A friend who used to help organize programs for me recently said she is moving on to create conferences with A- and B-list speakers only, so she wouldn’t have time to do much else now. Obviously, by implication, I was not in those categories. And after having also been immersed in studying how publishing has changed to be mainly about celebrities who have a national “platform,” and who can buy thousands of copies of their own books and guarantee a large audience, I sat shaking my head.
What has happened to our minds? Are we afraid of the unknown, and only want proven commodities: brand name products, People magazine regulars—and insist that any talented person be made into a celebrity to have continued success? Are we too lazy to do our own research, or trust our own intuition, about what or who will perfectly fill the need in us? Are we such fad-followers that we cannot think for ourselves, originally, and start our own trends, or be positive influences for those around us?
When marketing ourselves, we are constantly hit with this need to be a celebrity by acting like one. The simple offering of high quality does not stand out as it should. What has real value as opposed to what has prestige? And yet, we must offer ourselves and allow ourselves to be visible. Some well-known people have earned visibility and popularity by offering good quality, timely things that touch the heart and help open minds. For them it’s usually not an overnight phenomenon—they persist at their endeavor. And I realize, when it comes to helping people on a spiritual path, that there are all levels of understanding, and there are teachers who address every level.
I hope celebrity isn’t the way only we are distinguishing what to pay attention to, as though what stands out the most has the most worth. To me, celebrity can breed shallowness and lead to lack of innovation and evolution, because they must maintain audience attention to remain in the spotlight. Do they have a true chance to enter liminal space and recoup their energy and true connection with source? Does ego develop where it is not wanted?
It’s also true that celebrities who become archetypal models that are inhaled by masses of people, can become “possessed” by those people. If they don’t perform their assigned function, their possessors can turn on them. So it’s especially odd that we now have spiritual superstars, mega-money-makers with big personalities and publicity agents. Sure, the motive is to reach many people, and yet, does the materialistic lifestyle warp people in subtle ways that keep them from pure, clean teachings?
It’s not that “real” spiritual teachers need to be poor and unknown—I just tend to trust the quieter, deeper ones.