Spiritual help books

You know them, you see them, and there always seems to be one around making the top seller. I tried to leaf through one of them “the power of now” by eckhart Tolle. It was hard to get through it with all the claims with no basis and just wanting you to accept them as true. As though some aspect of them is self evident. He likes to demonize the mind and thinking, saying we are slaves to the mind. But what irks me is how immune to criticism these people claim to be. As though any word against them is just the ego trying to defend itself, like this case http://themakelifebetterguy.com/the-power-of-now-criticism
Do all these books do this? Try to wave off any challenge to their wisdom as just the ego defending itself? It doesn’t seem right to me.

You know them, you see them, and there always seems to be one around making the top seller. I tried to leaf through one of them "the power of now" by eckhart Tolle. It was hard to get through it with all the claims with no basis and just wanting you to accept them as true. As though some aspect of them is self evident. He likes to demonize the mind and thinking, saying we are slaves to the mind. But what irks me is how immune to criticism these people claim to be. As though any word against them is just the ego trying to defend itself, like this case http://themakelifebetterguy.com/the-power-of-now-criticism Do all these books do this? Try to wave off any challenge to their wisdom as just the ego defending itself? It doesn't seem right to me.
Yes, I'd say they all do it. What else do they have? Lois

It’s just they make the claim that thinking is the source of suffering and they demonize it like some kind of addiction we are enslaved by.

It's just they make the claim that thinking is the source of suffering and they demonize it like some kind of addiction we are enslaved by.
Of course they do. If people learned critical thinking skills the authors would be flipping burgers instead of fleecing gullible people.
It's just they make the claim that thinking is the source of suffering and they demonize it like some kind of addiction we are enslaved by.
Of course they do. If people learned critical thinking skills the authors would be flipping burgers instead of fleecing gullible people. What about the links response to any sort of criticism?

I didn’t make it past “Thought is responsible for suffering.”
Talk about first-world thinking. Are starving children in Ethiopia suffering because they think or because they are malnourished. Did the 250,000 people who died in the <alayasian tsunami a few years ago suffer because they were thinking or because water overwhelmed them and carried them to death?
This is really very simplistic stuff. People suffer because bad things happen. There are exceptions of course. Some people suffer because they can't grown up and accept reality: we all die and none of will live happily forever in an afterlife. Other people think they're suffering because the football team that just signed them to an $18 million per year contract drafted a rookie quarterback to take their jobs. Boo hoo. Tell your problems to children in Syria whose neighborhoods have been destroyed by war.

But it says those problems are caused by a lack of a level of consciousness. Also don’t thoughts cause suffering? this is his response: For those who are unconvinced that thinking is frequently toxic, consider how suffering occurs: An external stimulus happens. This stimulus is mentally labeled, often very quickly, as bad. This label is accepted as truth — this experience really is bad. A painful emotional response occurs as a result: despair, fear, sadness, anger, etc. Sometimes this process happens without external stimulus at all but thinking is always — always — essential to the occurrence of suffering.
Even things like this:The premise of The Power of Now boils down to this: thought is responsible for suffering. Is this in any way inaccurate or controversial? Only to those who are self-identified with their thinking and / or their emotions. People with these orientations wholly accept that their thinking and emotions represent their true self and are an accurate representation of life.
But I also read somewhere that is not thoughts but our relationship with them. I heard a popular phrase “you are not your thoughts”.

You are overanalyzing this, just as you did with the few people who believe we should practice genocide to save our ecosystems. We have far more important battles to fight than figuring out why gullible people believe this self-help books are useful. Spending your energy educating people about climate change and working to make sure Donald Trump does not get elected president would be far more useful.

You are overanalyzing this, just as you did with the few people who believe we should practice genocide to save our ecosystems. We have far more important battles to fight than figuring out why gullible people believe this self-help books are useful. Spending your energy educating people about climate change and working to make sure Donald Trump does not get elected president would be far more useful.
But what about those points they made?
You are overanalyzing this, just as you did with the few people who believe we should practice genocide to save our ecosystems. We have far more important battles to fight than figuring out why gullible people believe this self-help books are useful. Spending your energy educating people about climate change and working to make sure Donald Trump does not get elected president would be far more useful.
But what about those points they made? Charlatans always mix in a little truth with their bullshit. Ignore them and spend your energy where it matters.

But how do you know it’s a charlatan?
Also what bothers me is that when I read this I was overtaken by a powerful feeling that felt physically good but not mentally. It prevented me from sleeping and I felt wired. How do I explain that?

But how do you know it's a charlatan?
We've answered that question for you before. I don't mind answering basic questions, but I do lose my patience with people who keep coming back with the same questions.
Also what bothers me is that when I read this I was overtaken by a powerful feeling that felt physically good but not mentally. It prevented me from sleeping and I felt wired. How do I explain that?
I'm not a psychiatrist, but as your bartender I suggest a shot of good tequila.
But how do you know it's a charlatan?
We've answered that question for you before. I don't mind answering basic questions, but I do lose my patience with people who keep coming back with the same questions.
Also what bothers me is that when I read this I was overtaken by a powerful feeling that felt physically good but not mentally. It prevented me from sleeping and I felt wired. How do I explain that?
I'm not a psychiatrist, but as your bartender I suggest a shot of good tequila. Actually you didn't answer it, you didn't tell me how you knew he's a charlatan. Also it doesn't explain that feeling I had.

We didn’t answer this specific question, but in the past you asked how to spot pseudoscience and/or charlatans and got your answers. I’m not going to spoon feed you every time you ask the same question.

We didn't answer this specific question, but in the past you asked how to spot pseudoscience and/or charlatans and got your answers. I'm not going to spoon feed you every time you ask the same question.
Actually you didn't answer my questions and the links you gave didn't answer anything either. You still can't explain that feeling I got while reading either
You know them, you see them, and there always seems to be one around making the top seller. I tried to leaf through one of them "the power of now" by eckhart Tolle. It was hard to get through it with all the claims with no basis and just wanting you to accept them as true. As though some aspect of them is self evident. He likes to demonize the mind and thinking, saying we are slaves to the mind. But what irks me is how immune to criticism these people claim to be. As though any word against them is just the ego trying to defend itself, like this case http://themakelifebetterguy.com/the-power-of-now-criticism Do all these books do this? Try to wave off any challenge to their wisdom as just the ego defending itself? It doesn't seem right to me.
I didn't read this because I heard him in an interview and could tell he had nothing to offer. His story is, he wrote the books to help him work through thoughts while he was depressed. It did help him, and others with similar issues say it's helped them. But so what? I can put a salve on a wound, but that doesn't make me a doctor. I can tell you everything is going to be okay, and it might make you happy for a moment, but that doesn't make me a psychiatrist. Words invoke feelings, why is that surprising? The questions are, what feelings? How long do those feelings last? Do the words provide anything lasting, anything constructive?

Thinking is killing me, but I feel that it is my responsibility because others don’t seem to like it and they are ruining our world.

You know them, you see them, and there always seems to be one around making the top seller. I tried to leaf through one of them "the power of now" by eckhart Tolle. It was hard to get through it with all the claims with no basis and just wanting you to accept them as true. As though some aspect of them is self evident. He likes to demonize the mind and thinking, saying we are slaves to the mind. But what irks me is how immune to criticism these people claim to be. As though any word against them is just the ego trying to defend itself, like this case http://themakelifebetterguy.com/the-power-of-now-criticism Do all these books do this? Try to wave off any challenge to their wisdom as just the ego defending itself? It doesn't seem right to me.
I didn't read this because I heard him in an interview and could tell he had nothing to offer. His story is, he wrote the books to help him work through thoughts while he was depressed. It did help him, and others with similar issues say it's helped them. But so what? I can put a salve on a wound, but that doesn't make me a doctor. I can tell you everything is going to be okay, and it might make you happy for a moment, but that doesn't make me a psychiatrist. Words invoke feelings, why is that surprising? The questions are, what feelings? How long do those feelings last? Do the words provide anything lasting, anything constructive? The words invoke a feeling that apparently seems to be like the state they are trying to achieve in the book. I can't explain if it really was a taste of that state, but it happened, it was strong, and different than anything else I felt. But if the book has sold 5 million copies that has to mean something right? Also I know someone with over 32 years of clinical experience in psychology that apparently swears by the book.
We didn't answer this specific question, but in the past you asked how to spot pseudoscience and/or charlatans and got your answers. I'm not going to spoon feed you every time you ask the same question.
Actually you didn't answer my questions and the links you gave didn't answer anything either. You still can't explain that feeling I got while reading either "When The Student Is Ready The Teacher Will Appear" Read a few self-help books. If you are intelligent you will learn to spot the charlatanism in the first few pages. If you are not smart, you'll never see it. Lois
We didn't answer this specific question, but in the past you asked how to spot pseudoscience and/or charlatans and got your answers. I'm not going to spoon feed you every time you ask the same question.
Actually you didn't answer my questions and the links you gave didn't answer anything either. You still can't explain that feeling I got while reading either "When The Student Is Ready The Teacher Will Appear" Read a few self-help books. If you are intelligent you will learn to spot the charlatanism in the first few pages. If you are not smart, you'll never see it. Lois That's vague. How does that tell me whether or not he is one.