http://www.thinking-approach.org/index.php?id=354

Of course there will be something that provides a sense of some wisdom, though it comes down to some rather obvious things, face your fear, etc. But then some people go on to believe in flying Don Juans who turn into animals, etc. :-)

Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner - that I moved to Nice.

I meant specifically through the lives and actions of the inner circle. If there's concentrated manna, that's where you'd expect to find it, surely. If a guru promises enlightenment or special powers, then followers should be able to show enlightenment or special powers. At the very least they should show some progress towards same.

But if the inner circle is dysfunctional, where's the wisdom?

And also - all of the same attempts to mine from the same seam, from Christian Science to Castaneda to all of the modern retellings, make the same promise, which is individualised heroic mastery.

It's very, very easy to make a living telling people that they're warriors, masters, or whatever, and that if they do X, Y, or Z anything is possible.

It's also politically poisonous because it distracts people from a more complex reality of interdependence and synergy. No one's going to celebrate you or buy your books if you tell them that infinite power is an infantile dream and the truth is we're all in this together, personal power is limited and dependent on others, and somehow we all have to get along.