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In a world of burgeoning personal growth products, “quantum physics” methods of getting rich, and instant enlightenment intensives, it is time to strike a cautionary note, and seek a healthy dose of reality.

There is a huge amount of nonsense being taught these days by people who sound good, and with no qualifications to teach it, apart from that they have read a few good layman’s books on the subject. Worse, there are others spouting teachings that are just plain false. And sadly, as increasing amounts of the same regurgitated material comes on the market, our powers of discrimination, to tell truth from nonsense, seem to decline rapidly.

Almost everything we learn and deal with in the realm of personal development, particularly of the metaphysical kind, revolves around theories and models. A lot of it tries to makes tenuous connections between one knowledge area and another, in order to try to teach you how to live your life, attract wealth, or whatever.

This kind of teaching can only ever be analogy at best; a sort of picture language to help us grasp the point being taught. After all, we should never forget that theories and ideas, on just about every subject, change as time passes and we learn more.

Let’s take a practical example. Quantum Physics. You’ve doubtless noticed that everyone and his brother are ranting on about “Quantum Physics”, especially when as related to wealth creation.

Well, I have to tell you something. I actually studied Quantum Physics right up to Ph.D. level, and I can assure you that it has NOTHING to do with “think positive, materialize sub-atomic particles according to your thought waves, and loads of money is going to come your way!”… Or whatever the latest incarnation of the story happens to be.

Quantum Mechanics is MATHS… Horrible mathematics of a complexity that the average person could not even begin to fathom. Most Quantum Physicists are as so remote from the blurb being taught in modern self-help books that it isn’t even funny.

Moreover, this whole science applies to the sub-atomic world. To claim that we can influence any of this with “thought power” is just bad Science. Now, I am NOT saying that “Thought Power” is an invalid concept. However, invoking Quantum Physics as an explanation IS stretching the limits of what has actually been proven to date.

Now, there is some value in teaching these concepts in relation to personal growth and wealth creation. However, we have to understand that they are just teaching ANALOGIES. They are not “the truth”. Even within the Physics world, we call it Quantum THEORY; because it is precisely that, a theory. It could be completely thrown out at some point in the future, as so many theories have been.

We should also realize where some personal development teachers are coming from, i.e. what their underlying philosophy of life is. Many famous names in the American personal development field are Bible-believing Christians and/or staunch Republicans (without naming any names!) This immediately puts a certain inevitable color on their material. This is not to say that their material is necessarily incorrect. However, there is a bias there, and it is important to know that.

As with the Quantum examples above, be wary of people who teach their opinions, or other people’s opinions that they have read, as if they are “facts”. They are not. They are just opinions, analogies, and models.

I am reminded of one famous wealth mentor who frequently makes disparaging comparisons between human and animal intelligence; telling us that animals can see, hear, smell, taste and touch, but that’s about it. They lack mind, they have no insight into their inner world, they are slaves to instinct, and that is what makes us so much superior to them!

Now, the fact is that while this may be a useful teaching analogy, it is factual nonsense. Moreover, even modern Science no longer supports this notion. Besides this, neither he nor anyone else can really know the inner life of an animal without having been one. This is typical Darwinian nonsense, souped up (ironically) with a healthy dose of Christian theology, i.e. Man being given dominion over the animals, and created essentially different and superior to them, etc.

Anyone who has a close relationship to their pet cat, dog or bird knows just how capable animals are of a whole range of emotional inner states that we barely give them any credit for. The light-bulb went on for me when the vet informed me that my “sick” cat, who had stopped eating and retired to his box all day long, was almost certainly suffering from “jealousy”! I had my father and uncle visiting me for a few days; the first such visit he had ever seen since he started living with me, and the first time I had paid any serious attention to anyone else apart from him! Once they left, he recovered immediately!

I cite this instance only as an example of how you should never absorb everything people say, just because they have “expert” status. Each and every teacher/guru has their own set of biases, prejudices and plain old-fashioned errors. That’s okay. Nobody is perfect. Don’t expect them to be. Use your own mind to sort fact from fiction.

Also, be aware of this little-known fact: in this modern commercialized world of ours, self-help is regarded as a “niche market”. In marketing terms, this is a group of people who are fanatically interested in a subject, have plenty of money, and are willing to spend it to indulge their interest in an irrational, almost fanatical manner, by buying product after product, book after book, and seminar after seminar.

Examples of niche markets are Golfers, Home Business Opportunity seekers, Model Railway enthusiasts, and…. Self Help!

What does this mean? Simply this: you and your cash are targets for smart marketers who perceive this to be a rich lucrative market they can become wealthy in!

All they have to do is find out the “niche” language you talk, the kind of products you like, and they can just go out and have them produced in order to sell them to you! There is even a well-known system taught by one famous internet marketer where he targets a niche market, finds out what they want, goes out and has a product ghost-written, slaps up a sales letter online, and rakes in the cash from that market. He does all this WITHOUT actually knowing a thing about the subject!

Is this good or bad? Well, it depends. If the product is good and meets your need, it’s probably okay.

My point in telling you all this is to point out that not everyone in the self-help/personal development market are there because they are PRIMARILY interested in helping others. They are PRIMARILY interested in helping themselves financially BY helping others, in what is the famously cash-rich “niche market” of Self-Help. That is also why the marketing for “Spirituality” products is getting ever slicker: “Instant Enlightenment”, and the like. Why instant? Because marketers and salespeople know that people want results (1) Quickly, (2) Simply, (3) Effortlessly. This is what the whole dieting market is based on!

This hard marketing reality is partially responsible for why so many people are parroting each other, e.g. Quantum Physics. The reason is because they don’t have an ounce of originality in their own bodies to come up with their own teaching analogies. But why should they? The ground work has already been laid by greater minds. Hey! Just skim through five half-decent books on the subject, write your own based 100% upon them (or better still, have it ghost-written - less work), and you’re off to the races!

In summary, the intention of this article has not been to deride all modern personal development teachers, but simply to ask you to use your brain as you listen to them. Don’t accept everything as gospel. Some people - but not all - are in this business primarily for cash transfer - from your pockets to theirs.

Remember that, in truth, we really don’t “know” anything for certain. Hence, teachers are only teaching by the use of analogy and models. However, a model of reality is not reality itself.

However expert a person may be, they are only human; complete with bias, prejudice, and ignorance of many things. It may not be evident in their teachings, but it is there. Take the good, and reject the bad.

There is good teaching, and there is bad teaching. Often, both can be found emerging from the same mouth. Hence, be aware. Don’t mistake pictures and teaching analogies for the reality itself, which is is ultimately unknowable.

Copyright 2006. Asoka Selvarajah. All rights Reserved.

Asoka Selvarajah is a writer on personal growth and spirituality, and the author of “The 7 Golden Secrets To Knowing Your Higher Self”. His work helps people achieve their full potential, deepen their understanding of mystical truth, and discover their soul’s purpose. Click Here To learn More