Wayne Dyer Exposed - A Critical Perspective on him

[Winston]

http://wayne-dyer.inspiresyou.com/33/t-795.html

A Critical Perspective on Wayne Dyer

Murdoch2555

17-08-2005 20:23:51

Let us consider that Mr. Dyer is a very spiritual and enlightened individual. An oracle of "source energy" that has codified his effusive wisdom into a series of books that retail somewhere in the vacinity of 25-30 dollars.

Wayne Dyer has certainly reached many people with his message of self actualization (Maslow) and reaching Source (Cost Plus World Market Lamp). My first question regarding Mr. Dyer is his lack of fecundity in regards to his work; what exactly is the river bed of Dyer's original thought? To me, it seems greatly lacking. True, the Daila Lama tends to repackage traditional Buddhist wisdom in his texts and has found a very popular market around the world. Yet it appears to me that Wayne sells himself as the worlds foremost thinker on "Self Development".

When one listens to Wayne speak, one is astounded by his use of quotation. From Emmerson to Einstein, Wayne tends to prologue all of his mystic wisdom with the ideas of other people. This would be okay if it were just used as a stepping stone, intended to develope on and expand an idea or principle...this does not seem to happen very much, and when it does they tend to exist as logical extensions of "rational" knowledge applicable to his spiritual dimensions of work. His most recent work, "The Power of Intention", the concept that one can manifest their desires through meditation that focuses on what they can have instead of negative thoughts in regard to what they lack, can be found through-out constant religious and spiritual texts through out time. Granted, Dyer does not hide this fact, and one finds it slightly frustrating, in the fact that not only does he rob ideas, he has no problem with advertising it.

Understandably, Dyer repackages many of these ideas in the same respect Teenage Christian Mission Leaders repackage christian themes in an MTV style, making it more palpable for teenagers. A balding man in a Cosby sweater on PBS is a slightly easier sell than an Eastern mystic in robes.

Another concern of mine is Dyer's use of stories both personal and universal that simply appear to be works of fiction. In particular his lenghty stories that appear on his PBS specials for the single purpose of getting some shots of women in the audience crying. One involves a young student who is very poor developing a special relationship with a teacher that helps him progress. Another involves a retarded child whose baseball fantasy is manifested through the care of other players. THe first story is surely false, as it orignated as a story in Chicken Soup for the Soul and found later popularity as an e-mail forward. The second one I have seen as an e-mail forward, though it's origin I do not know for certain.

Another concern regards his very purpose. Wayne has no problem letting the world know he is fabulously rich, even revealing he is in the top 1% income bracket in a letter to politicians on his website, which seems primary focused on his repulsion for having to pay alot of taxes.

If Wayne has access to secrets of spritual success and wisdom, why does he have siminars? What I mean by this is, why doesn't he write down everything he knows that can help people into a book, and send it to his editor?

One you've had access to the 10 secrets for success and inner peace, why on earth would you need the power of intention to manifest what you want? You now have success and inner peace if you used his last book, why is there always more wisdom to be sold for 30 dollars?

And as mentioned before, why, if Dyer truely wants to help the world, does he not simply scribe all the wisdom he can imagine into a book and pay airplanes to airdrop them into poor neighborhoods, instead of making fun of the garbage that poor people have on their lawns (Creating your life with thought, The Inner Wisdom Library).

Instead, to suppliment his wisdom, many people must pay thousands of dollars to see Wayne in person at a variety of new age spiritual events. It is not always this expensive ofcourse, but as anyone here who has been to a Dyer event knows, it is very expensive to listen to him speak.

Why is this?

Wayne is amazingly rich...why does he still feel the need to charge this money for his appearances?

Many might suggest that his PBS work is very altruistic, but infact, he is paid enourmously for those shows, and it is a wonderful advertisement for his books and all materials contained in his Enchillada packages.

On a personal note, I cannot help but noticed that Wayne appears to me to be an incredibly ego-centric man...I cannot exactly back this up with evidence, but it's simply a very strong feeling I get. To me, it's perfectly okay to be egocentric, it's just difficult to acccept this in somene who claims to have nearly transcended all of his ego ways.

Remember that Wayne also contradicts himself constantly. In the Power of Intention (I believe) he talks about a coworker who is sick with a cold, and how disgusting his snot is. 20 minutes later he tells us that we must find beauty in everything we see, even a homeless person urinating on the street (This was preempted by a story regarding the work of Victor Frankle the founder of Logotherapy, and him finding beauty in the head of a fish, which was given to him in his soup by his Nazi captors during the holocaust). Why can't he find snot beautiful?

This is simply one example I found particularly amusing.

I am not a very spiritual person, but I think it's good if people can find wisdom in Wayne Dyer.

However, it's not his wisdom.

I don't understand why he is more concerned with being rich than with making sure his message gets out to everyone.

His attitude towards the poor is to me disturbing, in the notion that poor people are slaves to their "intention" and that anyone can escape their socio-economic positions with what basically is wishful thinking. While this may be true in many cases, to dismiss the political and economic factors is to me, callous and un-"source" like, so to say.

He writes diatribes against paying taxes, but I've not seen his work urging politicians to do more to help homeless people, or, if he truely believes his work is what they need, why don't we see him going out and making sure that all disadvantaged people have his books, tapes, cds, dvds, yes, he even sells a pack of playing cards.

Finally, a woman posted a message on here that I will summarize as saying, "I am jobless, without a husband, am very shy and need money, I have been trying to manifest what i want with the power of intention, but it is not working".

This is very sad to me, I believe Dyer's "Intention" philosophy is very dangerous, as it gives hope to the hopeless in a very disingenious way. If this woman wants to change her life, she has to get out into the world and try to create a better life through action. Believing that her "thoughts" and "meditations" will manifest her life simply is a lie. If this were true, not only would everyone have Waynes book and be manifesting everything they want in their life, the economy of the world would have failed over night.

I am not one to disregard positive thinking or even "manifesting meditations" as a positive act; I do agree that our mental attitude effects us an aweful lot, but only as it relates to our actions from it. This woman was horribly frustrated because her attempts at manifesting were not working, and it makes me sad to think all of the people out there that have been duped into believing this.

The real way to manifest, is to become a self-help guru and make millions writing books of based on the works of others, and charging thousands for personal appearances.

Many of you will simply say this is "resistance" as Wayne is fond of saying to anyone who disagrees with him.

Just a critical point of view

Murdoch

[Winston]

The article above makes some good points. Why do such wonderful and wise New Age gurus who want to transform lives make their teachings only available to the wealthy? Why not make them affordable to the poor too? Gee, I'm sure there's no ulterior motive in that. (sarcastic)

The same goes for Deepak Chopra. What's hypocritical is that both Dyer and Chopra teach the abandonment of one's ego and promote non-materialist values, yet they both charge thousands of dollars to appear in public seminars, and their books sell for an average of around $30 each! Definitely not for the poor or those on a tight budget. Anyone can see in their PBS seminars that the studio audience members appear to be upper middle class and above.

Isn't that ironic?

Could it also be that their "thought creates reality" teaching sells to the upper class because it allows them to take credit for their riches and status, whereas such concepts do not sell to the poor who have a more practical view of reality?

Fascinating. (as Spock would say)

Perhaps what they teach only works in making the rich feel better about themselves, but doesn't offer anything of use for the poor or struggling class who deal with harsh everyday realities. After all, it's easy to those with sheltered lives to sit, meditate and try to "manifest abundance" when they already have it. And it's easier for the rich to "create reality" with their "thoughts" than it is for the poor, because they already have the resources to "manifest their reality" of course.

Nevertheless, many poor people believe in the "thought creates reality" concept as well (e.g. pot smoking hippies, alternative/holistic-oriented youngsters, etc.)

But what I can't figure out is why Deepak Chopra is successful. With Wayne Dyer, it's understandable, because he's charming, personable, charismatic, and has a likable endearing persona as well as a gentle tender father figure image. And he's easy to follow, his voice captivates you and his personality is engaging. But Chopra's voice is dry, dull and monotone. And his personality is not engaging, captivating or charismatic. In fact, there are millions of well read spiritualists in India just like him with the exact same knowledge. So there is no logical reason why Chopra should be successful or famous in his field.

Nevertheless, neither of them seem to be good at logic or common sense. For instance, they can't answer these simple 15 questions of mine about the "thought creates reality" teaching, which are never addressed in their books and seminars. Using simple everyday examples, I show in these questions why their core teaching falls flat on its head.

https://www.debunkingskeptics.com/LawofAttraction.htm

Perhaps they aren't as interested in "truth" as they would have you think. Perhaps they too are only interested in what "sells". Thus they are prone to the same human frailties as you and I. So perhaps we should not put them up too high on the pedestal.

[Winston]

By the way, I just heard that Wayne Dyer got divorced a few years ago, after being married for 20 years to his wife and having 7 children with her. She left him for another man.

Very sad and unfortunate of course. He has my sympathy. But you gotta ask, if his thoughts and intentions create his reality (his core teaching), then how is it that after 20 years of "thinking" that he has a wonderful marriage and family, that his wife would leave him for another man? Why didn't his thoughts keep the "reality" of his wonderful marriage going?

[jamesbond]

Very interesting perspective on Wayne Dyer. I have watched him on PBS for years and have read some of his books. He is at the top of his profession as being a self help guru. I don't agree with everything he says. For example, his idea that thoughts create our reality sounds fine and all but it doesn't always work that way. I have tried mediation and using subliminal tapes and having a positive mental attitude and some times I get results but lot's of other times I get no results!

I did not know Wayne Dyer and his wife were divorced! I guess his "power of intention" wasn't working as well as it should of!

[Winston]

Here's the reply from my scientific advisor:


}Dr H,
}BTW, what do you think of this critique of Wayne Dyer?
}
}A Critical Perspective on Wayne Dyer
}
}http://wayne-dyer.inspiresyou.com/33/t-795.html
}
}Is it more valid? Does it contain less fallacies?
}
}Also, here are some observations of mine about it. Do they make sense? Do
}they sound logical and probable?
}
}The article above makes some good points. Why do such wonderful and wise New
}Age gurus who want to transform lives make their teachings only available to
}the wealthy? Why not make them affordable to the poor too? Gee, I'm sure
}there's no ulterior motive in that. (sarcastic)
}
}The same goes for Deepak
}Chopra<http>.
}What's hypocritical is that both Dyer and Chopra teach the abandonment of
}one's ego and promote non-materialist values, yet they both charge thousands
}of dollars to appear in public seminars, and their books sell for an average
}of around $30 each! Definitely not for the poor or those on a tight budget.
}Anyone can see in their PBS seminars that the studio audience members appear
}to be upper middle class and above.
}
}Isn't that ironic?

Not 'ironic' so much as it should be a clue for the clueless. It differs
little, IMO, from the Priest who sermonizes about avoiding sex outside of
marraige, and then gets caught boffing the choir girls (or boys, as the case
may be).


}Could it also be that their "thought creates reality" teaching sells to the
}upper class because it allows them to take credit for their riches and
}status, whereas such concepts do not sell to the poor who have a more
}practical view of reality?
}
}Fascinating. (as Spock would say)

When Dutch Schultz was asked why he robbed banks, he rplied "'cause that's
where the money is."

A lot of these New Age Gurus (NAGs) set them selves up to attract well-to-do
disciples, because that's where they reap the most return for their output.

We had a famous case in Oregon, back in the 80s -- the Bhagwan Sree Rajneesh
set up shot near a rural town, brought in a bunch of upper middle class and
modestly wealthy followers, and they basically took over the town. All
sorts of fun times ensured, from poisonings of food supplies, to out-of-state
transients being bussed in to vote, to try to swing state elections.

Rajneesh's followers forswore earthly wealth -- they did this by donating it
to the Bhagwan. Followers went barefoot, dressed in cotton and linen robes;
the Bhagwan rode around in one of his fleet of Rolls Royces, chauffer-driven.


}Perhaps what they teach only works in making the rich feel better about
}themselves, but doesn't offer anything of use for the poor or struggling
}class who deal with harsh everyday realities. After all, it's easy to those
}with sheltered lives to sit, meditate and try to "manifest abundance" when
}they already have it. And it's easier for the rich to "create reality" with
}their "thoughts" than it is for the poor, because they already have the
}resources to "manifest their reality" of course.
}
}But what I can't figure out is why Deepak Chopra is successful. With Wayne
}Dyer, it's understandable, because he's charming, personable, charismatic,
}and has a likable endearing persona as well as a gentle tender father figure
}image. And he's easy to follow, his voice captivates you and his personality
}is engaging. But Chopra's voice is dry, dull and monotone. And his
}personality is not engaging, captivating or charismatic. In fact, there are
}millions of well read spiritualists in India just like him with the exact
}same knowledge. So there is no logical reason why Chopra should be
}successful or famous in his field.

Chopra's claim to fame is through medical quackery. In my estimation
that's worse than what Dyer does. Chopra preys on the ill and the desparate.
He doesn't -have- to be personable; when someone is sick and beyond
treatment by current medical science, they will often try anything.

}Nevertheless, neither of them seem to be good at logic or common sense. For
}instance, they can't answer these simple 15 questions of mine about the
}"thought creates reality" teaching, which are never addressed in their books
}and seminars. Using simple everyday examples, I show in these questions why
}their core teaching falls flat on its head.

I would give up on the 15 questions, Winston. Chemist pointed out most
of the problems with them, and none of these guys are ever going to deign
to try to answer them anyway.

Some of Chopra's stuff is easily debunked by existing medical research.

For the other stuff -- the "spiritual" claims, your best bet is to try
to get them to define their key terms in concrete language. This isn't
likely to happen, but sometimes the NAGs slip up and leave you an opening.

}http://www.happierabroad.com/Debunking_ ... m#Appendix
}
}Perhaps they aren't as interested in "truth" as they would have you think.
}Perhaps they too are only interested in what "sells". Thus they are prone to
}the same human frailties as you and I. So perhaps we should not put them up
}too high on the pedestal.

Perhaps not. One migh look to the examples of other famous spiritual
leaders: Guatama, Jesus, and Mohammed didn't spend their time lecturing
to the wealthy in college seminars. They lived with the common people,
and spoke to them, directly.

One thing I have found that sometimes works with the more intelligent
and or perceptive people who have been draw into the "New Age" is to
expose them to the original traditions which much of NA philosophy is
drawn from, and let them see for themselves how shallow, opportunistic,
and superficial most NA "systems" are. Anyone who truly resepcts cultural
diversity can't help but be moved by this.

Dr H

[Winston]

Check this out. I'm taking one of the titles of Wayne Dyer's books and spinning it for our purposes. lol. In his book cover below, the title is "Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life." I've spun it for our movement as "Change Your Location, Change Your Life." LOL.

I've already put it above as our forum subtitle. I'll also use it in the header of our home page and as a subtitle in my ebook too. Great idea huh? That's a great slogan actually. It's short, simple and easy to remember. Great marketing on Wayne Dyers part. We can use it here too. LOL

[img]http://www.botanicasanexpedito.com/main ... yer[1].jpg[/img]

[Winston]

Another good article debunking Wayne Dyer:

http://confusionofideas.blogspot.com/20 ... er-is.html

[Roady]

Hello to you all,

I found this interesting topic about Wayne Dyer.
it is not my habit to talk about other persons, but I just feel the need to react on this article and share my own thoughts about Wayne Dyer.

I met the books of Wayne Dyer when I was 27 years old. I was depressed, anxious, sex-addict and feel terrible lonely.
I start reading the books of Dyer and the things I read sounded okay for me. Why? Because I was looking for something and if someone is hungry, it is easy to eat what comes around. My great turn around in life when I met Jesus Christ who Died on the cross for my sins. I saw that there was God and that the Son on the Cross is the only place people could met God. That was my experience. I received the Holy Spirit and with this Spirit of Love and Power I could overcome my addiction and with His love I could forgive people who hurts me. I truly can say: I could NEVER create love in my own life if I did not see that somebody else loved me!! Love cannot be created, it must be received and I have to give myself to it!!

With this experience and what I've learned from the Holy Bible I would make any thoughts on Wayne Dyer.
I feel great respect to this man, and what he has done in his life. For sure I can learn a lot of things from him. As said, the wisdom he teaches, he has read it from other sources. So in a certain way he sells the wisdom from others to gain himself.
What is very painful to me, is that he sometimes quote passages from the Holy Bible. In my opinion you cannot split the holy Bible in many parts, as it is one entirety, inspired by the Holy Spirit. So I can read in Dyers books that he quoted Jesus Christ on some places. But what I definitely miss, is why Jesus died on the cross.

Dyer is believing that there are no sins. When you sin, you create obstacles. This is right in my opinion. But there is one way to get lost of sins.
That is: confessing them to God and to each other. To God? Yes to God. According to the Word of God itself. Sins can only be confessed if God is a person, not only an "energy" what Dyer is preaching all the time. And if God can forgive my sins, how can He be rightious? This can only be possible because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ Himself. Jesus was a clean not-sinning sacrifice. Because He gave Himself as a Holy sacrifice to the Almighty God, I can only be freed from my sins through Jesus. In other words: Jesus has paid what I was charged. In my experience there is freedom.

I think I do understand the way of thinking of Dyer.
He has to deal with the word "sinning", because the Holy Bible is talking about this all the time.
If Dyer has to admit that he is a sinner, then he has to admit that he needs a savior. If you can find a way to walk around this word, then you are able to walk around the person of Jesus Christ. In a very subtle way Dyer is neglecting the most important person in history: Jesus Christ.
And if he is able to neglect Jesus, he creates the room he need, to "be equal to God".

Dyer often uses the word God in his books. He often says that people are equal to God. Wow, what a lie is that. In another part he is telling us that we are not even able to let the grass grow.
So Dyer is taking bible passages as it fits in his own mind-set. In a certain way he is misusing the bible for his own purpose.
I do not call that "listening to God".
Dyer was also very enlightened by the letters of Paul (Paulus). But what I know from Paulus is: Jesus has to grow bigger and I have to become smaller.
Paulus sees all knowledge as garbage, except the "knowing of the person Jesus Christ".
Hey, why is Dyer not talking about this passage?

My humble opinion about Wayne Dyer is this.
He has build a huge stronghold against the true Word of God. I think that Dyer is strongly misleaded by the lies of satan in a very very subtle way.
Satans first lie was: Do you know that you can be equal to God?
In all Dyers books I hear him teaching about "being as God".
He has million of followers, so in a certain way he has created his own kingdom, with gives him a lot of money.

I would never raise myself, point to myself. My salvation is from Jesus Christ. I will always point to Him, because Jesus sais: I am the path, the truth and the life. No one will come to the father then to Me.

If Jesus speaks right, then Dr. Wayne Dyer is a liar, an heretic, a false teacher.
If Dyer speaks the truth, then Jesus is not the son of God. But I have the experience that my sins ARE forgiven through the blood of Jesus Christ. My believe-system and experiences are following what I read in the Holy bible. That is the base for this writing. Based on this, I try to place "dyer and his way of thinking / way of living".

When I heard that Wayne Dyer was divorced from his wife, I was surprised.
I thought: So all the knowledge, all the power, all the health, all the love, all the "relationship-teachings" of this man were not enough to keep his wife next to him. Wow..... Practice what you preach.... if reality is different from what you preach, something is really really really wrong....

My end-conclusion is that the whole thing Dyer has built up is based upon one biblical lie:
"you will be as God". On this lie the whole new age is built. I won't be surprised if more misery will come for mr. Dyer as the laws of God are always working.

With kind regards,
Roady

[Jester]

Roady, welcome to the forum.

I do agree with most of what you wrote.

I am quite open to New Age beliefs when they are based on Bible etc ("is it not written, ye are gods?") but I do indeed notice the glaring omission of Jesus Christ - the way that modern teachers tiptoe timidly around the Son of God while discussing all kinds of spiritual matters. They are afraid of something. It's like what Michael WhatsHisAss's congregation in Santa Monica California does. The place is called "Agape", a Christian word. But this dreadlocked ex-marijuana dealer who preaches there has put up posters of every spiritual teacher from Gandhi to blah blah. Just no Jesus.

Anyway, welcome to the forum, hope you have some solutions and positives to share as well.

[Winston]

Roady,
Thanks for your input. But Dr. Wayne Dyer is not a Christian minister, so it's not reasonable to expect him to preach the Christian Gospel and teach Christian doctrines and tenets. You are supposed to go to a Christian church for that. Dr. Dyer is part of the New Age self-help movement and cult, and thus preaches doctrines from that circle. It doesn't mean Dr. Dyer is a liar. He is a salesman, he sells his books and CD's and lectures. To do so, he exaggerates and tells people what they want to hear, such as "You can do anything if you believe in it", "We are all one. We are all divine consciousness." etc.

New Age is not 100 percent true or 100 percent false. Like anything, it contains good things, truth, bad things, false things, BS, etc. Same as the Bible, or Islam, or Hinduism, or Buddhism, or Judaism. Man is both spirit and flesh so such man-made religions, including Christianity, contain both truths and falsehoods. That is to be expected. Nothing is perfect. Even God is not perfect, so it's not realistic to expect him to be. The Ancient Greeks were wiser than us in many ways, and they understood that the Gods were imperfect and had the same character flaws as humans, which is why they depicted them as such. To depict God as 100 percent perfect and good is baseless and cult-like and political. If God were perfect, then this world would be perfect. Creation is a reflection of the creator. Simple logic. (and no, the fall of man story doesn't refute this)

Jester,
The reason Wayne Dyer doesn't focus on Jesus much is because anything said about Jesus creates controversy. You can't write a book about Jesus or make a film about Jesus without angering a lot of people and creating controversy. Even pro-Jesus films like Mel Gibson's "The Passion" created a lot of controversy. So Jesus is too touchy of a subject. The New Age movement is very politically correct. It even teaches that we are all equal, despite the fact that equality doesn't exist, even in nature. So Wayne Dyer has to avoid controversial subjects in order to be politically correct and please the New Age crowd. He does reference Jesus occasionally when it suits his purpose, but he does not focus on Jesus that much of course. Everyone will quote a Bible verse when it suits their purpose, because the Bible can be used to justify anything.

[Jester]

Jester,
The reason Wayne Dyer doesn't focus on Jesus much is because anything said about Jesus creates controversy. You can't write a book about Jesus or make a film about Jesus without angering a lot of people and creating controversy. Even pro-Jesus films like Mel Gibson's "The Passion" created a lot of controversy. So Jesus is too touchy of a subject. The New Age movement is very politically correct. It even teaches that we are all equal, despite the fact that equality doesn't exist, even in nature. So Wayne Dyer has to avoid controversial subjects in order to be politically correct and please the New Age crowd. He does reference Jesus occasionally when it suits his purpose, but he does not focus on Jesus that much of course. Everyone will quote a Bible verse when it suits their purpose, because the Bible can be used to justify anything.

Yeah, true, in fact the Devil did that after Jesus was baptized.

"If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down. For it is written: "'He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'

Matthew chapter 4 verse 6

[Roady]

Hi Winston, Jester,

Thanks for the welcome
I do agree with what you are saying the most. Except that the bible should not 100% correct.
If could not found any inconsistancy in the Word of God. In Wayne Dyers books, I found many inconsistancies. Before I gave my heart to Jesus, I studied Dyers stuff for day and night. I took my conclusion that this could not be my way, just because of this inconsistancies.

The great difference is, in my opinion, that I truely believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and Dyer sees Jesus "just as a great teacher in history".
I do not try to justify Dyer in his personality, but I try to seek the source after his "teachings".
Like Paulus said: everything that is not out of Christ, he treats like garbage. So in my opinion Jesus is the only way to go to the true God.
All the other ways are ways to make your own God. And that is what I see Dyer doing all the time.
You are right with saying that if we talk about Jesus, people will always jump up. In my opinion that is a sign for me, why there is so much power in that one name "Jesus". The bible also said that He will be a stone, people will stumble over. That makes sense and I see it happening all the time. Why else are so many christians being prosecuted?

In a certain way if I read a book of Dyer, it reads very comfortable. Too comfortable.... The day after, I always felt "trapped" or something. So I have to be careful. I think when I read new age stuff, I feed my ego (because of the lie: you can be equal to God). When I read the bible, my ego is shrinking (because God shows me that I need an authority above me, one who is endless graceful).
As told my experiences are coming more in line with the bible then with Dyers Stuff.

[Winston]

Hi Roady,
Well Wayne Dyer's job is to keep you positive and motivated so that you believe that you can do anything and that anything's possible if you put your mind to it. Americans love those type of cliches. But foreigners are too down to earth to buy that kind of BS cliches. Also, only middle class people buy such New Age BS. Poor people who are down to earth and more in touch with reality do not buy that kind of BS.

But Wayne Dyer isn't wrong just because he contradicts the Bible or Christianity. Remember that your Christian religion is based on faith. It's not something you can see or touch or prove. So you can't quote it as established fact that the whole world ought to agree on. It's not a given like 2+2=4, though many Christians treat it as such.

Dr. Wayne Dyer is wrong is because he exaggerates and uses BS cliches that don't match up with reality or common sense. Some examples:

1. He says that "You can do anything if you believe in yourself" and that "there are no limits".

This isn't true. Limits and scarcity are part of life and part of the physical world. We all live with them. This is common sense that everyone knows. Maybe he means those things figuratively, but still, he doesn't say that. He makes it sound like he is being literal. He just says that because no one who talks about limitations can sell books in the New Age movement. The word "limitations" doesn't sell.

You cannot "do anything if you believe in yourself". For example, if you went to an Olympic gymnastics instructor and told him that you want him to train you, first he would tell you that you're too old, and second, he would tell you that you would have to demonstrate that you have exceptional talent in gymnastics first before he would bother training you. Otherwise it's a waste of time for everyone. Hard work and "believing in yourself" is not enough. You gotta have some TALENT in what you are trying to succeed in too.

Do you think the world chess champion Gary Kasparov is world champion just because he "believes in himself"? No way, he has exceptional talent in chess and a photographic memory of chess moves. He wouldn't be world champion if he had no chess talent, no matter how hard he worked or how much he believed in himself. Do you think Bill Gates would succeed with Microsoft if he had no talent in computers? No way. He had lots of talent in computers, programming and software design.

So clearly, Wayne Dyer is out of touch with reality and his claims are way too far fetched.

2. He says that you will get what you expect, because your thoughts and attitude create your reality. So if you expect things to go well, they will, and if you expect things to go badly, then they will go badly too.

This is stupid and a literal form of the law of attraction. If you could get positive results by just thinking positive things, then everyone would only think positive thoughts and get their way and nothing would go wrong. Duh. It's not true that you always get what you expect. It's not even true that most of your results are what you expect. No way. We all have plenty of examples of when we expected things to go well and they didn't, or expected things to go badly but they turned out ok. Expectations don't create reality, not even in general. That's such full of shit. I can't believe so many people praise Dyer just because he sounds so positive and his voice is so soothing.

3. He claims that there is a simple spiritual solution to every problem. One of his books is even titled "There is a spiritual solution to every problem".

This again goes against common sense. Simple problems do have simple solutions. For example, if I need a toothbrush, I can get it at the grocery store. Problem solved. If I need pizza, I pick up the phone and order it. Problem solved. But real problems that are complicated do not have easy solutions. They often involve no win situations or being stuck between a rock and a hard place or some kind of Catch 22 situation. If real problems were easy to solve, then they would not be real problems. Duh.

Most of the examples of "problems" that Wayne Dyer gives are simple problems that do not need his solutions. For example, in one of his audio lectures, he cites a woman he knows who has a phobia of merging onto the freeway when she is driving. Then he says that she needs to let go of her fears and be confident about merging onto the freeway. Duh! It's not like she needs his "spiritual advice" to do that. Anyone can tell her that or help her with that. Even an ordinary layman can. Sheesh. That's NOT an example of a real life problem! My goodness. Why is Dr. Dyer so fricking stupid and clueless about life?! Has he never had a real problem with no easy solution?

See my other post debunking New Age BS here:

viewtopic.php?t=22995

[Roady]

Hi Winston,

I thought about your comments.
In certain way you say: Just use your own logical thinking brain, and you can solve most of your problems, which are no problems, but just
"tiny little happy accidents" I mean, it's just the way of life, and with normal thinking you can handle the normal things of life. I do agree with that.

But there are also real problems. I told you I was an addict. I think I had to deal with some real problems.
Real problems can grow if you can't love in your life, being angry or hatred, not able to forgive, illness, psychic problems etc.

In a certain way Dyer give some hands to get grip on your problems. But in the end, everybody has to solve their own shit.

Anyway, I think that Dyer has millions of followers, just because he is talking nice things. The ears want to be caressed.
And if it brings money in the pocket, why not go on with the show?
If you once start build your tower, you have to finish it. If not, then you have to admit: oeps, I was wrong.

[Postup70]

Is a math teacher a fraud or less than because he teaches another person's theories?
Is a French Teacher a sham because he teaches a language he did not make up from scratch?
I believe you may be missing the point. To learn something....to learn as opposed to remembering a fact and just repeating it...in my experience with Wayne Dyer and my own experience is taking what I have learned and to gain a deeper more insightful understanding from my own perspective and then offering this back to someone. One does not have to consistently come up with new ideas. Do you write music? Almost every song that is written is a pattern or a new expression of an existing pattern. Have you written a post on the music on the radio?

I am glad you have the opportunity to voice your opinion. It is your judgment.

As for the money, that point of view on my end I struggled with as I stepped into the world working with people and then I realized with all the hard work, I struggled to put food on the table. I had dreams of wanting to travel. By doing the good work in this world, would I never be allowed to travel. Money is just energy. I have found that when you offer up your services, whatever they may be, it has been a blessing to offer up different options of service. If money is an issue, then here is a free podcast or tv show. If you would like to take the next step then here is a book for $25. Or maybe a cruise for $1500. There are different options for everyone. That is the beauty that all are included. Plus if you hear the stories of Wayne Dyer, he was constantly giving out money and books and his time to all he encountered. That says a lot to me.

Many blessings to you. Please keep questioning AND be open to the answers as well...even when they challenge your preexisting opinion.
Michael