New Age Books: Inspiration But Sometimes Short On Spiritual Truths

We’re often asked which metaphysical and spiritualnbooks we recommend.

You’ll find some grains of truth, wisdom, and plentynof inspiration (“You can do it!--ra-ra!”) in mostnmetaphysical publications, especially the best-sellers.
After all, you would think so many people purchasednthem due to worthwhile content, instead of just a bignname author or very effective public relations andnmarketing. At least we hope so.

You may not like us after reading this article. But ifnyou heed our advice, you will eventually forgive us,neven thank us, for helping you save enormous amountsnof time and m’oney in your spiritual journey. We wouldnmuch rather generate positive karma (how selfish ofnus!) than lead you down a path of illusion just to makena quick buck.

If you’re new to metaphysics, or simply want to gain anmore thorough understanding of it, we recommend titlesnthat objectively cover the basics, such as reinca
ation,npersonal karma, fate, destiny (same as fate in our view),nand meditation, among others. A basic understanding ofnnumerology, astrology, and other self-discovery toolsncan be very helpful, but knowing only a little of anynesoteric science can do more harm than good unlessnyou develop and rely more heavily upon your intuition.

Why are these subjects so important? There’s a goodnreason why they are an essential part of most of thenmajor non-Weste
religions and spiritual philosophiesnof the world. Once you understand the inner-workingsnof these sacred subjects, your life and the world aroundnyou will make more sense.

Regarding astrology and numerology, we recommendnworks (or modern-day, objective interpretations ofnthose works) prior to the 1600s AD (with somenexceptions). While we value some forms of personalitynanalysis using select forms of modern, psychologicalnastrology and numerology, we’ve found the bulk ofnmode
methods to be too subjective and recklesslyncreative, thus invalid.

Whatever titles you choose, beware if an author’sntheories and messages deny personal fate and karma nand he or she refuses to acknowledge that varying namounts of personal adversity is necessary fornspiritual growth.

Imagine that! The seemingly unavoidable trials you’venhad involving finances, your health, or those with anlover, family, or a boss, ultimately resulted in younbeing a much wiser person. Who would have thought itnpossible that you could be grateful for suchnexperiences and that they served you perfectly?

Too many of the well-known authors in the New Age andnspiritual arena exclude discussions or even a mentionnof hard spiritual truths such as those involving thennot-so-fun parts of life and those relating to you
spiritual checks and balances.

This may be because they haven’t studied the concepts nand lack an awareness of their importance. Or it may be nbecause fate and karma greatly contradict with the main nmessages of their book or books, at times evennrendering their claims or steps to success totallyninvalid.

Personally, we feel we owe it to our readers and clients nto be candid about fate, karma, and other metaphysical nissues. We may initially lose some potential clients who ndon’t want to confront the realities of these topics, but nsince people are better off in the long-run with the nawareness we are often thanked later. We’re simplynsharing the results of 20 plus years of our empiricalnresearch, without an agenda, and without a rigidnmarketing platform that disallows information thatnisn’t 100% cheery, uplifting, or inspirational.

The following are quotes from various, well knownnspiritual and metaphysical authors and teachers, alongnwith our comments to show you how, in our wellnresearched opinions, they are misleading people.

“Life is supposed to be good for you. You can be, do,nor have anything that you desire.”

And if you just buy this book, you’ll instantaneouslynmanifest a life of pure ease and luxury, erasing anynand all of your negative karma, having anything younwant! Sorry, that’s pure, fanciful, wishful thinking.
There is no utopia and anyone who tries to sell it isneither delusional or trying to pull the wool over you
eyes for their own financial gain.

“Did you know that you have the power to eliminatenall of the struggles in your life?”

Sure, just change your thinking and all your problemsnwill disappear! This has to do with a secret (New Age),nspiritual formula, otherwise known as denial and self-ndelusion. Yes, how you perceive your life circumstancesncan make a difference, but it will not allow you to skipnkarma that was set in motion before you were born, ornside-step important, challenging life circumstances thatnserve to strengthen your soul.

“Inside, you’ll find all the tools you need to getnanything you want out of life.”

The last page in this book has one word in size 17,nbolded font: “Sucker!” Really, there are no magic-bulletnsolutions to life’s complexities, as most realize (or willnrealize, in time).

“...will help you learn how to manifest your desires sonthat you’re living the joyous and fulfilling life youndeserve. ...It’s your birthright to live a life filled withneverything that is good- and this book will show younhow to make it so in every way!”

As we’ve stated many times in previous articles, wenhave found through extensive empirical research thatneveryone’s birthrights are different, and no one isnentitled to anything they have not earned in a karmicnsense. Everything that is good they say? Without “bad”nthere would be no “good.”

We half expect to soon see New Age books makingnpromises such as, “You deserve to overcome the neednto defecate” and, “It’s your birthright to feel fullnof energy without ever sleeping again!”

“The world of endless possibilities is awaiting you.”

Not really. What is waiting for you is what your soulnhas planned before you inca
ated, and this may clashnwith what your ego-self (personality) wants.

“...Allows you to balance your key emotions in orde
to reach your destiny.”

Simply “balancing your emotions” to get whatever younwant is like just pasting an insincere smile on you
face in an attempt to feel true fulfillment. You
destiny is not a destination, it’s not “the life ofnyour dreams” involving all the trappings of materialnand romantic success, and it’s only sometimes whatnyou consciously choose. It’s your personal fate, andnyour soul dictates it, not your conscious mind.

It’s ironic that the author of this book uses the wordndestiny in the title but clearly doesn’t even understandnits true meaning, the constant meaning that has beennassociated with the word since the ancients begannpredicting personal fate!

“...Helps you get in touch with the inexhaustible andnnatural flow of wealth. Once you tap into that flow, youncan maintain and increase it indefinitely... You deservento live a life of freedom, flow and trust.”

Increase wealth indefinitely? We teach, such as in our
Direct Your Destiny e-package, how to make the mostnof your life. We believe you do have free will to reachndestined goals, and those that fit within your personalnkarmic and fated plan. However, no New Age ornspiritual authors, to our knowledge, have directly orneven indirectly helped to produce any billionaires,never, but today there certainly are a lot of millionairensnake-oil sales people, er, ah, we mea
New Ageninspirational authors. There exists personal limits innlife and you can’t reach any particular goal unless it’snyour fate to do so. If you don’t believe this, you wouldnif you had done as much objective work in this field asnwe have. It’s impossible to deny the astonishingncorrelations between personal fate, karma, and pastnlife regression work, well honed intuition, and thencomprehensive numerology and astrology charts.

“Life is magical. It doesn’t have to be difficult. Thenuniverse that we each experience can be a luminousnone. Your life can be all you imagine.”

We agree that life is magical, and as long as you havena great imagination, you can imagine anything younwant. In fact, imagination is a great tool to help bridgenthe gap to reality. But those dreams will not becomenreality unless they are part of your destined path. Thengood news is that if you’re centered and groundedn(regular meditation helps), you will naturally tend tondraw your focus toward goals and dreams that arendestined for you.

“One’s positive thoughts are powerful magnets thatnattract wealth, health, happiness.”

This is extracted from one of the biggest sellingnmetaphysical books published in recent years. We’venwritten about it in prior articles.

It’s unfortunate that this overly simplistic spiritualnviewpoint, while denying all other conflicting spiritualnlaws, implies that people who suffer natural disastersnor who die in plane crashes, for example, must havenbeen low on positive thoughts that day.

Are these authors selling their souls to the devil tonmake a buck? Most of them likely mean well (wenhope!), but just be wary of major life-changingnclaims. If it sounds too good to be true, it is.

Hey, we’re all for lots of inspiration, but if it’s notngrounded in spiritual truth, ultimately it’s not going tonbe for your highest good. Do you now see why thenNew Age has earned a bad reputation?

Commercially-corrupted versions of spirituality arenhot sellers because the packaging is captivating, thenmarketing is powerful, instantaneous credibility isngiven to almost anyone who appears in mainstreamnmedia, a sheep-herd mentality exists, and peoplenhave always looked for immediate gratification andnquick fixes.

We recommend reading whatever you’re attracted to,nas bits of wisdom and inspiration, often just what younneed at the time, can be found in most books. But keepnin mind that if the author promises, for example, anperfectly compatible soul mate or over-flowingnfinancial abundance, these may not be your personalnbirthrights and such lofty goals are not going to benreached unless they are part of a person’s destinednpath. Everyone’s personal fate is different.

Within all self-help, inspirational, and spiritual books,nwe would like to see a one page disclaimer about thenreality of fate and karma, and personal adversity, andnhow any promises the author makes aren’t applicable toneveryone, or even anyone. But then again, perhaps it’snnot everyone’s personal fate and karma to be aware ofnthe concepts of fate and karma, despite their livesnbeing ruled by them.

Copyright © Scott Petullo, Stephen Petullo