FBN Forum

It's been just over a year since I last posted something! So hear goes...

I'm enjoying everyday life. But I still feel that God-shaped-hole a lot of the time. I find myself revisiting things from the past sometimes: a worship album or self-help book. I recalled a FBN podcast with Stacey Robbins, when she recounted the moment when she listened to a Wayne Dyer recording and thought 'Wow!' Fast forward several years and I find myself downloading some Wayne Dyer audiobooks to check this guy's teaching out.

Well, I had a wow-moment of my own. I wasn't sure what to expect with Dr. Dyer, but found myself engrossed in his teachings. To awkwardly paraphrase Dr. Dyer's own description: I'd say his teaching is about discovering God and love within yourself. I have resonated with this teaching and found it to be something that I've been seeking and cannot live without. He often quotes the Bible and makes references to Jesus. Yet his teaching is universal in its application and is relatively religion-neutral. I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing. I'd hate for this to become a substitute for the Gospel message. But I'm glad that someone who doesn't believe in God, can find comfort in such teachings. For me personally, I see this as something I need to hear and apply to my life, as a Christian, here in my life right now. I personally believe that there is the Gospel and there is teaching on knowing love and knowing God.

I feel that there's nothing that the grace message can teach me anymore and I haven't listened to a FBN podast for over a year now. But there's a sense of comfort and peace I get when I listen to Wayne Dyer. As Darin has related in his podcasts: the charismatic church attempts to know God through guru-like pastors, following rules and spiritual texts. But Wayne Dyer invites us to know God through the heart. I could liken this teaching to the Psalms of David, in which he does not reference 'the written word of God', but his own heart-felt relationship with his Creator.

Another interesting thing about Wayne Dyer is his collaboration with other spiritual teachers. I've been applying the Work of Byron Katie since 2010 and attribute this to major positive changes in my life. Byron Katie does not preach a philosophy to people, as such. She merely invites people to question their own stressful thoughts using 4 questions and a 'turnaround'. But I find that Katie's participants always come to the same conclusions. As Katie would say: there are no new stressful thoughts. I've been an anxiety sufferer most of my life and I find that Katie's teaching really hits home with me. But I've found that Wayne Dyer's collaborative recording with Wayne Dyer demonstrates that they both have the same philosophy on life. I've also started listening to recordings of Wayne Dyer with Deepak Chopra. I'd known about Deepak Chopra for years, but hadn't been exposed to his teachings until recently. Again, both Wayne and Deepak share the same spiritual beliefs.

So, I just thought I put this out there, just in case you're searching for something. Give it a try and...you never know.

I just wanted to give an update on where I am with my latest venture into spiritual learning.

I've been so drawn towards Dr. Wayne Dyer's teaching, that I've been downloading as much of it as I can. There's something about Wayne Dyer's words that resonate with me. I find it brings me a sense of peace and hope, that there is spiritual teaching that is relevant for me at this stage.

I went through a phase of desperately seeking answers for about 15 years, which was about 1995 to 2010. This led me to buy loads of spiritual (Christian and other) and self-help books. I was naïve during this time and found myself believing everything I read or heard. It probably had something to do with the way that these gurus were so confident in their beliefs. The vast majority of these gurus always asserted that their beliefs and methodologies were the only true ones and everyone else was wrong.

I like the way that Dr. Dyer's teaching is friendly and encouraging, unlike some Christian teaching which is intimidating. He seems to be well-read and often quotes from such people as St. Francis of Assisi, Christ, Buddha and Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. I'd say his teaching is religion-neutral. He sometimes quotes from the Bible and sometimes from the Bhagavad Gita. He never denies the work of the cross, but his teaching does tend to lean more towards eastern philosophy. I like the way that Wayne emphasises who we are inside over what we do externally. He often says that we are human beings - not human doings. It always annoyed me the way that Charismatic Christianity would always focus on following a set of rules, which would often lead people to feel a sense of shame and failure. If Wayne Dyer does encourage the doing of one thing above others - it is meditation. Meditation was always that demonic activity that Christians discouraged. But the aim is to seek oneness with God through quietening of the conscious mind. Trances and channelling are an entirely different thing and generally to be avoided.

If I could summarise Dr. Dyer's teaching, I'd say it's about finding truth within yourself and becoming all that you were meant to be. For this reason, he's been called "The Father of Motivation". However, he isn't one of those motivation guru's who says things like, "You can do it" and "Go for it". But he is all about motivating yourself to maximise your potential and fulfil your destiny. His teaching has a lot to do with walking in love and serving others - isn't that the only commandment that Jesus gave us? He does talk about abundance, but only in the context of fulfilling potential. He doesn't focus on money in an overtly materialistic and egotistical fashion, like so many do nowadays - such as Crefflo Dollar or The Law of Attraction.

It is easy to get misled when it comes to this sort of teaching. I remember getting sidetracked with all sorts of whacky, new-age stuff - such as crystals and colour therapy. Fortunately, I'm more sceptical nowadays and I believe such fads hardly ever stand the test of time. But there does seem to be a consensus with the teaching of Wayne Dyer and other, similar spiritual teachers. In fact, he has collaborated in the past with the likes of Deepak Chopra, Byron Katie and Eckhart Tolle - all of which I enjoy reading or listening to. There's also a consensus between such teachers and Christianity, especially when it comes to avoiding carnal pursuits and walking in love.

I had a mass purge of spiritual and self-help media around 2010, which was about the time that I got into the Freebelievers message. It's great that I have finally found some spiritual teaching that resonates with me and seems to offer what I need right now. Like many Freebelievers who finally grasp the grace message, I've been left wondering "What's next?" It's sad to see that activity on this forum has dwindled, which gives the impression that some are still asking that same question.