Buzzwords and BS

Bypassing true work with fake gurus & pseudo spirituality

Every trade, profession and discipline has its own nomenclature. The tech world is notorious for its acronyms, law has its terminology, and psychology has its psychobabble. In order to be productive and communicate effectively in a particular field, one has to learn the appropriate jargon and buzzwords of that discipline, along with acquiring the necessary skills. Spiritual and alternative communities are no different, as you’ll find all sorts of buzzwords spanning across a smorgasbord of modalities, paths, lifestyles, services and techniques. It’s an entirely separate reality to explore, where you’ll eventually root out the worthy and talented folks, some that are downright fraudulent, and everything in between.

I started my pursuit of higher consciousness in adolescence, but later on I followed with what I thought was the proper path. I forged out into the business world where I would not only earn a living, be responsible and pay my bills, but do something I thought to be culturally deemed as successful. Naturally it was difficult to fit in, even when I learned all the buzzwords and skills of my chosen trades. After 20 years, I left business, and forged into the world of alternative and spiritual practices. In doing so, I researched all the modalities and practitioner paths I could find, unearthing a plethora of nonsense. I know people have to earn a living, but I found the amount of absurdity that people both intellectually and financially bought into simply astounding. One person even told me about a group masturbation program designed specifically for weight loss. You’re kidding me, right? I met another person who truly believed she was a descendant from a race originating from the Pleiades constellation. Nonetheless, this person was charged with the responsibility for leading and managing a sizable group of people. Anyway, with perseverance, time and patience, I weeded through the dross to uncover legitimate avenues of pursuit. Initially, I gravitated to the established, tried and true practices of nutrition, meditation, chanting, and breath-work, of which I was experienced. Subsequent digging ultimately led me to shamanism, which for me was the cherry on top. Over the years, I was fortunate enough to delve deep into shamanic medicine work, experienced top notch teachers, and authentic sound healing from an expert shaman. I’ve had some amazing experiences, and everything I’ve learned has over time, proven to be steeped in tradition, and most importantly, can be applied and incorporated into modern life. I have, however, witnessed a shift over the last five years into what I fear may not be for the better.

What’s bubbled to the surface appears to be an outgrowth from some key ingredients absent from western culture. I’ve observed an increase in a lack of purpose in the population, and a need for belonging that has pushed more people into the ever expanding spiritual community in seek of relief, meaning and healing. Traditional models (psychology and religion) have failed miserably in this arena. The seekers of old, once on the fringe of society, have now turned mainstream. In some ways it’s wonderful, for what once was considered ancient secret knowledge, reserved only for the subversive, is now readily accessible. Research in the area of plant medicine has increased, and there’s finally real hope for sufferers of depression and PTSD with Psilocybin, Ayahuasca, Ketamine, etc.  People from all walks of life, and all age groups are now knowledgeable of more alternative approaches for personal development and healing, and are heading in droves to retreat centers in search of what medicine work promises—all for the low, low price of $8-10K. The drawback is that it’s not all peaches and cream when there’s money to be made. Everyone wants to be a healer. My concern is that uninformed, and unprepared people are jumping on the buzzword bandwagon to either to make money at the latest craze, and/or participate in the latest trendy experience, and having unrealistic expectations at both options.  I fear that the ones looking for genuine healing may get lost in the shuffle, or worse yet, have some kind of negative experience that only serves to increase the very trauma they’re trying to minimize.  To me, with great wisdom comes great responsibility, and if things like medicine work become too cliché, diluted, or marginalized, the potential for danger increases. Veering from the original intent of plant medicine may be a disaster waiting to happen, so much so that the expansion of this work should be taken with caution. When I see videos of 12 year olds, or a group of guys, just for fun, documenting their unguided DMT experiences, I can’t help but feel apprehensive.

People have always been drawn to quick fixes and easy solutions. Trust me, I worked in marketing and advertising long enough to know that that repeated forms of hype really work. The thought that a single drink of Ayahuasca will be a cure-all is not only a false expectation, but a careless one too.  These potent medicines offer profound healing, great expansion, and therapeutic promise that pharmaceuticals can’t deliver, but they’re not a panacea. They’re teacher plants, and the role of a teacher is to provide information. So, what a person does with the information received is where the real work begins. Integration, assimilation, and processing of medicine work is crucial, not to mention knowing how to handle a negative experience. It doesn’t happen all in one to three evenings. Psychedelic experiences can’t necessarily be controlled.  I’ve seen a proliferation of people wasting time comparing experiences, spewing out spiritual buzzwords, and basically having high-end experiences with low-end results, all due to lack of proper facilitation, or maybe even intent. On one end of the spectrum, it’s disconcerting to see the degree of people using medicine work just to party, socialize, get high, hook up, and move on to their next spiritual cup of tea. The opposite end of the spectrum contains the pseudo intellectuals that waste time splitting hairs, arguing and swirling around in an ocean of minutia, debating and deflecting, that they wouldn’t recognize a genuine consciousness expanding experience if it hit them over the head. Both forms of spiritual bypassing give rise to misguided conclusions, a boat lead of misinformation, and an increased avoidance of doing real work, eventually leading to more disillusion. And so the cycle continues.

Having experience as a shamanic medicine facilitator, my advice would be to find someone who can not only get you through a peak experience, but who is also equipped to help you unravel, and properly integrate that experience over a period of time. There are no quick fixes, so don’t be dazzled by commercialization and marketing. Think about it. If there were truly a fast track to happiness and enlightenment, or a 3-day journey to easy healing, don’t you think we would all know about that by now? There’s a lot of genuinely talented and dedicated practitioners doing quality work to help others, but the landscape is also fraught with tricksters, charlatans and grifters. Keep your eyes out for fake gurus, how much money you’re asked to shell out, or what you’re expected to give up for the promise of speedy enlightenment and healing. Watch out for glamour and glitz, along with the buzzwords and BS. Choose wisely, and with discretion. You’ll be glad you did.

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Humorous video by JP Sears captures some of his to a T: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3fZTkW-ZY8&t=394s

Documentary on fake gurus, Kumare:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xu2z2CGVxQ