Lying On a Prayer

Deepak Chopra is one of the most acclaimed spiritual gurus of our generation. While I have never followed or studied his teachings, many people, upon hearing about my psychological issues or my interest in yoga and meditation, have asked me to check out his teachings.

That’s how famous he is.

To be fair, I have also struggled to check out speeches by Ram Dass or Alan Watts, as I am generally wary of gurus or teachers placed on a pedestal built from their own charisma and fame. But that does not mean we have nothing to learn from anyone. If we wanted to simplify the lesson, it would be to judge and measure the teaching, not the teacher; but we know our human brains and spirits are not so simple.

What is simple? Understanding the message behind one of his emails to his associate and convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein: “God is a construct. Cute girls are real.”

This is not the first time a spiritual guru has been entangled in sex trafficking or assault. No less dubious are the allegations against the creator of Bikram Yoga, Bikram Choudhury.

Too many other spiritual leaders have been shown to be of questionable character (and, more importantly, in opposition to their teachings) in their private lives, and even more have proven to be nothing more than preying grifters. Guru Jagat (born Katie Griggs) is an example of how spiritual grifting has reached even greater heights when Western “teachers” claim to bring Eastern spiritual teachings to new audiences.

Joe Dispenza, for example, seems to be everywhere and has apparently conquered the hearts not only of thousands of Americans but also Australians. Only a couple of weeks ago, a friend told me how life-changing it has been to follow his meditations and learn from his talks and lessons. He describes himself as a “New York Times bestselling author. Researcher of epigenetics, quantum physics & neuroscience.” In truth, he is a Chiropractic (doctor?), which is in itself more pseudoscientific than any form of pop science. Ness Labs writes:

But when I typed Dr Joe Dispenza’s name and pressed enter, the first page did not show the usual Wikipedia or Google Scholar pages. Instead, I found a number of self-promotional websites and YouTube videos of conferences he had held. Some of these videos are deeply disturbing: telling a woman simply to think about how much she wants children to cure her infertility; claiming that we can achieve immortality — and that some human beings have achieved it — by truly “living in the present”.

Do you smell the danger?

People are rightly enraged by his abuse of science (which he does not practise), but I would argue that, just as importantly, he — like too many others — abuses the world of spirituality. Regardless of whether we possess an immortal spirit, we know that spirituality is an important part of most people’s lives and, with or without metaphysical beliefs, can have enormous benefits as well as serious pitfalls.

In trying to keep things simple, it is important to note that many in the Western world (as I live in what we call such) have abandoned traditional religions for a range of reasons, including stories that are difficult to believe, grifting (the Catholic Church has for centuries engaged in what amounts to highway robbery — pay for your communion, donate for your salvation, and so on), and far too many reports of abuse.

However, people long for spirituality. Some, like me, in a secular sense — perhaps even stripped of many cherished components — but others because of a deep belief in souls, the afterlife, and other profoundly important aspects of their lives and philosophies. Thus, abandoning many traditional religions such as Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and so on, they give themselves over to “spirituality”.

The problem is that, for many, it is not enough to keep certain traditions, rituals, and beliefs. They want or need more: charismatic figures, community, shared identity, and so on. This unfortunately opens the door to many a scammer, abuser, and cult leader.

There are no saints in the wild, and yet we still want to see them in those who offer the answers we are looking for.

I am personally a practitioner of yoga, and I like to think of myself as a meditator. I truly believe in the power of meditation, which is supported by many strong studies, but mostly because, anecdotally, it makes me feel great and I value it as a philosophical practice too. But meditation itself is not for everyone. The practice can be dangerous (for example, throwing oneself into a month-long meditative retreat) and, in some cases, may contribute to psychosis. It can also predispose us to seeking out teachers who may turn out to be gurus or spiritual leaders.

All around the world, and across all ages, we have been surrounded by self-help grifters.

This is true in many fields: financial, psychological (I do not know much about her, but an interesting case seems to be the fame of Mel Robbins), and spiritual.

The problem is that these figures fill a gap in society. In other words, we feel the need for someone to give us answers, and we often succumb to the best speakers rather than the best teachers.

In many ways, the system is broken: there is a genuine need on one side, but the offerings on the other are sometimes no more than smoke and mirrors, and at other times actively dangerous. Not to reiterate the point that no one is a saint.

Deepak Chopra has proven to be an example of why we should not idolise people, but there are many others.

An interesting figure for millennials seeking enlightenment in the modern world is Jay Shetty.

Shetty has written two bestsellers: Think Like a Monk, a 2020 memoir and self-help guide based on his time studying Hinduism, and 2023’s 8 Rules of Love, which aims to help people better navigate their romantic relationships. Calm, the meditation start-up reportedly worth $2 billion, has given Shetty the title of Chief Inspiration Officer. He also runs a life-coaching business, the Jay Shetty Certification School, where students pay thousands of pounds to learn the “Jay Shetty discipline”. He has 14 million followers on Instagram and 6 million across his two YouTube channels. — The Guardian

Like Deepak Chopra, Guru Jagat, and others, Jay has a plethora of celebrities and people in positions of power (including US presidents) referring to him and seeking his guidance on mental health, productivity, and spirituality. He is living a jet-set lifestyle, prominent across social media platforms, residing in a multimillion-pound mansion in Los Angeles — all while following his supposed calling as a monk. A grifter extraordinnaire , he has also been accused of plagiarising other people’s social media content, fabricating associations with universities, and accused of being misleading about his past as a monk.

Everyone wants to be a guru. And why not even create a real-life or virtual cult that makes us multimillionaires?

What is most curious — though not at all surprising — is how abusers, liars, and grifters gain exponentially more fame than those who practise spirituality or yoga while openly rejecting guru status or warning the world about the questionable businesses that can grow out of our devotions. This seems to have been the case with Vanda Scaravelli, for example, from what I gathered when reading Awakening the Spine. But with humans, you just never know.