Esther Hicks is controversial as she is contradictory, but is there truth in what she’s been saying for decades? Is there really a congress of 100 spirits – “dead people” – planting “blocks of thought” in her head, and is it wisdom straight from God?
Esther says she’s a spirit medium who interprets the blocks of thought “Abraham” drops into her head, reproducing them as spoken words. But is that true?
by David Stone
Who Is Abraham?
Abraham is a “nonphysical entity” – or, as Esther jokes, “dead people” – consisting of roughly a hundred spirits acting as one. But they are not just any gaggle of dead people.
They are an advanced group with a direct connection with “Source” – or God – privileged with access to all the wisdom of the universe, which they transmit through Esther.
This claim makes the many mistakes, some hilarious and others painful, inexcusable. Why would they drop blocks of thought into her head that are not just contradictory, but also sometimes simply stupid?
And it’s not just the mistakes, it’s the nastiness, even meanness, at times. Facing a person deep in mourning, Esther insists that all deaths are suicides.
Death, she calls “croaking,” then cackles, adding “It’s so disrespectful.”
Before her husband Jerry died, she said, “It’s good to see the old ones go.” It cleared space for the younger generations. When Jerry died – in his 80s – she dropped that opinion.
And she dropped “croaking” too. Or was that Abraham as she claims?
You Can’t Trust Esther Hicks #Zero:
This one’s a bonus.
So, make that sixteen reasons you can’t trust Esther Hicks. Honestly, I was going to stop at fifteen, but this one was so awful…
“There is no state of physical decline or damage that you could not recover from — none — not any, if you knew it. If you wanted it and knew that you could. And that’s those miracles that they talk about every day. They’re not miracles at all, they are the natural order of things. But because they are rare, people think they are miraculous. They’re not. That’s the way it is supposed to be. You’re supposed to thrive.”
—Abraham
Excerpted from the workshop in San Diego, CA on February 23, 2002
Let’s start with “…if you wanted it…”
If it’s physical decline and you want it gone, then, it’s gone, according to Esther. She adds a condition: “…if you knew it…”
And now that she’s told you, you know it. So, how come everyone keeps declining with age, and we end up in hospitals where doctors try halting the decline?
The first Abraham-Hicks follower getting fixed or reversing decline with this insight, send before and after pics. I’ll post them here. I promise.
But I won’t hold my breath waiting.
Editor’s note: Still waiting.
Leading Off #1
In Boulder Colorado in June of 2004, Esther Hicks said this: “Every bit of it is about economics. Every bit of it, without exception. Everything about religion is about economics. Everything about politics is about economics.
“And everything about economics is personal satisfaction. Everyone is personally motivated to do the best that they can possibly do for themselves.”
But in Kansas City in September, the same year, she said, “Your world is pointing toward an insistence on conformity which is causing you enormous grief. It’s what’s at the heart of all of your religious battles, and religious battles are what are at the heart of all of your battles.
“In other words, all of your wars and global irritation with one another are over your determination to promote sameness. Your democracy insists that it’s the only government that works. And every religion (it’s interesting to note) proclaims that it is the only one that works.”
But Esther, didn’t you say it was all about economics?
Two Is Medical Advice They Don’t Follow Themselves
“The very best approach to medicine is, ‘Well, I see your physical body is sick, what’s been bothering you? What are you worried about?” she says. Then, continues, “What are you angry about? What are you frustrated about?’ Because that is what is at the root of all of this. And then say, ‘Let it go, let it go, let it go.’ That’s the message, and if they could hear you and do that, then they would all be well right away.”
— Abraham
Excerpted from the workshop in Ashland, OR on Tuesday, May 16th, 2000
Jerry Hicks lost his battle with cancer after choosing a course of treatment in direct contradiction to “the teachings of Abraham.”
Dismissing conventional medicine, Esther — as Abraham — says that a near-immediate return to health is possible.
Just change your vibrations. It takes as little as an afternoon, she says.
While she blames victims of cancer for not getting their vibrations right, she’s silent on Jerry. He slept next to Abraham for 25 years, Esther described Jerry as better at managing his vibration than anyone else alive.
But then, he died.
Devastating was the news of Jerry Hicks’s illness, it threatened to expose Abraham Hicks’s teachings as fake.
After a clumsy effort to blame his hospitalization on a spider bite, they adjusted the story. He chose “heavy chemotherapy” as the “path of least resistance,” a throwback to older, forgotten “teachings.”
Only after Jerry Hicks died did Esther concede that he battled leukemia.
She offered no explanation about why he hadn’t simply followed Abraham’s teachings.
Reason Three: Why You Can’t Trust Esther Hicks
Did you know that a selfish child is “like Jesus” who didn’t bother himself with concerns about others’ (using Esther’s word) “toylessness?”
With this fantastic claim, Esther abolished Jesus’s empathy and replaced it with indifference. (She claims that Jesus is a member of the Abraham collective of “nonphysical teachers.”)
Earlier, she aligned herself with Jesus and other religious figures like Buddha and Mohammad. “That which Jesus was, Esther is,” she said while in her Abraham trance.
It was the first time Jesus ever became that narcissistic or enamored with wealth and possessions.
And there’s more.
In the same sequence, the concerned mom introduced another concern. It worried her — She couldn’t stay “in the vortex.” — that her son had a habit of kicking the family’s cat.
The all-wise Esther ordered the mother not to interfere when her child kicks their cat. It’s between her kid and the cat. The cat was “teaching” the brat, according to Esther.
Favorably comparing a child’s selfishness to Jesus, followed up by encouraging animal abuse… Is this the spiritual guide to follow?
Esther Hicks may be making it hard for even true believers to stick with her. Even the most duped in a cult should see the dangers of letting a child kick a trapped cat.
Fourth Reason for Distrust…
Lack of empathy exposed limited awareness about the contours of engagement in physical relationships. This is best seen in Esther’s response to pain caused by the loss of loved ones. She’s mocked mourners, referring to death as “croaking.”
She chuckled at “being so disrespectful.”
Esther declares every death experience “delightful” without exception. No one’s around who can contradict her. Growing mountains of evidence from NDEs, however, tell a different story.
(Note: Esther dropped the “croaking” references when Jerry died. He “transitioned,” instead. Gone also was her heartless observation that, “It’s always good to see the old ones go.” Jerry was, at 84, an old one.)
Probably the meanest is her claim that, after dying, we are — without exception — happy, even blissful. Even those with joyful lives who left children, dependents and other loved ones behind.
This trivializes life on Earth, just as traditional religions do, showing this “leading edge of thought” as simply a variation on a tired theme.
#Five
Humans did not evolve from apes, Esther claims, but were “a whole new idea.”
Nice try, but we share about 97% of our genes with our jungle ancestors. And the evolutionary track is fairly well known.
Other channels, such as Theo, have no trouble with evolution. We may be cluing in here more to Esther’s (and the rest of the country’s) lack of scientific knowledge.
Here is the quote in all its thickheadedness:
“There is thought, and there is Thought Form, and there is Manifestation. Manifestation is always in the eye of the beholder. So this time-space-reality that everyone is perceiving is nothing more than vibrational interpretation.
“So the Thought Form of that which is man was set forth from Broader Perspective, and has continued to evolve by the experience of those who were having the experience here on the planet. And what you actually see as man or human is vibrational interpretation.
Now, did man come from ape? No, man was a different idea. So how does the idea of evolution occur? And we say: because the idea of each species was set forth, and as the experience of the species is lived, the idea expands. So the expansion is happening from the Leading Edge place and is supported from the Source Energy that flows everywhere the idea goes.“
Esther has also said that humans were on Earth during the time of the dinosaurs, missing her guess by only a few million years.
Wouldn’t you think any “nonphysical entity” with access to all the insight in the universe, as Esther and Jerry Hicks claim Abraham has, might actually know what every high school science student knows already?
Five More Reasons You Can’t Trust Esther Hicks
Reason Number Six
”Abraham Live,” maybe the creepiest thing to come out of the Abraham-Hicks marketing machine, even if the title itself wasn’t weirdly funny, ran concurrently with the workshops. For only seventy-five bucks, with no right to record a copy, followers could watch Esther do her shtick on their computers.
In short, the Hicks Team was webcasting their workshops, much as the monster churches do and were probably gearing up to ask followers to pony up subscription fees, taking greed to a whole new level.
As Gordon Gecko pointed out, greed can be good, but when you consider the sales pitch for this thing, it’s hard to imagine who would pony up seventy-five hard-earned dollars for it or, really, why followers aren’t already fleeing.
Quoting directly from the announcement:
We recently had a chat with Abraham about these upcoming global broadcasts of our live seminars, which will allow people to participate in a live event without actually being in the room. So many people, from so many places around the world, have requested that we travel to their countries so that they can participate with Abraham, and this new Live Stream broadcast answers that request. It will be a great way for people who can’t be, or don’t want to be, in the seminar room to still participate in the seminar.
As Abraham used the word ‘participate,’ Jerry asked, ‘Since the people won’t be in the room and won’t be raising their hands, and won’t be able to sit in the hot seat to ask their question, what does Abraham mean by participate?’ Abraham smiled…
Now when you consider the unintentional humor of going “live” with a group of “nonphysical teachers” who claim to be “deader than dead,” you might overlook the suggestion of having a “chat” with them, but what got me was “Abraham smiled….”
Now just exactly how does a nonphysical entity, who Esther Hicks claims gives her “blocks of thought,” smile…?
Nathan argues in comments that, if Abraham can convey thought with emotion, then they can convey a smile.
Of course, in reality, Esther claims they convey “blocks of thought,” not “thoughts with emotion” and a smile is a whole other thing. Nice try, Nathan.
The word whacky doesn’t even cover it.
And then, there were seven…
Asked about severely disabled children Abraham said these were “old souls” arriving damaged, just for the experience, saying nothing about how struggling parents attracted them.
An important aspect of their preaching about the law, as explained, is that we are always in control of everything that happens in our lives. A random genetic error, an accident, is not possible, since each individual creates every aspect of their experience.
Esther here comes up with fairly crackpot theory and impossible explanations to justify implausible circumstances.
You Can’t Trust Esther Hicks Number Eight
In Boulder Colorado in June of 2004, Esther said this: “Every bit of it is about economics. Every bit of it, without exception. Everything about religion is about economics. Everything about politics is about economics. And everything about economics is personal satisfaction. Everyone is personally motivated to do the best that they can possibly do for themselves.”
But in Kansas City in September of the same year, she said, “Your world is pointing toward an insistence on conformity which is causing you enormous grief. It’s what’s at the heart of all of your religious battles, and religious battles are what are at the heart of all of your battles. In other words, all of your wars and global irritation with one another are over your determination to promote sameness. Your democracy insists that it’s the only government that works. And every religion (it’s interesting to note) proclaims that it is the only one that works.”
But Esther, didn’t you say it was all about economics? Oh, well…
Now, You’ve Got Nine
Recent books, especially in the series starting with the Power of Emotions as a subject, are not direct quotes from Abraham. They’re rehashed, teachings stretched out with object lessons, in the style of the earliest Abraham recordings.
They are expurgated by Jerry Hicks, according to his own lights, which reduces their credibility for several reasons we can save for another time.
To get a better perspective on this, try to get your hands on the audio version of these books. At the close of each, they include an Abraham-Hicks live session recording. The difference is dramatic. Moreover, Jerry, not Esther who appears only in the introduction, reads aloud.
Jerry never claimed to channel Abraham.
Note: These later books were repackaged Abraham for profit. This makes them someone’s selective interpretation, not the pure, gut stuff straight from Abraham.
Ten: From the simple Law of Attraction teachings, the Abraham-Hicks team has added many complicated procedures and new ideas. Now, instead of “you get what you think about” and “birds of a feather flock together,” we have a “vortex” where desired things are held in “escrow.”
They haven’t been delivered because the time is not yet right or, the standing explanation, “You’re not letting it in.”
When it was revealed that, contrary to Esther and Jerry Hicks’ claims, the “Law of Attraction” did not originate with them, they migrated it to the clunkier but original term “Vortex of Attraction,” which does.
End Of The List For What Esther Hicks Always Gets Wrong
Eleven:
The 2012 harmonic convergence predictions. At first, Abraham shrugged these speculations off as useless because, according to the Law of Attraction, we will get what we attract at the time, and nothing can be predicted in advance.
Later, pressured by true believers in their New Age audiences, they fell into the harmonic convergence line and talked about new knowledge and awareness in the world today that would lead to great change in 2012. Popular demand engendered new truths, it seems.
By the way, none of the big changes ever occurred. Wrong again, Abe.
Twelve: Wisdom
Wisdom, if viable, doesn’t need all the marketing and image control used by Abraham-Hicks. It’s getting to be as if Jesus were pitching pricey sandals and offering to lead pilgrimages for a fee.
In a nearly ghoulish twirling of Jerry’s cancer into a marketing tool, Abraham Hicks on July 7th, 2011, sent out an email blast with this exact wording:
“We so much appreciate all the inquiries and love that you have been sending our way and we wanted to give you a quick update.
“We’re going to fly to Del Mar on Monday for the next phase of our rebalancing act in getting Jerry back on his feet and feeling frisky. Every day we’re experiencing the relief that we can only receive from Abraham as they remind us about the power of the Vortex. We are enjoying the comfort when we are able to ignore the temporary what-is.
“Abraham recorded a wonderful segment for Jerry last night guiding him toward complete comfort and ease, and that is exactly what he is focusing on now. We’ll continue our city-to-city workshop schedule as posted, which means that we’ll be enjoying the company of our friends in San Francisco on Saturday, July 9th. If you’d like to join the generally frisky Frisco workshop group, you can call the office before 4 p.m. CDT on Friday (830-755-2299). The last San Francisco workshop was filled to capacity, so a phone reservation would ensure that we won’t run out of chairs.”
They didn’t even enter a paragraph break between the news of Abraham recording a segment, whatever that might be, probably a workshop rehearsal tape, for Jerry and the pitch for tickets. This isn’t illiterate as much as it is Freudian.
Thirteen:
In twenty-five years, wouldn’t these “eternal beings”with direct access to the “Source,” or supreme being, have come up with one original, really useful idea? I’d have been happy with a simple cure for the common cold.
(Nathan again, commenting below, implies that Abraham did provide a cure for the common cold. Right. My mistake. Here it is: Don’t think about colds and you won’t get one. How did we all miss that for so long!)
“Move over, Jerry, we’ve got tickets to sell.”
Abraham has never come up with a new idea. Esther and Jerry just took techniques developed by Seth and Theo, with both of whom Jerry and Esther were very familiar before Abraham arrived and blended in ideas from the “New Thought Movement.”
Abraham’s “hot seat” conversations with attendees are entertaining and sometimes enlightening, but they never break new ground.
I’m not saying they don’t occasionally come up with something fantastic, but something useful and objectively observable would be nice. Most of us would love to have what Esther preaches be true. Well, not the animal abuse stuff, but a lot of it.
How about telling us how radiation or toxins cause cells to become cancerous? Gold star for Esther, if she can peg that one.
Fourteen:
Abraham’s teachings are simple. There has been nothing new in decades, except for exercises and concepts like “the Vortex.”
But like a jalopy without brakes, the machine keeps rolling from seminar to seminar as long as cash is available.
Is this what one who professes to be as wise and all-knowing as Abraham would do? Why not give it away?
So, why keep pumping out new products and cruises when there is nothing more to say?
It’s only fair to assume that an entity with the wisdom and access Esther and Jerry Hicks claim for Abraham would be thrilling. For many of us, they once were, but here’s a recent entry from their Vortex writings:
Fifteen: Thudding boredom and marginal literacy have entered the realm of Esther, Jerry and Abraham Hicks.
I Can Attract Relationships That Agree with My Desires… People are not finding it difficult to find the mate of their dreams because that person is not out there, but because of their own contradiction to their own desire in the thoughts they offer about the subject every day.
When you consistently offer thoughts about your future relationship that feel good while you think them, that means you are consistently matching the desires that you have discovered as you have lived life. And under those conditions, only someone in agreement with your desires could come to you. Under those conditions, no need for control is necessary.
Through each exposure to interacting with others, you launch continuous rockets of desires of what you prefer. And only when you are a Vibrational Match to the culmination of those desires will you allow your rendezvous with someone who matches those intentions that you have gathered along your physical trail.”
— Abraham
Excerpted from the book, The Vortex, Where the Law of Attraction Assembles All Cooperative Relationships # 80
Anyone who can read that through without dozing off has my admiration. Who thought anyone claiming so much wisdom could be such an infinite bore?
Sixteen: Abraham-Hicks Baffled by String Theory…
You’d think an entity claiming access to all the wisdom the world has ever known would be able to comment on a popular scientific thread that might bolster some of their claims, but no. According to a recording supplied by a friend who prefers to remain anonymous, Abraham doesn’t even know what the best-known theory for explaining the existence of the universe is.
Simply, Superstring (commonly known as just “string”) theory tries to explain some of the peculiarities of quantum physics and how it fails to match up with relativity by proposing extra dimensions and constituents of matter that make the quantum world appear as it does.
Abraham, after hearing a man describe himself as a “recovering physicist” and make a simple explanation of what string theory was supposed to do, Esther explained that going back in time was a waste, seeming to see string theory as something to do with evolution, which, of course, we already know she hasn’t a clue about.
If Esther Hicks is going to continue faking Abraham, she’d do well to read some newer books and stop looking at herself in the mirror while counting ticket sales.
In Conclusion: Why You Can’t Trust Esther Hicks
If you believe, as I do, that anyone offering guidance from the highest spiritual source ought to be consistent and original, you’ll find Esther Hicks lacking. If you believe any God worth having would be compassionate, you won’t find that in Abraham.
My fifteen reasons are a brief summary. I could easily find a hundred contradictions and errors in fact. If you’re looking for a teacher, you can find better.
And that’s a fact.
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We did not evolve from apes. That has been disproven for awhile.
No, actually, it hasn’t. Advanced genetics firmly confirm earlier conclusions from the theory of evolution.
Wow. You can skip to the end.
Yes, and it’s great option for those, like yourself, desperate to skip over the facts and explains your earlier fact-free comment. Thanks for stopping by.
Strange, David, how the people who are attacking you, throwing accusations, calling you a “troll,”–and other name calling, etc, have effectively stepped out of the “Vortex.” They need to practice the “teachings” better. 😉
When people’s doubts are stirred, some react defensively, some offensively. It’s all good because reactions mean people are not numbed by a cult and still thinking. It’s not really personal. Everyone has some of this in themselves.
Citation, please?
…No? You can just scroll down to the comment section without reading any of it.
Yes. But why would you? Some do, but how can your comment have value, if you don’t know what you’re commenting on?
Citation for what?
LMFAO, people have arrived here but too few are really home. Hicks started off in one of her speeches playing with the ouija board, that is how she met this Abraham Hicks who now apparently possess her to speak about the LOA. Social media has made it easier for cult like behavior to reach the masses and you can see its influence in the whole be positive and ignore negative (which is not healthy and lacks balance) crew. So many ‘woke’ sounding arrogant.
Thanks for your comment, but while opinions are yours to make, your facts are off. Esther did not meet Abraham by way of a ouija board.
It is unfortunate that so many people are unfamiliar with WeasleWords, Buzzwords, Suggestion, Manipulation and outright cult indoctrination.
Perhaps Google is a better teacher than these quacks, or perhaps people just don’t want to accept that acknowledging and working through negativity is part of the balancing act of staying sane.
But hey, if you need someone else to validate you, then your insecurity likely stems from other unhealthy beliefs, which may take some looking in the mirror (or making a video of yourself describing your principles, values and beliefs, then seeing if you like what you are saying).
Don’t feel judged, self-help stuff is supposed to make you independent, not a slave. Use what works for you and discard the rest (P.S. Vortex is a WeasleWord)
Thank you for your thoughtful comment. We never see anything like this arguing the other side. Thanks, again.
David, perhaps you may consider you are not in a high enough frequency to have access to the rule -set of knowledge that exists there so your reference point is from this very limited perspective. She has brought HOPE to many so I am all for anyone who can thin out this density in whatever manner. Encouragement would look so much better on you than constant criticism.
It has long been my HOPE that one of you, just one, would actually comment on the facts of the matter instead of changing the subject to his or her own personal belief system. You’ve disappointed me again.
The fact is that there are no facts in this life, because you can never get outside of your six senses. I am very intuitive, and I have been criticized for this since I was a little kid. I’m bringing this up because I have listened to Esther Hicks, just about everything she’s put on the internet, and I just want to say, that her heart is in the right place, I think she helps a lot of people, and restores a lot of their faith in this life. I personally use the law of attraction everyday of my life. I have spent 13 years working in a casino, and you can see the law of Attraction work there crystal clear in every moment. I wish the best for you, and I really think you could benefit a lot, by listening to her, instead of trying to pick her apart, by finding faults in anything. Best of luck to you sir thanks for allowing me to comment.
Before you get too stuck on yourself, you should know that everyone is intuitive, but not all of them install it as a badge of honor. In fact, strong intuitives don’t brag about their exceptionalism. Thanks, but no thanks on the free advice.
PS: Studies have shown that nothing resembling the law of attraction helps anyone win in gambling casinos. It’s nonsense.
Love your article. I have just signed up to do the Gabby Bernstein 21 manifestation challenge. My wife believes in manifestation and has separated from me so I wanted to see what it is all about. So I started chasing down references for where her knowledge, experience, credentials come from. I find out that she is a recovered alcoholic/drug addict who told her story and seems to have gotten her knowledge from Esther & Jerry Hicks. So follow that path to find out about them and watched some videos, read some websites. All too good to be true. First thought that came to mind was cult. Seeing that with some comments on here from people who don’t like their leader questioned, leaping to their defence as if they need it. The idea that all diseases can be cured. sent me on a path of is Esther a phoney and I send up here. Reading what you have written reinforces what I am finding on my look around the web for further info on her. Self help gurus actually only help one group or people. The people whose bank accounts pick up the money from their books, seminars, programs, etc. themselves. Would anyone really care about a recovered drug addict if she wasnt half attractive who wrote a book about it. Now a best selling author. Esther & Jerry Hicks claim to fame, Authors. No one is producing anything new, everything is just regurgitated and repackaged for a new audience. Looking at the type of people doing Bernsteins program and what the want, they want to be richer, work less for more, have 2 businesses & want 3. A new relationship because they dont want to work on the one they have and manifesting a new one is easier. A new job, because the one they have isn’t great. The average person would be happy just to have a job. Have 1 business, have enough money to put a roof over their head and food in their mouth. A loving spouse who may not be perfect but could be worked on. All this manifesting does is roll into the current throw away society we have grown into. Wake up, wish for more. Go to sleep wish for more. As my wife said, so whats wrong with that. My point is when is enough enough. Found a great video about resisting the self help gurus. Makes perfect sense to me. https://youtu.be/mZCUdGoobfk by Svend Brinkmann. Maybe people would take more notice of us if we sold our thoughts to like minded people and used a character to deliver the message. People are no longer happy just existing and living their lives. We have a growth for growths sake mindset being pushed on us not just by self help gurus buy by businesses & employers. Bernstein, Hicks, Robbins and the like are just taking advantage of that and monetising it.
Thanks for your well thought out analysis, Stevo. It occurred to me, reading it, that the situation is, on a smaller scale, a lot like the endless string of diet and weight loss books. Obviously, there’s a great desire for information, and you can find some good in all of them. Really, the cliche is true: even a broken clock is right twice a day. What I wanted to accomplish with digging into the Abraham Hicks thing, whatever it is, was to provide some perspective. She’s said some really wild stuff, and some of it is potentially dangerous. After that, it’s up to people to make their own decisions. At least they’re better informed.
Thanks again.
David i have spent even more time looking into self help gurus over night. I love in Australia. It is actually very frightening. My wife told me she wasn’t a disciple of these things, yet has hundreds of kindle books on self help from Napoleon Hill to Robbins & Bernstein. Why do people feel the need to search for the perfect and not live in the moment? The internet has become the perfect vehicle to peddle utopia to people. It used to be the church. Found some interesting youtube videos last night from James Jani & one from The recovering hunbot who actually uses your site as a source. I have used the term cult and while it is probably appropriate due to the nature of their followers being completely bewitched by the guru. The guru themselves are merely Multilevel Marketers. I can help you be the best you can be, there is no refund possible because I believe you should get the best you out of this program, if you didnt its because you didnt work hard enough. My wife foolishly told me about manifesting finding a $2 coin. She said she did her washing and found a $2 coin in the washing machine. When I said that I wanted to manifest her returning to me, she then tells me you cant manifest something particular, like a $2 coin? Learning about all those that came before Hicks shows how easily it is to copy & paste this stuff and build a followership. Hicks has the channelling path. Robbins the loud out there positive vibe guy, Bernstein the attractive woman who started from a life of drugs & alcohol. They all start from a story to help attract an audience. Then the followers start and the money flows in. Bernsteins 21 day challenge already has over 4500 people in it where she will regurgitate stuff she has already done. 21 days work @ $37 a head = $166000 or so. Not bad money if I do say so. Oh and if it doesn’t work, not my fault.
We all want to be happy, healthy, wealthy. None of it is just given to us by the universe. All has to be worked on. None of these people wish the universe would cure cancer, get rid of covid, stop poverty, stop child labour, etc etc. They believe you can gain wealth though, or a new job, a new relationship. The universe is so powerful it can only do things for me, not us.
Imagine if you could quantify this mystical Universe instead of always hearing how it is invisible. Or how they have stolen the word GOD turning it into an acronym, Good Orderly Direction, to make it more spiritual and pallatable to the religious people looking for something different.
Bringing it back to Hicks. Charlatan of the greatest order. If you have to pretend to channel something to get your message across, your message is obviously a lie.
In the process of enlightenment..my intuition tells me who is genuine & who is led by ego which I’m discovering most of us are…I like to learn from different sources that are truly vibrating high such as Matias De Stefani on “Gaia” so many truths on here in addition to our roots…we have been lied to about so many things..only those with an open mind will discover & know what’s truth & what’s embedded with propaganda so that irking on raising our vibrations while opening our pineal gland is critical. Its a beautiful journey I hope we all can embrace & believe in.
Thanks for your thoughtful comment, Mickey.
I guess you can say that since we are apes. Can’t have evolved from what we are. 💁♀️
Ignorance is not a virtue, Jaime. Try another angle.
“Why do people feel the need to search for the perfect and not live in the moment?” There’s the question of the century. I think it’s discomfort, and it drives social change. But the version we see here is a dead end, more escape than solution, and doesn’t allow for any kind of reflection, that is, sorting things out through experience. The guru knows and boundaries are set.
You wife may not like being challenged, but that may eventually give her a pathway out. Many, many people have left cults. It just takes time.
I was right along with you until “Nice try, but we share about 97% of our genes with our jungle ancestors. And the evolutionary track is fairly well known.” The thing about the theory of evolution is that it is a theory, not fact. Since there is no link to connect humans and apes, it will stay a theory. Darwin could not make the connection, and hoped that future scientists could, but they have not yet.
And FYI, we share a lot of similar DNA with a banana and a ton of other things that do not have the mental capacity to invent the wheel.
Not sure where you got your information, but it’s only slightly more accurate than Tucker Carlson. First of all, of course, it’s a theory, that’s why it’s called a “theory,” but you seem confused over what that means. Theories are, by definition, frameworks attempting to explain observed phenomena, in this case, the evolution of plants and animals as well as in-between forms, like viruses. The value of a theory is its ability to predict what happens next. It’s testable.
But the important thing you don’t understand is that evolution is a fact. We see it everywhere, including most recently, in the evolving variations of the coronavirus. The link between humans and other vertebrates is well-documented over millennia, using tools Darwin did not have at his disposal like the DNA record. So, protest all you like, it’s like being a flat-earther. We, of course, share some DNA with all living things because all species arose from a common ancestor. Some evolved into bananas; and some into hom sapiens. You should try reading more widely and not rest your hopes on crackpot theorist without scientific backing.
The word evolution simply indicates change. Yes, we see it everywhere. That doesn’t mean apes became humans. This article was great until that point. I’d never heard of Esther Hicks and stumbled upon her website quite by accident. Nearly spit my breakfast out when I read the about page I was so surprised! I’m a Christian, so from my perspective her angle is pretty simple to explain. If she channels anything it’s demonic. Most likely, she’s just a nut job who recycles ideas and sells them in a nice package.
Just a small, but important correction: Evolution doesn’t simply indicate change. It means development. Change is, of course, implied, but development is essential.
Oh man. Mr. Stone. PLEASE keep my email handy and remember my name. While you’re so busy throwing stones and clearly providing scanty, half-assed assessments of Abraham Hicks teachings, you are about to be ran over with a boulder of truth so irrefutable you are going to wish it was only your foot in your mouth! You really think you can discredit almost thirty years of teachings accurately with a bullshit blog and some random quotes with no real basis of understanding conversations SPECIFIC to people? Wait until you see what I have coming as the “proof” you feel you need to see. Medical records, pictures, recorded conversations spanning the last 20+ years unbeknownst to me that would be used to ACCURATELY describe the ACCURACY of these teachings, astrological evidence, string theory, evolution and so much more. I’m sitting here feeling so much glee at the thought of all of this coming out to the masses now just based on this blog alone. When Abraham speaks of broader perspective, you have NO IDEA how broad they truly are. I’m going to drop a truth bomb so big you won’t know what hit you. Man this article has me so pumped. I can’t wait!!! It’s coming. Everything you’re asking for in this article will be wrapped up in a life story that brings it all together. Thanks for the laughs tonight. Truly entertaining.
Sorry, but I can wait. A “truth bomb” involving ” astrological evidence, string theory, evolution…” If there was any indication that you understand any of these concepts, well, maybe. But you don’t even know that string theory has pretty much been abandoned as useless, evolution is theory, not a proof, and no competent person buys into the pseudo-science of astrology. I am happy to hear you are gleeful, though. Everyone deserves to be happy.
Scanty? Esther Hicks, Abraham doesnt exist, is nothing more than a scam artist. But just like we are waiting on GOD to show up and do whatever it is is intends to do to us, happily waiting on you to show any concrete proof of your believes.
I can just imagine the coming “truth bomb.” If there was one, how come it’s been missing since the 1990s?
Does that truth bomb come from the “My Truth” movement? A movement that believe you are entitled to your own truth to stop further arguments, because if its the truth then there can be no further discussion. Even though My Truth is really just me opinion. Sounds very much like this truth bomb will just be Crystals opinion. Certainly read enough over the last few weeks on this topic to say there is no doubt all this is nothing more than Multilevel Marketing Schemes. Think i mentioned in a previous post I signed up to Gabby Bernsteins 21 day manifesting challenge. Only took a few days before she was trying to upgrade you to her premium package. A 2 minute Meditation mentioned Super Attractor 10 times, the name of a book she wrote. Much of this stuff comes from her Miracle Package which you can buy now. You can write stuff down in your pdf journal, or buy one from the mechandise section…. I think you get the idea. Upsell upsell upsell. Only one manifesting anything is Bernstein for her bank account. An Abraham-Hicks disciple.
I’m always puzzled by these unhinged enthusiasts who seem to think, like teenagers and romance, that they discovered quantum physics, string theory and the wonders of astrology that have been kicking around for decades and longer. (I confess, as a young man, I studied astrology seriously and made a few bucks writing horoscopes.) These days, I think it takes a firm disconnect from reality as the result of being raised and living with what they see on screens. Everything’s a performance, like Trump, where facts and truths don’t matter. That leaves packs of people who never learned to think straight while being showered in commercials and fantasy representations of the world out there. It’s left the pretty stupid and easy catches for snake oil salesmen and women.
I had to stop reading your article in the in the 2nd point as it absolutely clear you completely MISSED the point on abraham teachings…those teaching are universal teachings…jesus’, buddah’s, great masters’ teaching were the same but just different wording. You are missing it entirely. I pray you see the truth in all one day. Maybe next lifetime…but creating a post to put down someone else based on YOUR perspective is just a sow that you’ll harvest its fruit when you least expect it.
Oh, dear, Uma, my loss! But usually, the cult followers get past Item #2 before feeling too threatened to go on. Now, as for your utterly ridiculous claim, about all Esther has in common with Jesus or the Buddha is they’re from the same species. While Esther pitches followers the joy of getting their stuff, making themselves happy with products and better boyfriends, Jesus and Siddhartha Gautama both lived in poverty. Siddhartha actually inherited wealth and left it all behind along with his wife and children in his pursuit of wisdom. Jesus of Nazareth was an impoverished and illiterate carpenter who tramped around with his followers in sackcloth, pleading for the poor. He railed against the elite, declaring himself King of the Jews and the ruling class as fakers. Esther? She’s a walking advertisement for acquisitiveness and the riches of capitalism. She never once decried greed in all the minor hours I listened or in the books I read, and I never once heard her advocate for the poor. In her belief system, the victims are to blame for their problems, not racism, not capitalism, war, drought or illness. In fact, before he died, Jerry used to swoon over what he called “vee-hickles,” big ones, couldn’t resist letting everyone know he owned a caddy. Not criticizing. All that’s fine, if that’s where you’re at, but don’t confuse it with a completely opposite philosphy. I’m not sure whether you misunderstand basic religious doctrines or are just an unquestioning acolyte of Esther’s. In any case, maybe you should stop spending so much time bowing to Esther and get yourself an education. It helps with weeding through the nonsense, once you learn to think instead of follow first.
5 days now. been checking in daily to see this truth bomb. Have you manifested a time when we may see this?
I can’t wait. Bombs away!
I have been doing the Gabby Bernstein 21 day challenge.
“My own teachings and personal life have been greatly influenced by Abraham, and I’m proud to share their insight. Abraham-Hicks says, “There is only a stream of well-being that flows. You can allow it or resist it, but it flows just the same.””
I am seeing 1st hand the brilliance of a Multilevel Marketer.
1. Create a cheap entry level program. $37USD in which well over 20000 people enrol.
2. Create a Facebook group where everyone can share their stories and pull each other along.
3 Create content that gets you to buy their merchandise. Perfect example is a meditation what mentions a book and card set she sells called Super Attractor. Meditation goes for 2 minutes or so and mentions Super Attractor at least 10 times.
4. Mention your advanced program constantly and use bit from it to make people want to sign up to it. eg: This mediation comes from our “Miracles” program. Oddly enough most of them do.
5. Create this super cheap program prior to a new book launch. Immediately have 20000+ people interested.
6. Wait there is more. If you buy the book you can have 1/2 price on a live event, the 1st in 2 years.
Still 1 week to go so I am sure there is more to be sold to me.
What gets me is that extremely intelligent people are sucked into this and can’t see it for what it is. My wife is extremely smart woman who is feeling vunerable at the moment looking for something, this seems to be the something. She bought the book, the card set that says “Being a Super Attractor means that what you believe is what you receive. This 52-card deck will inspire you to live a life filled with joy, grace, ease, and strength, and start manifesting your dreams into reality.”
I have shared this 6 point list with my wife and she says, yeah its a business as well. Oprah has a lot to answer for, kicking off the careers of people like Gabby Bernstein, James Author Ray, Louise Hay & I am sure there are more. Why do the majority of these people come from the USA?
For a lot of people, maybe most, an emotional appeal with top thinking almost all of the time. They are always tugging emotional strings. That’s the gimmick.
Yes that’s what Abraham teaches but people like him will never understand. My Life changed a lot since I have started following abraham hicks…
I’m sorry. Didn’t Esther say something about non-judgment. I’m just wondering because so many of you invest a lot of energy in judging others. It’s a defensive strategy, yes, I know… but still. If it helps so much, why don’t follow the core teachings.
Just believe what you want to believe and let others do the same. Actually, you don’t have to ‘let’ others, you are not God, they already do and don’t need permission from you. You are not better or more ‘knowing’ than anyone else. I don’t know why you waste your time with this. All religions, spritual beings, scientologists, atheists, etc. have their own beliefs and a right to express them just as do you. Some could say that YOU are a scam and a ‘disbeliever’. No one of us is right or wrong but in our minds believe what we believe and if it helps us who is to judge. Your religions or belief can just as easily be considered a ‘cult’ as you call Esther. I personally have changed my life becuause of her and others who offer support. I live happily and abundantly by listening to others and listening to them. I meditate and practice holistic medicine. I have cured disease based on belief alone and positive energy and surrounding myself with healers and regular people who have supported me.. Everyone has his/her own path and the choice to make their own decisions. No judgement should be cast upon that. Do your thing and let others do theirs. Do not judge so much. We all deserve peace and joy no matter what we believe because let’s face it, we are all different yet the same. All that matters is self love and love for others. I respect what you think so maybe you can try to respect what others think is best for them.
When you are so eager to offer your beliefs and opinions, it’s curious that you don’t think others who disagree have a right to express theirs.
Like so many others, you go off on a rant about how right you are without once critiquing the substance of the post. If there is something you find inaccurate here, identify and make your case. You won’t do that, though. In fact, you overreacted because the truth makes you feel personally threatened, like your belief system is crumbling. But that’s good for you. Questioning beliefs we get too used to forces us to exam them, to ask if they are really true. It’s a good process. Go for it.
Can you tell me what disease you have cured on belief alone? I can hear medical professionals calling you to help them in their practices.
Never will happen, as you know. Didn’t work for Jerry Hicks, and he was supposed to be the master. Even Esther couldn’t offer a single example to prove her point. Instead, she backed off her original, radical claims because Jerry’s death along with claims that every death is a suicide made her look like a crackpot.
I think you might like this book – “Smile Or Die: How Positive Thinking Fooled America and the World” by Barbara Ehrenreich.
She’s done a lot of interesting, slightly offbeat work. I’ll check this book out. Thanks.
Hi David, I decided to document my own fortunately very brief encounter with Abraham Hicks in the comments with the intention of letting it serve as a warning to anyone who might become ensnared by this pernicious philosophy replete with half-truths. It is quite a lengthy post so please bear with me. 😊
I have always been irresistibly drawn to the investigation of esoteric topics since an early age. Astrology, Chinese fortune telling practices, evangelical Christian apologetics and more recently Bahai teachings have all appealed to me in various stages of my life. I engage in this pursuit partly to satisfy my intellectual curiosity. But more importantly, I want to make full use of my leisure time in search of answers to life’s greatest mysteries.
Believe it or not, I only discovered Esther Hicks’ “teachings” about the law of attraction last night through Bing searches related to Earl Nightingale’s philosophy. I am at present trying to implement Nightingale’s strategy of goal setting in my daily life as an effective means to combat my proclivities for indolence and procrastination. But I digress. Anyway, the Bing searches led to me to a blog which mentioned Esther Hicks by way of her former association with the documentary The Secret. My curiosity piqued, I dug further and got hold of one of her earlier books on “Abraham,” namely Ask and It is Given. Excited, I told my girlfriend about my new discovery and together we checked out the Abraham Hicks website. My girlfriend, a statistician by education, was immediately put off by Esther Hicks’ attempt to sell various merchandise on her website; for someone professing to champion a philosophy of fostering improvement in people’s lives, Hicks’ barely concealed pecuniary motive just did not sit well with her. I, on the other hand, was less certain and insisted that we should not jump to any hasty conclusions before systematically examining any subject matter.
Therefore, in the spirit of investigation, I devoured Ask and It is Given in one sitting. I must confess that the book was written, or more precisely, “dictated” in an exceedingly approachable style, very much unlike the kind of rigorous academic literature I am accustomed to reading. Despite the rambling nature of the narrative, poor editing (spelling and formatting errors are present in the book), I was able to go through some 140 pages of Abraham’s revelations without interruption. Some of the book’s advice even seemed valid, such as the part about indulging yourself in a “rampage of appreciation.” Surely cultivating a mindset of gratitude could not be detrimental to one’s spiritual well-being? So I wondered. For reasons that I am ashamed to admit I was tempted by the book’s promises and allowed my judgment to lapse. Shortly after I finished reading, I went to sleep, elated at the thought of having potentially discovered a new truth, and made up my mind to put some of the books’ exercises into actual practice the next day. But deep down, I still harbored misgivings. For one, Hicks’ preaching of achieving vibrational harmony for the sake of gaining wealth and prosperity still sounded suspiciously like a pathetic freeloader’s excuse for expecting rewards while refusing to put in any concrete effort. So before fully committing, I did one more search on Esther Hicks, and was directed to your blog post, which came second in the result list. And what a relief it has been!
While scrolling through your blog, it did not take long at all for me to realize how inane Hicks’ teachings really are. Learning about her callous remarks about 911 and Holocaust victims further reinforced the idea that she really is a wolf disguised in sheep’s clothing. I am also thoroughly entertained by your sharp wit and your perspicacious rebuttals against the numerous ad hominem attacks that Hicks’ proponents launched against you in the comments section. My girlfriend is also delighted to find out that her intuition concerning Hicks’ ulterior motive has been corroborated. I want to thank you for taking the time to write this blog, for assuredly it would help others like myself rediscover the path to reason which I have no doubt is your original intention in exposing Hicks’ fraudulent philosophy.
Thanks for your detailed and thoughtful response, and I’m glad it helped. Now, if only I’d get similar responses from those who disagree, but not yet, not even one… But didn’t you find the exercises at the end of Ask boring? That’s one of the first things that got me. How could they make this exciting material boring? It was pure Jerry, I realized later, and he was always jealous of Esther’s popularity, tried adding his own stuff.
By the way, although they always claimed Ask was the first, delivered straight to Esther, there were two earlier “New Beginnings…” books they “forgot” and tried suppressing. In them, Abraham was more of a doomsayers like other cults, predicting catastrophes and recommending everyone get gas masks to be prepared. Like modern Christians, it appears the switch to a nicer guru saved the day… and made a lot of money.
Anyone who “channels” is a red flag in my opinion. And saying she channels Jesus and Buddha is puke worthy. I suggest reading “A brutal critique of Esther Hicks and the law of attraction” Thanks for your article David.
You’re welcome, Leslie. Thanks for reading.
Now, give 15 plus reasons why we can’t trust the Bible, or YOU!!!
God only knows what your issue is, but I could give you a thousand reasons not to trust the Bible, but others have done it so much better. And my first wife has a storehouse full of reasons not to trust me, but that’s not the point, is it? If you have any disagreement with what’s written here, why not try that? It’s actually the topic, not me or the Bible.
Finding fault on everything and everyone has never helped anyone find happiness. Thank you for your perspective. It is different to mine but just as valuable.
And, of course, this is not about “Finding fault on everything and everyone,” just something you don’t like. If you disagree with something, instead of snarky asides, you might trying elucidating your ideas. That sort of thing brings validity. Otherwise, it’s just sloganeering as a tactic.
LOA is not a new concept. It’s been around for thousands of years. I’m not sure if links are allowed in the comments. But please look up “speakingtree law of attraction in hindu scriptures” – this article is just one example. Several other philosophers, including Plato have talked about this through the ages. Heck, even Brian Tracy talks about the power of journaling your goals every day as a way to align yourself to your goal at a cellular level.
Present day LOA by Hicks / Bryne / others is oddly myopic & overly simplistic.
1. Their version basically centres around money or miracles
2. It offers no empathy or recourse for innocent victims of heinous crimes
3. Offers a free pass to criminals by suggesting that just “aligning themselves vibrationally” would suffice them with continued success & happiness despite their crimes
In comparison, ancient versions of LOA offered the believer :
1. An immense sense of personal agency (Divinity being within us, we are capable of significant achievement)
2. A sense of all embracing abundance (of food, health, love, mind, material wealth) that nourishes us physically, mentally & spiritually
3. Clarity & comfort in the idea that those acting morally & ethically win in the long term, even if the “bad guy” is winning right now
To be fair I do enjoy my daily meditation, which is fundamentally about aligning myself vibrationally, at a cellular level, to the abundant life I desire. But what I call my mindfulness meditation & journaling practice, others call “an LOA practice”. Whatever sizzles your bacon.
Good points all. Always appreciate thoughtful, informed comments, rare though they are.
Thank you Don for you comment. That’s exactly how I feel about this article. This is pointless in do many levels. Take care and continue to be yourself. We need more like minded people to make this world a better place.
I don’t like the term much, but if ever there was an example of woo-woo, this is it. The total lack of objective thinking is cult-worthy, and how are you going to save the world if you haven’t mastered the art of the comma and don’t even find your comment worth proofreading?
Thank you for your comment. Glad to hear that you are happy. After reading most of David’s comments, he comes across as a troll. This practice helps those that think negatively. It makes people aware of their negative thoughts and behaviors. It doesn’t matter that there may be faults in her teaching. All that matters is the positive difference it makes in people’s lives.
And yet, not one of you has ever come up with an objective response to a single point. Best you can come up with is name-calling. And “troll” yet, when you don’t even understand the term.
Of course, you are also a grammar police.
I find it hilarious when people take the time to correct punctuation and grammar in social media. That proves to me that they are insecure and have to prove themselve some way or another. Stay on topic and don’t point things out that are pointless. Have a great day David!!!
Well, this isn’t social media, is it? And being able to clearly make your point matters in any context. Why would someone of your deep intellect disparage good grammar? And, of course, you have not yet addressed the topic, i.e., whether or not Esther can be trusted. But people like you never do. So, how else can anyone respond, except to your illiteracy and lack of critical thinking? That’s all you presented.
I suggest you go listen to Esther. You are very much out of the vortex. And, your high flying disk is a little low. Keep your frequency and vibration high because you create your own reality.
Now, that’s really nasty. Listening to Esther is torture. Seriously, though, in the beginning, I read everything by Esther and Jerry as they came out. I listened to their weekly shows – much edited – broadcast over the internet. And I even endured some of the YouTube infomercials. But I finally came to my senses when she went over the top, claiming all of the World Trade Center deaths were suicides. “No exceptions!” she thundered, just two weeks after the event. How do you think the partners of pregnant women who jumped from 90 floors up to avoid burning to death felt, hearing that? How about children whose fathers were never coming home? Listen, I was there. I watched families escorted into ground zero in hopes of finding some healing in the ashes. Then, this insensitive crap from Esther? What utter cruelty! Once it was clear that no entity anywhere near God or “source,” whichever you like, would ever say things like that, it opened doors to better understanding of where she and Jerry were coming from. So, you listen to her. She makes me sick. But you can read my book, Jerry and Esther Hicks Spiritual Money Tree, (https://amzn.to/3K6Mbdv) if you’re brave enough for a thorough analysis.
This comment is meant for all the people on this thread who are unable to discuss what David has offered and resort to calling him a troll. I personally am grateful for David’s insight.
I completely agree David. I was talking to the people who can’t handle your article. Esther Hicks to me is disgusting in the weird hurtful things she says. I finally woke up to the cult of “law of attraction” crap. Thanks to articles like yours! Thanks.
Exactly! And, what she says about rape is absolutely horrific! I find it so interesting how your article strikes such a nerve with people in her cult. They aint in the vortex that’s for sure. ha! I was talking to them. She also says the the awful things that happen to children was brought on by themselves. Disgusting to the core.
Leslie, it’s safe to assume that the reactions mean a nerve was struck. They’re reacting defensively, but they won’t stay in the cult for long. Maybe they’ll just move to another one or religion. All we can really do is put in the awareness that gets them out of the rut and thinking again. Thanks.
This comment is meant for all the folks who are saying you are a troll instead of specifically addressing your well thought out article. I am very grateful for people like you David.
Thanks. They are not as angry as they used to be. They’re more muddled and less threatening than when I first became a skeptic.
so how do you feel being so right about another individual being so wrong,so still leaves you needing to be weighed and measured cos yur kinda without dude, doesnt matter if the womans rightr or wrong, what are you doing to make a difference.Criticism just does circles man. If you dont like what another human does doesnt mean you gotta shit on em .Thats what dictaters do, thats what hitler putin trump pol pot etc are you taken by the attitude of that kinda mind.Maybe when you come back around you can do it nicer huh! chill dude yur too fuckin heavy.
So, you didn’t like the article?
Thank you for this, it just made me more sure that it’s all real.
That’s not true, of course. But at least, you’re thinking. That puts you way ahead of most people in any cult.
I think the “vortex” led me here, David. I started watching Esther Hicks’ YouTube videos off-and-on over the last few months. Esther is her own vortex and she sucked me in real fast. Being 78 and having a lot of life experience, I can’t believe how quickly I started falling for her Abraham channeling advice. I was so awed by how fast she talks, peppered throughout with her repetitive phrases. But for some reason today I thought “What happened to Jerry Hicks?” I always want to learn about the backgrounds of influential people and their life’s journey. To me, that’s just as important as their teachings. How did they get to where they are? As I did a Google search about Jerry Hicks, I saw Wikipedia mentioned Jerry’s early life as an acrobat in Cuba and “beginning in 1948, had toured for 20 years as a musician, master of ceremonies, and comedian.” But you have researched all that and said you have found no documentation of any of this. When I found he was allegedly a high ranking Amway distributor, I thought “Amway? Seriously?” I attended an Amway meeting by invitation years ago. It was decidedly creepy; it felt like a church meeting, and I left early. It also became apparent to me that this business of theirs (now hers) is really raking in a lot of money in many ways, including cruises. The fact that a number of commenters to this article in defense of Jerry and Esther Hicks and Abraham speak in emotional and general terms without directly addressing any of the statements you’ve made is rather disturbing. If people want to follow Esther/Abraham, and her well practiced come backs and advice resonate with them, and they feel it’s worth it to pay for the workshops, that’s fine. But any person claiming to have answers from a spirit group that they are channeling, and they are making a lot of money from it, and they have multiple houses and a large business empire, should make themselves available for questions.
Yeah, everyone has free will, and we respect their choices. My goal when I started exploring Esther and Jerry was to offer an alternative point of view and enable more informed choices. As with all belief systems, people will chose what feels good to them and, then, rationalize a justification for it.
But what you have to realize is that nobody who is firm in their beliefs would ever click on Fifteen Reasons… They do it because, at that point, they feel uncertain, and although the resistance is there, they are no searching for a way out.
Thanks for your thoughts, and Happy New Year!
Her piscean communication is enough for me to lose it.
Thanks for your input.
This article’s writer has ridiculously nonsensical premises. God doesn’t have a problem with the Abraham/Hicks messages, why should this writer? A personal problem/need no doubt. Sad.
This is hilarious. Mary L. knows what God thinks. What a gift! The cult in full service.
Found this after hearing about a paper comparing Selig and Hicks on New Thinking Allowed and doing quick search. Very strange article this, ranting about supposed lack of empathy expressed by Hicks while speaking about Jerry’s death in demeaning terms. Your criticism seems to stem from the way you perceive a lack of humanity and recognition of human suffering in the messages that are ‘channelled’, but are keen to echo said lack of humanity in your own writing while happily engaging in posthumous character assasination.
E&J are human. The teachings are a separate thing to be evaluated and it appears you miss the point of it. Whether E&J are perfect in living in full consistency with what was coming out of the ‘channeling’ is a mute point in my book. They are human, and humans are imperfect. Clearly Jerry’s illness at the very end was rationalised in a certain way in terms of what information came out to ‘followers’. I don’t take as evidence that undermines the underlying ‘teachings’, it is only evidence that Esther and Jerry are human like the rest of us. Many people throughout history that we consider enlightened (not that I’d place Jerry on that level) or profoundly powerful healers have suffered illness before death. It doesn’t discount the notion that profound healing can take place, or that we can relieve ourselves from a great deal of suffering, or indeed the premise that consciousness supercedes the body in some way currently unexplained by science.
Regarding the philosophy channelled through Hicks it makes more sense to critically evaluate its merits without referencing E&J’s personal life or their dealings, as the premise is that they are merely messengers. The irreverent attitude toward death or suffering is not unique to Abraham’s teachings. You see it with many other streams of teachers and ways of thinking, particularly of the nondual variety. It can come across as shocking and I don’t care for it, but I try to put myselves in the shoes of someone who genuinely inhibits the space in which the things that are talked about are true. For instance, the notion that we are unlimited spiritual beings who are choosing a playground in which suffering is commonplace, that the separation from ‘source’ or all that is ‘one’ is merely an illusion, in essence it’s a game which we play. From that vantage point, there’s no fundamental reason to regard calamitous events as serious as we do and to paint ourselves and others as perpetual victims. This is all an experience that we selected in a sense, according this view of reality.
I don’t think anyone should have a heavy diet of Hicks’ teachings without it being complimented out with other things. I got some use out of it earlier in life, but there’s not that much meat to it. I can certainly see how some people might find themselves making poor choices, particularly about taking up healthcare choices. But there is a lot of good in it too. It can bring relief to people to listen to them. It can shake people out of feeling like a vicitim and help people feel more empowered. It turns people attention from being mindful about the things they have control over, i.e. their internal state, rather than trying to control the external world, or being a completely subject to outside forces. Their techniques are pretty good even just from a cognitive behavioural standpoint. And of course, for the spiritually inclined, it is consistent with a great many teachings that we are in effect a kind of creative infinite being that is part of a oneness and to not take life so ffin serious.
Channeling remains a profoundly strange phenomenon to me. No channeler seems to communicate without also including a variety of rubbish information, but at the same time, I can’t explain how they do what they do or where the information is coming from. I do think there’s something special going on during the channeling state.
You missed the point. This not about empathy. It’s about accuracy and consistency. If there is “something special going on,” for example, how come they contradict themselves?
The premise is that it’s channeled work for an audience that in on its own philosophies terms’ is “attracting” that information. All your complaints and inconsistencies stem from what E&J have done or haven’t done according to your own personal lens, not the channeled work. On the philosophies’ own terms, people are grativating toward the interaction they have with the channeling and Esther Hicks has merely responded to the demand in a pretty normal commercial way, by offering venues for people to engage in exchange for her time. This article would have substance if you criticised the messages that are relayed, the downsides, or perhaps the culture it has stimulated in some corners. Instead, it reads like someone with an axe to grind…
There are lots of inconsistencies to find in all channeled work, or even with the body of work of non-channeling authors in the same thematic space. If you have a lot of content, there’s going to be readers that can frame inconsistencies when comparing different strands of it. It’s hardly surprising, but yet you make this about “Esther Hicks”, the individual – not being trustworthy. Do others get a pass?
I’m more interested in why people are able to channel and communicate at a different level in the first place, what is behind it, and how one goes about weighting the information they provide. It seems awfully subject to the zeitgeist of the day. There’s always a “big shift” round the corner, with channeled work either peddling to angst or playing it down.
And I’ll repeat, spiritual teachers throughout history have done some particularly troubling things despite spreading the “good word” for decades (for a recent example see the Dalai Lama, but people aren’t writing hitpieces about Compassion not being a thing because there’s reasons to criticise that Dalai Lama). Whatever you are projecting about E&J as transgressions incompatible with the Abraham philosophy seems particularly trivial to me, even if one accepts your account of it.
I’m not sure if all of you are deliberately misrepresenting what Esther does or if you really want to believe it so badly that you’re deluding yourself. Esther is not a spiritual teacher, never has been, never pretended to be. She’s a spirit channel delivering insights from “Abraham,” an aggregation of about one hundred spirits relaying the wisdom of the universe through a close connection with “source” or God, if you prefer. Teachers make mistakes. Excuse them if you like, but spirits directly connected with the source of all things simply do not. Or, as with spiritual teachers, you might as well play with an Ouija board. It’s just as reliable.
And I’ve heard the “axe to grind” dismissal so many times, I barely hear it. That’s just an unwillingness to seriously consider the content. In other words, if I did have an axe to grind – and why on Earth would I? – it wouldn’t change the quality of the content. This all just strikes me as a desparate effort to dodge facts and cling to irrational claims that make you feel better and, often, superior.
It doesn’t work here, but thanks for making the effort.
You’re an odd one David. The “axe to grind” theory follows naturally from having compiled a list of things which are only coherent in so far they reflect things you find disagreeable. It reads as something you wanted to show people who’ve been triggered by either Hicks or Abraham and are likely to agree with you.
I’m not even a Hicks proponent and I just crossed your article looking for something more substantial on two pieces of channeling work (Selig & Hicks). As for criticising the Abraham work, there’s lots of stuff to pick up on that has genuine substance. Calling the rather conventional offering of a paid service in the form of a live streamed event “creepy” is simply your own annoyance shining through, not something worth calling someone trustworthy or untrustworthy for. Picking two bits of messaging (your economics example) with different contexts and juxtaposing them to make it look like some major consistency is not a serious effort at illuminating holes in the philosophy purported by Abraham. It’s pretty obvious that *all* channelers, as far as I can tell, put forth information that proves to be untrustworthy, the most obvious one being false predictions. What makes Esther’s channeling any different from others?
“Teachers make mistakes. Excuse them if you like, but spirits directly connected with the source of all things simply do not.”
Suppose she is channeling genuine spirits, whose to say they don’t mistakes, or behave inconsistently like humans do, while purporting to have accesss to all information? The idea that they wouldn’t is your own belief and as far as I can tell there is no evidence for such a claim. You might find the works of Emmanuel Swedenborg, or the views of gnostics interesting when it comes to how “spirits” present themselves to us.
Personally, my approach this is mostly agnostic, I’m interested but I don’t dismiss or accept views wholeheartedly. In some interpretations of the “law of attraction” or other views on reality one could posit that all information is simply a product of one’s internal word, including the appearance of channelers who frame information one way or another.