Comments on: The Enlightenment Business http://www.ianmack.com/the-enlightenment-business/ writer, filmmaker, traveler Thu, 29 Jul 2010 03:57:48 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Carly Dandrea http://www.ianmack.com/the-enlightenment-business/comment-page-1/#comment-1228 Carly Dandrea Sun, 11 Apr 2010 11:40:22 +0000 http://www.ianmack.com/?p=377#comment-1228 I think more and more people are asking questions, learning new ways of living, and becoming gurus themselves. I think there is a growing movement of conscious people who want to change the world for the better. I'm so thankful that more and more people want to improve their lives and live with more light. I started my own journey 15 years ago and here I am now. I live a happier life every day, I have more wealth than ever before, and I wake up every day excited about my life, even on the bad days. I have learned a lot from various gurus and self improvement experts. I have become my own guru. So does this industry upset me? Not at all! Watch me thrive! I think more and more people are asking questions, learning new ways of living, and becoming gurus themselves. I think there is a growing movement of conscious people who want to change the world for the better. I’m so thankful that more and more people want to improve their lives and live with more light. I started my own journey 15 years ago and here I am now. I live a happier life every day, I have more wealth than ever before, and I wake up every day excited about my life, even on the bad days. I have learned a lot from various gurus and self improvement experts. I have become my own guru. So does this industry upset me? Not at all! Watch me thrive!

]]> By: Ian MacKenzie http://www.ianmack.com/the-enlightenment-business/comment-page-1/#comment-1134 Ian MacKenzie Sun, 10 Jan 2010 08:41:22 +0000 http://www.ianmack.com/?p=377#comment-1134 Thanks for sharing your story Nick. Thanks for sharing your story Nick.

]]> By: Nick http://www.ianmack.com/the-enlightenment-business/comment-page-1/#comment-1106 Nick Fri, 18 Dec 2009 16:32:11 +0000 http://www.ianmack.com/?p=377#comment-1106 What do I think of the enlightenment business? It gives me the creeps, to be perfectly honest. I lump it together with the self-help industry as a whole, which is a multi-tentacled parasite that feeds and then exploits human weakness and the desire for "betterment" and "meaning". That's not to say that everyone is a charlatan. But I think the more dissatisfied we become with the state of the world, and ourselves, the more vulnerable we are to exploitation. And for every great spiritual teacher, there will be allegations of abuse. I remember asking an old sadhu in Varanasi, who'd rescued me from a marauding cow in a thunderstorm, about the idea of living in the moment. He laughed in my face, told me that *in theory* it's a great idea, and then asked me to donate my clothes and bag to a local school. What do I think of the enlightenment business? It gives me the creeps, to be perfectly honest. I lump it together with the self-help industry as a whole, which is a multi-tentacled parasite that feeds and then exploits human weakness and the desire for “betterment” and “meaning”.

That’s not to say that everyone is a charlatan. But I think the more dissatisfied we become with the state of the world, and ourselves, the more vulnerable we are to exploitation.

And for every great spiritual teacher, there will be allegations of abuse.

I remember asking an old sadhu in Varanasi, who’d rescued me from a marauding cow in a thunderstorm, about the idea of living in the moment. He laughed in my face, told me that *in theory* it’s a great idea, and then asked me to donate my clothes and bag to a local school.

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