Crystal Clear Spirituality

During a Saturday phone conversation with a friend one weekend in D.C. an interesting scenario unfolded. One of her cousins, we’ll call her Cecelia, had recently started a holistic wellness business. Cecelia came from a privileged background of fully funded private schools, financial assistance from her parents when buying a home and help with the mortgage when money was tight from attending classes at a pricey new aged center. She also happens to be white which comes with it’s own set of advantages or lack of obstacles.

That being said Cecelia stumbled upon a captivating and exclusive spiritual movement via the previously mentioned new aged center. It promised inner peace, enlightenment, and a direct connection to the universe. Intrigued by the prospect of self-discovery, Cecelia decided to explore the organization.

Soon enough, she was attending retreats, studying ancient philosophies, and embracing a life of mindfulness. Cecelia became deeply engrossed in, what was to her, a new world of spirituality and self-discovery. Cecelia believed she had found her purpose, and she wanted to share it with others.

Driven by an entrepreneurial spirit, she decided to monetize her newfound spiritual journey by creating her own brand of high-end spiritual products and services. Everything from crystal-infused water bottles to healing crystals and personalized meditation sessions were offered.

The family watched everything unfold more or less from the sidelines never becoming too involved. However, as things progressed and the family dug into the organization eyebrows started to be raised. When questioned, Cecelia became defensive of her business model insisting she had a right charge high prices for the spiritual services she offered.

All of this had me wondering about the wellness movement overall. It seems overrun by affluent white women talking about wellness and peace, taking practices from various spiritual traditions of marginalized groups without giving credit to those groups.

Glamour, The Agenda-TVO, and Self (to name a few) have all published and produced content highlighting just this issue. Eating food, consuming goods, and paying high prices for healing and retreats that many would be hard pressed to afford. Alienating many different demographics, some of which have the traditional knowledge being used to profit from.

My friend, equally dubious of her cousin’s business, questioned whether one can really buy and then resell spirituality as Cecelia was doing. Krishnamurti in his 1976 Saanen public session (linked below), talks about being a light to oneself. That if we light ourselves at the candle of another, it is just a candle that can be blown out.

It also had me thinking of other people in the wellness space, Dan for instance. What was different from his profession or any other where someone invests time and money into learning and mastering a topic and then charging to share the information, skill, service? I wasn’t sure, but it definitely felt different when spirituality factored into it.

Isn’t spirituality accessible to all? Regardless of social standing or wealth? Organized religion does not charge an entrance fee. There is an encouragement to tithe at a suggested amount but there is no price to enter at the door. The irony in Cecelia’s actions, a privileged woman selling something that was supposed to bring inner peace and enlightenment to those who needed it most but marketing it for a tiny subset of people missed the mark entirely.

As I said goodbye to my friend the exchange had me wondering about my own spiritual path, which had lately been ignored almost entirely. Consumed instead with work and Dan, maybe it was time to redirect energy outside of myself.

With that I walked into a church in my D.C. neighborhood the next day and attended service. And perhaps that, out of the whole conversation or any conversation is the point. To examine our own selves and path we’re walking from time to time and see if we want to keep doing things the same way or not.