Quote
dh07
Abraham Hicks makes books and other learning tools available. They are also all about self-help in the real sense of the word. They frequently remind attendees that no purchases or continued workshop attendances are necessary in order to practice that which they are teaching.
And Spiritualist medium Margery never charged a dime for her services. She was still caught in her fraudulence.
Quote
dh07
There is no cult and, in fact, there is a means of validating what they espouse: just try it!
I tried it for many years, and nothing that ever happened was a result of anything more than post hoc fallacy, selective thinking, confirmation bias, law of very large numbers, and the placebo effect. Also, you cannot "try" what they say about the nonphysical or reincarnation. As for anecdotes, they are not a way of validating anything. Someone could pray to Satan for a healing of a headache and feel relief because of the placebo effect and then use it to validate whatever screwy teaching they're reading.
Quote
dh07
It's pretty amazing and it is foolproof. More importantly, what have you got to lose?
Again, you have no evidence that it is foolproof (a play off full-proof, I'm assuming). And there is a lot that people can lose by believing in these teachings. Physical and psychological health come to mind. I discuss this below.
Quote
dh07
I challenge anyone to find legitimate reason to condemn this sort of teaching.
I have done that, repeatedly, but here I go again. It is wildly dangerous for people to neglect medical treatment in exchange for the STILL UNPROVEN idea of releasing resistance (as Abraham describes it). Abraham has suggested that even going to the doctor's office is "looking for trouble." This is wildly dangerous and has the potential to cause people enormous physical harm. There is also the frightening danger of them attempting to self-cure themselves and feeling guilty when they aren't able to do so.
Also, at the core of these teachings is an arrogant premise that you create everything in your life. This can be incredibly psychologically damaging for people who have had a trauma in their life and are trying to figure out what they did wrong (I repeat: trying to figure out what THEY did wrong) to attract disease, rape, etc. Also, there is a very unhealthy dependency that many listeners have on the CDs, and a lot of them have replaced any internal guidance they may have had with Abraham. They walk around, using Abraham's vocabulary (the vortex, vibrational escrow, allowing, constructing thought-ways) rather than their own. That isn't healthy...it's disturbing.
The teachings also discourage critical thinking. They do this when they say that it doesn't matter what is true...just what feels better. Critical thinking is vital to life. In fact, it's our means of discerning the world around us. To replace it with unreliable emotional "guidance" is dangerous.
Quote
dh07
It offers only good!
Not so. It offers self-deception and delusion.
Quote
dh07
In fact, on their website you can avail yourself of a great deal of information that is free, including video clips, Q&A, and more.
So do Cosmo and Men's Health via their website, but it doesn't mean they don't want your money.
People who listen to Abraham like to bring up this free information thing (fyi, Abraham has pointed out to their listeners when they have asked about the high seminar prices). The fact is, many don't just get the free information. They go to workshops, on cruises, buy the books, the CDs, etc.
The self-help industry is like any industry. They market to the same audience over and over and over again because those are the people who are going to buy their materials. People who buy self-help materials do not just get one book. They buy books repeatedly. Cosmo and Men's Health haven't had any revelations on weight loss or beauty, but people continue to purchase them despite the plethora of free information dished out via their websites. People continue to purchase them because they believe that doing so will make their lives better. The same is true about Abraham's materials.
Quote
dh07
Abraham may or may not be "blowin' and flowin'" through Esther Hicks. I really don't care.
It's interesting that you mention this. This is actually an idea that "Abraham" via Esther has presented. Many Abers don't care about the messenger, because Abraham has told them that the messenger doesn't matter. Another example of where Abraham's logic has been adopted by their "open minded" listeners.
Quote
dh07
What I do care about is that what is taught not only makes sense in the hearing of it, it bears out in practice. And I don't know a soul who wouldn't want to learn how to be more peaceful, more loving, and generally more joyful more often. Do you?
I don't know a soul that wouldn't want to learn how to be more "peaceful, more loving, and generally more joyful more often." These teachings are not the way to achieve that.