Supermind.” For Aurobindo, the Supermind is similar to the nous or the Logos of Classical Greek metaphysics, and the familiar all-pervading Brahman of Hinduism; the divine creative consciousness, transcendent and immanent within the world. According to Aurobindo, the potential exists within every human to access the consciousness of the Supermind which would lead the humanity into a realm of supernatural transformation.

Alice Bailey (1888-1949) produced a multitude of densely complex spiritual material that covered, in part, the role of what Bailey termed, the “Spiritual Hierarchy.” This squad of immortal masters were behind the physical and spiritual evolution of humanity. Whereas the “Mahatmas” of Blavatsky claimed that depictions of “God” were “imaginary,”[1] Bailey’s Masters argued that a “spiritual plan” presupposed its creation by “God,” and included an intervention of cosmic avatars who would descend to Earth and prepare humanity for the arrival of the cosmic Christ, who would then rule the Earth along side the Spiritual Hierarchy (which sounds much like a New Age reinterpretation of Christian fundamentalist view of the Book of Revelations). Bailey believed that the raising of one’s consciousness to the divine, as will as recognizing one’s inner divinity would initiate a golden age for humanity. [2]

In 1963, Jane Roberts (1929-1984) and her husband Robert Butts where playing on a Ouija board when she began receiving messages from a spirit who came to call himself, “Seth.” The material dictated by “Seth” energized and gave shape and form to the emerging New Age movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Seth repeated stated that the key to self-transformation was to “create your own reality.” The Seth Material almost single-handedly gave the New Age in the 1970’s its vocabulary, shape and cosmology. “Seth” continuously referenced “Inner Selves,” “Higher Selves” and that consciousness creates and influences the physical. Seth also loudly echoed and reinforced positive thinking principles. New Age luminaries like Shatki Gawain, Marianne Williamson, Deepak Chopra and many others have referenced the Seth Material as being a great influence in their thinking.

J.Z. Knight (Judith Darlene Hampton) and her channeled being, “Ramtha,” who claims to be a being from an ancient and advanced race of humans in the distant past and became an “ascended master,” speaking through Knight and continuing in Seth’s path in the wake of Roberts’ death in 1984. The message from Knight/Ramtha was that consciousness and energy can change reality. Consciousness and energy are the same. Human beings, according to Ramtha, are on a path towards enlightenment, and we are also “divine” (echoing many spiritualists of the past).

Rhonda Byrne and “The Secret”
However, the culmination of 20th Century spirituality occurred in 2007 with the release of the film, The Secret. Rhonda Byrne, the film’s creator, claimed that the core ideas for the film were the messages from a book written in 1906; “Thought Vibration or the Law of Attraction in the Thought World,” by W.W. Atkinson (a New Thought writer) and Wallace Wattles’ 1910 book, “The Science of Getting Rich.” The Secret contains many New Thought ideas such as, “No rules according to the universe… you provide the feelings of having it now and the universe will respond.” The Secret, although considered as “New Age” as anything, was primarily a reiteration of a century-old New Thought spirituality.

The Secret, with the help of media attention, slick packaging and being in the right place at the right time, made millions for Byrne, and brought attention to the stable of speakers featured in the film. Byrne was embroiled in a legal dispute with two former associates who claimed they were promised a cut of the profits from Byrne’s film, which reportedly grossed $20 million in the first eight months (The film and books ended up raking in over $300 million collected worldwide). When the subject of payment came up with her Australian director and co-author of the screenplay, Drew Heriot (who had personally kicked in $10,000 towards the production), Byrne instead fired him.

“Essentially, she said my company wouldn’t be working with her again and they’d be using another writer and director for the sequel. I said, ‘I can’t believe you are doing this. Are you saying there is no profit-share?’ She said, ‘Yes, but I can return the $10,000 you gave me.’”[3]

Heriot sued Byrne for copyright infringement and fraud. Heriot sued Byrne, but lost in court in 2009. [4] Heriot vowed to appeal. Apparently, the Law of Attraction works better if you get it in writing.

Esther Hicks and “Abraham”

One of the main speakers in the original cut [5] of The Secret was Esther Hicks and her channeled entity (or entities, as Hicks claims Abraham is a collection of beings), who carried their Law of Attraction message to a wider audience. Esther Hicks was influenced by Seth Material, in particular, “Seth Speaks” and (not surprisingly) Napoleon Hill’s “Think and Grow Rich,” which seems to be the go-to book for anyone wanting to make a splash in the Human Potential Movement. Abraham/Hicks goes a step farther beyond being indebted to the Law of Attraction, for if you visit the Abraham/Hicks site you’ll see a rebranding of the Law of Attraction as the “Teachings of Abraham” and where your grandfather’s Law of Attraction took time to get what you wanted, the Teachings of Abraham offers of manifesting your desires “instantly.” I suppose we can call this Law of Attraction 2.0.

Next: The Human Potential Movement Part 3. The New Prosperity Gurus

Notes

[1]  The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett, 2nd. ed., TUP, 53, 1926. pg.142- 43.

[2] Bailey, Alice. A Treatise on White Magic, Lucis Publishing 10-11

[3] Guilliatt, Richard. “The secret of Rhonda.” Australian Magazine. 28 2008: n. page. Web. 31 Oct. 2012.

[4] “Heriot recalls that early on Byrne promised him a percentage of the film’s profits, but rebuffed his request for a written contract. “Rhonda actually insisted that we not have a contract – she said they limited people’s freedom, that they’re designed to guard against things going wrong, which is not the way of The Secret because it is focusing on the negative,” he says.” (Guilliatt).

Indeed, since Heriot did not get the promise down in writing, he effectively failed “to guard against things going wrong,” allowing Byrne to “burn” him out of millions. 

[5] Salkin, Allen. “Shaking Riches Out of the Cosmos.” New York Times, 25 Feb. 2007. Web. 31 Oct. 2012. Byrne promised the Hicks 10% of the DVD sales, but just before the big money came in, Byrne told the Hicks that they would either have to accept ripping up the contract or be cut out of the film. The Hicks took $500,000 and went away. 

October 14, 2012, Snake Oil for Sale!

Not sure to where I begin with this one, but here goes…
I want to post this review of a YouTube video created by some woman named, “Teal.” Don’t know if it’s her real name. In her video called, “How to Raise your Vibration,” “Teal” claims, though she never divulges her authoritative sources, that “raising one’s vibration” is the result of one’s “commitment to personal happiness.”
Now, I get that the notion of “raising one’s vibration” or “frequency” has enjoyed some popularity for some time. The notion that vibrations were sacred appeared first in the East, in ancient Brahmanism, from which Hinduism descended. The Vedic cosmology claimed there were 14 planes (or worlds) of existence. Buddhism asserted that there were 31 planes of existence. However, it was Hinduism, primarily through Advaita Vedanta conceived by Adi Shankara, that claimed that the universe, represented by Brahman, was a “pure consciousness.”

Thus, the idea that the universe is a form of consciousness is very old, and existed long before the West got wind of it through the ancient pre-Socratic philosophers like Parmenides and Anaxagoras who conceived the universe as something like “the mind of God.” The idea that consciousness evolved or was capable of being “raised” in modern times seems to be first recorded by Ramakrishna, the 19th Century Hindu mystic and later updated by the 20th Century guru Sri Aurobindo. These spiritual metaphysicians, along with the Theosophist master Helena Blavatsky, who lived about the same time as Ramakrishna, all asserted the idea that the planes of existence, divine consciousness and sacred frequency were the same. These streams of spiritual ideas helped formulate what has been called since the 19th Century as the “Law of Attraction.”

The Law of Attraction’s main premise is that consciousness is superior to the physical, an idea that runs back to the ancient Vedantic principle that Brahman is the divine consciousness and the material world an illusion. In the West, this idea was latched onto by Theosophy and the New Thought Movement in the late 19th Century. The New Age spirituality and the principles of the Law of Attraction are essentially the culmination and combination of Theosophist and New Thought ideas.

Which brings us back to “Teal” and her video, which purports to be a “how-to” manual in drawing good things by only engaging in “good thoughts.” According to “Teal,” if one is to live a full and complete life one must make a “commitment” to “personal happiness.” This is done through the “raising of frequency” through “feeling good.” Yes, we’ve heard this all before. It’s from New Thought author W.W. Anderson and his book, “Thought Vibration or the Law of Attraction in the Thought World,” published in 1903. Napoleon Hill followed with his, “Think and Grow Rich,” which was followed by the Secret, up to the present day with LOA proponents and New Age trance-channeler Esther Hicks.

While Theosophy and the New Thought Movement often placed humans as “divine” figures, neither movement tried to elevate personal happiness, or enlightened self-interest, at the forefront of their philosophies. That occurred with the rise of the New Age, with its emphasis on spirituality as commodity. Capitalism has long corrupted all forms of religious enterprises, so this isn’t such a surprise. It is interesting to note the uniqueness of the New Age shift to the concerns of the person and not say, the redemption of groups of humanity, as we have in the Organized Religions. This shift of elevating personal happiness to a spiritual goal coincides with neoliberal conceptions of personal liberty, acquiring property and the rights of the Individual.
“Teal,” like all who wish to ignore the scary parts that make up existence, is promising her hapless clients the virtue of magical thinking that will transform them into perpetual happiness machines.
This teaching amounts is the worst of snake-oil salesmanship, which may not be fair to snake-oil salesmen because at least they had oil, which was something tangible. People like “Teal” only give lip service and fluffy-sounding claims that cannot be verified by anyone.
How convenient.

05/26/2012 – Is the Mind the most powerful thing in the Universe?

“Uhn.. if I could just think… a bit… harder… somethin’s bound to happen!”

Your thoughts create your reality.

Your mind is more powerful than you know.

Are you worried about something right now?

Are you feeling unsure about something these days?

God invites you to change your thinking.

Miracles seldom occur in the lives of those who do not consider them possible.

There could be a miracle waiting for you this minute.

Please make room for it in your thinking. Thanks.

Love, Your Friend….

Neale Donald Walsch

Wow. The mind has been given a lot of credit by philosophers, metaphysicians, science and religion. Not only does the miraculous mind receive credit for moving things in the universe, it has been touted as creating the universe! That sounds nice but seriously, can we really define consciousness in any other terms other than a vampirous abstraction, or as  generative and consuming energetic of substance –  like a flame devouring and evaporating a candle of wax?  But the majestic brilliance of the flickering light lasts only for a moment until it vanishes into the darkness, rubbed out from existence and from memories. But such metaphors must sound too cruel for people like Walsch when referring to something so God-like as the mind, until one realizes that  there is a difference between “God” and “God-like.” I suppose the biggest difference is that “God” is a mind-created fable and  truth-claim about a unseeable object while the mind is something we are all very intimate with, especially its oppressive, deceptive and ingratiating nature which ceaselessly drives us to erect such titanic monumental altars to worship it.  The mind has seemingly deserved all the praise that we have given it, what with all the wonderful things in the world that the mind has given us, like depleted uranium, plastic soup oceans and genetically modified vegetables (and wasn’t the world clamoring for more depleted uranium, plastic in the oceans and genetically modified food?)

If one would find any benefit to blame whoever was responsible for lifting up such a bully to eminence, we could mention the Brahmanas and the ancient Greeks. The Advaita – the orthodox philosophical school of Sanatana Dharma (Hinduism), claims that Brahman is “knowledge” and everything in the visible world, “eternal spiritual body which is full of bliss!”  He is the Supreme Person! A Consciousness of Absolute Truth! The principle Upanishads claim that Brahman is the infinite consciousness. And how did we come to know of this infinite consciousness? From the words handed down from Vedic literature. You know, from stories. But the Vedas will be the first to admit, the Brahman that can be talked about is not the true Brahman.  Talk about having your cake and eating it too!

The Greeks had their stories as well, but I’m not talking about their superhero gods like Hercules, Aphrodite and Apollo. Their conception of the mind as God was just as abstractly absolute as anything  the Brahmanas cooked up. Anaxagoras conceived of a cosmology of where there was nothing but a formless, cosmic soup that existed at the beginning , until a cosmic mind he called, nous placed everything in order.  As Donnie Darko would say, “Deus Ex Machina! Our Lord and savior.” Anaxagoras never said where is “mind” came from, but you gotta admit, it makes for a great story and it even influenced the great Plato and the Neoplatonists, who also conceived a transcendent cosmic mind as being and thought from which all things emanated. The enemies of the Neoplatonists were the Gnostics, who claimed that the physical creation was the inferior and flawed work of an evil creator and a growing post-Judean sect called Christians who worshipped a crucified man as the Son of God, the Logos, the creative principle made flesh.

And to this day, there are people who believe that the mind within our holy brains, is the most powerful thing in the universe. Good ol’ New Age. Way to keep the cosmic consciousness home fires burning. From this we gather stories about how the human mind, the “greatest force in the universe,” is evolving into achieving “higher consciousness” and increasing our vibration to the point of becoming one with the cosmic consciousness.  Which is all well and good, but goddamn, where does the love-in end, Neale Donald Walsch? Why do you ask us to “make room in our minds for miracles,” for God’s sake? I understand that some of the books you’ve presented appear rich in wisdom and profound statements and that  you made a fortune with them, but did you ever ask yourself whether the alleged contact with “God” could in any way be verified? Did you ever consider that the words you assumed that came from “God” were actually formed within  a secret compartment  within your mind that in no way was connected to any Divine source? From judging the above quote, I reckon not, because it sounds like you are serious when you suggest that “making room” ” in your thinking for a miraculous intervention from “God.” Somehow, according to the schematic of  Walsch,  ”God” is quite limited – and can only act on the human scene through the thoughts of human beings, but only if we engage in wishful, magical thinking. Again, like Eckhart Tolle, Barbara Hand Clow, Esther Hicks  and many, many others who present consciousness as the most powerful force in the universe, they present claims as truths and don’t seem to realize the difference. To tell people to make room in their thinking for a miracle is capitulation of one’s self-direction. Thus Walsch’s claims are not credible and people need to check themselves for the lack of development of their common sense if they buy into this garbage. And that so many people do buy into this trash should make one question whether consciousness is all that “powerful” after all.

05/11/2012 – Flash: Oldest Known Mayan Calendar Found

End Times Prophecy, or did they just run out of space?

And guess what? The astronomical tables found in a remote Guatemala dig  at the largest-known Classic Mayan site, Xultún, are 500 years older than those preserved in the Maya codices, and they do not reference any End Times scenarios.

According to the CNN feed,

Contrary to popular myth, Mayan experts have known for a long time that this calendar is not a countdown to the end of the world on December 2012, the study researchers said in a press conference to reporters.

The Mayan used a series of cycles to track time in which there were 13 baktuns each representing a 400-year chunk.

Researchers of the study say rumors surrounding a projected apocalypse on Dec. 21, 2012, is a misconception. It is just the benchmark when a cycle of 13 baktuns will be complete and a new cycle begins.

“There was a lot more to the Mayan calendar than just 13 baktuns,” said archaeologist David Stuart of the University of Texas, who worked to decipher the hieroglyphics found on the walls of a house, dating back to the early part of the 9th century (813 A.D.-814 A.D.).

“The Mayan calendar is going to keep going for billions, trillions, octillions of years into the future,” added Stuart.

Can it be true? We shall still wait with bated breath on the December 21, 2012 New Age End Times Mayan Prophecy, but trust me on this. Barbara Hand Clow and her cottage industry of Mayanist Prophets will have to look for another story to exploit their gullible reading audience.

05/09/2012 -”Is Everything Thoughts?” 2012 and Abraham-Hicks

The question at the beginning of this Abraham-Hicks clip: “Is it fair to say that everything is thought?”

Before we continue with the answer given by Esther Hicks’ channeled personality “Abraham,” a bit of exposition.

The question comes from a historical spiritualist assumption most clearly expressed within Pre-Socratic and  New Thought metaphysical traditions , and the nature of consciousness is the key point. The pre-Socratic sage Anaxagoras developed a theory that a Universal Mind he called, Nous was responsible for creation. Heraclitus assigned the creative principle to Reason, which he called the Logos. Within New Thought metaphysics (which is the direct forerunner of the New Age movement), mind is Divine (as in the Mind of God) and superior than the physical. Hicks-Abraham mentions this directly in answer to the questioner by relating that if one tunes into a certain “frequency of being” through “reaching for the best feeling thought you can find,” one is able to receive an “alignment.” Hicks goes on to remark:

“Without alignment, you are giving up all that assistance – not completely because you are never cut off from it – but then you have to rely more on your physical activities in order to move things around. And at best, it is mediocre and unproductive.”

With this New Thought schematic, Esther Hicks lays the framework of the Law of Attraction where the thoughts of humans are invisibly influencing the course of human events. But according to the question, which assumes that the channeler will corroborate with its premise that everything in Creation exists as thoughts within the Mind of God, the physical is relegated to irrelevance. We have Plato, among others, to thank for this, as  this brand of cosmology has informed Western metaphysics that the physical is the imperfect copy of transcendent Forms, or Ideas.

So why is the answer given by the channeler a deception? This “tuning in to the frequency” of your being (whatever that means, but I’m assuming it relates to the “reaching of the best feeling thought possible” positive-thinking jazz) as the preferred course of action over physical activity is a great deception and a massive affront to common sense. The Great Wall of China and the Pyramids were not created by people sitting around reaching for the best thought feelings. They had to build the damn things. Just apply this crap to any real-world scenario and see if it makes sense. I suppose the half of humanity that are starving on their feet need only to “reach for the best possible feeling thought” to end their poverty.

But Hicks and her channeled personality are not  that concerned with  those outside of their targeted audience. Empty phraseology,word-games and regurgitated spiritualism makes sense only within that framework. “Leverage in alignment,” “tuning in to the frequency of who you really are” and ascribing anthropomorphic attributes to thought itself (“it existed in its presence and absence, and the combination of those two things caused it to become more “) forms a catalog of  nonsensical truth-claims that will lead many well-intentioned people into a massive trap of self-deception, within the so-called Law of Attraction where the Right to be Selfish is elevated to a spiritual principle, and the search for the “better feeling thought” becomes one’s mantra and moral compass. These beliefs, however, only represent a catalog of deceptive magical thinking. This is the problem with these types of beliefs, they do nothing but focus on encasing self within a make-believe world in separation with the rest of humanity through avoiding and denying real-world issues that affect everybody. Nobody within Ester Hicks’ retinue seems to notice the obvious problem of contradiction between living in a world that isn’t “real,” yet focusing on the best  possible feeling thoughts, abundance and preference. Why would preference or good feelings “matter” in an illusory, imperfect and irrelevant world? And if everything is thoughts, then why would the physical exist at all?

The questions become easier to answer when we are willing to flip the script. Moving things within the physical is much more practical and demonstrable than magical imagination. Test it out for yourself. Gather several books and arrange them into a single stack on one side of a table. Now search for the best possible feeling thought, tune into the frequency of who you really are  and move that stack to the other side of the table. Golly. Why didn’t the stack move? Perhaps you’re not trying hard enough. Come on, tune into that frequency. Still nothing? Well, don’t feel bad. I doubt Esther Hicks could have moved it with her mind either.

I have an “idea,” though. Let’s dispense with all forms of spiritualism, metaphysics and religions. These systems have not enhanced the human experience, ever.  They just superimpose a layer of sweet-sounding bullshit within the minds of the gullible and desperate that keeps us divided and diverted from the stuff that really matters, like the survival of the human race. The physical is here and no amount of love ‘n light-tooti-fruity nonsense will ever be able to remove this reality. Deal with it.

2012/03/06 – 2012 & the Fraud of Buddha’s “Enlightenment”

Meh. He meant well.

“Well, this has been an interesting site. Thanks for helping me find some sanity in some of the rather bullcrappish stuff I have followed over the past decade. I know I have bought and read all of the books mentioned of all of the authors so far and I am broke, unemployed, ready to lose my home, so you figure, who is enlightened by all of this?” – kkorth

Indeed, all the Eckhart Tolle’s and the Neal David Walsch’s of the world pump out their discredited New Age spirituality fictions while passing them off as “truths” and selling them for big bucks to people like you and me, who knew something is terribly wrong with the world and was forever looking for a way to deal with it. As we both have learned, kkorth, reading and applying these principles peddled by the New Age community doesn’t work. It may work for the 1% who write, market and sell this fluffy flowerhat metaphysics, but for the other 99% all we get is a lump of coal in our stocking.

There’s a very good reason it all works this way. We all have been led astray by the assumptions made by philosophers, theologians and spiritualists that there is something “out there” that 1) has our best interests at heart and 2) gives meaning to our suffering. Human suffering is the out-flowing of the singular human condition of necessity. Nobody would ever survive infancy without the aid from others. This condition of needing/requiring aid from others can only come from the network of relationships that are formed by all things in this world. Thus everything that necessity demands is Here. On Earth. The “Power of Now” has nothing to do with anything essential to anything as it is only a refurbished, retooled religious philosophical abstraction created by people like Tolle in the guise of offering a “truth,” who probably mean well, but as we have seen, this doesn’t give anyone any lasting benefit at all.

“Enlightenment” is a fraud. It is a deception that assumes to know and understand more than it can. Enlightenment doesn’t fail because you’ve applied it incorrectly, or because you are not worthy of it. People throughout the ages have sought it and it and only a few have dared to claim that they have attained it. It would be one thing if Enlightenment actually changed the world for the better for all of us. We can easily see that is not the case.

For example, “enlightenment” has long been associated with the doctrines and legends of the Buddha. The fundamental core of the doctrines of the Buddha is the claim that provides an understanding and methodology that allows a person to end “suffering.” But for the Buddha, this cessation of suffering had been personal and it had to include a denial of the physical Here-ness while insisting that there was mental realm of inner peace that transcended suffering (and hence, necessity). This is the fatal flaw of all metaphysics, Eastern and Western. For it is within the relationship-networks of humanity, poisoned by self-interest and the seeking of overpowering others that are the causes of suffering. There is no need for any reaching out to the metaphysical. The solutions are all here on Earth, not locked away in some inaccessible region of consciousness but within understanding who we are and choosing how we are going to relate with ourselves and each other. Yes, the Buddha was correct in a sense that desires and cravings are instrumental in the suffering of human beings, but that arises not because existence is suffering, but because have not learned from what we have all seen, accepted and allowed within ourselves that is reflected in out in the world. Buddha missed the Equality Equation, the universal point that is the key to appropriate self-government and democracy. The application of universal equality alone will end human suffering. People will call this “communism” and “utopia,” but these people have not lost everything yet. Only those with nothing to lose will consider the elegant proposition of political and economic equality. And one doesn’t need ‘the Power of Now” or a Buddha to get there.

 

 

2012/01/20 – Dr. Wayne Dyer’s 2012′s New Age Snake Oil for Success

Dr. Wayne Dyer, "Sit Back and Let the Unseen World Take Care of It."

 

To make your dreams come true, you must go to the unseen world–the world of Spirit, or inspiration. It is this world that will guide you to anything you’d like to have in your life. – Dr. Wayne W. Dyer

 

This fluffy-sounding yet insidious trope is one of my favorite flower-hat New Age-isms to refute, and I thank Dr. Dyer for placing it so elegantly.

Making one’s “dreams come true,” aka, ” the “pursuit of happiness,” has been hardwired into our collective brainpan for so long, we have failed to noticed how unconsciously driven we are to seek the pleasures of comfort. As I briefly recounted in my blog entry, “The Soft Domination,” our perceived need to dominate our environment with creature comforts has produced a dysfunctional, lopsided world where affluence and poverty seemingly exist in unrelated, parallel worlds. The fact that one world feeds off the other like an ever-present vampire is hardly addressed or considered by those who are “lucky” enough to be born on the good side of town, like, presumably, the good Doctor Dyer, the author of the above quote. One only has to look at the schematic of Dyer’s recipe for success with a clear eye to see how shallow and meaningless – and more important – deceptive it is. But Dyer learned a long time ago that spouting such Candyland platitudes is what sells his books. So he must be on the right track, right? But let’s take this quote apart and see what remains.

To make your dreams come true, you must go to the unseen world…

Apparently, this is the world that Dr. Dyer is intimately familiar with. It is “unseen.” And it is a “world.” Is Dyer speaking metaphorically or is he claiming that there is a level of existence that is “unseen” but apprehended? Why is it so crucial that one enters into this  “unseen” world to make one’s wishes to “come true?”Dyer explicitly claims that this world has certain properties.

–the world of Spirit, or inspiration.

Let that sink in for a moment. Forget that there are many dimensions in defining the word “spirit.” We will assume for the sake of brevity that the Good Doctor is referring to the part of self that is said to survive after death. The next word, inspiration, contains the root of spirit, so we can see that Dyer connects spirit and inspiration very closely. Inspiration is the “process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, especially creative.” [1] So, instead of actually working out your dream in dealing with the physical complications that will arise to thwart your dream from ever becoming a reality, Dr. Dyer prefers that you sit back and wait for a disembodied, unseen dimension to somehow birth your unmanifested desire into existence. For he actually says so in the next sentence that:

It is this world that will guide you to anything you’d like to have in your life.

Take a look at the world around you. The numbers don’t add up.

At least 80% of humanity lives on less than $10 a day

The poorest 40 percent of the world’s population accounts for 5 percent of global income. The richest 20 percent accounts for three-quarters of world income.

According to UNICEF, 22,000 children die each day due to poverty. And they “die quietly in some of the poorest villages on earth, far removed from the scrutiny and the conscience of the world. Being meek and weak in life makes these dying multitudes even more invisible in death. [2]

I guess in the rose-colored world of Dr. Wayne Dyer, who has amassed considerable wealth peddling sweet-sounding nonsense to the crowd of gullible New Age consumers, his program of wishing and waiting works for him, but not for those who live in the real world of consequence. If “making one’s dreams come true” is the overarching motivation in one’s life, and it doesn’t include all others who live in this world with you, then what you want is continuance of the insanity of a world that we have now. That’s not good enough, obviously. But for those like Wayne Dyer, things can’t be good enough. And that’s the problem with CandyLand metaphysics. Too many people are going to have to die for no reason before anyone begins to question their preciously-held beliefs.

 

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

[1] Oxford dictionary. Origin Middle English – “divine guidance”: via the Latin “inspirare,”to breathe or blow into.” Spirit comes down from the Latin, “spiritus,”  breath. Those with an understanding of the Desteni vocabulary will find this definition to be one that makes a lot of sense.

[2] Shah, Anup. “Poverty Facts and Stats.” Global Issues. 20 Sep. 2010. Web. 20 Jan. 2012. <http://www.globalissues.org/article/26/poverty-facts-and-stats>.

2012/01/04 – Hello Process: 2012 Blog!

Yes, the Process:Self-Honesty blog has a new name, a new focus and a new attitude. Welcome to the Process: 2012 Blog where we will explore and expose the 2012 Prophecy hoax that on January 1, 2013 will make Harold Camping’s doomsday predictions sound absolutely rational.  We will spend the entire 2012 year debunking the alleged 2012 “prophecy” from all angles and show how serious money can be made off of the desires of people who really want to believe that something BIG is going to come along and change everything for the better – without anybody actually having to put any effort into anything to change the world or anything meaningful like that.

So welcome to the new Process: 2012 Blog. We hope you enjoy our new direction.

2011/12/31 – 2011 in review for your Process:Self-Honesty Blog

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 27,000 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 10 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

 

[Edit] Total views for this blog in 2011 was 29,950, up from 2010′s total views of 6,270. Nice. 2012 will be even more numerical…

 

Top Five Posts that were viewed in 2011:

1) Manipulated by the Politics of Hope

2) The Secrets of Lucifer,Part 1

3) The Shame of India’s Child Labor

4) China’s Ghost Towns

5) Amy Winehouse’s Death Predicted by Desteni in 2007

 

My personal favorite  Top Five post for 2011:

1) C.S. Lewis and the Cosmic Sadist

2) Transitory Capitalism

3) The Cult of the Deprogrammer: Rick Ross

4) The Necessity of a Global Government

5)Practical Living Without Money?

 

Click here to see the complete report.