Spiritual Consumerism

On the spiritual path, if we are being honest with ourselves, it is important to observe the exact same marketing schemes used to make ascension, or higher consciousness a consumer item that can be easily purchased. Marketing campaigns are being used with all the consumer key notes to attract a massive spiritual following, and are being introduced and peddled to the public through social media, and YouTube. People that generally are not equipped with strong Discernment and a cultivated b.s. meter, have the tendency to give away their personal power to an outside influence, such as a guru type, group consciousness or a Spiritual Consumerism movement marketing themselves as a spiritual authority. Too many people are believing that spirituality, Expanding Consciousness, and becoming enlightened can be achieved through the pathway of consumer spirituality and self-proclaimed experts that call themselves masters. They can buy enlightenment, have a glamourous spiritual life hanging out on the galactic planes, rather than commit to the deeper inner work of clearing the shadow, by observing the unruly ego in action and correcting abusive patterns of behavior.

Materialistic values powering up consumer cultures glorify and breed narcissistic personalities that have little to no empathy for other people. People that are materialistic and externally motivated tend to equate their value, worth and esteem on their accumulated wealth, status and possessions. Yet, the same pitfall is common under the label of spirituality or higher consciousness, a breed of Spiritual Consumerism that is marketed as enlightenment to gain a marketed level of faux spiritual status. A belief that enlightenment can be achieved through instant gratification and by skimming on the surface of life, while ignoring the deeper inner emotional work that leads to personal Accountability and greater integrity.

For many spirituality is viewed like a consumer option, like an extension or app with a free activation and trial period. Maybe this week we’ll try the mindfulness app, or the shaman Ayahuasca app, or the hot yoga app. Something that we can add to our operating system which offers to bring change, to help lift our base instincts, make us feel more fit, more kind or more peaceful. This usually comes with subconscious limitations, placing an internal stop on too much change, that would make us uncomfortable or disrupt the way that we see ourselves or relate to the world around us. This description of Spiritual Consumerism may seem callus, but there is a very surface feel-good quality associated with the marketing and monetizing of spirituality and self-help, that operates almost like a bait and switch. The bait and switch have dishonesty at its core, in the marketing used to fool our mind into thinking we are buying a product that will make us spiritually strong and more evolved than we actually are.

Attending week long retreats to look at our anger, our grief, or our thighs are treated as the false equivalent of an awakening or enduring a deep emotional healing process. Retreats that scratch the surface and allow us to feel something, allow us to check off a box that later gets turned into, I’m beyond all that shadow because I’ve dealt with that already. Thus, the setup is to ignore red flags and emotional weakness in everyday life, because the fear of actually facing deeper issues and having to make changes in one’s lifestyle is too overwhelming. Spiritual development is about getting the negative ego out of the driver’s seat and being open and willing to feel the changes that need to actually happen while being honest with ourselves. If we are really being honest, we may know we need to change, but we will be faced with a test of self-responsibility. In the consumer spiritual market, we can transfer that responsibility onto something else, and pretend that we are actually doing something spiritual because we paid for a product or listened to a guru type that promised awakening.