It's not just New Wagers who will shower you with attention in the early part of your association.

Jews for Jesus were very attentive when they were hustling me for Jesus. One guy would call me regularly to stay in touch. He reminded me of a telemarketer because when I asked him questions it would throw him off and he would return to his script -- never answering my questions to my satisfaction. Very creepy. He was also concerned because my partner at the time wasn't one of their converts and would likely distract me from being a good little follower. When he finally got the message that I wasn't interested in J for J I stopped hearing from him.

Years ago I took a Context course. The woman who kept pushing me to take more classes was very friendly, sharing stuff about her personal life, including the fact that she was going to marry someone she had met in one of the classes. She stopped being my "friend" and stopped calling when she realised I wasn't signing up for more classes.

It's all about money and power. I've met these sorts of people in a variety of ways.

A naturopath I was seeing who considers herself to be very "spiritual" and loving (more accurately New Wage), promptly removed me from her email list when I told her I couldn't afford to see her any more. She knew I was still ill, but that clearly didn't matter. Haven't heard from her or her office since. Last week out of curiosity I visited her new web page. Her rates have gone up and there's no way someone who is ill and out of work could afford her. Most people with regular jobs would think twice about paying out that kind of money! Meanwhile, she continues to promise a lot on her web page: to heal your body, to reduce stress, to release negativity, to eliminate pain, to boost immunity, to empower you, to help you lose weight and finally to help you learn and grow. Big promises for big $$$. And how do you measure to determine if the treatments are a success? What does it mean, for example, "to release negativity" or "to help you learn and grow?" She would tell me that she didn't want her clients to become too dependent on her, and yet they revered her as some sort of guru who had all the answers. She even sold water that had been blessed which I never bothered purchasing.

One more example: a therapist I was seeing was very friendly at first, but as time went on she became less respectful. If I didn't see things her way, I was wrong because she had all the answers. She lived by Louise Hay and A Course in Miracles . Very black and white thinking, no different from any street corner hustler or religious zealot. I didn't buy into this therapist's belief system. Her simplistic, fairy tale answers for everything. It was a no win situation and I stopped seeing her.

There are other such people I have encountered along the way. It's no wonder I am now very wary. I am especially sceptical about people who claim to have answers for everything, this includes all sales people, all healers and all religions. I'm keeping things simple these days as I learn to trust my own intuition, experience and common sense.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/23/2010 12:59AM by sunshine.

Another thought: It's always interesting to read the negative reviews of New Wage materials on Amazon. People who dare to be critical are judged harshly and ridiculed for being ego oriented. So much for love.

Connie L. Schmidt's post re the reactions to a negative review of The Power sums it up really well:

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Well, the responses to Steve Salerno's comment are going along predictable lines, with fans of "The Secret" ragging on Steve for being negative and unhappy, or accusing him of not reading or not understanding the book. Shades of a similar conversation here after "The Secret" came out.

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Knowing what I do about Rhonda Byrne and her work, as well as the entire culture surrounding "The Secret" and the self-help industry that spawned it, it appears to me that Steve did read "The Power" -- and understood it pretty clearly. I haven't read it yet myself; I'll wait till it gets down to two or three bucks on Amazon Marketplace before I spring for it. That probably reflects a negative attitude towards money, but there you are.

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Rhonda claims to be all about love and joy, and in that regard she is very much like some of the New-Wage gurus she featured in her previous projects. But the way she has treated some of those who were responsible for her success is anything BUT loving or joyful (Google "Rhonda Byrne lawsuits" if you don't know what I'm talking about) -- and this gives her something else in common with the aforementioned gurus.

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Writing breezy copy that touches, however superficially, upon lofty principles is one thing. Actually living by lofty principles is apparently more difficult, particularly when $ucce$$ enters the picture. Some might say this is one of those cases where it might be wise to separate the message from the messenger. But it looks to me as if in this case the message is pretty shallow, rendering any attempt at separation moot.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/23/2010 02:02AM by sunshine.

Rhonda Byrne also learned in her new book The Power, not to include writing from other new wagers like in The Secret. The fact that Rhonda Byrne used the content of all those people in The Secret, made them all want to sue her so they could get a piece of the millions.
As well, she took/stole some of their ideas, and then cut them out of it.

So in The Power, its all Rhonda Byrne, all the time. And its simply awful. She really doesn't even understand New Thought, which is what she is selling.
But it doesn't matter.

Rhonda Byrne is a marketer.
She sells people what they think they want to buy.

Its interesting how these new wage "healers" also believe in "abundance".
So they charge very high rates.

But what is really going on?
They make FALSE promises of miracle cures.
Desperate and sick people hear those false promises, and try to find relief.
Because they are desperate, perhaps from pain or a terminal disease, they will pay the inflated prices.
It doesn't work, so people keep coming back, or move onto the next person.

So in fact, the new wage "healers" abundance, comes from making false promises of healing, and desperate and ill people who want relief, delude themselves into believing that this might help them.

So the loving new wager is exploiting desperate people for personal gain.
And they block out the facts, when people die and it doesn't work, or when they complain. They remove them from their lists.

Those few who get better by themselves, or through other care, the new wage healer claims credit for.

But what is lower than charging exploitation rates, to sick and desperate people?

Even offshore "doctors" are getting into the act. They can charge $10,000 for some bogus surgery, and do 10 a day. So the offshore doctor can make $500,000 a week, doing bogus unproven surgeries, that can hurt/kill people.
But $500,000 a week is 24 million a year.

Anticult, what you say is all too true.

The more I realise how much I allowed myself to get suckered, the more foolish I feel.

I'm trying to console myself with the thought that now that I've opened my eyes and am less trusting, I am less likely to fall for more lies.

There would not be one person posting here who hasn't been scammed at some point, in one way or another.

Thanks, Anticult.

Right now I'm feeling a bit raw.

Don't worry Sunshine, let's all be in this together. Then we're not alone! If it makes you feel any better, I thought I'd never fall for this stuff either. We're intelligent, free-thinking adults, at least that's what we thought.

This seems like the appropriate thread to discuss this, so out of curiosity: Has anyone here successful at those "new paradigm, shift of the ages" love relationships? You know, the ones that Abraham Hicks tells us it's possible to have with all the good stuff and none of the bad? The comparison of the old relationship model and the new relationship model, that sort of thing? I was just wondering if anyone ever tried it, and their results with it.

I have a nasty feeling Anticult knows exactly what I'm talking about...

Perfect Love Relationships...Soulmates...

Another unachievable impossible goal, so when people fail, then they can take more courses from Abe-Hicks, and others!

These salespeople know EXACTLY what people want.
Love, money, sex, be skinny, health, respect, security, excitement, etc.
So they sell the secrets of "being in love" as that is what everyone wants more of.

Abe-Hicks are classic, they make millions, selling an endless stream of stuff people think they want.
They know, SELL people what they think they WANT to buy.

Find the customers PAIN (lonely) and then tell them you can teach them to find LOVE. Just buy their courses, that's all.

Love for sale.
Enlightenment for sale.
Health for sale.