When I first envisioned this blog topic, I was thinking of being really critical of a few specific books that have become popular of late. I had purchased, a few months back, a set of CDs and DVDs and books from a Public Broadcasting System airing of a Wayne Dyer talk, and I didn’t want anyone else to throw away money like I had thought I had ($365 was what I paid … I’m glad that most of it can be written off my taxes).
I was upset with myself for falling for all of the talk about how we can “manifest” abundance into our lives. All the successful people I’ve known in my life achieved success through setting goals and planning and hard work, not through meditation and “manifesting.”
(By the way, I’m not against mediation. In fact I wish I could do it, but I can never quiet my mind well enough. I’ve tried the meditation CDs, read all the books, and so on, but just do not do well with it.)
Anyway, I finally read the last of the books included in the PBS package I bought: Left To Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust
I then realized that, despite how my beliefs on “manifesting” differ from those of Dr. Dyer, I am confident that he at least speaks sincerely about his beliefs. And, it is clear from his writings that he is an incredibly compassionate person who is also filled with gratitude for all that he has, and that he has always been that way, even when he had very little. Given that I feel that I should personally be more compassionate and grateful, I realized I should have been learning more from him instead of being so critical of him. (Besides, who am I to say how the universe works? It’s far too complex for any of us to really understand. We have our beliefs and theories, of course, but nobody is privy to all the answers.)
While this thought was in my mind, I also came across the following quote from FRS John Polkinghorne’s The Faith of a Physicist: Reflections of a Bottom-Up Thinker (Theology and the Sciences)
“Let me say again that I believe our need is for transformation [my emphasis], not just information”
From this, I realized that the writings of Dr. Dyer can be helpful to me in my transformation, as I try to become a better person, not just a better doer. This is true despite some differing fundamental understandings between us. Hence, while the Dyer material may not have material that I can put to use immediately, it contains a lot of insights that can help me in the long run.
Recognizing this also reminded me of how critical and judgmental I can be. For years, I was paid well to be critical and even judgmental. I suspect most professionals are. So I am realizing that, while being critical can be good to some degree, we can become too critical and judgmental.
What’s the bottom line? There seems to me to be a couple of them:
- While you shouldn’t necessarily be like me and try to buy every self-help book imaginable, you should know that there can be value in some self-help material that is not focused on helping you organize your time or manage your money better. You probably knew that, but sometimes I have to remind myself of these things.
- It’s easy for professionals like you and me to become too critical and judgmental, and we need to learn how to be open to other’s ideas and insights. I think we all try to be open, but sometimes our training and our human nature works against us.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I TiVo’ed that PBS show with Wayne and watched most of it. I think you make a good point - I think we can learn something from anybody. However, I was very glad I didn’t invest any money or even too much time in that particular program. Like a lot of programs, his seemed to be long on warm fuzzies and short on substance.
I’m glad you saved your money, too, capo. But, he does have some interesting insights and his books are generally more in-depth than his audio-visual material. Nonetheless, you are right that he does not have the level of substance I really like to see.