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What Led to the Surge of New Religious Movements, Spirituality and Self-Development in the United States?
Mémoire de recherche – UE 102 Présenté par Charles-Edouard BUSA Sous la direction de M. Peterson NNAJIOFOR Année universitaire 2010-2011 1e/2e session TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION ...... 3
1. The Evolution of America’s Religious Landscape Throughout History ...... 8
1.1. Religion in Colonial Times: Diversity and Tolerance? ...... 9
1.2. The Great Awakenings ...... 13
1.3. America’s Religious Landscape from the 1920s Onwards ...... 23
2. The Development of New Religious and Spiritual Movements ...... 30
2.1. The 1960s: a New Age, a Turning Point ...... 30
2.2. New Religious Movements ...... 37
2.3. Spirituality ...... 45
3. Self-Development ...... 59
3.1. Toward More Pragmatism ...... 60
3.2. The Components of Self-Development ...... 70
3.3. Anthony Robbins: the Self-Development Guru ...... 85
CONCLUSION ...... 96
BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 99
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Introduction:
This thesis is a reflection on America’s religious landscape, which is unique in many ways. It is diverse because nowadays there are religions from all around the world: Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism and so forth. But diversity is to be found even within denominations. For instance, there is not one large Protestant church only; there are dozens of them. I have personally met people who go to two or three different churches, and others who are very conservative and against change. However, diversity is nothing new. Indeed, during the colonial era, churches and religious practices were already eclectic. America’s religious landscape is also unique because most Americans will feel free to discuss religious matters, which would be taboo in France. A French person visiting the US is often offended when he or she is asked “What church do you go to?” As if it were not enough, dollar bills read “in God We Trust” and presidents often end their speeches by “God bless America.” Those obvious references to religion may be misleading and cause foreigners—the French for that matter—to think there is no separation of Church and State. However, the United States is a secular country. As a matter of fact, the First Amendment to the Constitution states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” 1 In Les métamorphoses de Dieu, Frédéric Lenoir says that the confusion is due to what Americans know as civil religion. The word “god” is used so as not to value a religion more than another. This reference is more of a way for the American people to feel united and share common values. 2 President Dwight Eisenhower reinforced America’s civil religion by asserting that: “[The American] government makes no sense unless it is 3 founded in a deeply felt faith—and I don’t care what it is.” On the other hand, if a French president were to say “God bless France,” it would result in a polemic, as there is no civil religion in this country and that the word “god” would mainly be associated with the Roman Catholic Church. France is the country where the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen was written in 1789, in which one can read that “No one shall be disquieted on account of his opinions,
1 Constitution of the United States: Bill of Rights. “Avalon Project”. Yale Law School, Lillian Goldman Law Library. Retrieved fr.
3 including his religious views, provided their manifestation does not disturb the public 1 order established by law.” It is also the country where the 1905 Law of Separation of Church and State was passed. 2 Judging from the law, the two countries should thus theroretically be equally secular. However, in practice they are not. In France, new religious movements and spiritual groups have been discriminated against, and often put into the same category as cults. Although they are regarded as sectes, it is important to bear in mind that the French word secte is not a translation of the English word “sect.” The former is akin to the English word “cult,” while having further connotations. According to the Merriam Webster dictionary, a cult is: “a religion or sect considered to be false, unorthodox, or extremist, with members often living outside of conventional society under the direction of a charismatic leader;”3 while a sect is generally: “a Christian denomination characterized by insistence on strict qualifications for membership, as distinguished from the more inclusive groups called churches.” 4 The Society of Friends (the Quakers) is a Christian sect, for instance. In France however, the MIVILUDES (Mission interministérielle de vigilance et de lute contre les pratiques sectaires) established a list of criteria so as to distinguish between a secte and a church. According to these criteria a secte resorts to brainwashing, demands important financial contributions, isolates its members from the outside world and may physically abuse them. Furthermore, a secte often criticizes the government, as well as society.5 The French attitude toward new religious movements may be a remnant of the past. Contrary to the US, whose Constitution has always been secular, France used to be a Roman Catholic country, where dissent was not tolerated. This led to the Wars of Religion6 and the discrimination against Protestants. Even in 19th-century France,
1 “Declaration of the Rights of Man — 1789.” n.d.. Retrieved fr.
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Protestantism was still considered a heresy and a cult. 1 The weight of France’s Catholic past is also put forward by Danielle Hervieu-Léger who, quoting Jean-Paul Willaime, describes France as a “secular country of Catholic culture.” 2 Today, the target may be different but France remains cautious. In Made in USA, Guy Sorman writes that many churches are run like businesses and openly sell their beliefs as any commercial company would sell its products and services, which sounds shocking to the French while Americans have no objection to that. 3 If someone were to run a religious or spiritual movement like a business in France, they would be considered dangerous gurus. The latter word sounds pejorative in French as it is often associated with cult leaders: it suggests a corrupt and greedy person who tries to mesmerize gullible people so as to make money; conversely, it is quite neutral in America, where it mainly means “leader;” as it does in its original definition according to the Hinduist tradition.4 If France misunderstands America’s religious landscape, it is also true that the French position on that matter leads to confusion in the US. Danièle Hervieu-Léger points to a report released in 1999 by the American government, establishing a list of the countries in which religious freedom was least respected; it included France. The US argued that not all minority religions were dangerous cults. 5 Indeed, today’s most practiced religions used to be minorities. Protestantism is an obvious example of a minority which has grown to become widely accepted as a religion. Furthermore, Yannis Thanassekos writes about Greek philosopher Celsus, who made a speech in which he critized Christianity in A.D. 178 when it was only a sect—regarded as a cult, as opposed to the mainstream beliefs of the times.6 Although the most common clichés and lexical differences have been clarified, America’s religious and spiritual landscape remains paradoxical from the French perspective. Indeed even though the US has secular political institutions, the people are religious. As Jean Bethke Elshtain observes: “Currently some 95 percent of Americans
1 Jean Baubérot. “Du protestantisme perçu comme ‘secte’ : l’exemple de la France (1880-1914).” in Alain Dierkens and Anne Morelli, eds. «Sectes» et «hérésies», de l’Antiquité à nos jours. Bruxelles: Editions de l’Université de Bruxelles, 2002. 163-71. 2 Danièle, Hervieu-Léger. La religion en miettes ou la question des sectes. Villeneuve-d'Ascq : Calmann- Lévy, 2001, 28. 3 Guy Sorman. Made in USA. Regards sur la civilisation américaine . Paris : Fayard, 2004. 130-1. 4 “Guru.” Random House Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary. CD-ROM. Vers. 3.0. Random House, Inc, 1999. 5 Danièle, Hervieu-Léger, Op.Cit., 30-1. 6 Yannis Thanassekos. “Les reproches addressés par Celse à la ‘secte’ des chrétiens.” in « Sectes » et « hérésies », de l’Antiquité à nos jours, Op. Cit., 45.
5 claim belief in God.” 1 In 2008, a study revealed that 78.4% of Americans were Christians, and 4.7% associated themselves with Buddhism, Judaism, Islam and other denominations.2 How could Americans be so secular and religious at the same time? This in itself is a puzzling question from a French point of view. Furthermore, if over 80% of the American people belong to a formal religious institution, why have so many alternative faiths and spiritual movements been able to develop? Therefore, this thesis will try to answer the following question: What has led to the surge of new religious movements, spirituality and self-development in the United States? Although New Religious Movements, Spirituality and Self-Development will be studied separately from religion, the question of whether they can always be separated must be raised: where are their limits? How is it possible to make a difference between the three of them and more traditional religions? Do spirituality and self- development make religion obsolete? Can they be combined? Are there risks of abuse? There has been a process, hence the verb “led” in the main question this thesis will address. New churches, spirituality and self-development did not emerge from a vacuum. That is why it is important to study how the process started and gained momentum, and how each one led to the other. Since there were spurts and periods when America’s spiritual and religious landscape was more stable and calm, the noun “surge” describes the evolution of the process. “New” is a significant word, because the question of whether all the supposedly “new” religious groups are actually new, or whether they are the result of evolution and dissent within more traditional churches, needs to be addressed. “Religious,” meaning belonging to a community whose members follow common rules, believe in the same dogmas, and observe the same rituals; as opposed to “spiritual,” which will be discussed in chapter 2, along with the differences between the two notions. Then, in a third chapter “self-development” will be analyzed. How is it related to spirituality and religion, and in what way should they be distinguished? Why was it created?
1 Jean Bethke Elshtain. "Faith of Out Fathers and Mothers: Religious Belief and American Democracy." in Martin E. Marty, ed. Religion in American Public Life. Living with Out Deepest Differences. New York, New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2001. 39. 2 "U.S. Religious Landscape Survey. Religious Affiliation: Diverse and Dynamic." The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. Feb. 2008. Retrieved fr.
6
“In the US” is used for the reasons expounded in the first two paragraphs. Nevertheless, it is impossible to generalize, for the US is so large a country. That is why the areas in which change has been more welcome and likely to occur than others will be pointed out.
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1. The Evolution of America’s Religious Landscape throughout History
Introduction:
In this chapter, mainstream—or mainline—religions will be discussed. Although the adjectives “mainline” and “evangelical” have been used to differenciate between the two Protestant traditions since the Great Awakenings, the adjective “mainline” will be used in a broader sense here, so as to distinguish between New Religious Movements (NRMs) and the mainstream religions, which appeared more recently and were inspired by mainstream religions. That is to say, Protestantism, Roman Catholicism, Judaism, as well as the other religions that arrived in America with twentieth-century immigrants, such as Buddhism and Hinduism—these beliefs can be considered mainstream in their countries, too. In its broader definition, “mainstream” means: “belonging to or characteristic of a principal, dominant, or widely accepted group, movement, style, etc.”1 As will later be pointed out, those mainstream religions have been questioned for centuries. Of course, in the part of this thesis that deals with the colonial era, some sects, which only represented a minority will be studied, such as the Quakers, because they are important to make sense of America’s unique religious map. The major religious— sometimes sociological—events that happened from the 17th century till the 1960s need to be examined to really understand the momentum of the waves of revivalism. It will make it clear that change and upheaval did not begin in the 1960s; and the connections between the three concepts around which this thesis revolves will become more obvious. It would not be fair to say that the context of the 1950s and early 60s alone— the Cold War, the war in Korea, the Vietnam War, the Civil Right movements—was enough to trigger such change. Finally, the trends from the 60s onwards will be studied. In the light of all this information, understanding why NRMs, spirituality, and eventually, self-development, have been soaring will become easier.
1 “Mainstream.” Def. 3. Random House Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary. CD-ROM. Vers. 3.0. Random House, Inc, 1999.
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1.1. Religion in Colonial Times: Diversity and Tolerance?
1.1.1. The Puritan Myth As Robert C. Fuller explains in Religious Revolutionaries, most settlers went to America mainly for economic or juridical reasons. 1 And fewer people went to America in order to avoid religious persecutions. Fuller goes on to say that in the beginning only 20% of the settlers could have been considered to be religious in colonial times. What this shows is that initially in British America there was no such thing as an established Church, contrary to England. Since most people were not really religious, it made room for new trends of thought as they were not limited by dogmas. In addition, those who had gone to America for religious reasons were trying to flee established Churches from Europe, and particularly the Church of England. They were dissenters, and therefore had a different mindset. Fuller also makes it clear that the few religious people were not following very traditional practices, and that they showed a deep interest in magic, occultism and similar practices. 2 Accordingly, some key ingredients for religious change were already there. On the other hand, Jon Butler, contrary to Fuller, claims that religion was one of the main reasons why people would move to America. 3 Obviously, Butler refers to New England and Virginia, while Fuller takes into account all the different colonies and origins of the settlers. If it is true that in 1607 the very first settlers—who founded the colony of Jamestown, then Virginia—aimed at converting Native Americans and spreading the Christian faith, this mission of conversion was soon downplayed. 4 In any case, the situation was more complex than it seemed, as Fuller does insist on the fact that by 1776, about 80% of the population could have been referred to as WASP. 5 Some of the different beliefs which composed the New World’s religious spectrum and their evolution will now be reviewed. The people who had fled England and settled in New England were dissenters from the Anglican church, which they considered to be too similar to the Catholic
1 Robert C. Fuller. Religious Revolutionaries.The Rebels Who Reshaped American Religion. New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2004. 3. 2 Ibid., 4. 3 Jon Butler. New World Faiths: Religion in Colonial America. New York: OUP, 2008. 47. 4 Robert C. Fuller, Op.Cit.,.2-3. 5 Ibid., 4.
9 church. Being dissenters, they had been persecuted at home. 1 They basically wanted more obvious change, fewer fancy rituals, no music during sermons, and so forth. They 2 took the Bible to be God’s word and “believed that it provided a plan for living.” Because they wanted to purify the Anglican church from Catholicism, they were called Puritans.3 Nevertheless, it would be wrong to say that they had severed all ties with the established Church of England, as Reichley carefully reminds us.4 The first settlement in New England was established by people known as the Pilgrim Fathers. They had sailed across the Altlantic and founded a colony named Plymouth in 1620. 5 A few decades later, other colonists set foot in New England. They were led by one of the major figures of Purtitanism, John Winthrop, who established the Massachusetts Bay colony in 1630 and became its governor. 6 But Jon Butler makes it clear that New England was not a theocracy. However, Puritans had a certain influence. They would form congregations, following Wintrop’s recommendations, and within some of the communities, the people had to be church members in order to vote, because a good share of government officials were Puritans. 7 The members of the congregations were gradually referred to as “Congregationalists.” The Puritans were Calivinists and rejected Arminianism, which was a widespread doctrine in England. 8 Believing that only God was to choose who deserved to be saved, they had no way to know whether they were part of the happy few. However, they believed that there were signs that one might have been chosen, such as wealth: Those who were wealthy were obviously blessed by God and were in good standing with Him. The Protestant work ethic was the belief that hard work was an honor to God which would lead to a prosperous reward.9 To summarize the situation in New England, it can be said that the Puritans represented an important majority, and that they felt united because they shared common values.10
1 Jon Butler. New World Faiths: Religion in Colonial America. New York: OUP, 2008. 47-50. 2 Kay Kizer. “Puritans.” University of Notre Dame. Notre Dame, Indiana. n.d.
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But it was more complicated than that, as discrepancies surfaced after John Winthrop’s death in 1649. 1 Once the Puritans had established themselves, church members found new enemies. New settlers kept coming, and contrary to the first ones, they had little interest in the Puritans’ way of life. 2 Indeed, some people were becoming richer, came to own more material goods, and became more interested in trade and economics, while downplaying religion. 3 In addition, Fuller points to the 1692 Salem incident which showed that other beliefs were not welcome in New England, although the people who were accused of witchcraft were honest and fitted in perfectly. 4 Such an event may have contributed to people growing more hostile toward the Puritans. It was only the beginning of the controversy around the Puritans. As Fuller wrote, Roger Williams, who was a well appreciated minister in the beginning, started questioning the Puritan church of New England, as he thought it was still too close to the Anglican Church of England. He even went so far as to blame unfair arrests of dissenters by the Puritan church through the government. 5 Furthermore, Williams pointed out that those who had supposedly tried to reform the Anglican church, by creating one of their own in New England, were actually using the same methods to demonize dissenters. Needless to say that Williams had become a threat to the Puritans. He ended up having to go into exile, and settled in Rhode Island. Denis Lacorne reminds his readers that the French philosophers who had written on America depicted the Puritans as a barbarous people and therefore, they preferred to visit other colonies. 6 Two important points stand out, here. First of all, only New England has been discussed so far; and Williams’s case shows that the situation was probably different in other colonies, where diversity tended to be better accepted. Besides, Puritans started rebelling against their own churches, which shows that even within the most united community, faith unity had become utopian.
1 Jon Butler, Op.Cit., 51. 2 Ibid., 51. 3 Rober C. Fuller, Op.Cit., 12. 4 Ibid., 14. 5 Ibid., 17. 6 Denis Lacorne, Op.Cit., 36-9.
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1.1.2 Other Colonies, Other Religions In addition to the Puritans in New England, the other religions that existed in colonial times need to be studied. Although America’s religious atmosphere may not seem quite different from that of England considering the Puritans and their demonizing dissenters, one must not forget that there were other colonies, such as Pennsylvania— founded by William Penn and home to the Quakers. When such groups are taken into account a glimpse of religious diversity begins to be noted in colonial times. The Quakers really had a different way of looking upon religion, and as Denis Lacorne puts it in De la Religion en Amérique, there was a single dogma for them: “Il y a un Dieu et il faut être juste.” 1 The Quakers tried to live religion as the first Christians did. They basically discarded all that had been added to Christianity over time. There was no church hierarchy, for example; there were no rites either—baptism was not part of the Quakers’ practices. The Quakers considered themselves to be all equal. They also formed a very individualistic community,2 which contributed to the changes that occurred later on. Basically, each Quaker was worthy enough to hear God’s word; so whenever they met on Sundays, they would just sit and wait until one of them had something to say. There was no leader to tell them what to do and what to think, contrary to the members of the Puritan Church. Denis Lacorne mentions another sect whose members had similar practices, the Mennonites. 3 What set them apart from the Quakers was that they took principles such as simplicity and peace to an even more extreme level. Even though Protestant sects were predominant in the colonies, some Catholics found refuge in Maryland through the help of George Calvert—lord Baltimore—and his son Caecilius. Nevertheless, the latter insisted religion be kept a private matter because Catholicism in England was going through very agitated times.4 Caecilius endeavored to to impose the 1649 Act of Toleration. Catholics obtained protection for a while, but they were eventually overwhelmed by the Puritans’ adversity and number. 5 The Toleration Act was repealed in 1692. 6 In spite of the repeal of this act, it can be said that bona fide efforts were made to maintain tolerance between the different religions in the colonies.
1 Denis Lacorne, Op.Cit., 18. 2 Ibid., 21. 3 Ibid., 25. 4 A. James Reichley, Op.Cit., 82-3. 5 Ibid., 83. 6 Jean Béranger. L’Amérique coloniale (1607-1774). in Jean-Marie Bonnet and Bernard Vincent, eds. Histoire Documentaire des Etats-Unis. Nancy : PU de Nancy, 1986. 79.
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However, the Toleration Act demanded harsh punishment for those who dared to question the Catholic church.1 In a nutshell, the religious landscape was diverse but total freedom of religion did not exist at the time.
1.2. The Great Awakenings Some of the major events that occurred during and after colonial America are known as the Great Awakenings. They are the spurts mentioned in the introduction. There have been three Great Awakenings since the 18th century. However, they were not identified as such when they took place as they extended over several decades. They show that there was not a single steady religious institution, and the Americans who reformed the main religious beliefs were active seekers. They look upon religion in quite a pragmatic way. Those events also show that religious renewal is cyclic in America. Therefore each one of them will be studied here, to look into how and where they were initiated, what they changed, how the membership in the most important churches evolved and who the leaders of those movements were.
1.2.1. The First Great Awakening The First Great Awakening is said to have started in the 1720s and ended in the 1750s, although its impact lasted for another few decades. 2 Denis Lacorne however dates its beginning to 1734. 3 He is right in the sense that one of the main catalysts entered the fray in 1734—Johnathan Edwards. Another catalyst was George Whitefield,4 who began to preach in 1738. 5 Fuller, on the other hand, reminds his readers of still another catalyst, who played an important part even before Edwards and Whitefield did—Theodore Frelinghuysen, a Dutch Reformed minister who started preaching in the 1720s. 6 Finally, the Wesley brothers were also part of this group of activists, although John Wesley is more often remembered than his brother Charles. What each of them brought to the colonies’ religious landscape will be analyzed; but first of all, the sociological context at the beginning of the 18th century needs to be considered. Though Puritan thought seemed to have established itself, the
1 A. James Reichley, Op.cit., 83. 2 Robert C. Fuller, Op.Cit., 26. 3 Denis Lacorne, Op.Cit., 69. 4 Pronounced Whitfield 5 Robert C. Fuller, Op.Cit., 28. 6 Ibid., 26
13 impression of stability was not there to stay, for it was challenged by the arrival of new migrants,1 new discoveries in the field of physics, new philosophies and new trends of thought started to spread. They appealed to the youth, and the Puritans failed to adapt to that change.2 It seemed as though religion had fallen into a rut as the people viewed it in a rather futile way. While the world was changing, religion symbolized “routine and formalism”3 to them. The 1720s saw the beginning of what is known as revivalism. Fuller defines it as: “an emotionally laden type of preaching aimed at producing conversions.”4 Frelinghuysen played an important part in the revivalist movement. In response to the lack of enthusiasm in the churches he would try to make church members aware of “their sin,”5 the only way out being through conversion. Thus the word “awakening” is relevant to the very first phase—people were going from feeling empty to realizing they were sinful and eventually achieving a “New Birth.”6 In 1734, Johnathan Edwards made his appearance. He was a Puritan and strongly believed in Calvinism, which influenced his sermons. 7 Edwards, a student of theology, joined the Congregational church, of which he became a minister. 8 His conversion was remarkable in that it was not merely a rite: Edwards claimed he had felt “a sense of the glory of the divine being.” 9 This feeling of divine glory, this experience of the divine, was akin to the way Quaker worship services and sermons worked, despite the Calvinist approach. 10 He then started preaching, advocating conversion and insisting on “consistent Christian practice.” 11 Similarly to Frelinghuysen, Edwards’s sermons were highly emotional and the public often cried when told the stories of Satan’s evil deeds. 12 Edwards would argue that humans were sinful by nature, and that
1 Carl E. Kramer. “The Great Awakening, c. 1730s-1760.” in John E. Findling and Frank W. Thackeray, eds. Event That Changed America in the Eighteenth Century. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1998. 1. 2 Mark A. Noll. America’s God. From Jonathan Edwards to Abraham Lincoln. New York, New York: Oxford University Press, 2002. 43. 3 Robert C. Fuller, Op.Cit., 26. 4 Ibid., 25. 5 Ibid., 26. 6 Robert C. Fuller, Op.Cit., 26. 7 Denis Lacorne, Op.Cit., 72. 8 Mark A. Noll, Op.Cit., 23. 9 Ibid., 23. 10 See p. 10. 11 Mark A. Noll, Op. Cit., 24. 12 Sébastien Fath. Dieu Bénisse l'Amérique! La Religion de la Maison Blanche. Paris: Editions du Seuil, 2004. 74.
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God would only allow a few people to be saved. 1 Edwards referred to the elect people as “saints.” According to him not everyone could be a saint, and those who were should reflect the image of sainthood through their demeanors. 2 This Calvinist ideology is to be be found in one of his most famous sermons, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God ,” written in 1741, where he stated forcefully that: There is the dreadful pit of the glowing flames of the wrath of God; there is hell’s wide gaping mouth open; and you have nothing to stand upon, nor anything to take hold of; there is nothing between you and hell but the air; ‘tis only the power of and mere pleasure of God that holds you up.3 The entire sermon revolved around “God’s wrath” and humans’ miserable condition and powerleness. He nevertheless balanced this fearful and pessimistic message by pointing to the only chance people had to be saved. In other words, they had to show they were on Christ’s side because he had died so they might have the opportunity to be chosen. 4 Not only was Edwards an important preacher, he was also America’s first philosopher, who disputed the optimistic theories which claimed that one could be a virtuous human being innately. Edwards claimed that only God could choose to provide humans with a sense of true virtue. 5 In 1750 Jonathan Edwards was eventually dismissed because he wanted to replace open communion by a sincere testimony of faith as a prerequisite for people to join the church.6 George Whitefield came on the scene in 1738. He was an Anglican evangelist from Gloucester, England. More precisely, he was a Methodist (Anglicanism and Methodism split in the late 18th century) and had been a student and a friend of the Wesleys’s, the founders of the denomination. 7 His sermons were by far the most theatrical of his time. 8 He would even go so far as to advertize his tours in order to gather as many people as possible. 9 When he first traveled to colonial America, he had taken along a huge quantity of religious merchandise which he sold to the people in
1 Robert C. Fuller, Op.Cit., 27-8. 2 Mark A. Noll, Op.Cit., 29. 3 Jonathan Edwards. "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God (1741)." in Stuart Rosenbaum, ed. Pragmatism and Religion. Classical Sources and Original Essays. Chicago: U of Illinois P, 2003. 24. 4 Barry Hankins. American Evangelicals: A Contemporary History of a Mainstream Religious Movement. Lanham, Md.: Rowan & Littlefield Publishers, 2009. 6. 5 o Lucia Bergamasco. “Evangélisme et Lumières,” Revue française d’études américaines 2/2002 (n 92), p. 22-46. 36. 6 Mark A. Noll, Op.Cit., 45. 7 Carl E. Kramer, Op.Cit., 3. 8 Frank Lambert. "Book Reviews — The Divine Dramatist: George Whitefield and the Rise of Modern Evangelicalism by Harry S. Stout. " The Journal of American History 79.2 (1992): 628-9. 9 Robert C. Fuller, Op.Cit., 29.
15 order to promote his sermons. 1 Whitefield too granted a major role to conversion. He actually thought he had been chosen for this: “He knew that his special mission was to be a catalyst for religious conversion and he had a natural gift for pushing the right emotional buttons necessary to elicit repentance.”2 His success was also due to Benjamin Franklin, whom he had befriended. Franklin published over 100 works by Whitefield.3 Whitefield was very critical of other priests. He would say that many were merely reading notes and had never experienced true faith: In one message, widely circulated in colonial newspapers, he charged that many preachers ‘‘do not experimentally know Jesus Christ,’’ attacked the practice of preaching from notes, and challenged the spiritual integrity of university-trained ministers, especially Harvard and Yale graduates.4 Although Whitefield was a strong advocate of Calvinism— he left the Wesleys brothers when they became pro Arminianism 5— and thought that it did not behoove anyone to determine whether they would be saved or not, he wanted everyone to be able to listen to his message, whether poor or rich.6 Finally, the Wesley brothers, John and Charles, who were Methodists, played an important part in the First Great Awakening too. Like Whitefield, they were from England. John left for Georgia in 1735, initially to convert Native Americans. 7 The success of the operation was limited. A few years later, Wesley was introduced to Jonathan Edwards’s works. His unique preaching style inspired him.8 He and his brother brother realized that religion should be made available to the masses and that personal experience of faith through conversion was more important than the rites that are traditionally performed. 9 Both of them claimed to have experienced real conversion, which would become a key part of their teachings. Being Arminians, the Wesley
1 Frank Lambert. “’Pedlar in Divinity’: George Whitefield and the Great Awakening, 1737-1745." The Journal of American History 77.3 (1990): 812-7. 2 Robert C. Fuller, Op.Cit., 28. 3 Frank Lambert. “’Pedlar in Divinity’: George Whitefield and the Great Awakening, 1737-1745.” Op.Cit., 821. 4 Carl E. Kramer, Op.Cit., 12. 5 Arthur J. Moore "Great Revivalists—The Evangelist of Desire by Henry Abelove / The Divine Dramatist: George Whitefield and the Rise of Modern Evangelism by Harry S. Stout / John Wesley's Sermons: An Anthology edited by Albert C. Outler and Richard P. Heitzenrater. " Commonweal 119.5 (1992): 36-38. 37. 6 Denis Lacorne, Op.Cit., 70. 7 Kenneth G. C. Newport. The Sermons of Charles Wesley: A Critical Edition, with Introduction and Notes. New York: OUP: 2001. 15. 8 W.R. Ward. Early Evangelicalism : A Global Intellectual History, 1670-1789. New York: Cambridge UP, 2006. 127-9. 9 Denis Lacorne, Op.Cit., 71.
16 brothers took revivalism to the next level by insisting on the fact that anyone could be saved, contrary to the pronouncement of Calvinism. 1 This new idea of religion was quite successful where they preached. 2 However, it did not constitute the predominant ideology, for Edwards turned out to be a strong competitor.3 In 1769 they sent missionaries to the colonies to spread Methodism. One of the leaders of these missions was Francis Asbury. They eventually had to withdraw in 1776 due to the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, because the atmosphere had become too dangerous. 4 The First Great Awakening enabled religion to recover its importance among the people. This was accomplished through sermons urging people to side with God so as to avoid his wrath. Although the different catalysts used a new approach, Noll reminds his readers that they all taught traditional beliefs. There were some innovations, such as the importance of the individual’s role in taking action so he or she might have a chance to be saved, 5 but mostly this major event paid lip service to religion, as shown by the very phrase “born again.” 6 The different actors of the First Great Awakening were at the origin of the Protestant tradition known as “evangelicalism.” The evolution of the religious map from the 1700s and in the 1740s appears as follows: In the former period, there were, in the following order: Congregationalists, Episcopalians, Baptists, Presbyterians, Quakers, Dutch Reformed, Roman Catholics, Lutherans.7 In the 1740s, there were, in the following order: Congregationalists, Anglicans, Presbyterians, Reformed Dutch and German, Baptists, Lutherans, Quakers and Roman Catholics. 8 Even after the waves of revivalism had ceased, the First Great Awakening still had an influence on religious life in America as proved by the number of churches of all denominations: it had doubled between 1740 and 1780. 9 Other Great Awakenings occurred and they will be examined in the next two parts.
1 Denis Lacorne, Op.Cit. 72. 2 Julie Ingersoll. Baptist and Methodist Faits in America.New York: Facts On File, 2003. 13. 3 W.R. Ward, Op.Cit., 128-9. 4 Jon Butler, Op.Cit., 79-80. 5 Ibid., 23. 6 Mark A. Noll, Op.Cit., 29. 7 Robert C. Fuller, Op.Cit., 23. 8 Ibid., 25. 9 Ibid., 25-36.
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1.2.2. The Second Great Awakening The Second Great Awakening began in the newly independent United States at the turn of the 19th century. Sébastien Fath dates its beginning to 1800 and its end to 1861.1 And as Denis Lacorne observed, the context in which it happened is important. It It was influenced by figures like Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Paine. 2 The former had read John Locke and Newton. Although he believed in the existence of a superior entity, of a creator, he did not believe in a choleric god who despised his creation. He was a deist.3 Deists basically think that God can be explained rationally; they are not atheists, though.4 Jefferson was also a strong believer in religious freedom; he was in favor of the the multiplication of churches and sects because he thought that God had granted human beings free will; as he claimed in the Virginia Act for Establishing Religious Freedom of 1786: Well aware that Almighty God hath created the mind free; that all attempts to influence it by temporal punishments or burdens, or by civil incapacitations, tend only to beget habits of hypocrisy and meanness, and are a departure from the plan of the Holy Author of our religion[…]5 This contributed to the democratization of religion, which, as James Hutson wrote, was one of the causes of the surge of new denominations during the Second Great Awakening.6 Aside the context in which it occurred, there were important figures of the the movement who used new methods for converting people. Among those leaders were Timothy Dwight, James McGready, Barton Stone, Francis Asbury and Charles Grandison Finney. The following paragraphs will examine why each one of them was important and what they brought to America’s religious landscape. It began in 1800 in the western part of the country when James McGready— from the new state of Kentucky—organized the first “camp meeting” in a place called Gasper River. 7 Somehow following in Whitefield’s footsteps, a new way of spreading
1 Sébastien Fath, Op.Cit., 75. 2 Denis Lacorne, Op.Cit., 75. 3 Robert C. Fuller, Op.Cit., 51. 4 Bernard Sève. "Le Dieu des philosophes déistes: Le Grand Horloger." Le Monde des Religions: 20 clés pour comprendre Dieu Hors Série n°11. 2009: 54-57. 54. 5 Thomas Jefferson. “The Virginia Act For Establishing Religious Freedom.” 1786. U Virginia. UVA Library. Religious Freddom Page. Retrieved fr.
18 faith and reaching the masses had emerged.1 The camp meetings would gather thousands of people over several days. McGready’s first camp meeting lasted four days; and similarly to Whitefield’s methods, they were full of emotion, laughter and screams.2 Another major figure of the Second Great Awakening was Barton Stone. Inspired by McGready, he organized a camp meeting at Cane Ridge in 1801. 3 The event, stretching over seven days, gathered between 10,000 and 25,000 people who had not hesitated to travel a long way.4 The Cane Ridge camp meeting could be characterized by a display of emotion too: Many fell to the ground, convulsed with physical spasms, “barked,” danced wildly, or fell into trance-like states. These unusual phenomena were understood to be tangible evidence of the life-altering power of the Holy Spirit.5 The camp meetings spread and the number of conversions increased tremendously. On the East Coast, Timothy Dwight was the president of Yale University. Faced with the rather liberal religious views of his students he began preaching in 1802.6 Barely a decade had passed since the French Revolution, and Dwight feared that the students’ not dreading God’s wrath might bring a similar event to America: “Dwight warned that Americans would follow the path of French infidels toward cultural anarchy unless they returned to God-fearing piety.”7 It is however important to note that Dwight, Dwight, as well as the other figures of the Second Great Awakening, preached the importance of the self in salvation. They conveyed an Arminian ideology, contrary to Whitefield and Edwards. 8 In other words, one could be saved through one’s deeds and behavior.9 Still on the East Coast, this Arminian principle was preached by one of the most important catalysts too—Charles Grandison Finney. He operated in the state of New York, where he had worked as a lawyer until his conversion. 10 That is to say, until 1824. From then on, he would spread his message in urban areas—in contrast with
1 Sébastien Fath, Op.Cit., 75. 2 Grant Wacker. Religion in Nineteenth Century America., New York: OUP, 2000. 33. 3 Ibid., 33. 4 Barry Hankins, Op.Cit., 13. 5 Robert C. Fuller, Op.Cit., 62 6 Ibid., 60. 7 Ibid., 60. 8 See 1.1.1.2. 9 Robert C. Fuller, Op.Cit., 60. 10 Julie Ingersoll, Op.Cit., 26-7.
19 camp meetings.1 Finney strongly believed that salvation was no rocket science and had nothing mystical about it so long as one would take appropriate action. 2 He also thought thought that anyone could organize such events as it was a matter of methodology more than spirituality, which was a rather controversial point.3 Those campaigns were quite successful and remodeled America’s religious map as new sects and churches kept emerging, and the number of converts kept soaring.4 For example, Hutson observes that the number of Methodists went from 10,000 to over one million between 1780 and 1844.5 The main denominations were then then the Methodists and the Baptists, followed by the Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Episcopalians, Roman Catholics, Lutherans and the rest of the churches. 6 Over 55% of church members were either Methodists or Baptists, while only 7.5% were Congregationalists.7 This represented a tremendous change. Arminianism had become the main ideology. From then on, anyone who wanted to be saved had to personally experience religion and to live it in everyday life; rites were not enough. Many authors argue that the Second Great Awakening was stopped by the Civil War, which, when it had ended, gave way to a third Great Awakening.
1.2.3. The Third Great Awakening First of all, it should be made clear that not everybody agrees on whether there actually was a Third Great Awakening. Sébastien Fath thinks there was and argues it began in the wake of the Civil War. 8 On the other hand, Denis Lacorne only notes two Great Awakenings and just refers to a third one when quoting Peter Baker, who, speaking about George W. Bush, wrote: “N’était-il pas allé jusqu’à pretendre que son arrivée au pouvoir coïncidait avec un nouveau cycle d’intense piété collective, «un Troisième [Grand] Réveil».”9 Some authors do point out the waves of revivalism which which occurred at the turn of the 20th century without defining them as an Awakening, such as Grant Wacker and Robert C. Fuller, while others, such as Thekla Ellen Joiner,
1 Barry Hankins, Op.Cit., 13-4. 2 Robert C. Fuller, Op.Cit., 63. 3 Julie Ingersoll, Op.Cit., 27. 4 James A. Hutson, Op.Cit., 165. 5 Ibid., 165. 6 Robert C. Fuller, Op.Cit., 65. 7 Julie Ingersoll, Op.Cit., 23. 8 Sébastien Fath, Op.Cit., 76. 9 Denis Lacorne, Op.Cit., 187.
20 insist on the common features with the previous Awakenings; Joiner claims the “third” started in the 1880s-1890s and ended in the late 1910s.1 However debatable this may be, one cannot but acknowledge that the particular context of the late 19th century and early 20th century triggered yet another revivalistic movement, which there are valid reasons for defining as a Third Great Awakening. After the Civil War, the US was going through a period of change. Industrial development was taking place in the North and cities were growing. 2 Science had made considerable progress and the Darwinist theories had appeared. It had become hard to believe in what the Bible related when one could see tangible proofs brought by science.3 As a result, interest in religion declined. On top of that, the Eastern world’s beliefs were advertized across the Western world. There was, for example, a meeting in Chicago in 1893 which gathered religious leaders from all over the world. 4 It lasted seventeen days and was called the World’s Parliament of Religions. 5 If one were to use an old allegory told by Henry Plée in Chroniques Martiales to depict the situation, Americans were beginning to see what an elephant actually looked like, after having believed for so long that it could only be the way their blindman had described it—each of the five blindmen having touched a different part and thus describing the elephant in five different ways. 6 They had the opportunity to learn more about other religions, some of which had existed long before theirs.7 Many Americans had heard or read about other religions, but they did not know what they consisted in exactly. The event made them realize that other religious beliefs were as worthy as Western beliefs. “Many came away wondering what some missionaries out in the field had suspected for a long time: did not other religions offer their own perfectly respectable paths to God?” 8 This led to an even greater lack of interest in mainstream denominations. Eastern religions had found a western champion
1 Thekla Ellen Joiner. Sin in the City: Chicago and Revivalism 1880-1920. Columbia, Mo: UP of Missouri, 2007. ix. 2 Robert C. Fuller, Op.Cit., 117. 3 Ibid., 121. 4 Ibid., 124. 5 Grant Wacker, Op.Cit., 130. 6 Henry Plée. Chroniques Martiales. Noisy-sur-Ecole: Budo Editions - Les Editions de l'Eveil, 2002. 138-40.
7 Robert C. Fuller, Op.Cit., 124. 8 Grant Wacker, Op.Cit., 132.
21 too: William James, for he advocated spirituality over formal religion. 1 In a way, he was somehow the predecessor of Alan Watts, whom will be discussed in chapter 2. Therefore, the Third Great Awakening, although Fuller does not refer to those times as such, was a reaction to the emerging theories and practices. Most authors agree on the importance of Dwight L. Moody during that period of revivals. Moody helped organize many revivalist meetings in big cities. They were successful because Moody was very meticulous and would plan them beforehand. 2 Wacker wrote that Moody’s style was unique. He would explain complicated theological concepts in laymen’s terms so that everybody would understand. His sermons were rather positive in the sense that he would not focus on hell and how fearful one should feel. 3 Finally, he opened Sunday schools and supported YMCAs so as to spread Christian faith among the youth. 4 Moody Moody inspired other evangelists such as J. Wilburn Chapman and Charles Alexander5—who led a famous campaign in 1910—as well as R.A. Torrey, Billy Sunday (in 1918), and as Joiner observes, women played an important part in evangelicalism: “It was women who gave Protestantism much of its social and moral energy.”6 Fuller goes on to write that the revivalist sermons would focus on The Scriptures, and particularly on the Apocalypse—which they used as a proof because it was said that people would start rejecting the Bible and religious practices. 7 Those more more conservative Christians were later called “fundamentalists” in the 1920s. 8 They also firmly believed in Jesus Christ’s second coming. 9 They did not think that the Bible was obsolete, as theology professor Charles Hodge pointed out in the late 19th century. For instance, Hodge thought that speaking about the sunset and the sunrise was more of an image than the absolute truth, and that translation errors had to be taken into account, as well.10 According to the Merriam Webster dictionary, fundamentalism refers to: a movement in American Protestantism that arose in the early part of the 20th century in reaction to modernism and that stresses the infallibility of the
1 Robert C. Fuller, Op.Cit., 138. 2 Ibid., 134. 3 Grant Wacker, Op.Cit., 142. 4 Ibid., 142. 5 Thekla Ellen Joiner, Op.Cit., 109. 6 Ibid., 15. 7 Robert C. Fuller, Op.Cit., 134. 8 Grant Wacker, Op.Cit., 146-8. 9 Ibid., 146. 10 Ibid., 140.
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Bible not only in matters of faith and morals but also as a literal historical record, holding as essential to Christian faith belief in such doctrines as the creation of the world, the virgin birth, physical resurrection, atonement by the sacrificial death of Christ, and the Second Coming.1 However they aroused religious interest in people who were already conservative only. Thus the Third Great Awakening was characterized by waves of revivalism in an urban setting, with believers becoming even more conservative. But, maybe more importantly, it was characterized by this split between traditional western religions and other ways. Indeed, some people would not only question religion, they would reject it altogether and turn toward science, and sometimes, toward other spiritualities—inspired by eastern religions—as will be seen in Chapter 2. As far as the religious map is concerned, in 1890 Roman Catholics accounted for 30% of the believers, Methodists and Baptists 22% and 18% respectively, followed by Presbyterians (6%), Lutherans (6%) and the other denominations.2 To put it in a nutshell, each Great Awakening saw a renewed interest in religion, which occurred after what could be called a faith crisis. Each one of them implied the questioning of mainline religions and their practices, and they show that even in spiritual matters Americans have always tried to innovate and use new approaches to spread doctrines. The next part will focus on how the religious landscape has evolved from the 1920s onwards.
1.3. America’s Religious Landscape from the 1920s Onwards Right after the Third Great Awakening, struggles continued between fundamentalists and more liberal believers. In a nativist context, laws were passed to protect the US from what Ku Klux Klan members referred to as “de- Americaniz[ation].”3 Indeed, the number of immigrants had been increasing significantly over the past decades, which resulted in conservative Protestants growing even more hostile toward them for sociological and religious reasons. However one of the major changes in the religious landscape was undoubtedly the image of Catholics in America. They worked their way up—so did the Jews—to eventually become accepted as part of America’s religious spectrum by the 1960s. The beginning of that decade was
1 “Fundamentalism.” Def. 1. Random House Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary. CD-ROM. Vers. 3.0. Random House, 1999. 2 Robert C. Fuller, Op.Cit., 130. 3 Diana L. Eck, Op.Cit., 27.
23 a turning-point because of the election of the first Catholic president. Also, new immigration policies reopened the gates to immigrants, who brought along their religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, and even Islam. Of course, as will be seen Americans have shared different points of view on the matter. Eventually, the question of whether mainline religions are going through a crisis and what could be expected in the very near future will be raised.
1.3.1. From the 1920s until the mid-1950s As a result of the Third Great Awakening, by the 1920s there were two schools of thought: fundamentalism and modernism. The former was very conservative, opposed to new scientific theories, which were thought to be a menace to religion; and the latter was more liberal, its proponents willing to accept progress.1 In 1925, Tennessee’s Butler Act, which made the teaching of Darwin’s evolution theory illegal in the state’s schools, was passed in the wake of the struggle between the two camps. However, the law was challenged by high school teacher John T. Scopes in 1925. 2 He was approached by members of the American Civil Liberties Union, who were looking for someone to challenge the Butler Act. 3 Then, Scopes was accused of having taught Darwinism. His attorney was Clarence Darrow, a very famous lawyer, and the plaintiffs’ attorney was politician William Jennings Bryan, who had run three times for the presidency under the Democratic banner.4 Bryan, a Presbyterian, argued that teaching Darwinism was illegal because it imposed the belief of a minority on the students, and therefore did not respect religious freedom. 5 Thus the situation in the much-publicized “monkey trial” was rather paradoxical. At first, Scopes was found guilty and fined, but the case was eventually dismissed by the Supreme Court on a technicality.6 Fundamentalists saw immigrants as a menace to American society. The 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act already was a first legal action to put restrictions on immigration.7 But in 1924, another step was taken by Congress when the Immigration
1 Randall Balmer. Religion in Twentieth Century America. New York: OUP, 2001. 27-8. 2 Ibid., 29. 3 Ibid., 29. 4 “William Jennings Bryan.” Encyclopædia Britannica. 2010. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
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Act was passed. It set up a discriminatory quota system mostly aimed at limiting the number of Southern and Eastern European immigrants while prohibiting Asian immigration altogether.1 Roger Daniels even points out that in the 1930s, many Jewish immigrants were not allowed to find shelter in America from nazi persecution merely because some immigration officers were biased against Judaism.2 The situation gradually changed during World War II when the Chinese Exclusion Act was repealed. Catholics had been scapegoats for a while. They had suffered discrimination and violence from Protestants. In 1924, the Ku Klux Klan committed hate crimes against Catholics and Jews.3 Fundamentalists feared the loss of American values.4 Denis Denis Lacorne notes that the question was even raised whether Catholics should be allowed to vote. 5 Gradually, people grew more tolerant towards Catholics, and as a direct consequence, the 1928 presidential election opposed Herbert C. Hoover, a Republican from Iowa, to New York governor Alfred E. Smith, a Catholic. It is said that Smith’s religion was an important factor in his losing the election. It was not until the mid-1950s that Catholics, despite continuing discrimination, became accepted as part of America’s religious landscape, along with Jews—partly due to the holocaust. Theologian William Herberg published a book called Protestant, Catholic, Jew in 1955, in which he argued that these beliefs were the most practiced religions in America; thus pointing out that Protestantism alone did not account for the entire population. 6 Herberg Herberg depicted America as “a three-religion country.”7 Furthermore, President Dwight Eisenhower gave a speech in 1956 in which he also advocated religious tolerance: “We must strive to have every person judged and measured by what he is, rather than by his color, race or religion.” 8 Therefore, at least in such people’s minds, being American no longer meant being Protestant. Herberg’s theory proved to be right as John F. Kennedy, the first Catholic president, was to be elected in 1960, although the margin was fairly narrow. However, people were still concerned about voting for a Catholic, which is why Kennedy had to ask the people to vote for him for what he
1 Roger Daniels. Op.Cit. 14. 2 Ibid., 14. 3 Diana Eck, Op.Cit., 27. 4 Ibid., 27 5 Denis Lacorne, Op.Cit., 141. 6 Randall Balmer, Op.Cit., 45. 7 William Herberg. “The Religion of Americans.” in Anders Breidlid et al, eds. American Culture: An Anthology of Civilization Texts. New York: Routledge. 1996. 247. 8 Dwight Eisenhower. “Annual Message to the Congress on the State of the Union.” The American Presidency Project. Jan. 5 1956. Retrieved fr.
25 would do for America rather than cast their ballots with religion as a criterion. Indeed, Protestants feared a Catholic would follow the Pope’s orders on public matters; they did not think Catholics could act freely. 1 How mainline religions have evolved since the 1960s will be the topic of the next part.
1.3.2. From the 1960s until the 1990s The 1960s was a decade of change in many respects, as will be seen in the next chapter. Between 1962 and 1965, in order avoid a crisis of faith, Vatican Council II was summoned.2 Important decisions were made to better cope with the new generations of Catholics. Among others, it was decided that mass would not be in Latin anymore.3 It would be said in English in America, in French in France, and so on and so so forth. This attracted more people and was somehow successful. But when Pope Paul VI declared against the use of means of contraception, it turned out to be a tough blow for the Roman Catholic Church—attendance plummeted. Randall Balmer gives some figures which show the consequences: in 1963 the attendance rate averaged 71%, as against barely 50% some ten years later. 4 Reichley, based on the Gallup surveys, gives 75% in 1957 and 54% in 1975. 5 He also observes that Catholic seminarians became rarer: 13,000 in 1980, down from 50,000 in 1964. 6 On the other hand, Catholic membership was increasing, despite the controversies. 7 But it was largely due to Hispanic immigrants, most of whom were Catholics.8 Mainline Protestant churches were affected by those tumultuous times as well. Membership decreased by 10-20%, as Reichley notes. 9 But not all churches recorded losses. Indeed, the denominations which were more fundamentalist actually gained members—membership increased by 16-70%. 10 Reichley presents two theories as to why mainstream Protestant churches were failing. First of all, it could have been due to
1 Randall Balmer, Op.Cit., 64. 2 Ibid., 67. 3 Randall Balmer, Op.Cit., 67. 4 Ibid., 70. 5 A. James Reichley, Op.Cit., 289. 6 Ibid., 289. 7 Wade Clark Roof and William, McKinney. American Mainline Religion. Its Changing Shape and Future New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers UP, 1987. 230-1. 8 A. James Reichley, Op.Cit., 279. 9 Ibid., 278-9. 10 Ibid., 279.
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“demographic [and] socioeconomic factors.” 1 In other words, it could have been caused caused by dropping birth rates and domestic migrations. And the other reason, argued by a Methodist minister, was that the churches failed to meet their members’ expectations.2 Wade Clark Roof and William Mckinney explain that despite a 15% loss, loss, Protestants still remained the predominant religious community in the US in 1985 (57%).3 The 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act put an end to the quota system which discriminated against certain nationalities, especially Asians. The new waves of immigrants enabled America’s religious map to expand. 4 Buddhists and Hinduists began to spread the most. As Diana Eck notes, 15 million people moved to America between 1965 and 1995, one third of whom were Asians. 5 Although religious tolerance had improved, Diana Eck reminds her readers that Americans had somehow gotten used to living with Catholics and Jews, as seen earlier, but all of a sudden, Americans had to deal with new—at least to them—religions.6 Fundamentlist and nativist feelings reappeared, as some acts of violence and hatred were committed against those communities. In Maine, a Buddhist temple was broken into, and graffiti on the walls read “Dirty Asian, Chink, Go Home.”7 By the 1990s, after several decades of overall decline, it seemed as though mainline religions had recovered their importance. Church membership had increased and was back to its 1950s levels.8 Wade Clark Roof notes that in 1987, an edition of The The Washingtonian read: “God is Back.”9 He goes on to say that one fourth of the adults adults who had renounced regular worship routine had resumed it by 1989. 10 However, he qualifies this by saying that seven years later, attendance levels had dropped considerably among the believers who had seemed to regain interest in religion. 11 The evolution of current trends will now be examined.
1 Ibid. 2 A. James Reichley, Op.Cit., 279-80. 3 Wade Clark Roof and William, McKinney, Op.Cit., 15. 4 Diana Eck, Op.Cit., 12. 5 Ibid., 28. 6 Ibid., 6. 7 Ibid., 48. 8 André Kaspi. Les Etats-Unis d'aujourd'hui. Mals connus, mal compris, mal aimés. Paris : Plon, 1999. 241.
9 Wade Clark Roof. Spiritual Marketplace. Baby Boomers and the Remaking of American Religion. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1999. 116. 10 Ibid., 116. 11 Ibid., 117.
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1.3.3. Religion in the 21st Century: Faith Crisis or Fourth Great Awakening? Denis Lacorne observes that the election of George W. Bush marked the culmination of a wave of presidential religiosity, which started in 1977 with the election of Jimmy Carter. 1 There was even a peak in church attendance right after 9/11: “That national trauma sent worshipers to church services in record numbers.” 2 But it only lasted five weeks and the levels went back to normal the following weekend. 3 This could be enough to argue that America is not into a Fourth Great Awakening, but there is even more evidence that it is actually going through a faith crisis. The Gallup surveys released in 1999 and 2005 would let one think that attendance levels were higher in 2005, averaging 44% (as against 41% in 1999). 4 But Olson points out an important detail: those studies are based on what people say they do. He refers to that phenomenon as the Halo effect, which makes people lie about their behaviors for them to correspond to what they think is “socially acceptable.” 5 To counterbalance the numbers given by the Gallup surveys, Olson inquired about church attendance within 200,000 churches throughout America. It basically consisted in finding out how many members had actually attended church services on a given weekend. And the figures Olson found had virtually nothing to do with those usually released. In 2005, the real attendance levels averaged 17.5%. The lowest being 3% for mainline denominations, followed by 5.3% for the Catholic church. 6 Eventually, Olson estimates that by 2020, attendance should drop to 14.5%, if the trend remains the same.7 same.7 The crisis which some religions are going through may be an indicator of the dissatisfaction a certain number of practitioners feel. Some of them have turned toward other approaches, such as New Religious Movements, spirituality and even self- development; hoping their needs will be better met. The three phenomena, namely new
1 Denis Lacorne, Op.Cit., 179. 2 David T.Olson. The American Church in Crisis. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2008. 49. 3 Ibid., 49-50. 4 David T. Olson, Op.Cit., 26. 5 Ibid., 28. 6 Ibid., 29. 7 Ibid., 175.
28 religious movements, spirituality and self-development, which have grown significantly since the 1960s, will be studied in the next two chapters.
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2. The Development of New Religious and Spiritual Movements In this chapter new religious movements (NRMs) and spirituality will be discussed. Although some NRMs—of Christian inspiration—appeared as early as in the 18th century, the 1960s will represent a turning point. The difference between religion and spirituality will be identified, as well as the reasons why sometimes there is no clear distinction between them. What caused such movements to emerge, what they consist of, how they are different from mainstream religions, and how they are actually in their wake are the questions which will be addressed. Some important personalities who have helped spread NRMs and spirituality will be studied. Then important factors will be looked into, some of which did not necessarily appear in the 1960s, although they have gained even more importance since then. Eventually, the question of the limits to those phenomena will be raised. The controversy around certain NRMs will be examined, as well as the limits to what NRMs and, more importantly, spirituality may provide their enthusiasts with. In the light of this information, it will be easier to understand why self- development has become popular and how it is actually linked to spirituality.
2.1. The 1960s: a New Age, a Turning Point.
In order to understand the two phenomena which have gained momentum since the second half of the twentieth century, namely New Religious Movements and Spirituality, it is necessary to examine the context in which they emerged. This subpart is not an exhaustive list of all the factors that caused some people—the youth in particular—to grow hostile toward religious and political institutions. Nonetheless these facts will make it easier to understand why some people turned toward—apparently— new practices.
2.1.1. Counterculture: Questioning Religion and Society Altogether Although the 1960s are often remembered to be the decade of the Counterculture movement, of the Hippies and of the New Age, the factors that led to each phenomenon date back to the 1940s, and more importantly, to the 1950s. Theodore Roszak notes that “the period of upheaval we conventionally call ‘the sixties’ is more appropriately seen within a broader setting that stretches from 1942 to 1972.” 1 After Franklin Roosevelt had been elected president of the United States, the economic
1 Theodore Roszak. The Making of a Counter Culture. Los Angeles, CA: UCP, 1995. xi.
30 policies were revised in order to win the war. Once the war was over the US really started to thrive and furthermore it “had no economic rivals.” 1 The wave of protest and discontent that ensued was actually caused by the success of such economic policies. In On Our Own: Americans in the Sixties, Douglas T. Miller examines some of the major controversial events that occurred in the fifties. He first notes some change in music with a new genre which would be embodied by Elvis Presley—Rock and roll. Presley also brought a new image of the American youth that was radically different from that of the previous generation. 2 Miller continues his analysis moving on to the movies, noting the release of highly controversial movies like The Wild One , where Marlon Brando plays an insubordinate biker who looks for trouble wherever he goes, as well as Rebel Without a Cause , where James Dean plays a troublesome high-school student who disobeys his parents and has little respect for the law. The image of the father in this movie is also reversed as his son refuses to obey him and his wife gives him orders and scolds him through the entire movie. Miller then mentions the racial problems which happened in the mid-1950s as well as women who grew aware of their image in American society. The two phenomena led to civil-rights and feminist movements. Other factors contributed to a part of the population questioning society. Divergent opinions could easily be considered to be un-American and therefore, in the middle of the Cold War, they were thought to be communist ideas. But as Miller points out: The end of the Korean War, the death of Stalin, and the censuring of McCarthy, combined with the growing challenges of alienated youth and blacks, further legitimized dissent.3 Activist movements therefore gained further momentum in the second half of the 1950s. Activists protested other events that occurred in the 1960s such as the Vietnam War, and racial struggles. There was an important distrust in authorities and the government due to such events, as well as John F. Kennedy’s and Martin Luther King’s assassinations, economic troubles,4 and the 1973 Watergate controversy.5
1 Theodore Roszak, Op.Cit., xii. 2 Douglas T. Miller. On Our Own. Americans in the Sixties. Lexington, Ma.: D.C. Heath, 1996. 33. 3 Ibid., 37. 4 Bernard Bastian. Le New Age. D'Où Vient-il, Que Dit-il? Paris: O.E.I.L. 1991. 29. 5 Wade Clark Roof.Spiritual Marketplace. Baby Boomers and the Remaking of American Religion. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1999. 51.
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Iris Laine, in her attempt to give a definition of the New Age, notes that there was a “seeming failure of traditional religions to calm, sustain and inspire [the youth].” 1 Wade Clark Roof also points to a “break with institutional religious authority.” 2 This shows that there was a distrust not only in society and the authorities but also in traditional religions. There was a strong need for hope, and the new religions which had somehow been imported from the East had hope to offer. More importantly, practices and beliefs were brought from them in order to create new religious movements, as will be seen later on. The Beats, a group of poets and writers who were quite controversial, also contributed to the Counterculture movement in the 1950s. San Francisco was their headquarters. Some of the Beat poets and writers were Gary Synder, William Everson, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, as well as Jack Kerouac. Another famous Beat poet, Allen Ginsberg, moved to San Francisco in 1954.3 In his poems, Ginsberg “called for personal resistance to American culture [and] social change.”4 The Beats were quite controversial and aroused criticism. The youth responded to the critiques and defended the Beats as they thought that change was needed and that “something had been lost when progress became America’s most important product.”5 The Beats also represented a challenge for for mainstream religions. This is particularly interesting for far from rejecting religions they encouraged a more spiritual approach to religion, and as will be seen throughout this chapter, this was exactly what some young people were after. It ought to be noted that the actors of the Counterculture movement were quite heterogenous. Roszak points that “To one side, there is the mind-blown bohemianism of the beats and hippies; to the other, the hard-headed political activism of the student New Left.”6 What makes it possible to put them into the same category is the fact that they had a “common enemy.” 7 An example of such heterogeneity is to be found the 1967 demonstration at the Pentagon. The crowd was made up of academics, doctors, pacifists, women, as well as people who indulged in mysticism, paganism, occultism and the like.
1 Iris Laine. Dancing Spirits. Quantum Physics and Religion…Fact and Faith Offer Hope and Joy Here and Hereafter. Lincoln, Ne.: iUniverse, 2006. 53. 2 Wade Clark Roof, Op.Cit., 50. 3 James J. Farrell. The Spirit of the Sixties: Making Postwar Radicalism. London: Routledge, 1997. 58. 4 Ibid., 60. 5 Ibid., 63. 6 Theodore Roszak, Op.Cit., 56. 7 Ibid., 56.
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Counterculture was also marked by a surge in the use of drugs. One of the major figures of what was referred to as the Psychedelic culture was Timothy Leary. He was a professor at Harvard and became famous for experimenting with hallucinogenic mushrooms so as to know their effects, as well as those of drugs like marijuana and LSD.1 Leary befriended English writer Aldous Huxley, who wrote about his own experiences with drugs, and tried to make Huxley’s work famous worldwide. The Beats took part in Leary’s experiments. Roszak notes that doing drugs represented for the youth a way to radically sever all ties with the former generation. The use of LSD spread all across the United States, not without consequences. Even some American soldiers who were fighting in Vietnam died because of LSD. Timothy Leary was later dismissed from Harvard and judged for his controversial practices. The Psychedelic culture was also to be found in music, for example in the lyrics of some songs by Jefferson Airplane, a San Francisco-based rock band, which encouraged their fans to use drugs in order to experience their effects and reach other planes—as in White Rabbit.2 Other figures experimented with drugs, such as William James—in the nineteenth century—and Alan Watts. However, Leary was the one who advocated their use the most.
2.1.2. The New Age: a Definition According to the Encyclopedia of Contemporary American Culture, the New Age is an “Umbrella term covering various mystical, quasi mystical and pseudo- mystical aspects of modern American culture.” 3 This term started to be used in the 1980s but the concept finds its roots in the counterculture movement of the 1960s, although not all New Agers could be regarded as hippies. 4 The phrase “New Age” was coined much earlier by Alice Bailey. 5 New Agers are not homogenous but there are some common fields of interest such as physical and mental health, alternative spirituality and religious movements—they may borrow from pagan movements and indigenous religions, witchcraft, as well as Hinduism and yoga—and a frequent rejection of older religions like Christianity, which they consider to be too unbalanced
1 Douglas T.Miller, Op.Cit., 199. 2 Ibid., 205. 3 Gary McDonogh, Robert Gregg, and Cindy H. Wong. Eds. Encyclopedia of Contemporary American Culture. New York, NY: Routledge, 2001. 796. 4 Ibid., 796-7. 5 Bernard Bastian, Op.Cit., 48.
33 because actions are deemed either good or bad. The definition given by this encyclopedia points out that not all New Agers reject new technologies and science, and that in that sense, they cannot be considered to be hippies. René Laurentin, in the preface to Bernard Bastian’s Le new age, d’où vient-il, que dit-il? reminds his readers that the New Age is not a cult—according to the French definition of the word “secte” and all its connotations—for no one is coerced into doing things against their will, deprived of their liberties or manipulated. 1 According to Bastian’s definition, the New Age is the result of a mix between the legacy of Puritanism, revivalism, which emphasized the role of direct experience of the holy, transcendentalism, which insisted that people look within themselves in order to experience the holy, counterculture, witchcraft, a new interpretation of Eastern religions, Western esoterism, paganism, psychology and science. Most New Agers believe in an impersonal and transcendental god, karma— which basically is an inventory of someone’s deeds—psychic abilities, and the second coming of Jesus Christ. However, as Bastian qualifies by saying that Jesus Christ is seen as a spiritual guide among others.2 Jésus n’est pas l’incarnation de Dieu sur terre, mais un homme exceptionnel qui, comme Moïse, Bouddha ou Mohammed, est parvenu à pleinement se relier au « Christ cosmique».3 The verb “relier” points to another feature shared by New Agers. They look upon God as a concept, as the whole universe itself, and being so, God and them—and everything else—are one. This belief is more akin to Eastern religions and philosophies. Much was borrowed from the East, such as meditation or the belief in reincarnation— although not shared by all New Agers—and this does not mean that New Agers think that such beliefs and practices are incompatible with traditional religions. Indeed, Iris Laine notes that “[s]ome meditate or practice centering prayer within the context of the religion in which they were raised or in which they are currently participating.”4 Randall Balmer also points to a compatibility of New Age practices and traditional religions.5 However this depends on one’s point of view and biases. For instance, it will be explained in the upcoming chapter on spirituality that some spiritual advisers do not
1 René Laurentin in Bernard Bastian, Op.Cit., 9. 2 Ibid., 41. 3 Serge Lafitte. “Le Dieu New Age: Le 'Christ Cosmique.'”Le Monde des Religions: 20 clés pour comprendre Dieu Hors Série n°11. 2009. 67. 4 Iris Laine, Op.Cit., 59. 5 Randall Balmer, Op.Cit., 116.
34 reject mainline religions and do not encourage people to quit them in order to join new movements or follow their own paths. They do not criticize the Scriptures either. Indeed they think it is only a matter of interpretation. Conversely, Ron Zemke, in an article on New Age practices, writes that Robert J.L. Burrows, a member of Spiritual Counterfeits Project claims the fact that many beliefs should be borrowed from Eastern religions makes New Age spirituality spread Eastern values and thus cannot suit a true Christian. 1 New Age practices are referred to as “un-Christian.” He writes: In other words there can be no such thing as a centered, self-hypnotizing, yoga-practicing meditator who is also a Bible-believing Christian. You’re one or the other.2 About the belief in reincarnation, Laine goes on to write that it used to be part of Christian faith before the fourth century. Christianity then became the official religion of the Roman Empire and discarding reincarnation was basically a way for the Church to have more power over the masses. 3 If people thought there would be no second chance, they would comply more easily. This point also shows that not everything was entirely new in the New Age. Moreover it shows how complicated an issue it is as far as compatibility is concerned. It will be pointed out that an article written in 1989 refers to what will be studied in the next chapter under the name of Self Development as New Age II or the New New Age. The author of this article claims that New Age II is even more pragmatic and a little less spiritually-oriented than the first New Age of the 60s-70s. This goes to show the momentum that the phenomenon has gained over the years as well as how it has evolved.4
2.1.3. A Great Leader of the New Age and Counterculture Movements: Alan Watts. One of the major figures of the Counterculture movement and of the New Age was undoubtedly Alan Watts. Watts was born in the UK in 1915. He soon became interested in Eastern philosophies and spiritual practices. 5 He then moved to America and settled in New York. He was an Episcopalian minister, as well as a professor and a
1 Ron Zemke. Training; Sep 1987; 24, 9. 30-1. 2 Ibid., 6. 3 Iris Laine., Op.Cit., 60. 4 Ron Zemke., Op.Cit.,30-33. 5 Mark Watts in Alan Watts. The Culture of Counter-Culture. The Edited Transcripts. North Clarendon, VT: Charles E. Tuttle Co., Inc. 1998. viii.
35 researcher at the University of Harvard. 1 He moved to San Francisco in 1950 where he hosted a radio show on Sunday mornings called “Way Beyond the West.” 2 Watts had already published several books on Zen Buddhism and philosophy. Watts would discuss a variety of subjects concerning religion, spirituality with an emphasis put on Eastern religions. His son Mark notes that “many young people had come to consider him a sort of spiritual father to the hippies.” 3 However, Alan Watts did not support the whole of the counterculture movement. His theories appealed to the youth and counterculturists but he personally believed in Western science and rationalism. He described himself as an interpreter of Eastern religions but not as a Buddhist or a guru himself. He actually wrote a book whose title is Beat Zen and Square Zen to make this point clearer. The Culture of Counter-Culture is a compilation of six lectures given by Alan Watts. Although Watts was seen by some as the leader of Counterculture, it is important to note that Watts did not reject Western religions such as Christianity. Instead, Watts tried to bridge the gap between the East and the West, as can be clearly seen through the following example. In his lecture entitled “On Being God,” Watts raises the question of the authenticity of practices, beliefs or religions in contrast to heretical practices. He refers to Jesus’ belief according to which he and God were one. Jesus was considered to be heretical because of that, and then crucified. Yet, Watts goes on to say that Jesus was merely trying to find a way to describe the state of consciousness he had achieved and that such ideas were regarded as heretical and as “an act of insubordination and treason against the cosmic government as it was popularly understood at that time.” 4 Watts also compares Jesus’ state of consciousness to what “is also known in the Far East as moksha,nirvana, bodhi, and satori.”5 Nevertheless Watts did not hesitate to criticize what he thought to be wrong. For instance, in another lecture called “From Times to Eternity,” he mentions the debate around the actual age of the world, which, according to Christians, would be 4,000 years old. While establishing a direct comparison to the East, he clearly states that “[t]he Hindus are not so small-minded and provincial as to believe that the world was created as recently as 4000 B.C.”6
1 Alan Watts. Eastern Wisdom, Modern Life. Collected Talks 1960-1969. Novato, CA: New World Library, 2006. 245. 2 Ibid., vii-viii. 3 Mark Watts in Alan Watts, The Culture of Counter-Culture. Op.Cit., viii. 4 Ibid., 25-6. 5 Ibid., 25-6. 6 Alan Watts. The Culture of Counter-Culture. Op.Cit., 51.
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Despite all of this, it is not possible to claim that Alan Watts was in favor of one religion in particular. In a lecture entitled “the Relevance of Oriental Philosophy,” which he gave between 1963 and 1965, Watts says that Western theology often times considers religions other than Christianity to be wrong. Therefore, trying to compare religions would be pointless for a Western theologian because he or she would be tempted to show why Christianity is better than the other religions to which it is compared. Rather, Watts was in favor of eclectism. Watts would also speak about the problems of Western society, such as the importance paid to technology, people’s desire to “get from San Francisco to New York in nothing flat,” 1 people’s being in a hurry, which he criticizes through the use of sarcasm: We are in a hurry about too many things. Going back to my account of someone’s day: The person got up in the morning and made some coffee, and I suppose it was instant coffee, because that person was in too much of a hurry to be concerned with the preparation of a beautiful cup of coffee.2 Nonetheless he actually found a common ground between the East and the West in the field of psychology, which similarly to Eastern philosophies and religions, aimed at altering one’s state of awareness. This is particularly interesting since self- development, which will be examined in a next stage, relies a lot on psychological practices, while being less spiritual-oriented. In that sense, people like Alan Watts acted as catalysts between the East and West and helped new beliefs and practices to spread across the US.
1 Alan Watts. The Culture of Counter-Culture. Op.Cit., 57. 2 Ibid., 58.
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2.2. New Religious Movements This sub-part will explain what New Religious Movements are. Why they are different from more traditional and mainline religions will be examined too. Also, the question of whether or not they are entirely new must be raised. Their development since the 1960s will be studied as well. Finally the debate around such movements will be dealt with in order to understand the concerns that they arouse and whether or not they are justified.
2.2.1. What are New Religious Movements? According to Sarah M. Pike’s analysis, New Religious Movements were inspired by more traditional religions and beliefs. However, they cannot be referred to as mere branches stemming from established Churches for they are quite different. It would be fair to compare NRMs to new languages, which originate from older ones, but which cannot be regarded as dialects of those languages. Pike points out that today’s mainstream religions used to be New Religious Movements too. To illustrate this fact, she reminds her reader that “Christianity, for instance, began as the Jesus sect.”1 One of the main differences between NRMs and mainstream religions is that the former are not represented by one single person at the head. Instead, all the members may bring their ideas. In that sense, the Quakers could be looked upon as an NRM. They wanted to live Christianity as the first Christians did on a daily basis. In other words they wanted to go back to the first traditions. It is true that NRMs, conversely, may regard tradition as a burden. 2 But “tradition” ought to be understood as what is considered to be traditional nowadays, or in the case of the Quakers, as what was considered to be traditional then. In addition, NRMs raise the problem of recognition. Mainstream religions often refuse to consider these movements as sub-branches. So much so that the term “NRM” was coined to replace that of “cult,” which was used by more traditional believers concerned with the proliferation of these movements.3 The limit is not always clear, as Eileen Barker notices. Indeed, it can be quite challenging to classify all movements and determine which ones could be put into the
1 Sarah M. Pike. New Age and Neopagan Religions in America. New York: Columbia UP, 2004. 37. 2 Colin Seed in Bryan R. Wilson and Jamie Cresswell eds.New Religious Movements. Challenge and Response. New York, NY: Routledge, 2001. 168. 3 John Gordon Melton in John A. Saliba. Understanding New Religious Movements. Walnut Creek, CA: Alta Mira Press, 2003. xi.
38 category of NRMs. 1 Barker raises the question of whether all New Age beliefs and practices should be looked upon as NRMs. This is also why this second chapter is divided into two sections. Indeed spirituality needs to be examined as a substance, which means outside of any church and movement, and not a container. Defining NRMs can also depend on one’s beliefs. As Saliba points out, some theologists, such as Walter Ralston Martin and Charles Braden refer to these movements, which they call “cults,” as “unchristian, unbiblical, or pseudo-Christian organizations.” 2 And they go on to say that “[t]he response to them must, therefore, be one of theological refutation or rebuttal.”3 Saliba establishes a list of the features that could help to label a new religion as a cult. This issue will be further examined in an upcoming sub-part. He also lists some more positive and neutral features that may shed some light on what NRMs are. The members of a new religion are very enthusiastic and dedicated, although he qualifies by saying that such enthusiasm is to be found in Christian Evangelists as well, and therefore not typical of NRMs only. Theory is put aside in favor of a personal and direct experience with what the members consider to be higher planes of existence. Since emphasis is put on practice and some members join new religions for practical purposes as well. Two other factors must be taken into account to give a definition of New Religious Movements. First of all, their origins must be examined, which will lead to the question of whether or not they are actually new.
2.2.2. Where do NRMs Come From? New Religious movements were inspired by mainline religions, Western and Eastern beliefs, occultism and even pagan religions. In Understanding New Religious Movements, Saliba made an attempt at classifying NRMs according to their origins and the beliefs they borrow from. They are listed as follows: 4 • “The Communal Family.” These NRMs are of Christian origin. They members try to live as the first Christians did. 1 • “The Pentecostal Family.” These NRMs are of Christian origin too. This denomination constitutes a branch within mainline Christianity.
1 Eileen Barker in Bryan R. Wilson and Jamie Cresswell, eds., Op.Cit., 15-6. 2 John A. Saliba, Op.Cit., 2-3. 3 Ibid., 2-3. 4 Ibid., 25-6.
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2 • “The Christian Science-Metaphysical family.” This subcategory, which is of Christian origin as well, aims at understanding how the human mind works. Individualism plays an important part. Members use tools such as meditation and affirmations. 3 • “The Spiritualist and New Age Family.” Emphasis is put on the human mind and its psychic abilities. Teachings are often times received through channeling, which means that practitioners communicate with entities and invisible people whom they consider to be spiritual guides. Practitioners work individually or in groups. 4 Saliba also points out that the origins of this subcategory are to be found in many fields such as as spiritualism, theosophy, the Christian Science Metaphysical family, and Eastern religions. The Spiritualist and New Age Family represents a melting-pot of religion and spirituality. 5 • “The Ancient Wisdom Family.” In this subcategory, which, as Saliba points out, is the result of a separation of occultism from spiritualism in the nineteenth century, most of the beliefs are of Western origin and include secret societies like freemasonry. 6 • “The ‘Magic’ Family.” This subcategory includes pre-Christian beliefs, esoteric rituals and led to the creation of four branches. Ritual Magic, Witchcraft, Neo-paganism and Satanism. 7 • “The Eastern and Middle Eastern Families.” They are new religious movements in the sense that they were new to Americans, even though some eastern religions have existed for thousands of years.
• Finally, Saliba points to another subcategory which includes all the unclassifiable religious groups.8 Melissa Harrington notes that ancient pagan rites resurfaced in the 1950-60s in order to create neo-pagan movements, such as Wicca and Druidry. Wicca gave birth to
1 John A Saliba, Op.Cit., 25. 2 Ibid., 26. 3 Ibid., 26-7. 4 Ibid., 27. 5 Ibid., 28. 6 Ibid., 28-9. 7 Ibid., 30-1. 8 Ibid., 31-2.
40 many denominations such as “Gardnerian, Alexandrian, Dianic, Feminist, Hedgewitch [and] Faery.”1 All of this shows that the notion of NRM is really hard to define and does not represent a homogenous reality. Besides, labeling all New Age beliefs as NRMs is not accurate, as was explained earlier and as will be made clearer in the sub chapter on spirituality.
2.2.3. Are New Religious Movements a New Phenomenon ? It is undeniable that there was a surge in the number of NRMs from the 1960s onwards. However, the appearance of NRMs was not a new phenomenon. Saliba points to the creation of Gnosticism as early as the second century. Mainstream Christians regarded Gnostic movements as “Pagan or heretical beliefs and practices.” 2 Then Saliba Saliba points to another NRM, The Cathars, which was created in the Middle Ages in the Western world, and more precisely in France. Later on in the seventeenth century, many NRMs were created in Great Britain. Protestantism itself was somehow a New Religious Movements within Christianity and other sects were formed, borrowing from Protestantism, such as the Levellers, the Quakers and the Ranters. Nineteenth century America saw the creation of many NRMs, in the wake of the religious revivals discussed in Chapter 1. These movements borrowed from Christianity and also from Eastern religions, to some extent. Mormonism is probably one of the most well-known examples of the proliferation of sects in the nineteenth century. This movement has been highly controversial since its creation and regarded as a heretical cult, although it has become an established church, which points once again to the issue of defining a religion, a church as opposed to a cult.3 All of this shows that “[t]he emergence of new religious groups is certainly not unprecedented in the history of the West or in the history of the human race as a whole.”4 But Saliba gives further details which explain why the word “new” is appropriate to describe the latest surge of NRMs. In the 1960s-1970s mainline religions lost popularity among their members. Church attendance declined, as was explained in Chapter 1. Moreover scientific advances made it harder for church members to believe in myths like Jesus’ resurrection or the virgin’s being pregnant. The surge of NRMs
1 John A Saliba, Op.Cit., 435. 2 Ibid., 46. 3 Ibid., 63-5. 4 Ibid., 11.
41 therefore occurred when statistics announced a world which would become more and more secular. Thus, new has the sense of “renewal.” New Religious movements can also be labeled as “new” for their members often come from more traditional religions, which they have quit in favor of the former.1 This time “new” emphasizes on the fact that the members changed religions, which does not mean that they join brand-new religions which are entirely novel.
2.2.4. Anticultism as a Reaction to New Religious Movements The surge of NRMs aroused suspicion among more traditional believers. Indeed, the leaders of such groups would sometimes represent a menace to followers, physically, mentally and financially. Negatively referred to as cults, some NRMs have been associated with brainwashing and even mass suicides. The debate around the Church of Scientology will also be pointed out, as it is a highly controversial case both in the US and in France, let alone in other countries such as the UK, Australia and Germany. Indeed, some think that Scientology is a church while others think that it is a dangerous cult. In Mystics and Messiahs, Philip Jenkins points to a problem that was mentioned above. That is to say the meaning of the word “cult” and whether or not it is easy to differenciate between a cult and a church. Jenkins claims that the word “cult” has become very biased and negative and that it actually does not give further information as to what cults are. Cults differ from churches in no particular aspect of behavior or belief, and the very term “cult” is a strictly subjective one; it tells us as much about the people applying that label as it does about the group that is so described.2 Jenkins goes on to write that cults “are small, unpopular religious bodies.”3 In the 1960s, anticultism was nothing new in America. Indeed, Philip Jenkins notes that there were several waves of anticultism throughout the twentieth century. He notes a first wave which started in 1925 as a reaction to the development of “fringe religions and occult [and] the creation of many new marginal groups and sects.” 4 It lasted until 1930. Harry Houdini was a famous anticult activist during this first wave.
1 John A Saliba, Op.Cit., 12. 2 Philip Jenkins. Mystics and Messiahs: Cults and New Religions in American History. New York: OUP, 2000. 18. 3 Ibid., 18. 4 Ibid., 13.
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Activists thought that cults were taking advantage of mentally weakened people through mindtricks. Therefore, some magicians joined the anticult movement to debunk the frauds and tricks used by cult leaders. There were many scandals between 1926 and 1929, such as the “disappearance of Aimee Semple McPherson.” 1 Cult leaders Warien Robertson and Benjamin Purnell were convicted. This first wave of anticultism was followed by another one in the early 1940s which was triggered by the rise of occult practices such as “voodoo, witchcraft [and] human sacrifice.” 2 The context had its influence on the policies which were applied then. Cults could easily be seen as “tacit supporters of enemy powers.” 3 Many New Religious Movements had to cease their activities due to governmental measures. The creation of the House Committee on Un-American Activities contributed to this second wave of anticultism. A third wave of anticultism started in 1976 and lasted until 1981. It was a reaction to the “scandals involving fringe religions and leaders.” 4 Emphasis was put on the notion of brainwashing. Nevertheless, the concerns aroused during that third wave of anticultism are the same as those of the other waves. Later on, a new image was associated to cults—mass suicide and murder. 5 Cult leader Charles Manson was said to be able to talk his followers into committing murder. Another event fed the anticult movement of the 1970s-80s; the 1978 Jonestown massacre, when the members of a cult named Temple’s People committed suicide while others killed one another. Jim Jones was the leader of this cult and there were about nine hundred followers. 6 This event led to “anti-cult bills [being voted] in Massachusetts, Illinois, Minnesota, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Texas, Maryland, Oregon, and most importantly New York.” 7 However, most bills did not pass, but the anticult movement had definitely been revived and was gaining momentum. For example, the Jonestown massacre led to the creation of the CAN, standing for Cult Awareness Network.
1 Philip Jenkins, Op.Cit., 126. 2 Ibid., 13. 3 Ibid., 149. 4 Ibid., 13. 5 Ibid., 188. 6 J. Gordon Melton. “Anti-cultists in the United States.” in Bryan R. Wilson and Jamie Cresswell. Op.Cit. 220. 7 Ibid. 221.
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A fourth wave of anticultism began in the mid-1990s because practices like “Satanism, ritual abuse [and] human sacrifice” 1 had spread among NRMs. Another mass suicide took place among the members of UFO cult Heaven’s Gate, which was led by Bo and Peep, whose real names were Marshall Applewhite and Betty Lu Nettles. The cult encouraged male castration and looked upon the human body as an obstacle to the higher self. In 1997, the members of this cult voluntarily drank “cocktails of phenobarbitol and alcohol.”2 They believed that by committing suicide and thus freeing themselves from their bodies, they would be taken a an alien spaceship hidden by the Hale-Bopp comet. Saliba establishes a list of the negative features of some NRMs, which could be regarded as cults. The first feature he notes is “the swearing of total allegiance to an all- powerful leader”3 however this feature is not enough to label a NRM as cult for it also exists in mainline religions. For instance, Christians are supposed to to swear allegiance to God and have no other God. There must be other features that would make a NRM dangerous for its members and therefore closer to the definition and connotation that a cult has. That is why Saliba continues his list and points to other features such as “a weakening of the members’ psychological makeup […] the manipulation of guilt […] isolation from the outside world […] dedication of all energy and finances to the cult […] an aura of secrecy and mystery [and] an aura of violence or potential violence,” 4 among others. Conversely, Adam Possamaï, points to the fact that not all New Agers who join cults and NRMs are necessarily attached to them. Nor do they follow cult leaders blindly. He writes that the members choose what they think works for them and reject what they think does not work for them. 5 In other words, there is a difference between the “production of spirituality [and its] consumption.”6 As a conclusion to this sub-chapter on New Religious Movements and more particularly on the controversy around them, the case of the Church of Scientology would be a good example of the difficulty of defining religions, churches, sects and
1 Philip Jenkins, Op.Cit., 13. 2 Ibid., 223. 3 John A Saliba, Op.Cit., 14. 4 Ibid., 15. 5 Adam Possamai. “Producing and Consuming New Age Spirituality: The Cultic Milieu and the Network Paradigm.” in Daren Kemp and James R. Lewis, eds. Handbook of New Age. Vol. 1. Leiden, NL: Brill, 2007. 158-62. 6 Ibid., 158-160.
44 cults. For instance, the Church of Scientology bears the label “Church” in its full name, but not everybody regards it as a church. Indeed, it is sometimes seen as a dangerous cult. In Australia, and Germany, Scientology is seen as a cult. France labels it as a cult as well, but more importantly as a fraudulent organization. The head of the Church of Scientology in France was sued and fined a million dollars for fraud. In the UK, Scientology which used to be seen as a cult, has now become a religion. In the US, the debate goes on.
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2.3. Spirituality This sub-part will deal with spirituality as a substance, outside any religion, cult or sect, which would be the container.1 Spirituality led to the creation of communities, where people would gather to follow the teachings of spiritual advisers, who had had a deep spiritual experience, and some of these communities have grown into important organizations known as religions, as is the case of Christianity.2 However, it happens that one might be religious in the sense that they will follow the dogmas and belief of a church without having a deep, personal experience of what the substance is. This led to some of the Great Awakenings which were studied in the previous Chapter. Conversely one may be spiritual but not religious. 3 This is to be found particularly in New Agers who preferred the content to the container. Peter Roche de Coppens observes that contrary to religion, spirituality is unique and varies from one person to another. He also points out that while religion can be taught through schools and books, spirituality cannot. Indeed, one must actually experience spirituality, for it cannot be memorized intellectually like a lesson. This may seem to be in contradiction with upcoming subparts that deal with spiritual writers and advisers. However, after further examination, it will appear that these authors encourage personal experience, which is why their works can be labeled as spiritual, and not religious. In The Spiritual Revolution the authors make it clear that spirituality and religion are different. Religion is referred to as “life-as” and opposed to spirituality, which is referred to as “subjective-life.” 4 Life-as basically means that one has to comply comply with an external authority, even if that authority goes against one’s values, for it is the only way to access a higher plane. Subjective-life, however, means that one seeks the holy within oneself. The authors also note that the notion of spirituality as used in their book is different from that used by Christians when they mean that someone is very devoted to God or experiences faith inside, for even if they do, they still obey a
1 Peter Roche de Coppens. Religion et Spiritualité. Comprendre leurs Rôles et leur Influence sur notre Santé et notre Bien-Etre. Québec, CA: Le Dauphin Blanc, 2008. 125. 2 Peter Russell. in Ervin Lazlo, ed. Stanislav Grof and Peter Russell. The Consciousness Revolution. A Transatlantic Dialogue. Las Vegas: Elf Rock Productions, 2003. 38. 3 Stanislas Grof. in Ervin Lazlo, Stanislav Grof and Peter Russell. Ibid. 38. 4 Paul Heelas and Linda Woodhead eds. Benjamin Seel, Bronislaw Szerszynski and Karin Tusting. The Spiritual Revolution. Why Religion is Giving Way to Spirituality. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2005. 4-5.
46 higher authority.1 Instead, they use the word spirituality in a broader sense, which is a “commitment to a deep truth that is to be found within what belongs to this world.” 2 Conversely, religion refers to a “commitment to a higher truth that is ‘out there,’ lying beyond what this world has to offer, and exclusively related to specific externals (scriptures, dogmas, rituals, and so on).”3 In The Consciousness Revolution, psychologist Stanislav Grof defines spirituality as “a private matter between the individual and the cosmos. By comparison religion, is an organized activity that requires a particular place and a system of appointed mediators arranged in a hierarchy.” 4 Not only does he establish a clear distinction between spiritituality and religion, he also claims that religion may hinder spiritual development. Indeed he remarks that religion is supposed to be a way for its followers to have spiritual experiences but that often times it is does not. He even notes that “personal spiritual experiences are quite threatening for organized religions, because they make their members independent of the organization.”5 The wave of spirituality that occurred in the 1960s could be referred to as New Age spirituality. New Religious movements only represent a part of the phenomenon, as was explained earlier. For instance, some New Agers, spiritual seekers, never joined any NRM. They took their practice to the next level by approaching spirituality in a more individualistic fashion. This is why a chapter on spirituality as a substance and not as a form of container or merely another movement is required in order to fully make sense of what these seekers were after. Iris Laine notes that: New Age spirituality has no Holy Scriptures, no central governing body, no enlisted membership, no ordained clergy, no creed or dogma. It is a free, open, searching movement dedicated to enriching the spiritual dimension of all who participate in it.6
1 Paul Heelas, Op.Cit., 5. 2 Ibid., 6. 3 Ibid., 6. 4 Stanislav Grof, Op.Cit., 37. 5 Ibid., 37. 6 Iris Laine, Op.Cit., 55.
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2.3.1. DIY Faith 2.3.1.1. American Individualism
New Age spirituality is more self-oriented. Although New Agers believe all people are interconnected, they must change themselves first in order to change the outside world. 1 However, individualism is to be found much earlier in American history. It actually constitutes a feature of American society. If it is true that the outbreak of spirituality may have encouraged further individualism, it is also true that the latter enabled the former to spread. Indeed, Wade Clark Roof describes the phenomenon as “a quest for the ‘ideal self,’ an excessively individualistic quest.” 2 Nevertheless he qualifies by saying that the movement has become less self-oriented over the years, which could actually correspond to the results in the outside world of one’s inner work. In The Closing of the American Mind , Allan Bloom notes that “America is experienced not as a common project but as a framework within which people are only individual where they are left alone.” 3 He then goes on to write that this is to be found in politics as well. Indeed, both right-wing and left-wing parties advocate this individualistic lifestyle. Bloom points to a factor that has made individualism even more important over the years—the decline of the family. This is due to divorces, long workdays, young adults leaving their homes to go to college, when someone finds a job in America they may move from the East coast to the West coast, to the South, because they do not mind starting again in a different place, contrary to Europeans. All of this limits the bounds that people might create if they were more rooted. Bloom goes on to write that a sense a freedom, typical of America, has made Americans feel free to decide what they wanted to do, have, be and believe in as individuals.4 Further on, Bloom mentions Hobbes and Locke as two philosophers who helped shape the American mind, and particularly the notion of indvidalism. Hobbes made it clear that everyone should pay attention to what they feel, on a personal level. Locke thought that every man should “[act] as he thinks and, without fraudulent pieties, [seek] his own good.” 5 Bloom goes on to write that although this may seem selfish, everyone would eventually benefit from it, as each man would be able to be sincere and
1 Serge Lafitte, Op.Cit., 65. 2 Wade Clark Roof, Spiritual Marketplace. Op.Cit., 40. 3 Allan Bloom. The Closing of the American Mind. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1988. 85. 4 Ibid., 86-7. 5 Allan Bloom, Op.Cit., 176.
48 true to himself. This sense of self-fulfillment for the greater good of mankind is very similar to what many New Agers believed. This is even more obvious through the books written by spiritual advisors who recommend changing oneself in order to change the world.
2.3.1.2.The Development of Spiritual Literature: a Direct Access to the Teachings of Spiritual Advisers and Leaders 1 2.3.1.2.1. Neale Donald Walsch: Conversing with God Neale Donald Walsch is an American spiritual writer who experienced a changing event in the early 1990s. PBS show InnerVIEWS, hosted by Ernie Manouse, featured Walsch in 2004. 2 Walsch wrote a series of books in which he relates his conversations with God; thus the title Conversations with God . When asked how all of this happened to him, Walsh said that he heard a voice in the middle of the night, around 4 a.m., back in 1992. He first thought that it was a burglar, and then realized that no one was in the house. He remembers saying to himself “I must be losing my mind” and that it was “just [his] imagination.” Later on, the voice moved into his body and was no longer coming from the outside. Walsch had been working as the editor of a local newspaper in Minneapolis when he came to realize that he felt empty inside. He wanted to give meaning to his life and evolve spiritually. Walsh also went through tough times for he was homeless at some point. 3 The message he received from God on that night back in 1992 was in response to a letter he had written to him, in which he asked why his life was so bad.4 According to Walsch, he was not chosen specifically—anyone can hear God. He also thinks that everybody and everything is part of God. As he puts it “there’s nothing that God is not.” This can be quite controversial and seems to go against traditional religions, as Ernie Manouse replied. Nevertheless Walsch notes that other people have said it, including Jesus Christ. He goes on to say that the problem comes
1 The title of this subpart was inspired by Neale D. Walsch’s series of books named Conversations With God: an Uncommon Dialogue. 2 “Controversial Author Neale Donald Walsch on Innerviews With Ernie Manouse.” Worldnews. n.d.
49 from the fact that people “have denied themselves.” What he means by that is that people think there is God and that they are not connected to him. His critics may also think that Walsch writes about his own ideas and that he never really spoke with God. Walsch says that, since every single thing is God, his thoughts and God’s are one. He only makes a difference between the thoughts that have been influenced by his filters, namely his senses, his own beliefs and habits, which are in that case less elevated and wise because he basically misinterprets God’s thoughts, or in other words, his more elevated thoughts. Manouse then asks him why he should buy his book as opposed to someone else’s. Walsch replies that his intention is not to talk people into buying his books, and that he even encourages anybody to write their own books. However, he thinks that having a guide makes the spiritual quest easier. He compares that to painting by saying that if everybody knew how to find the part of genius that makes them paint great works of art, they would not need to go to art schools. Walsch means that a container may help for a while, but once a person has reached a deeper understanding of what their religion is about. In other words, once they have reached the essence of spirituality, they no longer need the container to evolve. Walsch does not reject any of the mainstream religions. He actually studied most of the Western and Eastern religions, their scriptures. He used to be a member of the Roman Catholic Church himself. He also points to the fact that the scriptures were written by humans, who had their own beliefs and filters and therefore they must be interpreted. To illustrate his theory he takes the following example: thou shalt not kill. He goes on to say that this works in most cases. However sometimes it is necessary to kill, depending on the context. He claims that some beliefs are functional and others dysfunctional. He also finds it quite amusing that most believers should take the teachings literally while there has not been a lot of innovations in spirituality over many centuries. What may have worked in the past may not be functional today anymore, as Walsch notes. Walsch was also featured in an interview for Oprah Radio which is available on Oprah Winfrey’s website. 1 It is an interview that was recorded for Oprah’s Soul Series webcasts, which she launched as the result of the success of her ten-week webcasts with Eckhart Tolle, who will be discussed next. This episode was hosted by
1 “Communicating With God.” Oprah Radio. Oprah Winfrey’s Official Website. n.d.
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Oprah’s friend and spiritual writer Elizabeth Lesser. What Lesser liked about Walsch’s work, which she clearly acknowledged as “different,” 1 was that Walsch was not the only one who could speak with God. She says that “it [the book] let me know that I too could be in that kind of relationship with my guide, my god.” 2 This shows once again that the teachings given by New Age spiritual teachers are not meant to be experienced by an elite only. Walsh’s beliefs could be labeled as New Age spirituality. He receives the thoughts he writes about in his book through a form of channeling. He also believes that all is one and that anybody could speak with God and not just to God. Through this example, it is also clear that New Age spirituality did not end in the 1970s. Walsch has kept on writing spiritual books since the 1990s. The word “God” must be understood as a concept and does not refer to the Christian God in particular, which is also typical of New Age spirituality. Bernard Bastian, in his attempt to define New Age spirituality, notes that “de nombreux emprunts au langage chrétien contribuent à donner l’illusion d’un courant de spiritualité chrétienne.” 3 Therefore, although the limit may not be clear, Walsch’s work is not religious per se.
2.3.1.2.2. Eckhart Tolle Another contemporary spiritual author would be Eckhart Tolle. Tolle was born in Germany in 1948 and moved to the United Kingdom as a teenager. He went to live in Vancouver, BC in 1995. 4 His writings have influenced spiritual seekers in the United States too, which is why he is mentioned in this thesis. Indeed, Tolle’s The Power of Now appeared on the New York Times’s weekly best-seller list for the hundredth time on November 28, 2010. 5 Moreover, the book was first published in 1999 and translated into thirty-three languages, which goes to show the success that this work has met. An estimated five million copies were sold. Eckhart Tolle wrote other books, one of which has been very popular since its release in 2008, namely A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose.
1 “Communicating With God.” Oprah Radio. Oprah Winfrey’s Official Website. n.d.
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Furthermore, Tolle’s latest title appeared on television hostess Oprah Winfrey’s booklist, which helped to its success while making him more famous too, as will be explained in another subpart. 1 On her show, back in 2002, she also referred to his very first book as “essential spiritual teaching.” 2 Oprah also co-hosted an online video course with Tolle for ten weeks in 2008. 3 The webcast’s finale lasted two hours and featured chapter 10 to Tolle’s A New Earth . Oprah refers to these webcasts as “global conversation[s] for consciousness.” 4 Besides Ophrah Winfrey, Tolle can count on the support of celebrities such as Canadian-American actor Jim Carrey and American actress Meg Ryan. On Tolle’s website, a video footage features Jim Carrey introducing Eckhart Tolle to the audience that attended the inaugural of the Global Alliance for Transformational Entertainement. 5 Tolle is referred to as a friend of Carrey’s. Carrey says that what he likes about Tolle’s work is that people can easily put it into practice. This points out two important notions which are individualism, once again, and pragmatism, which will be examined in Chapter 3. Carrey says: I could watch this stuff twenty-four hours a day on my computer, on my television, that’s where I’d be, because it’s ideas. And ideas are working.6 Contrary to Neale Donald Walsh, who focused on listening to God and speaking with him, Tolle’s guidelines are silence and the present moment. Being here and now enables one to overcome all the suffering from things past and all the fear of what might happen in the future. Tolle refers to the source of one’s sorrows as the “pain
1 “Eckhart Tolle .” The New York Times. Times Topics. n.d.
52 body.”1 This pain body is also known as the Ego. Once a person has found their true nature, without being under the influence of their ego anymore, they will find inner peace and fulfill themselves. Though individualistic at first glance, this is actually the key to solving the world’s problems, as explained on Eckhart Tolle’s website: An essential aspect of this awakening consists in transcending our ego-based state of consciousness. This is a prerequisite not only for personal happiness but also for the ending of violent conflict endemic on our planet.2 Changing oneself in order to change the world, which therefore makes it possible to label Tolle’s teachings as New Age spirituality. Once again, Tolle’s works show that the surge of spirituality that started in the 1960s has not come to an end. Moreover, Tolle borrows from Eastern and Western religions, without being affiliated to any of them. In that sense, his approach to spirituality is similar to Walsch’s and Watts’s. Similarly to Walsch too, Tolle focuses on the importance of the self, as opposed to a superior untranscendental authority, as well as the interconnection of every single thing that exists, which Walsch considers to be part of God, or life. During the same introductory speech abovementioned, Jim Carrey goes on to say: “And [Eckhart Tolle has] really taught me what Jesus meant when he said, in the gospel of Saint Thomas, ‘Heaven is within you and all around you,’” 3 which once again illustrates the emphasis on personal experience. During a lecture, Tolle was asked a question by an audience member who had been very involved in spiritual practices and who had had enough because he had basically taken his practice to an extreme level before going to the opposite extreme to the point where he had grown tired of spirituality, for as soon as he would stop practicing to go back to his daily routine, he felt bad. Eckhart Tolle replied that he was overdoing it and therefore, after reaching an extreme he had gone to another one but that he would soon recover a more balanced lifestyle because spirituality was in every moment of one’s life and should not be limited to long hours of meditation on the
1 “Eckhart Tolle .” The New York Times. Times Topics. n.d.
53 weekend, as the man had been doing. 1 To illustrate his point, Tolle said that spirituality was to be found in simple actions, such as grocery shopping and drinking and that it was nothing special. This goes along with the teachings of other spiritual advisers and even religious reformers—as explained in chapter 1—who insisted that true spirituality be experienced on a daily basis.
2.3.1.3. Oprah Winfrey Oprah Winfrey may not be a spiritual writer herself but she has definitely contributed to increasing the popularity of some spiritual authors and self-development writers, as well as boosting book sales. Oprah has been the host of the Oprah Winfrey Show for twenty-four years. 2 She is very successful today, however she had a difficult childhood and grew up in a poor family. Oprah was born in 1954 in Kosciusko, Mississippi. Her parents were Africa-American. Her father was a soldier and fighting abroad and her mother did not earn enough money to provide for her. Therefore Oprah went to live with her grandmother on a farm until she turned six. Oprah attended a Baptist church and was particularly good at reciting Bible verses. After she had turned six years old, she went to live with her mother in Milwaukee, Winsconsin, where she attended Lincoln Middle School. One of her teachers realized she was talented and helped her enter Nicolet, a private school. Oprah started working as a newsreader in Nashville, Tennessee at the age of 17. That was her first contact with the media and the beginning of a long career. Five years later, she moved to Baltimore to work as a newscaster. Oprah was reproached with displaying her emotions on the air. She eventually changed jobs and started to co- host a morning talk show with Richard Sher. The show was called People Are Talking. This new job suited Oprah perfectly. The show had so much success that it became syndicated and aired in several cities. Seven years later, Oprah moved to Chicago where she hosted morning show A.M. Chicago on her own. The show became quickly successful. Her show was soon renamed as The Oprah Winfrey Show . By September 1986, the show was aired nationwide. The show’s popularity soared even further, so
1 “How Do We Integrate Spirituality?” Eckhart Tolle TV. n.d.
54 much so that the host of a similar show which was airing at the same time in Washington D.C. was forced to resign.1 Oprah started her book club in 1996. She would choose one book each month which would be discussed on her show. Oprah had become so famous that an unknown writer could become very successful after being on Oprah’s show, as was the case of professor Robert Morgan, whose book “sold at least 650,000 copies.” 2 In an article which was published in Time, publisher Jim Milliot told the reporters that whenever a book was selected by Oprah it “meant a minimum of 500,000 additional sales.” 3 The book club came to an end in 2002, but it turned out to be only temporary as Oprah reopened it in 2003.4 The book club is very popular and has 26 million fans per week on the average. Besides, Oprah had decided to concentrate on subjects related to self- development and spirituality, and Eckhart Tolle is a good example of someone whose image was given a boost after appearing on Oprah’s show. Furthermore, her website displays several tabs, the first of which is “spirit” 5 which takes the user to a page named “Spirit and Self—Happiness and Self-Help Advice.” 6 On her last webcast on Tolle’s A New Earth , Oprah says that her radio show is a place where she talks “to spiritual teachers.”7 She also refers to “the evolution of our soul [as her] favorite subject.” 8 Many Many spiritual teachers and authors are indeed featured on her website. For example, John of God, a Brazilian faith healer, Deepak Chopra, who tries to combine science and spirituality in his work, along with many other teachers and self-development writers. All of this shows that due to her influence, Oprah’s interest in spirituality and self-development has helped spread these two subjects throughout the United States, and the rest of the world to a lesser extent. As a comparison, France has some religious programs on France 2 which air on Sunday mornings. However their subjects are limited to Buddhism, Islam and Christianity. Spirituality outside religion and self- development are not recurrent subjects on these shows. Besides they are not hosted by
1 Sherry Beck Paprocki, Op.Cit., 38-9. 2 Ibid., 51. 3 Richard Lacayo and Andrea Sachs. “Media : Oprah turns the page.” Time. April 15, 2002.
55 well-known personalities and air only once a week, contrary to the Oprah Winfrey Show, which airs Monday through Friday.
2.3.2. Other Factors of Success 2.3.2.1.California: a Visionary and Influential State California is a state that particularly stands out as far as culture is concerned. Throughout her book Under the Influence, California’s Intoxicating Spiritual and Cultural Impact on America , Monica Ganas explains how California has played a key role in shaping American culture, as well as its religious and spiritual landscape. She notes that “California continually compels all Americans to decide exactly what [their] national character should be.”1 As far as religion and spirituality are concerned, Monica Ganas notes that California has been a place of religious renewal, with the creation of “alternative denominations such as the Four Square, Calvary Chapel, and Vineyard.” 2 This shows a feature that may be considered to be part of Californian culture, which Ganas refers to as “3Californian-ism,” and which is the will to experiment and renew things. Indeed, a wide range of beliefs is to be found in California, going from mainstream religions to New Age spirituality and beliefs. This is confirmed in The Visionary State , by Erik Davis who also points to the importance of spirituality over religion and of individual experience.4 His book gathers many photographs of religious and spiritual places from California as well as some notes on the history of those places. What strikes the reader first is the diversity which is to be found among them. Indeed there are Taoist temples, Buddhist temples, Hindu temples, Jewish temples, witch houses, mayan theaters, Masonic temples, a Rosicrucian park, Thai religious places, mosques, a whole range of Christian churches whose beliefs and practices may be very different from one another. There are also zen dojo as well as places where NRMs have established themselves. It is also in California that the Esalen institute was founded by Richard Price and Michael Murphy in 1961. It was located in Big Sur and gathered all the knowledge borrowed from Eastern religions and Western psychology. They aimed at making it
1 Monica Ganas. Under the Influence, California’s Intoxicating Spiritual and Cultural Impact on America. Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos Press, 2010. 1. 2 Ibid., 16. 3 Ibid., 2. 4 Erik Davis. The Visionary State. A Journey through California's Spiritual Landscape. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2006. 7-9.
56 possible for one to unleash one’s true potential. Alan Watts himself visited the institute.1 The Institute also foreshadowed a new trend which will be studied under the name of Self-Development, emerging out of spiritual practices in search of even more concrete and pragmatic goals. In a nutshell, California is a patchwork of religious, and more importantly, spiritual beliefs. Innovation has been a key feature in spirituality and since it is an influencial state, it has helped new practices spread over the rest of the country.
2.3.2.2.When Science Meets Spirituality Another factor that may help understand why spirituality has gained popularity over the last decades is the fact that new scientific theories and technologies seem to bridge the gap between science and spirituality. Indeed spiritual practices have been scientifically studied, as is the case of meditation. Meanwhile, quantum physics offers a different point of view on what matter really is, and makes some spiritual beliefs plausible 2.3.2.2.1. Neuroscience and the Mind
A 1971 issue of Readings from Scientific American introduces its readers to the latest advances in neuroscience which enabled researchers to study altered states of awareness. As was explained in an above subchapter, many New Agers were interested in altering their perception of reality. Some would meditate on a regular basis, and others would go so far as to take drugs. In either case, the effects might have been known for centuries but the difference was that science was now able to explain what really happened in someone’s mind. An entire chapter of this magazine was dedicated to external ways of altering one’s state of awareness through the use of marihuana and hallucinogenic drugs like LSD. The effects of such drugs are pointed out, as well as why one’s perception of reality is altered. Another chapter examines an internal way of experiencing altered states of awareness: meditation. One can read that meditation has physiological as well as psychological benefits. Researchers were able to study what happened in Zen monks’ minds as they meditated. They discovered that “the monks developed a predominance
1 Frédéric Lenoir, Op.Cit., 285.
57 of alpha waves.” 1 Put simply, they were able to slow down their brain waves, which would explain why meditation could make someone feel calmer and better psychologically. Attention was also brought to yogis’ skin resistance to electric current, which was found to increase while they were meditating. This was studied because claims that increased skin resistance led to less anxiety had been made.2
2.3.2.2.2. Quantum Physics
Some scientists have tried to show that spirituality and science are compatible. They relied on the advances in the field of quantum physics (or quantum mechanics) to illustrate their theories. Quantum physics appeared in the 1920s when Max Planck argued that “all radiation (whether light or heat) is not emitted continuously, but appears in the form of energy packets.” 3 It was impossible to know whether these packets were matter or energy and whether they existed constantly or disappeared and reappeared on and off. Therefore these particles would be more like waves or probability which all exist at the same time. However when one observes such particles it appears that only one scenario has taken form. The wave function collapses as physicists say. It raises an important question which as Diarmuid O’Murchu put it: “to what extent do our perceptions bring reality into being?” 4 Indeed an experiment involving a source of light an obstacle with two slits and a photographic plate was carried out to determine whether light would behave as a wave, like water, as it would go through the slits, or as matter. If light behaves as a wave, then a pattern consisting of bands will form on the photographic plate. It it behaves as a wave, then the particles will hit the plate as if the obstacle acted as a stencil. Scientists found out that light behaved both as matter and as a wave. Indeed, when they tried to observe this phenomenon light would behave as matter, as particles. They concluded that the observer played an important part in the experiment. As a results new theories on what the universe really is and whether or not humans happen to live in it or participate in its creationg have emerged over the years. Quantum physics contracticted raw materialism based on Newtonian theories and reinforced spiritual beliefs according to which the self and one’s mind is important.
1 Robert Keith Wallace and Herbert, Benson. “The Physiology of Meditation.” in Timothy J. Teyler, comp. Readings from Scientific American. Altered States of Awareness. San Francisco: W.H. Freeman, 1972. 122. 2 Ibid., 122-4. 3 Diarmuid O’Murchu. Quantum Theology. Spiritual Implications of the New Physics. New York: The Crossroad Publishing Company, 1997. 27. 4 Darmuid O’Murchu, Op.Cit., 29.
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Dr. Larry Farwell, chief research scientist of the Human Brain Reasearch Laboratory, argues that the universe is a “creation of consciousness.” 1 However he also notes that there is no proper methodology that would make it possible to study accurately the role of the observer because of the very principles implied by the quantum theory— observing means making the wave of possibilities collapse and therefore only one possibility materializes. Besides, the phenomenon happens when a conscious observer is present, and consciousness still remains unexplained. Spiritual teacher and writer Iris Laine dedicated a chapter of Dacing Spirits to quantum physics. She writes that although everything seems to be different, be it water, wood, human flesh, or anything else, on a subatomic level, everything is actually made of the same source of energy, which she can relate not only to Eastern religions but also to Western religions. She sees in quantum physics a way of unifying everything and thinks that it means that no religion or belief is wrong. They just offer a different perspective on the same subject, namely reality, the universe and what it actually is what its origings are. This shows that it has become possible to go beyond myths and actually use some scientific discoveries to back spiritual theories, and since science has become more important than religion, over the last centuries, it could have contributed to people going toward spiritual teachings that take science into account. Also the very fact that according to quantum mechanics people might very well play a role in the universe could help explain, to some extent of course, the growing interest in spirituality of the last decades.
1 Larry Farwell. How Consciousness Commands Matter. The New Scientific Revolution and the Evidence that Anything Is Possible. Fairfield, Iowa: Sunstar Publishing,1999. 111.
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3. Self-Development
This chapter will focus on Self-Development (SD), also referred to as Self- Help. It is sometimes difficult to determine whether a practice belongs to Self- Development or spirituality. Sometimes Self-Development is actually regarded a spiritual practice. But as will be pointed out, this might be inaccurate. Indeed, when one reviews all the techniques it is composed of, one will realize that it has sometimes little to do with spirituality. Furthermore, one may even wonder what it has to do with religion. As a matter of fact, Self-Development seems rather pragmatic, and sometimes materialistic. However, the links that tie it to spirituality will be discussed, which will also make its links to religion more obvious. Thus will appear what could be regarded as a continuum. This continuum has been a guideline throughout this thesis. That is to say Self Development has emerged from spiritual practices, which have emerged (or re- emerged) from more traditional religious practices themselves. In order to really understand this phenomenon, and why it is relevant to American culture, attention must be brought to another feature of American society— pragmatism. Then, a definition of Self-Development will be given. Who uses Self- Development techniques and for what purpose will also be studied. Further on, the different components of the phenomenon will be examined so as to determine what they consist in. This practice has gained popularity thanks to personalities who have made their names in the industry, such as Anthony Robbins, Louise Hay, John Gray, just to name a few—Anthony Robbins being one of the most famous authors and gurus. Anthony Robbins’s work will also represent an opportunity to assess the results that Self-Development techniques may yield. Indeed, when people achieve positive results, it contributes a lot to the reputation of a practice, and even attracts celebrities, famous athletes, and political figures.
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3.1. Toward more Pragmatism 3.1.1. Pragmatism and American Culture Pragmatism seems to be an important feature of American society. Actually, pragmatism can be traced back to the first colonies. Indeed, as was studied throughout Chapter 1, some religious communities settled overseas to put their beliefs into practice without being persecuted. The Puritans were one of the main communities which insisted on experiencing religion in everyday life. However it was also explained that not only were there other communities, but the Great Awakenings—or religious revivals—emphasized the practical aspects of religion even more. Particularly when Arminianism became more important than Calvinism, for it meant that anybody could be saved provided they would take action to live by the rules taught in their religion. Later on, pragmatism was reinforced by European philosophy and psychology. American philosophers, psychologists and even scientists, such as William James, and Charles Sanders Peirce, read writings on consciousness, freedom of will, and causality from overseas, and incorporated some of the theories into their own work, albeit interpreted theories. Pragamatism is also “a philosophical movement or system having various forms, but generally stressing practical consequences as constituting the essential criterion in determining meaning, truth, or value.” 1 Causality thus plays an important role in their work because it means that events are linked and happen for a reason. In other words, there is a cause and an effect and pragmatic philosophers relied on this principle.2
3.1.1.1. The Influence of German and Scottish Psychology 3.1.1.1.1. German Psychology Hermann von Helmholtz (1821-1894) was a German physicist who contributed to the debate regarding psychology, because it was not clear whether it was a science or a mere philosophy. 3 Helmholtz thus worked on subjects commonly disregarded by classical science. He studied “the status of the ‘human’ and especially the status of the human knowing.” 4 Helmholtz became famous for his theory of the conservation of
1 “Pragmatism.” Def. 2. Random House Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary. CD-ROM. Vers. 3.0. Random House, 1999. 2 “Causality.” Def. 1. Random House Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary. CD-ROM. Vers. 3.0. Random House, 1999. 3 M. Gail Hamner. American Pragmatism: A Religious Genealogy . NY: OUP, 2003. 23. 4 Ibid., 25.
61 energy. This means that no matter what happens, no energy is lost and that any experiment should theoretically be reversible. This theory backed his approach to causality and realism. Indeed, he believed that everything happened for a reason in nature, as if events were occurring according to some laws which could be understood scientifically. Nevertheless, Helmholtz thought that such laws could be understood in theory, but that in practice it was not necessarily true. Therefore he thought that one “need[ed] to ‘have trust and act.’”1 American pragmatists became interested in Helmholtz’s work because “notions of causality inherently entail[ed] issues of purpose and, more specifically, issues of self-control and self-formation,”2 for them. Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920) was a scientist who also had a deep interest in psychology and philosophy. Similarly to Helmholtz, he aimed at discovering the nature of “human knowing and being.” 3 Wundt actually tried to find a way to apply what Helmholtz had worked on to a new form of psychology based on scientific experimentation. “[H]e hoped [that it] would adequately explore the nature of being human and assist scientists in curing social ills.” 4 Therefore his work, based on a somewhat abstract concept, had some very concrete and pragmatic goals.
3.1.1.1.2. Scottish Psychology William Hamilton (1788-1856) was a professor of logic and metaphysics in Edinburgh.5 He worked on the relativity of knowledge, claiming that human beings merely perceive the events occurring every day through filters, and thus never actually see the events and objects of the outside world as they really are. Therefore it is impossible to know everything about the universe. 6 Moreover he worked on freedom of will. He thought that it was impossible to know whether or not human beings were granted freedom of will (by God). Nevertheless, he thought that they could and should act as if they were free, and use common sense to behave correctly and morally. 7 Indeed Indeed “Hamilton insist[ed] that knowledge [although limited] should be useful, either
1 M. Gail Hamner, Op.Cit., 37. 2 Ibid., 38. 3 Ibid., 40. 4 Ibid., 40. 5 Ibid., 59. 6 Ibid., 62-3. 7 Ibid., 66-7.
62 in awakening the ‘nobler’ capacities of the mind or in guiding persons into a life of service and contribution to society.”1 Alexander Bain (1818-1903) began his career as a writer, publishing books on psychology, such as The Senses and the Intellect, and The Emotions and the Will before working as a university professor. 2 Bain thought that human beings actually had freedom of will. However, it might seem as though they did not because they keep repeating the same actions. This is caused by their beliefs, which they acquired through their own experience of the world. Therefore, although they should be free in theory, they are destined to repeat the same patterns all their lives. As a result, Bain wanted to raise the question of “legal culpability […] and punishment (through the justice system).”3
3.1.1.2. The Interpretation of German and Scottish Pscyhology in America Charles Sanders Peirce (1839-1914) was an intellectual interested chemistry, physics, as well as philosophy and psychology. Peirce invented semiotics, which is “a general theory of signs and symbolism, usually divided into the branches of pragmatics, semantics, and syntactics.” 4 Similarly to Helmholtz, he believed in realism, however Peirce did not agree with Helmholtz as far as certainty goes. He did not think that one could completely grasp the laws of nature. Moreover, Peirce insisted even further on the purpose of such laws, and believed that causality had to result in a specific social behavior.5 Peirce formulated pragmaticiscm, his version of pragmatism, primarily as a means of analyzing concepts, but the theory also infers a vision of the self that has important connections to aspects of America’s Purtian legacy, specifically the dual obligation to intense self-examination (a form of self- assertion) and to disciplined self-abnegation.6
1 M. Gail Hamner, Op.Cit., 69. 2 Ibid., 73. 3 Ibid., 85. 4 “Semiotics.” Def. 2. Random House Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary. CD-ROM. Vers. 3.0. Random House, 1999. 5 M. Gail Hamner, Op.Cit., 37-8. 6 Ibid., 93.
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William James (1842-1910) was another intellectual who had a deep interest in sciences and philosophy. 1 M. Gail Hamner notes that James was also interested in Puritan Jonathan Edwards’s religious theories although he was not a religious person himself, and certainly not a Calvinist, for he believed in freedom of will. James actually drew from Edwards’s work to raise the question of the purpose and consequences of one’s beliefs. “James downplay[ed] the entire question of God’s existence in favor of the evidence of God’s usefulness.” 2 Indeed, James reinforced the notion of practicality of religion. “To James, Edwards and other Puritans exemplify how strong faith can yield a realistic, material, tough-minded disposition toward life.” 3 James would also prefer to use the term “spirituality” to refer to religious matters, so as to establish a difference between his practical approach to faith and more conventional religion. 4 This This idea would be taken to a more extreme level in the 1960s as was explained in Chapter 2.
As was pointed out, causality was essential in American pragmatic philosophy. This notion was developed by European psychologists and used by Peirce and James to form their own theories. Peirce insisted on the importance of a decent social demeanor, while James focused on freedom of will and the consequence of religious beliefs. This shows that pragmatism and religion/spirituality (as understood by James), were somehow related. This search for practicality in religion contributed to the evolution of more spiritual movements, ultimately leading to extreme pragmatism with the appearance of Self-Development.
3.1.2. From Spirituality to Self-Development 3.1.2.1. What is Self-Development? How Different is it from Spirituality?
As was shown throughout Chapter 2, spirituality is pragmatic to some extent. It is about individuals taking action to evolve, work on their souls, give meaning to their lives, as opposed to following dogmas, listening to what preachers and any other religious authorities say. Somehow, it already is a form of Self-Development, where the self is very important. However, it is possible to go even further and differenciate
1 M. Gail Hamner, Op.Cit., 126. 2 Ibid., 142. 3 Ibid., 143. 4 Ibid., 144-5.
64 between spiritual practices and other ones which could be labeled as Self-Development only, although the frontier is not always clearly visible. It would not be accurate to say that Self-Development boils down to spirituality minus the work on the soul. This is why it would be convenient to use several categories to classify the practices. One category could gather those which also aim at making their followers become better people, find peace of mind and the like, albeit more pragmatic than spirituality as defined in Chapter 2. A second category could gather all the other practices which do not emphasize any particular work on the soul. That is to say, practices which are only about pragmatic, physical, and concrete results. In Le développement Personnel, Michel Lacroix explains that SD is not a form of psychological therapy used inside a clinic. Indeed, the latter is used when a patient suffers from a mental disease whereas the former is a choice and is practiced outside medical facilities, and by people who are mentally healthy. Michel Lacroix goes on to write that people interested in SD can try several practices until they reach their goals. According to him, SD aims at achieving fulfillment, happiness, creativity, and points to Maslow’s pyramid, whose last step indicates that the highest purpose and need in someone’s life is to feel fulfilled. 1 Therefore, according to his definition, he who shows interest in SD first and foremost is a sane and healthy person who aims at becoming better, improving certains skills, whether physical or mental. This is not entirely true. Indeed, as will be explained, some people use SD techniques to better cope with pain, eradicate fears, or overcome depression. In Le Developpement personnel pour les nuls , which addresses the most popular techniques in detail, it is clearly stated that SD can be used by people who feel empty, or people who are going through hardship at some point in their lives. 2 In a nutshell, SD is a way to thrive or keep thriving, achieve success in one’s life, and help cope with one’s burdens, despite the fact that it cannot necessarily help those who suffer from clinical conditions. Michel Lacroix sees a clear link between SD spirituality. Indeed, one of his chapters is entitles “La Spiritualité par le corps” 3 (spirituality through the body). This title seems to point out the pragmatic side of SD, however the author does not make a clear distinction between spirituality and SD. It appears that to him, SD is somehow a range of techniques used by people who are interested in spirituality, which is true to
1 Michel Lacroix. Le Développement Personnel. Paris: Marabout Flammarion, 2000. 21-5. 2 Romilla Ready, Kate Burton, Rob Wilson, Rhena Branch, Mike Bryant, Peter Mabbutt, and Jeni Mumford. Le Développement personnel pour les nuls. Tout en 1. Paris: Editions First, 2008. 1-2. 3 Romilla Ready, Op.Cit., 69.
65 some extent. However, by doing so, he writes that people who resort to SD techniques have broken up with their family religious traditions. This is not entirely true either, because one may be religious and interested in using one’s potential to the best. For instance, SD guru Anthony Robbins is a Christian and does not hesitate to mention it in his books. Michel Lacroix regards the following practices as key components of self- development: positive thinking, relaxation, self affirmation, meditation, Neuro Linguistic Progamming (NLP), coaching, transactional analysis, and modified states of awareness.1 Most of these will be examined to understand what they consist in, and other practices will be added to the list, such as fitness and language programs.
3.1.2.2. Esalen Institute: Spirituality and Self-Development
There is an institute in Southern California which should be studied to better see how spiritual-oriented practices have evolved into a range of techniques which are more result-oriented, pragmatic, and which sometimes do not seem to be spiritual at all. Esalen is a retreat center located in Big Sur. The institute was founded in 1962 by Michael Murphy and Richard Price. 2 It aimed at enabling people to unleash their true potential. Kerouac, Huxley, as well as Ginsberg visited the institute in order to find inspiration. Esalen offers several activities to its visitors. They are called workshops and some practices are indeed spiritual-oriented, whereas other ones are clearly more physical and could be labeled as Self-Development, as defined in this chapter. Residents and guests participate in an incredible variety of alternative education and personal growth programs in subjects ranging from meditation to massage, yoga, psychology, ecology, spirituality, art, music, and much more.3 It is also clearly stated that the institute is not merely about obtaining physical, and concrete results. Indeed, meditation was mentioned as being a technique used by spirituality enthusiasts. Moreover some of the workshops are about Buddhism and other spiritual practices. On the other hand, Esalen goes beyond spirituality: “[it] is dedicated
1 Romilla Ready, Op.Cit., 15. 2 About Esalen: Our Mission and History. n.d.
66 to exploring work in the humanities and sciences that furthers the full realization of the human potential.” 1 Human potential is a key phrase used by many SD authors and gurus. The workshops hosted at the institute are sometimes more spiritual but there are physical workshops. For example, Kenn Chase, a taichichuan instructor, will host a taichi workshop May 8 through June 5, 2011. The class will aim at making the students become more aware of their bodies. July 31 through August 28, 2011, Susan Scurlock- Durana and Carlos Durana will host a workshop based on healing touch, which could be regarded as a form of alternative medicine, like acupuncture or magnetism. Jean Morrison will host a workshop on non-violent communication November 20 through December 25, 2011. This workshop will aim at making the students feel more confident, fulfilled, and also be better communicators, which is clearly pragmatic.2 The institute is also composed of a research center. Some research areas are quite scientific and mainstream. For example, there have been conferences and research on evolutionary theory, economics, globalization, theology, psychology, and philosophy. Meanwhile, some topics are unusual to the academic world, such as shamanism, metaphysics, intuition, and psychical phenomena. 3 This shows once again the two sides of the coin, one which could be regarded as part of the New Age movement, and the other which is more down-to-earth, and concrete. Thus appears a form of transition from spirituality toward new practices which are gradually more pragmatic and result-oriented.
3.1.2.3. Self-Development for Individals and Businesses
The main target of SD is individuals. Michel Lacroix notes that such individuals are in a permanent quest for an instense life. They reject routine and a normal life. They need to constantly thrive and obtain results. 4 This is confirmed by Anthony Robbins who often reminds his readers and followers that in order to be successful they need to apply the following principle: CANI, standing for Constant And Never-ending Improvement. Individuals who are only interested in spiritual practices do not necessarily seek greater and greater results. For example, people who indulge in zen meditation, or follow Eckhart Tolle’s teachings merely want to enjoy the present the
1 Esalen Frequently Asked Questions. n.d. < http://www.esalen.org/info/faq/faq1.html > March 12, 2011. 2 Work Study Program. n.d.
67 moment, or they may want to feel more balanced. On the contrary, and this is perhaps where a clearer difference between spirituality and self-development can be established, those who are interested in SD wish to sacrifice balance in order to take their lives to another level, whether physically or mentally. This is particularly true of athletes who resort to coaching, NLP, or other techniques. Their purpose is less spiritual than pragmatic. Although SD is generally used by individuals, its techniques can appeal to larger groups, sports teams, and even companies. SD is used as a way to form efficient employees, and improve their skills. The main idea behind this strategy is that a company will make more benefits and have fewer expenditures on sick leaves, and healthcare if its workers feel more comfortable, and learn techniques which will make them more productive. The employees will also socialize more as they take part in yoga classes or the like. Infinite Health Coach, a coaching company which has worked with over 150 companies, offers its services to employers claiming that “[those] who integrate wellness into their overall objectives find that they experience lower healthcare costs, lower rates of absenteeism and presenteeism, increased productivity and better employee morale.”1 The company goes on to give figures showing the results that were found by a survey released in 2005:
1 Health Coaching and Wellness Coaching. n.d.
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• Reduce Sick Leave by 27.8% • Reduce Health Costs by 28.7% • Reduce Disability Costs by 33.5% • Reduce Workers Comp Costs by 33.5% 1 • Save $5.50 in cost for every dollar invested John McKee, a professional coach, offers his services to companies as well. He points out the same advantages to using SD within the company. In other words, it might represent an investment, but the companies which resort to coaching will reap more benefits as their employees become more productive, feel well at work, thus reducing personal problems. John McKee writes that coaching helps companies have more motivated employees who interact more, and limits negative behaviors due to ego issues, which can be detrimental to the entire company. 2 McKee points to some probing figures, too. Studies have shown a return on investment benefit of over 500%. Effective coaching impacts both individual and company productivity, effectiveness, alignment. It impacts job satisfaction, personal change and transformation.3 Dave Jakubowski, an important businessman uses zen meditation in a way that contradicts zen as a spiritual practice itself. A zen practitioner traditionally does not look for any specific results whereas Jakubowski claims that meditating makes his ideas clearer and enhances his productivity : “I'm in business,” he says, “and I need results.” So he recently turned to a mat and 60 minutes of silence. “It's amazing,” he says of his new meditation practice. “I'm able to sort through work challenges in this state of calm much faster than trying to fight through it. And I make fewer mistakes.” 4 Some SD companies offer to teach meditation seminars to businesses. For example, PPE Sports has one-day seminars as well as five-week programs. It also offers its services to sports team, in order to make more efficient athletes who will contribute to their teams’ success. According to PPE Sports, using meditation within a company has several advantages, which will ultimately lead to greater results for the company. The goals of the program are to help employees improve their awareness, concentration, overall energy, innovation problem-solving. stress
1 Health Coaching and Wellness Coaching. n.d.
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management and team chemistry. For companies, they create an environment for healthier employees and people more capable of managing growth.1 This interest of companies and large groups in SD for the results it can yield is to be found in Anthony Robbins’s Unlimited Power. This will be discussed in an upcoming sub-chapter on this SD guru. He has worked with corporations, presidents, athletes, as well as sports teams and therefore, more detail on his work will be given later on. It has so far been explained that similarly to spirituality, where an individual takes action to evolve and therefore create change from the inside out, an employee who is mentally and physically at his or her best will also contribute to the greater good of his or her company. The main difference though, is that as SD entered the corporate world, it became even more pragmatic and less spiritual. The main objectives, as the above-mentioned data show, are results, productivity, and money saving. This is an important notion that can help distinguish the two phenoma more clearly. Emphasis should now be brought to the disciplines that compose Self-Development.
1 Meditation in the Work Environment. n.d.
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3.2. The Components of Self-Development 3.2.1. Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) 3.2.1.1. Definition
NLP was developed by Richard Bandler and John Grinder in the 1970s. Richard Bandler studied mathematics and psychology. He studied the work of several therapists and found out that he could reproduce the results they had with their patients by modeling their behaviors. He then met John Grinder, a linguistics professor. Grinder’s aim was “to uncover the hidden grammar of thinking and action.” 1 Having similar interests the two men worked together. They slowly developed the basic principles of what would become Neuro-Linguistic Programming through many experiments.2 In NLP The New Technology of Achievement , Steve Andreas and Charles Faulkner start by giving the following definition of NLP: “NLP is the study of human excellence. NLP is the ability to be your best more often. NLP is a powerful and practical approach to personal change.” 3 This method offers to model successful people in order to achieve success. Many exercises enable its users to use their minds as a laboratory to recreate mental movies, go through past experiences one more time, model people, practice skillsets, overcome phobias, and break through physical plateaus in numerous areas; sports, education, work, music, and the like. These exercises are a form of visualization, but it goes beyond eyesight. Indeed, the visualizations use all the other senses, hearing, taste, touching, and smelling. Some people need to visualize what something feels like, sounds like, looks like, or sometimes smells of. NLP relies on several principles. Here are some of the most important ones:
• “The map is not the territory” means that one sees the world through one’s mental filters, and therefore reacts to the outside world according to what one’s beliefs are. An NLP practitioner who changes their beliefs will be able to look upon the world differently, and empowered.
• “If one person can do something, anyone can learn to do it.” The authors go on to say that by modeling a successful person’s thinking (or beliefs, mental maps, as
1 Steve Andreas, Charles Faulkner, eds. NLP The New Technology of Achievement. New York: Harper, 1994. 48. 2 Ibid., 47-51. 3 Ibid., 27.
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they put it), one can use the same strategies as this person has to achieve similar results.
• “The Mind and body are parts of the same system.” This means that the way one thinks affect one’s physiology and vice versa. For example, assuming a posture that conveys confidence, or happiness will make the user feel more confident and happy. Conversely, if someone feels depressed, it will affect their posture. Maybe they will take shallow breaths, arch their back, sink their shoulders, or look down. Besides, regarding mind and body as being united shows that despite the very pragmatic purposes of NLP, it still has some ties to spirituality. • “You cannot NOT communicate.” Communication plays an important role in NLP. It is not necessarily on a conscious level. It can be nonverbal, through one’s body language, way of speaking, intonations, gestures and eye patterns (whether someone looks to their right, left, etc.) • “If what you are doing isn’t working, do something else. Do anything else.” The authors go on to write that “[i]f you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always gotten.” 1 This is an important concept in NLP, it emphasizes the importance of adapting one’s approach according to the results one has obtained. The authors then move on to other key elements that the NLP practitioner must have in order to create change. The practitioner needs to see change as a must. They must feel as though they could not not change. Therefore they have to find something which will motivate them, and as the authors pointed out, some people will change because they are inspired by a goal or a person, while others will change because they find themselves in a dire situation which causes them so much pain and frustration that they will do anything to change. The authors offer the readers to discover what motivates them by using an NLP technique. They write: “[t]his exercise will help you find out how your brain ‘codes’ images to increase your motivation by making them so strong you’re naturally compelled to take the steps to achieve them.” 2 First of all, the readers are asked to think of something that they either enjoy doing, or that they know yields such amazing results that they are willing to do it. They are then asked to watch themselves perform this task
1 Steve Andreas., Charles Faulkner, Op.Cit., 35-7. (all the above-listed principles are to be found in S. Andreas’s book) 2 Ibid., 70.
72 mentally, noticing as much detail as possible, as if it were a movie. After a short break, they are asked to think of something that they have no particular interest in. They are then asked to mentally “[e]xperience the feeling of not caring about it.” Eventually, the readers are asked to compare both experiences which they have rehearsed in their minds as if they were watching two movies. As they do so, they will note down the differences that they have noticed, such as the colors, the brightness, the size, the location of the mental picture, and even the sounds of each movie. These details are referred to as submodalities in NLP. The authors note that “[t]hese are the elements that your brain uses to indicate that something is valuable to you, and worth being motivated about.”1 This exercise has very practical applications. For instance, someone who wants to lose weight by eating healthier foods, will change their mental representation of unhealthy foods, such as a candy, chocolate, pizza and the like. While doing the same exercise, if they saw chocolate in a big, three-dimensional, colorful picture, if it was bright, and if they could almost taste it, or smell it, then they will mentally reduce the size of the picture, make it darker, flatter, and unattractive to them. Conversely, they will do the opposite for healthy foods which they did not like, and make them appealing to them.2 Furthermore, the NLP practitioner must have values to live up to. They must determine what their core beliefs are. As a result they will be on a personal quest, or mission, which will help them make the best decisions to achieve their goals. The authors write that “[a] mission is a sense of purpose that lures you into your future.” 3 To them, having a mission makes a clear difference between people who merely work to pay the bills and people who want to give meaning to their lives. They write that one the characteristics of successful people is that they do what they love and do not distinguish between work and fun. The go on to note that most people either do not believe that they could earn a living by doing what they love, or ignore what the love. In order to find out, they suggest another NLP exercise. To begin, they ask the readers to think of their interests in life and quote John Grinder: “What do you love to do so much that you’d pay to do it?” 4 They ask the readers to think carefully of their passions, hobbies, and notice how they feel inside. They are then asked to think of people whom they look up to. As they do so, they will think of what beliefs and interests they have in common
1 Steve Andreas, Charles Faulkner, Op.Cit., 71. 2 Ibid., 72. 3 Ibid., 80. 4 Ibid., 88.
73 with those people, as well as the features they would like to copy. After practicing this exercise, the reader will have a clearer idea of what they are passionate about. Andreas and Faulkner go on to write about goals. The chapter ends with a technique entitled “taking action” which consists of four steps. First, the NLP practitioner will “Assign a Realistic Completion Date.” They must then “Schedule [Their] Steps,” which means that they will clearly write down each action that they are going to take in their calendar. It is somehow an itinerary which they must follow. Moreover, they must “Keep an Eye on [Their] Mission.” This means that they must always bear in mind their core beliefs, and mission, as they represent fuel for change. Finally they must “Do It,” which means that each action written down in their calendar must be taken as planned, without procrastinating, because each step they make will bring them closer to their goal.1 NLP is not just about the individual. Indeed, Andreas and Faulkner go on to write on what is know as “rapport” in NLP. Rapport is about communication, however it goes beyond words. Building rapport is an important skill to develop for those who want to be successful businessmen, and leaders. They write that “[w]hen you don’t have rapport with someone, you are acting differently than they are. The way to regain rapport is to become more similar.” 2 This means that a person will be more open to what someone has to say, or to offer when they feel that they have something in common with them. As a resulst, they will trust them more. The authors point to several techniques used by NLP practitioners to build rapport. First of all, the practictioner can match a person’s voice tone and rhythm. This means that if someone speaks slowly, in a deep voice, the practitioner should speak in a similar fashion. Conversely, if a someone speaks quickly with a higher-pitched voice, the practitioner should copy this pattern. Then, the NLP practitioner can match someone’s posture and gestures. This is called “mirroring.” Andreas and Faulkner note that this naturally occurs in everyday life when people gather. They often assume similar postures, which makes them feel more comfortable being around one another.3
1 Steve Andreas, Charles Faulkner, Op.Cit., 136. 2 Ibid., 148. 3 Ibid., 149-59.
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3.2.2. Positive Thinking Positive thinking (PT) is rather difficult to situate. For some it is an actual practice which can be learned independently from other methods, and for others it is more of a principle which can be used in combination with other ones. Furthermore, some NLP practitioners utterly refuse to label their method as PT, and yet, they are are sometimes similar. Therefore attention ought to be brought to what PT consists in, and its different forms and applications. The name of this practice seems quite self-explanatory at first glance. Indeed, it consists in thinking of events that occur or will occur in a positive way. Michel Lacroix writes that PT is sometimes seen as the key to unlocking one’s “potential.” PT is a way of elimitating “limiting beliefs.” 1 These limiting beliefs may be negative thoughts such as “I will never be able to do that,” “I heard it was impossible,” “this is too hard for me,” “I am too shy,” etc. According to PT users, such thoughts are the main obstacles to reaching one’s goals. However, in her book entitled Positive Thinking, Susan Quilliam notes that the practice does not constist in thinking in a more positive way only. She gives a detailed definition of what PT is: It is an entire approach to life. It means focusing on the positives in any situation, rather than the negatives. It means thinking well of yourself rather than constantly putting yourself down. It means thinking well of others, and dealing with them positively. It means expecting the best from the world, and trusting it will provide.2 As an introduction to PT, she explains how to become aware of one’s emotions as they how one feels about the events that occur in one’s life. Acknowledging these feelings will help PT users think about those events differently. Indeed, these feelings and emotions will generate thoughts, which, if negative, can be changed into positive thoughts. But rather than merely think about those, Susan Quilliam asks the readers to note down their feelings and thoughts in a diary. The following example is then given, first of all the reader should note down what the situation was. In this case, “11:15 am boss criticized report.” Then they will note what they thought “I will never satisfy him.” Right after that, they will describe what emotion they experienced “anger, hopelessness” and assess this emotion on a scale from one to ten “6.” How did they react to this emotion? “[s]napped at colleague.” Finally, they will write down the result
1 Michel Lacroix, Op.Cit., 47-50. 2 Susan Quilliam. Positive Thinking. NY: Dorling Kindersley. Second Edition, 2008. 6.
75 that came out of this experience: “had [a] bad day.” 1 This is also to be done for positive thoughts, in order to compare them to negative ones, and make the reader become aware of any improvement and remaining weaknesses. Throughout the rest of her book, Susan Quilliam introduces the readers to other concepts, such as mental pictures, which are very similar to NLP techniques used to change the way one feels about an event, a phobia, and even oneself. She then moves on to teaching how to set goals, planning one’s future, learning how to relax, and living a healthy lifestyle (through nutrition). Therefore this looks like a really practical approach to PT, which goes beyond thinking in more positive way only. Another approach to Positive Thinking which only consists of a mental work is The Secret. Written by Rhonda Byrne in cooperation with philosophers, entrepreneurs, metaphysicians, coaches and psychologists, The Secret reveals a principle known as “the law of attraction.” Philosopher Bob Proctor says: “Wherever you are—India, New Zealand, Stockholm, London, Toronto, Montreal, or New York—we’re all working with one power. One law. It’s attraction!” 2 This law of attraction enables its users to obtain both what they want and do not want. Bob Proctor goes on to say: Everything that’s coming into your life you are attracting into your life. And it’s attracted to you by virtue of the images you’re holding in your mind. It’s what you’re thinking. Whatever is going on in your mind you are attracting to you.3 Therefore the method emphasizes the role of positive thinking. Indeed, it is said that if people only think of what they do not desire, or want to avoid, they will actually attract it.4 On the other hand, if they picture what they really want, and think that it is real and feasible, their dreams will come true. The law of attraction consists of three major steps. The first step is named “ask” and consists in clearly knowing what one truly desires. 5 The second step is “believe.” The users must put total faith in their wishes. Moreover, those who use the Secret must see themselves as though their wishes had already been granted, because if they see them in the future or think “I want to be rich,” what they are actually wishing is “wanting to be rich.” Thus they will always want to be rich, while thiking “I am rich now,” or “I have one million dollars in my account” is more likely to
1 Susan Quilliam, Op.Cit., 8-11. 2 Bob Proctor in Rhonda Byrne. The Secret. NY, NY: Simon & Schuster, 2006. 3. 3 Ibid., 4. 4 Lisa Nichols in Ibid., 13-4. 5 Rhonda Byrne, Ibid., 47.
76 work, according to the authors. 1 Step three is “receive.” For this last step, all the users are required to do is feel well and enjoy seeing themselves receiving what they wished for. According to Rhonda Byrne, “[w]hen you are feeling good, you are on the frequency of receiving.” 2 No further action is required. The readers are even told not to worry about how their dreams will be fulfilled. “ How it will happen, how the Universe will bring it to you, is not your concern or job. Allow the Universe to do it for you.” 3 Wondering how it will happen actually works against the users according to Byrne, because it shows that they do not entirely trust the power of the law of attraction, and as was explained in step two, belief is one of the key principles of The Secret. The law of attraction, as an application of PT, raises one more time the question of the frontier between spirituality and SD. Indeed, as far as The Secret goes, it belongs to spirituality and SD at the same time. It is not mere spirituality because it is a technique which aims at yielding concrete results, but Rhonda Byrne does not see The Secret as a materialistic concept. She writes: “You are a spiritual being. You are energy, and energy cannot be created or destroyed—it just changes form.” 4 Besides, like several spiritual theories, The Secret relies on the discoveries in the field of quantum mechanics. The very principle behind The Secret is that people create reality because they observe it, and as was seen earlier, the role of the observer is important in quantum mechanics because it has an influence on the outcome of the expirment. Moreover, she writes that: “Everything is energy. You are an energy magnet, so you electrically energize everything to you and electrically energize yourself to everything you want.” 5 Once again, according to quantum mechanics the entire world is made of energy. Another sentence shows the spiritual aspect of the law of attraction, Byrne writes: “We are all connected, and we are all One.” 6 As was seen in Chapter 2, this idea is important to many spirituality enthusiasts. This form of PT which relies on mental imagery only is sometimes seen as worthless by other Self-Development specialists, which might explain why they refuse to say that part of what they teach is close to PT. Indeed, Positive Thinking is sometimes criticized and regarded as ineffective, or at least not self-sufficient. For
1 Rhonda Byrne, Op.Cit., 48. 2 Ibid., 53. 3 Ibid., 51. 4 Ibid., 175. 5 Ibid., 175. 6 Ibid., 175.
77 instance, NLP guru Anthony Robbins does not believe in positive thinking. He thinks that taking action is more important, while merely thinking of something without doing anything will not make it happen. Some hypnotherapists who devised a mental training program for fighters also claim that their program is not positive thinking. They even go so far as to say that positive thinking is a form of denial, because if one is scared of fighting in the ring, or does not have the skills, positive thinking will not make up for the lack of confidence and ability. The authors of the program say that while the athlete keeps repeating lines such as “I am confident and relaxed” part of him does not believe so. As a result, the fear remains. 1 However, when one uses techniques which anchor new beliefs deep into the psyche, they claim that it is more powerful than positive thinking. Nevertheless, looking back at Susan Quilliam’s definition of PT, some similiarities become obvious. In NLP “reframing” plays an important part which is in many ways similar to positive thinking. NLP practitioners do not believe in failure, and use the terms “feedback” and “results” instead. This means that when a situation seems to be bad, they will reframe it in order to empower themselves. For example, if someone were to be burglarized, as an NLP practitioner they would maybe think of it as learning experience, rather than bad luck. They would think that they need to install an alarm, use safer locks, or buy a dog. Therefore they will learn from an experience which at first glance is negative. Simarly, Quilliam writes: “Understand that you cannot change reality, but you can change your perception of it—and so achieve positive results.” 2 Moreover, PT uses the phrase “limiting beliefs” too. In that way, the two practices appear to have more in common than what some experts think. Perhaps they are referring to PT as taught in The Secret and which does not require action. Another theory would be that PT, as exposed in The Secret, may be too spiritual for people who are more down-to-earth, and searching for concrete results.
1 Stephen Ladd, Bill Gladwell. Renegade Mindset Training for Fighters. E-book. Columbus, OH: Ladd & Gladwell, 2009. 35-7. 2 Susan Quilliam, Op.Cit., 18.
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3.2.3. Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy The Merriam Webster dictionary defines hypnosis as follows: “an artificially induced trance state resembling sleep, characterized by heightened susceptibility to suggestion.1” Because of this heightened susceptibility to suggestion, hypnosis may be used to change one’s beliefs, eradicate phobias, develop new habits, as well as stop negative habits (such as smoking). Although trances are used in some spiritual practices, hypnosis is rather far from spirituality, for its uses are mainly pragmatic. This shows once again that self-development, or self-help, cannot always be regarded labeled as spiritual. A common misconception about hypnosis is that when one is under hypnosis, one can be controlled and taken advantage of by the therapist. This is not true. Indeed, hypnosis is a form of suggestion, and the client must accept the suggestions first.2 Romilla Ready and her team establish a disctinction between hypnosis and hypnotherapy as well. Indeed, hypnosis refers to the state of awareness that one experiences, while hypnotherapy is the use of this state of awareness to solve problems, or improve one’s life. 3 This is important because it breaks the image of stage hypnosis where a magician tricks people into thinking that they are animals, unable to open their hands, and the like. This use of hypnosis is for mere entertainment purposes. Hypnotherapists, on the other hand, do not arbitrarily tell their patients what to do. Instead they try to understand how they think, what their beliefs are, and find the most suitable way to help them. To do so they will have to assess several factors, which will determine the technique they will use. They will pay attention to the symptoms, the goals of their patients, their personal history, hobbies, tastes, and careers. They will ask their patients if they have resorted to hypnotherapy before. And of course, the training of the hypnotherapist will determine the techniques used.4 Hypnotherapy may also be practiced alone, this is called self-hypnosis. The practitioner can use audio recordings of inductions, with specific goals: eating healthy, losing weight, exercising more, feeling more relaxed, feeling safe on a plane, just to name a few. 5 An experienced practitioner does not necessarily need to use recordings, they can indeed go into a trance by themselves without falling asleep. Another form of
1 “Hypnosis.” Def. 1. Random House Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary. CD-ROM. Vers. 3.0. Random House, 1999. 2 Romilla Ready, Op.Cit., 31-4 3 Ibid., 32. 4 Ibid., 344-5. 5 Ibid., 38.
79 self-hypnosis can be practiced fully awake. One has to read a hypnotic induction aloud, before moving on to other texts which target very specific goals. This was discovered by hypnotherapist Forbes Robbins Blair. He was reading hypnotic suggestions that he had written and realized that he was slipping into a hypnotic trance. 1 He further developed this method and published a book entitled Instant Self-Hypnosis. The front cover reads “You can: fly without fear, end fingernail biting, lose weight, have great sex, make more money, eliminate allergies, stop smoking, 2” which shows once again the very pragmatic use of hypnosis. A final chapter teachers the readers how to write their own hypnotic suggestions so as to suit their personal goals. Among the most pragmatic uses of hypnosis, the police sometimes resort to hypnotherapists to help witnesses remember specific details about a crime scene or an incident. Indeed, some techniques enable the patients to go back in time and access information which has been stored in their long-term memory, on a subconscious level. Conversely, other techniques can help patients forget traumatic events of their lives. Hypnosis can also be used to help women give birth, soothe muscular aches, headaches, toothaches, and even in surgery to replace anesthesia. The hypnotherapist enables the patient to interpret the signals of pain differently, therefore the patient only feels good sensations. Indeed there is a difference between feeling the nervous signals of pain and the way one reacts to them.3
3.2.4. Coaching Coaching is another practice which can be labeled as Self-Development. The ultimate goal of coaching is to help people become autonomous, and be in control of their lives at all times. “Le véritable coaching personnel vous permet de faire appel à votre gourou intérieur, à tout moment, où que vous soyez, avec ou sans le soutien d’un congénère.4” The authors define this practice as follows: “conversation motivée donnant l’aspiration nécessaire pour s’offrir à la vie souhaitée.” 5 Therefore coaching is really about motivating oneself. Although the word “coaching,” as used in Self-Development, has its origins in sports, a professional coach will not arbitrarily tell his or her clients
1 Forbes Robbins Blair. Instant Self-Hypnosis : How to Hypnotize Yourself with Your Eyes Open. Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks, Inc., 2004. ix. 2 Ibid., Front Cover. 3 Romilla Ready, Op.Cit.,424-6. 4 Ibid., 41. 5 Ibid., 42.
80 what to do, or think. That is why the authors emphasize the importance of self-coaching first, before giving some recommendations on how to find a professional coach. In order to make what coaching consists in stand out, the authors list what it is not about. It is not psychotherapy because it addresses people who are mentally strong enough to take on new challenges. It is not mentorship because one may or may not decide to have a mentor. A mentor has ideas, beliefs, and more experience in one field, which he or she will share rather casually. Finally, it does not consist in advising a client. Although a coach may advise his clients on some occasions, his major role is to help them find the answers to their questions by themselves. 1 Coaching can be used for several purposes. Some people want to change jobs, start their own companies, be healthier, lose weight, and make more money, just to name a few.2 Before beginning a coaching program one must prepare for change. The techniques are not enough and will not work properly unless one is determined to change. The authors point to new year’s resolutions which are often forgotten by the end of January, and thus seldom fulfilled because people who make them do not really set their minds to their goals. This is why they list five steps that one must follow in order to make change possible. First of all, one must acknowledge the present situation. Indeed, living in self-denial is a major obstacle. Then, one must look carefully at what can be improved and how, as well as the reasons why change matters, instead of rushing and trying to change too fast. After that, one must plan all the actions that one will take. This could be compared to planning a trip beforehand. One will establish a list of all the tools, and people needed to reach one’s goals. Then comes the most important step— taking action. Finally, one must make sure that change will last. Indeed, sometimes one will fall off the tracks, therefore going back to one of these five steps will help one be consistent. The authors write that it is normal to make mistakes from time to time, and that readjusting one’s plan will actually make it become more effective.3 Regarding self-coaching, without resorting to a professional coach, the authors write that everybody has this inner voice which reminds them of negative events in their lives, but they also have an inner voice which keeps encouraging them. This is what they refer to as the “inner coach.” The problem is that the former generally muffles the
1 Romilla Ready, Op.Cit.,43-4. 2 Ibid.,482. 3 Ibid., 45-6.
81 latter, therefore one has to learn how to increase the volume of one’s inner coach. 1 In order to do so, the following technique is suggested. The reader is asked to sit comfortably and relax. Then, he or she asked to listen to his or her inner voice, and notice how it sounds—the tonality, the words used, etc. After that, the reader is asked to imagine how his or her inner coach would sound. Repeating this exercise regularly for a while will help the reader hear his or her inner coach better.2 The authors then describe what a conversation with one’s inner coach might look like, noting that it will actually be very similar to a conversation with a professional coach. First of all, the inner coach will help one determine a specific goal per session. Then, the inner coach will help one ask sensible, and even deep, questions. At the end of a conversation with one’s inner coach, the authors write that many things will become clearer. In light of the new information received, one must then take action.3 Moving on to professional coaching, the authors write that when one aims at reaching very difficult goals, hiring a professional coach may be a valuable option. This will help anyone who is interested in coaching build a solid basis that they will be able to use on their own—in self-coaching. 4 Professional coaches are generally found by word of mouth, or through media like the Internet. One can consult a coach on the phone or online, therefore distance is not a problem. The client will discuss the goals that he or she wants to achieve with his or her coach during the first consultation. That is also when the coach will determine if he or she is suited for the job. If not, the coach will recommend one of his or her colleagues to the client. Professional coaches also have their specialties. Some even have training in other fields, like NLP or hypnosis. And others mainly work with companies instead of individuals, as was pointed out earlier.5 In order to know whether or not a coach suits a client, the authors list important points that the client must check during the first consultation. He or she should feel comfortable being around the coach. The coach should be working in the client’s best
1 Romilla Ready, Op.Cit., 49-50. 2 Ibid., 51. 3 Ibid., 52. 4 Ibid., 487. 5 Ibid., 488-91.
82 interest. The client should not doubt his or her coach’s abilities. The coach should be supportive of the client, and try to push him or her forward, so as to take action.1
3.2.5. Other Techniques and Fields As has been pointed out so far, Self-Development represents a rather large field of practices which are sometimes closely related to spirituality, and sometimes oriented toward concrete, and even materialistic results, and thus far from spiritual aspirations. NLP, hypnosis and coaching are often seen as the core practices that constitute Self- Development, but there are actually other techniques which could be put into this category as well, such as memory improvement techniques, mind-mapping, speed- reading, which constitute an important part of Tony Buzan’s work. However listing and examining them all in detail could be the object of a thesis on its own, which is why only a few will be mentioned so as to better grasp what Self-Development consists of, and how it keeps evolving.
3.2.5.1 Fitness and Self-Development Some online fitness programs and communities teach SD techniques to improve the results of their users and members. For example Double Edged Fat Loss is an online fitness course which was launched in April 2010 by Dr. Kareem Samhouri. The course recently became Lift Hard Play Hard. A page entitled “Audio Programs” shares a file named “Goal Setting for Real Results.” 2 This goal setting course uses coaching techniques. As is the case in coaching, Dr. Samhouri does not arbitrarily tell his clients what to do. Instead, he helps them ask themselves the right questions and set goals on their own, depending on the results they are aiming for. Indeed, he warns his clients by telling them “[i]f you can’t commit to doing something after you’ve decided what that something is, it’s going to be so hard to get there.” 3 It is clear that it is the clients’ role to determine what they want, and to take action. This course merely enables them enter a state of mind where they will be determined to change, while teaching them how to write down their goals, the deadlines by which they want to achieve them, what they will do to. Finally, he tells them to use the power of affirmations, as taught in
1 Romilla Ready, Op.Cit., 492. 2 Kareem Samhouri. “Goal Setting for Results.”n.d.
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The Secret, to reinforce their beliefs so as not to doubt themselves. 1 It becomes obvious that Dr. Samhouri uses several SD techniques mixed together, mostly to achieve fat loss goals, but also to improve any area of his clients’ lives. Thus, his fitness program represents a SD practice on its own, where the members train both the mind and the body.
3.2.5.2. English Lessons and Self-Development The Effortless English Community was founded in 2007 by Allen J. Hoge, an English teacher based in San Francisco. He started his business by selling an online course, consisting of a couple dozen lesson sets which emphasize listening, in order to develop an intuitive feel for the English language. 2 His first course already included several lessons on goal setting, meditation and well being in general. 3 In August 2009, Allen J. Hoge released a new program entitled “Power English” which aimed at improving one’s English, and more importantly, at improving one’s life, mentally, physically, and even financially.4 In November 2009, he took this approach to another level by launching his VIP program. Each VIP student receives one lesson set per month in which Allen J. Hoge teaches SD techniques or principles. The lessons are about business, health, nutrition, mental health, psychology, as well as other areas of SD. The goal of the program is to help the members find out what they can accomplish with English. His former lessons were already a way of improving one’s career by being able to better communicate in English, passing exams, or simply enjoying learning a new language, but the VIP program addresses those interested in success and goes well beyond English lessons. 5 Moreover, the VIP program is an online community which has its own website whose use is similar to Facebook’s, and where the members can exchange ideas by writing notes, and leaving comments on the forums. The homepage of the website reads “Your Key to Confident Speaking and Leadership.” 6 Allen J. Hoge says that leadership does not mean that one rules and has power over others. On the contrary, being a leader
1 Kareem Samhouri. “Goal Setting for Results.”n.d.
84 means that one is here to be an example, and help the others. This is actually Anthony Robbins’s vision of what leadership is as well, and Allen J. Hoge agrees with him. 1 Anthony Robbins thinks that being a leader means being a servant, to help people grow. Here is what Robbins answered during a seminar when someone in the audience asked him to explain what leadership meant to him: My number one belief about leadership is: you are a servant. But here is what… here is what I mean specifically. The word hero, that is in the archetype of like men like you and I, I bet. Is it true that inside of you, you want… you wouldn’t want to be the best, you want to create the best, share the best? Is that a metaphor for you in life? […] Yeah, me too. So I think people in this room tend to have that as a metaphor. So all of us at some lovel, man or woman wants [ sic] to be a hero. The word hero, its Latin root means servo. Servo means servant. It actually means slave. The hero, what I view as the hero is to become the ultimate servant to something larger than themselves. People and so forth. The person who thinks they’re going to lead by demand, or by position can only lead for a short period of time. But the person whose ideas are serving is, my belief is, if you can find a way to take any group of people and help them to experience their needs, at a richer, deeper level than anyone else, then together you guys can get anything done. […] Beause you can only feel so good filled up by yourself. So my core belief is I’ve got to serve—if I serve I can lead.2 Therefore, Allen J. Hoge’s entire program actually constitutes a new SD method. Not only does this method emphasize the importance of changing oneself, and taking action on one’s own, but it appears to be less self-oriented than other SD practices. And as was seen in Chapter 2, changing oneself to change the world, in other words from the inside out, is actually a feature of New Age spirituality.
The last sub-chapter will focus on Anthony Robbins and his work in order to give concrete examples of what SD techniques can yield. It will also show the importance that SD has gained over the last decades.
1 Allen J. Hoge. “Video About Leadership By Tony.” March 11, 2011.
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3.3. Anthony Robbins: the Self-Development Guru 3.3.1. Who is Anthony Robbins? How does He Work? 3.3.1.1. Elements of Biography: a Success Story.
This final subpart will focus on Anthony Robbins’s life and work. There are indeed several famous self-help coaches, gurus and authors, and Anthony Robbins is probably one of the most famous gurus in this area. He also represents quite well what self-development is. Indeed, he specializes in several fields and not in NLP only. Moreover, Robbins experienced a success story of his own. His family was not rich. Indeed, his parents lived in North Hollywood. His father, who aspired to become an actor, had some small roles in movies and worked at a parking lot. Anthony Robbins went through several hardships from his childhood until he was a adult. His parents divorced when he was seven years old, and this was very shocking for Robbins. They asked him whether he wanted to stay with his mother or with his father. Because he could not make up his mind, and remained silent, his mother thought he did not want to stay with her, and that he would rather stay with his father. He was now alone with his father, away from his mother, brother and sister. A few years later, his mother married another man and asked her son whether he wanted to go and live with them. Anthony went to join them. Two years later, his mother and step father got a divorce, and she married Jim Robbins, who used to be a professional baseball player. Jim worked as a salesman and barely made enough to provide for his family. When Anthony was thirteen, an event which would contribute to changing his life happened. On Thanksgiving, his family could not afford to have a big meal to celebrate the day. But someone left a basket full of food so that they could have a happy Thanksgiving. That was when Anthony decided that one day he would help others in return. After attempting to become a baseball player in vain, Robbins decided to start writing about sports. He asked one of his teachers from high school to help him talk to professional athletes, because he did not want to start at a local level. In 1974, he had an interview with Howard Cosell, a sports journalist. This was later mentioned in the Los Angeles Times, and Robbins was offered a job by a sports magazine, 1 before being offered another job as a sports reporter by a television company.
1 “Tony Robbins Biography -1 of 5).” YouTube. n.d.
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However, his mother did not like all the attention which was brought to her son and forced him to quit everything. Anthony Robbins, who at age 15 had managed to have his dreamjob, eventually gave up on his new life. His mother wanted him to be at home, and had him do many chores. This made him feel really bad, all the more so since all these chores made it hard for him to have at least a teenager’s life. 1 Another event changed his life when he was sixteen. He grew ten inches in one year and was now 6’7” tall. He started being noticed by his schoolmates, which represented an opportunity for him to become more famous. He was already a good speaker, so he decided to run for student body president. In this biographical video, it is said that his schoolmates nicknamed him “Mr. Solution.” His successful speech helped him be elected.2 Nevertheless, his new responsabilities as president of the student body made his mother feel as if she were losing him. Tough arguments would occur at home. Robbins eventually left his family when he was seventeen. He then called his uncle and asked him if he could give him a janitor job. Robbins would clean banks and pay a fifty- dollar-a-week rent to a friend of his, with whom he had moved in. This hard lifestyle caused him to miss school, and the guidance counselor even advised him to leave school altogether, for he had enough credit. However, Robbins loved school. For him it was one of the only moments of joy he had during the day. To make things worse, his mother asked his uncle to fire him because she thought that if he really wanted to live on his own, he should find another job instead of asking his uncle for help. So Robbins looked for a job and began to work as a salesman, making five hundred dollars a week. Robbins was quite good at his new job and earned enough money to have his own apartment. One day, a customer was really impressed by Robbins’s talent as a salesman. He recommended he contact Jim Rohn, a famous self- help guru. Rohn invited Robbins at one of his seminars. At that moment, Robbins realized that this was what he wanted to do. He wanted to help people evolve, and feel empowered. Therefore he asked Jim Rohn for a job. Rohn thought that Robbins had something special, particularly for someone his age—he was seventeen—and gave him a job. Robbins would advertize the seminars to companies all across the Los Angeles
1 “Tony Robbins Biography -1 of 5.” YouTube. n.d.
87 area. Two years later, Robbins was promoted to sales director and had his own office. Robbins was now earning ten thousand dollars a month.1 However, his friends envied him and believed that he had becoem too different from them. Robbins felt lonely, indeed he thought that making a lot of money would help him make other people happy, and this was just the opposite. Robbins was depressed, unwilling to work sometimes, and put on thirty-eight pounds. He lost his job and had to moved to a smaller apartment. He would seldom go out, and spend most of his time watching TV. 2 He felt as though his life was going nowhere. In Notes from a Friend he writes: A little more than a decade ago [the book was published in 1995], I was struggling and completely frustrated, with little or no hope. I was living in a cramped 400-square-foot bachelor apartement in Venice, California. I was lonely, miserable, and 38 pounds overweight. I had no plans for my future.3 He then decided to take action and change his life. He goes on to write that he started by losing a lot of weight in less than a month, claiming that all he did was “[change his] mindset.” What motivated him was what he could do for other people and help them change their lives, and achieve success. By helping others, he writes that he had to change himself and become a better person, a leader. Robbins eventually became very successful. He writes: I went from living hand-to-mouth to more than a million-dollar net worth in less than one year. I moved from my run-down apartment to my present home: a 10,000 square-foot castle overlooking the Pacific Ocean.4 Further on, he decided to sell what he had used to change his life to help other people, so that they would achieve their goals. He taught his first seminars in 1983 in a friend’s backyard in Vancouver, BC. He then hosted his seminars in California, attracting more and more people to them. Robbins made an appearance on national TV in 1984. Although he was successful and had bought a castle, he would still struggle to pay off his debts. This would change when he met a publisher who helped him write his first book, Unlimited Power. The book sold very well and was translated into thirteen
1 “Tony Robbins Biography -2 of 5.” YouTube. n.d.
88 different languages. He then kept gaining popularity as he released audio tapes and other audio and video material, which reached an even larger target. 1 In the light of these biographical elements, attention will now be brought to what Anthony Robbins’s job exactly consists in. Indeed, clients read his books, consult him, or go to his seminars for different reasons.
3.3.1.2. A Variety of Media and Areas With One Goal: Success.
Anthony Robbins shares his teachings through many types of media. As will be seen in the sub-chapter dealing with who his clients are, he meets with some of clients privately to have one-on-one consultations. However he is also very famous for his seminars which gather hundreds of people each time. The seminars are expensive and may cost several thousand dollars per person. People come to feel empowered. The results that they obtain are even put to the test. For example, at of one the different seminars he teachers, there is a test called the fire-walk, where the attendees are asked to walk barefoot over a bed of embers. Before doing so, they apply what they have learned and enter a specific state of mind which enables them to strongly believe that they can do it.2 Robbins also wrote several books which all focus on success. Some are more business-oriented than others. They are generally thick (between 400 and 600 pages) and the readers are also asked to write down what their objectives are, how they think they could achieve their goals, what assets they already have, among other questions. These questions belong to coaching techniques, but he does not use coaching only. The books are quite interactive and practical, while exposing the theory behind the principles taught in them. Robbins has also shot dozens of video tapes, DVDs and audio CDs on different topics. He also releases free online videos from time to time, in which he shares advice on several matters. He also has a Facebook page where he (or his team) shares quotes, videos, and avice on the different areas of self-development.3 Five categories are displayed in the product section of his website: “Personal Achievement Systems,” “Outstanding Relationships,” “Health & Fitness,” “Time &
1 “Tony Robbins Biography -4 of 5.” YouTube. n.d.
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Life Management,” and “Career & Money.” 1 In the “Events” category, ther are offers for seminars on “Business” and “Leadership.”
3.3.1.3. Taking Massive Action: Robbins’s Approach to Yielding Results
Robbins thinks that Positive Thinking is not enough to bring change. According to him, one has to take action. One will bear in mind that Robbins is very likely referring to PT as taught in The Secret. Indeed, his approach is very pragmatic and consists in “hav[ing] some strategies, some step-by-step plans for changing how you think, how you feel, and what you do every single day you’re alive .”2 Although Anthony Robbins uses several techniques, he is famous for his use of NLP. His book Unlimited Power teaches many techniques that the readers can practice on their own. Typical of NLP, the first section of the book is entitled “The Modeling of Human Excellence,” 3 and gathers key principles of NLP. The book offers strategies to change one’s state of mind and achieve a peak state where one feels empowered. One is also taught how to access a different state of mind very quickly. It also discusses the importance beliefs—which can either be an obstacle, or key to success— before moving on to physiology and its impact on one’s state of mind. Robbins then focuses on how the brain works in order to find a suitable way of communicating with someone, or improving a skill. This is referred to as “rapport.” Rapport was explained in the section of this thesis wich deals with NLP. Robbins explains that by mirroring someone’s physiology, and using phrases such as “I see,” “look,” “it is clear,” if that person is visual, or “I feel,” “it clicks,” depending on what the person generally uses, one will make communication easier and more fruitful. 4 Another chapter focuses on what a healthy lifestyle is. It is named “Energy: The Fuel of Excellence.” The whole chapter describes breathing techniques, encourages the reader to be physically more active, and gives them nutritional advice, such as drinking more water, eating fruit, vegetables, using appropriate food combinations, cutting sugars and fat. Indeed, according to Anthony Robbins, being fit and healthy is a considerable advantage to achieve success in one’s life.5
1 Products. n.d.
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3.3.2. Anthony Robbins’s Clients and Results
It has been established that Self-Development is about the indivual but that more and more companies and groups resort to it as a way to improve their results, increase their benefits, create a better the atmosphere in the workplace, and the like. Anthony Robbins’s books are addressed to individuals who can practice the techniques at home, his seminars are for individuals, as well as entrepreneurs, but he has also worked with larger groups and important personalities. Anthony Robbins once worked with the US Army. He was asked to train soldiers so that they would improve their shooting skills—among other skills. But as will soon be explained, Robbins did not teach them how to better hold their guns, instead he taught them NLP techniques. The reason was clear and very pragmatic: “I told [the general he was introduced to] I could take any training program he had, cut the time in half, and even increase the competency of the people in that shorter period of time.”1 Therefore it was about improving a skillset and achieving better results faster. This may seem puzzling at first glance. One would think that the Army has qualified instructors and that Robbins, on the other hand, is not a shooting instructor himself. As he wrote himself: “At this point, I began to wonder what I had gotten myself into. I had never shot a gun in my life.” 2 He then goes on to write that he had to change this belief, because at first, he thought he would never be able to do what instructors could not do themselves. The program constisted of a four-day course on how to use a .45 caliber automatic pistol. “In the past, an average of only 70 percent of the soldiers who took the program qualified afterwards and the general had been told that this was the best that he could be expected [ sic].”3 In the light if this information, he writes that he had to start believing that he would be able to do it. So, he used an NLP technique to anchor a new belief. This technique enabled him to be sure that although the US Army’s instructors were proficient at what they were doing, they knew very little about mental techniques, while he, on the other hand, did. Here is how he proceeded to devise a more effective program. After asking for permission, he met with the best shooters to model their mindset and physiology when they shoot a gun. Along with my modeling team, I discovered the key beliefs that some of the best shooters in the world shared, and I contrasted them with the beliefs of
1 Anthony Robbins. Unlimited Power. The New Science of Personal Achievement. Op.Cit., 117. 2 Ibid., 117. 3 Ibid., 117.
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the soldiers who had not shot effectively. Next I discovered the common mental syntax and strategies of the best shooters and replicated them so I could teach them to a first-time shooter […] Then I modeled the key components of their physiology.1 The previous program, which lasted four days, was now more than twice as short. On top of that, Robbins notes that all the soldiers who took it qualified, and that the number of soldiers who qualified as experts had been multiplied by three. This was a success and referred to as “the first breakthrough in pistol shooting since World War I.” 2 This example also shows a clear difference between a very pragmatic use of SD techniques and spirituality. Robbins was hired to yield concrete results, and not to teach zen meditation, or spiritual theories. Anthony Robbins also works with private clients, whether they are important people or average citizens. Among political figures, he has worked with Bill Clinton. Robbins befriended the former president and helped him overcome his doubts when times were hard for him. On his personal blog that he kept from 2004 to 2005, Clinton says: During my impeachment predicament he helped me through some of my most difficult moments. Every time I thought "give up, it's not worth it" he was there to talk to me, to coach me and to push me to keep on keeping on. A big part of the reason I got through the affair was his help.3 Not only did Robbins help him cope with the scandal of his affair during his presidency, but he also helped him in 2004, when his book was not selling well. Clinton felt frustrated and empty. Not a lot of people were interested in reading his book, which made him feel bad about himself. He had many doubts and questions. He thought that his image would be tarnished and that his entire presidency would not be remembered for what he did for his party, but merely for his affair with Lewinsky: “Will I become another president Carter, who's only remembered for the Iran Hostage debacle? Will a lifetime of hard work be reduced to ‘that president with that intern?’” 4 Robbins told him that he should stop focusing on what happened, and “move on with [his] life.” However this seemed difficult for the former president because, as he points out in his post, he
1 Anthony Robbins. Unlimited Power. The New Science of Personal Achievement. Op.Cit., 118. 2 Ibid., 119. 3 Bill Clinton. “Tony Robbins and Emptiness in Life.” July 9, 2004.
92 had been known as a politician since the seventies and he thought that not being associated with that image meant that his life would become meaningless. Basically, Robbins’s work consisted in helping Bill Clinton move on. Once again, as was explained about coaching, this is also the work of a coach. He helps his clients create change in their lives, but does not take action for them. This is what Bill Clinton says after a speech given by Robbins in Canada in 2007. As you can see, he has a great gift. He has not only the gift to inspire, but he, really from my point of view, teaches the most important lesson that every individual has to learn about living day to day, which is that you have choices in every circumstance. And you have to make up your mind how you will respond to whatever it is that happens, as well as how you will try to make new things happen.1 Among other celebrities Robbins has worked with tennis player Andre Agassi but also “Nelson Mandela, Mikhail Gorbachev, Margaret Thatcher, Francois Mitterrand, Princess Diana, and Mother Teresa. He has consulted members of two royal families, members [and] of the U.S. Congress.” 2 In Unlimited Power , he notes that he once worked with Olympic athlete Michael O’Brien. Robbins used an NLP technique named anchoring, which basically means that a gesture, a word, or a sound can make someone enter a specific state of mind, just like one may feel something special on hearing a national anthem. O’Brien had stopped believing in himself, and as a result his performances had become lower. Here is what Robbins did: [I] anchored [Michael O’Brien’s] optimum states to the firing of the starter’s gun (by having him recall the stimulus of the music he had used earlier in a successful match against his opponent) and to the black line he would focus on underwater as he swam.3 Moving on to private clients who are not professional athletes and celebrities, Robbins points to one of them, a student who suffered from dyslexia. He then understood that this student was more kinesthetic-oriented. Feeling how things were would certainly work better for him than hearing them or seeing them. Robbins deduced that his client’s problem was not that he could not learn anything, but that the methods used in traditional teaching did not work for him. After talking with the student, he
1 “Clinton’s Opinion of Tony Robbins.” YouTube. n.d.
93 found out that he was quite a good athlete and liked surfing. By talking about sports, Robbins elicited a response from the student, who entered a different state of mind. The student was now more attentive than he had ever been at school. Finally, Robbins writes: I explained to him that he had a tendency to store information kinesthetically and that had great advantages in life. However, his learning style made spelling difficult for him. So I showed him how to do it visually and worked with his submodalities to give him the same feeling about spelling that he had about surfing. Within fifteen minutes, I had him spelling like a whiz kid.1 During one of his seminars, Robbins helped a lady named Beverly Kingsley lose weight. He did not devise a new diet for her. Nor did he teach her some fitness exercises. What he did was help her change from the inside out. This moment between Robbins and Beverly was filmed and a video is available on one of his websites. It starts by reminding the viewers that although many new diets are launched every year, a lot of people still struggle to lose weight. In fact, the viewers are told that losing weight is much more about how they think and having purposes in their lives than what they eat. They are then told that the solution “doesn’t take tremendous willpower or nerves of steel [and that it only] requires following some simple steps which have created results for thousands of people.” 2 This seems typical of NLP where new behaviors are embedded by taking some simple actions every day. Here is how it happened. Beverly needed to lose more than two hundred pounds and had been struggling with her weight for a long time. First of all, Anthony Robbins had her come up on stage. She was not really feeling at ease once she was on stage with Robbins, so he first tried to understand and change her state of mind, claiming that she would not be able to face her enemy if she was scared. He asked her to show him what she did when she felt afraid. Beverly answered that she would “withdraw,” “ get quiet, and “eat.” He then asked her whether she ate when she was scared or ate to be scared, to which she replied “both.” After that, Robbins told her “so sometimes you like being terrified.” That is when he found out and made her aware of what was at the origin of her bad eating habits. Madanes, the voice over, tells the viewers that there are six basic needs for every human being—certainty, variety,
1 Anthony Robbins. Unlimited Power. The New Science of Personal Achievement. Op.Cit., 123. 2 “Anthony Robbins Intervention Film.” n.d
94 significance, love and connection, growth and contribution. One can indeed feel significant by creating the life one wants, or by having a problem that one cannot solve. Beverly, according to Robbins, liked to eat, which made her feel “terrified” in order to overcome bordedom. According to the six needs, that is her way of feeling significant, adding variety in her life, and growing. Moreover being in that state of mind helped her bond with others—connection. However Bervely lacked one need: love. This made her feel lonely. They go on to find out the reason why she had not changed until then. Beverly said that she had not changed because her situation was “safe and certain.” Robins then asked her if she really thought that being scared was safe, to which she answered no. Out of six needs, five were met by her behavior, and although she wanted to change, changing was not certain, which kept her from taking action. Robbins said that she was “a human doing,” meaning that not doing anything made her feel bad, therefore eating made her feel as though she was doing something. Madanes explains that by asking her if she was a human doing, Anthony Robbins was trying to help her feel worthy, whether she was doing something or not. Then, he tried to use a shocking image to elicit a new response from Beverly. He asked her how many pounds of waste she thought were in her intestines at the moment, and what those foods were. The list consisted mainly of chocolate, fat, sugar, and salt. After that, Robbins managed to “interrupt [her] emotional pattern” by asking her if she also drank alchohol. Beverly said no because she liked to have her sugar in a solid form. Robbins nodded and said that she wanted her sugar in a solid form so “it [could] stick.” This really interrupted Berverly’s emotional pattern. She was now seeing those foods as products that did not bring her certainty and it helped her feel that change was a must. Indeed, as Madanes explains, acknowledging the problem is not enough. Beverly suddenly went from being scared to being confident. She took her jacket off, changed her physiology and said “if we’re going to get rid of the fat, we might as well see it.” Beverly was then asked to give a name to that part of herself which was not of afraid of facing her problems and being on stage. She called it Joy. Courage made her feel happy. Furthermore, Robbins tried to show her that her bad habits had been hiding this side of her personality for years. Indeed being “joyful,” as Robbins said, had always been who she really was. However, Madanes explains that Beverly was abused during her childhood, which caused her to stop trusting people and made her want to hide. Robbins kept talking with her and used different strategies to have her stand up for herself, which she did. He purposedly made fun of her ring, and
95 pretended that he was going to step on her glasses, which she had taken off. Beverly asked him no to step on her glasses and told him that her ring was not worthless. She was feeling more and more confident, as if another person had stepped up on stage. The result is that six years later, Robbins and his team went to see her and realized she had lost two hundred thirty pounds, without resorting to surgery or pills. Anthony Robbins was surprised himself. He told her “I would not have recognized you in a million years. I would have passed you on the street and not known it was you.” He then asked her how she felt after losing all her extra weight, as compared to being overweight, and hiding herself. Beverly answered: I think that numbing is safe. Numbing means that you don’t have to deal with anything. Numbing means that you have put up walls so high that nothing is going to get through. […] Including Joy. Nothing, love, nothing. Now, there is joy. […] It comes so easily.1 Beverly created change by taking “baby steps.” She would eat healthier food, and do some light exercise, such as isometrics. As she lost more and more weight, she became able to move more, at least in her house. She explains that it did not happen overnight and that every step matters, however small it may be.
This closes this final chapter on Self-Development. The origins of SD were established. It borrows from spirituality, sometimes it is even impossible to dissociate the two from each other, but it goes beyond spirituality and mostly focus on yielding concrete results. Moreover, some practices existed on their own, and did not emergy directly from spirituality. But more and more people became interested in them after the outbreak of spirituality known as th New Age. One will also note that Anthony Robbins’s seminars are in many ways similar to the religious meetings which took place during the Great Awakenings. Just like those meetings, Robbins’s seminars gather hundreds of people, who scream, jump, cry, express their emotions on stage, and even take part in some rites such as the firewalk. They somehow experience a form of conversion at these events, as they feel stronger, empowered, and in control. SD has also reached the corporate world which resort to several techniques to make their employees feel more comfortable at work, and more importantly, to make them become productive.
1 “Anthony Robbins Intervention Film.” n.d
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Conclusion Throughout the first chapter of this thesis, it has been shown that religious renewal in America is cyclic. It has also been explained that questioning religion did not begin in the 1960s. Moreover, many religions emphasized the importance of taking action in everyday life, in order to live by the rules of one’s Church. Throughout the years, the United States has become a very diverse country, as far as religion is concerned, due not only to the Great Awakenings, but also to immigrants who brought their beliefs and spread them in America, and in spite of some obstacles, such as fundamentalism and anti-immigration policies. Christians still remain the majority although there is a faith crisis, as the actual attendance numbers released by over 200.000 churches prove it.
In Chapter 2, it has been demonstrated that spirituality, which originally existed prior to religion (an institutionalized form of spirituality), strongly resurfaced in the 1960s, due to the social context, but also to an increasing dissatisfaction in some mainstream religions. This led to the creation of NRMs more spiritually oriented and the phenomenon was taken to an extreme with the increasing interest in spirituality outside any institution. Spirituality has become more important over the last five decades. In the USA, a survey made by Phillip Hammond in 1992 showed that about 30 per cent of the Americans who were asked if they believed in a transcendental God, within onself, thus making church not necessary, gave a positive answer. 1 Spiritual writers and advisors keep publishing books. Most of them give online seminars, have Facebook pages (as Eckhart Tolle and Neale Donald Walsch) on which they regularly share quotes from wisemen, philosophers, or even quotes of their own. Although Western philosophy and religions played an important role in the shaping of spirituality, it has also been explained that some spiritual authors, like Neale Donald Walsch, actually use the Bible, and Christian references. This means that to such people, religion does not constitute a threat to their spiritual evolution. On the other hand, NRMs, spirituality and traditional religions do not always mix together. Sometimes, NRMs are rejected because of the danger they represent for those who join them. Indeed, some cults asked their members to commit mass suicide. Meanwhile, other NRMs still struggle to be recognized as churches and not as cults, as is the case of Scientology, around which the debate continues. Spirituality gained popularity and credibility as scientific research made
1 Paul Heelas, Op.Cit., 73.
97 progress, or began to be carried out in that field altogether. As was pointed out, some researchers studied the effects of meditation, and many people interested in spirituality used new discoveries in quantum mechanics to give a new meaning to the role of the self in the creation of reality. Then two other factors were pointed out. The first one being the media, and particularly TV host Oprah Winfrey, who has been contributing a lot to advertize SD and spiritual literature. And the other being California as a role model, and a very influential state in America as far as culture is concerned. Moreover, California was referred to as a “visionary state” because NRMs and spirituality developed rather quickly in that state, resulting in a patchwork of beliefs which was more advanced that in most states. At the same time, a new phenomenon emerged in the wake of spirituality. It was even referred to as New Age 2, however it goes beyond spirituality and deserved to be examined as an independent phenomenon.
In order to better understand this search of practicality, a philosophical trend known as American pragmatism was examined. Charles Sanders Peirce and William James contributed a lot to pragmatism and drew their ideas from European psychologists’ works on the self, freedom of will, and causality. James eventually insisted on the importance of experience in religion, while not associating himself with any particular Church himself—thus his use of the term “spirituality.” It has then been pointed out that Self-Development finds its origins in spirituality. Some authors even regard SD as a sub-category of spiritual practices, because the frontier is sometimes very thin. However, it has been explained that SD puts much more emphasis on concrete results. For example, meditation, which is practiced by many people involved in spirituality to empty their minds, connect with their higher selves, or just be “here and now” without any purpose, began to be used by companies because it made their employees more efficient, more relaxed, and thus more productive. Similarly, altered states of awareness, trances were used by NRMs, and spirituality enthusiasts. But certain states of trance began to be used by hypnotherapists to help their patients overcome fears, addictions, and generate new behaviors. Other SD techniques aim at increasing one’s true potential to achieve success in different areas. It might sports, business, relationships, nutrition, health, education, among others. Moreover, it was explained that some practices became popular because the New Age phenomenon. Indeed, people had become more interested in what they could do to change themselves
98 through spiritual practices, but they also realized that other techniques, though less spiritual, offered even more concrete results in many areas of their lives. Hypnosis, NLP, Positive Thinking, and Coaching are four of the main components of SD, but there are actually several other practices. Sometimes they are even mixed and incorporated into language and fitness programs, which become brand- new SD practices themselves. As a matter of fact, those who join such programs want to achieve more than weight loss, muscle gains, or good language skills. They often desire to become better people, explore their true potential in many areas of their lives. While some practices may be mixed, some experts refuse to be associated with others, such as Positive Thinking. It was shown that Positive Thinking does not actually constitute a very well defined discipline. For some it is a way of life, where action matters as much as planning, and changing one’s thoughts and beliefs, whereas for others, mental work is enough. This is the case of those who believe in the law of attraction, as taught throughout The Secret. The discrepancies would therefore come from the fact that very pro-active NLP practitioners see Positive Thinking as the set of principles taught in The Secret. Finally, Anthony Robbins’s life and work were examined. Indeed, he is one of the most famous SD gurus in the world, and he has not only worked with individuals, taught seminars and written books, he has also worked with personalities such as Bill Clinton, and world-class athletes. This also shows how important SD has become in the United States as it is no longer used by the average citizen only. In the light of this information, the reasons why spirituality re-emerged in the United States are more obvious. Its links to America’s religious landscape, social and political history were exposed. And the last chapter, explained how and why Self- Development emerged in the wake spirituality. The three phenomena are therefore linked, and it was even pointed out that some SD seminars could actually look like the religious meetings which were held during the big religious revivals in America. Moreoever, it was explained that Anthony Robbins actually believes that people must have a greater purpose than wanting to evolve, or make more money purely for themselves. This was mentioned in his definition of leadership, and it appeared that this concept was actually close to New Age spirituality.
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3. Scholarly Journals Anderson, Carol L.. “Building capacity for peak performance.” Journal of Family and Consumer Sciences 95.3 (2003): III. Academic Research Library, ProQuest. Web. 3 Dec. 2009. Balmer, Randall. “Religion in American Politics: A Short History.” Church History 78.3 (2009): 716-718. Academic Research Library, ProQuest. Web. 13 Dec. 2009. Berg, Maarteen. C.. “New age advice: ticket to happiness?” Journal of Happiness Studies (28 Feb. 2007): 361-377. Cairn. Web. 20 Dec. 2009. Bergamasco, Lucia. « Evangélisme et Lumières, » Revue française d’études américaines 2/2002 (no92), p. 22-46. Cadge, Wendy. Elaine, Ecklund and Nicholas, Short. “Religion and Spirituality: A Barrier and a Bridge in the Everyday Professional Work of Pediatric Physicians.” Social Problems 56.4 (2009): 702-721. Cairn. Web. 20 Dec. 2009. Clayson Smith, Hannah. “Liberté, Egalité, et Fraternité at Risk for New Religious Movements in France.” Brigham Young University Law Review 2000.3 (2000): 1099-1151. Academic Research Library, ProQuest. Web. 26 Nov. 2009 Greer, M.E.. “Leadership: What sets YOU apart?” Professional Safety 44.10 (1999): 8- 8. Academic Research Library, ProQuest. Web. 1 Dec. 2009. Kaugman, Roger. “Becoming Your Own Leader: From Leader to Possible Failure and Back Again. A Pragmatic Approach.” Performance Improvement 48.4 (2009): 29-34. Academic Research Library, ProQuest. Web. 14 Dec. 2009. Luca, Nathalie. « Quelles Politiques Face aux Sectes?. La Singularité Française. » Critique Internationale n°17 (April 2004): 105-125. Cairn. Web. 15 Dec. 2009. Pastorelli, Sabrina. « Logique Instituante et Logique Instituée dans le Rapport Entre 'Religion' et 'Sectes'. » Sociétés Revue des Sciences Humaines et Sociales n°73 (Mar. 2001): 61-69. Cairn. Web. 13 Dec. 2009. Stafford, Betty. “Eckhart Tolle's message is positive. But is it Christian?” National Catholic Reporter, 44(17) (2008, April), 22-23. Academic Research Library, ProQuest. Web. 15 Nov. 2009. Vasquez, Mark G.. “Correctly forming the public opinion: Religious rhetoric, social change, and the myth of self-culture.” American Transcendental Quarterly
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4. Press Articles Anvar, Leili. « Le Dieu des mystiques: Le 'visage de beauté'. » Le Monde des Religions: 20 clés pour comprendre Dieu. Hors Série n°11. 2009: 48-53. Britz, Anna. « La psychanalyse et Dieu: L'insoumission matérialiste. » Le Monde des Religions: 20 clés pour comprendre Dieu Hors Série n°11. 2009: 62-64. Britz, Anna. « Représentations contemporaines: Les métamorphoses de Dieu. » Le Monde des Religions: 20 clés pour comprendre Dieu Hors Série n°11. 2009: 78- 80. Caudron, Shari. “Meditations on motivation.” Workforce 1 Jun. 2000: Academic Research Library, ProQuest. Web. 11 Dec. 2009. Comte-Sponville, André. « Le Dieu des penseurs athées: L'illusion aliénante. » Le Monde des Religions: 20 clés pour comprendre Dieu Hors Série n°11. 2009: 58- 61. Cruz, Gilbert. “A Brief History Of: Kabbalah.” Time. July 21, 2008: 17. Der Hovanesian, Mara. “Zen and the Art of Corporate Productivity.” Bloomberg Businessweek. July 28, 2003.
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Kane, Gordon. “The Dawn of Physics: Beyond the Standard Model.” Scientific American: Special Edition, The Frontiers of Physics Volume 15 Number 3. 2005: 4-11. Lafitte, Serge. « Le Dieu New Age: Le 'Christ Cosmique'. » Le Monde des Religions: 20 clés pour comprendre Dieu Hors Série n°11. 2009: 65-67. Lambert, Frank. “Book Reviews – The Divine Dramatist: George Whitefield and the Rise of Modern Evangelicalism by Harry S. Stout.” The Journal of American History 79.2 (1992): 628-629. Academic Research Library, ProQuest. Web. 2 May. 2010. Lambert, Frank. “’Pedlar in Divinity’: George Whitefield and the Great Awakening, 1737-1745.” The Journal of American History 77.3 (1990): 812-837. Academic Research Library, ProQuest. Web. 2 May. 2010. Levine, Art. “Peak Performance is Tiring.” U.S. News & World Report 24 Feb. 1997: Academic Research Library, ProQuest. Web. 11 Dec. 2009. Lewis, Kristin. "YOUR LOSS, YOUR GAIN." Scholastic Choices 1 Jan. 2010: Academic Research Library, ProQuest. Web. 6 Jan. 2010. McKinley, Jesse. “The Wisdom of the Ages, for Now Anyway.” The New York Times March 23 2008. Online.
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Winston, Kimberly. “New Age: The Politics of Promise.” Publishers Weekly Vol. 256 (28 Sep. 2009): 32: Academic Research Library, ProQuest. Web. 13 Dec. 2009.
5. Non Periodical Publications “Cult.” Def. 4. Random House Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary. CD-ROM. Vers. 3.0. Random House, 1999. “France : Situation des religions dans la société d’aujourd’hui.” Religioscope. December 5 2002. Retrieved fr.
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