Abraham a cult?!

While googling an Abraham-Hicks-related query recently I spotted that one of the results linked to a forum about cults. Out of curiousity I clicked on it, and was amused to see that several of the posters there appear to believe that Abraham is a cult, complete with gullible followers and dishonest figureheads (Jerry and Esther!) They were also very critical of 'The Secret' movie. It was quite clear that few of the posters had actually read or heard the Abraham material first-hand, as their criticisms were rather ignorant. They also seemed to think that Esther's early 'Abraham accent', and Jerry's past involvement with Amway (a network marketing business) were reasons for dismissing them as fraudsters. I suspect that some were genuinely concerned (possibly with good reason given the behaviour of some of the Abraham 'followers' they were describing, assuming their descriptions were accurate), whereas others came across as the type of die-hard materialists who demonstrate a knee-jerk closed minded scepticism to anything connected with the non-physical. It brought home to me once more, that there's never a crowd on the leading edge! (It was also quite notably the only negative reference to Abraham among a mass of positive accolades!)

I found the whole thing rather funny, because anyone who really knows anything about Abraham knows that their whole philosophy is in direct contradiction to cultish behaviour; Abraham is about individuality, personal freedom, thinking for oneself, and trusting in one's own inner guidance above all external guidance. They also, through their frequent anecdotes, stress the fallibility of Jerry and Esther - they are in no way set up as figureheads to be idolised, but instead come across as very likeable, but still 'flawed' human beings; 'we don't live it, we just teach it', as Esther says. Cults, on the contrary, emphasise the importance of the group over the individual, encourage worship of the cult leader, and encourage a dependency on externally imposed dogma and rules, while actively discouraging people from thinking for themselves.

It did occur to me however, that Abraham's message, as with any other philosophy or set of ideas or teachings, may well attract those who are looking for answers, but are unwilling to truly think for themselves - people who could be genuinely susceptible to cultish behaviour. It is unfortunate that so many are so unused to relying on their inner guidance (or even not knowing of its existence) that they give their power away to others. But I can't help thinking that Abraham's message would be less attractive to such people than mainstream religions or the type of 'self-help' teachers who actively set themselves up as gurus. So it's possible that some of the people who follow Abraham do so in a manner that might appear worrying to those around them (particularly those family and friends who are suspicious of anything to do with mind power or 'spirituality'), but I can honestly say, based on my strong familiarity with Abraham's work, that there is nothing in their material that encourages anyone to accept what they say in an unquestioning manner, and they actively stress the importance of each individual finding and following their own inner guidance at all times.

Critical thinking (while maintaining an open mind), combined with an active connection to your inner guidance, is so important. I love the Abraham material , because it really resonates with where I am right now (and am well aware that to a sceptic much of my blog and site might look like the work of a thoroughly brainwashed Abraham 'cult member', LOL!), but I never accept what they say just because it comes from Abraham, and I actively disagree with them on a few points. I never accept anything anyone else tells me either, without passing it by my inner BS filter! And what's right for me may be all wrong for someone else, so no-one should accept anything I say here or on my site either, without asking if it feels right for them. We're all individuals, all on our own very personalised paths, and no appraoch is right for everyone. We grow up accustomed to being encouraged to rely on other older (and presumably wiser) people for guidance, but only the individual knows what's best for her/him. So tune into that inner guidance, and trust it above all else! (and feel free to ignore all this too of course... ; )