REGAIN THE POWER WITHIN YOU

           Interview with Albert Amao Soria

By: Von Braschler                     “Man alone, of all the creatures on Earth, can change his                     own pattern. Man alone is architect of his destiny....”                     – William James                 Post-modern industrialized societies suffer not only from common anxiety but also from herd mentality; the mass communication has standardized how people should live, including their expectations and their outlook of life. This is part of the self-deception problem of modern societies characterized by consumerism and the economy of waste. The book Awaken the Power Within is a bold, new book that shows how most teachers and healers in the so-called self-help arena simply dumb-down ancient insights and then attempt to repackage them in some easier, weaker form for mass marketing. Albert Amao Soria, PhD debunks many of them and for good reason. Real self help comes from within. Real growth, understanding, and transformation come only from within you. That's what self help means. You are finding your way. You are on your own path of discovery. You are growing. This self-help literature promise to make you rich, make you wise, make you whole, and make you over. This is nothing new, but every time one crops up to take away our pain, our worries, our insecurity, or confusion, they announce themselves as some sort of new messiah. Generally, they disguise themselves as authors, workshop leaders, teachers, or life coaches who offer self help to the ignorant fools who come to them for help. The new age is full of them. Self-improvement seminars and classes are filled with them. They offer the secret teachings of the ages. They offer to guide you in the area of self help. Krishnamurti, an Indian sage who once led thousands worldwide disbanded his organization and sent all of his followers home. He told them that they needed to be their own teacher and their own student and that they needed to find their way on their own. Truth, he told them, is a pathless land. That is the hero's journey of self discovery. The hero goes on a path of uncertainty, a self-directed journey. Along the way, all great heroes on the path find themselves. The journey is more fruitful and rewarding than the destination. Mr. Amao's new book examines some of the deepest and most effective elements of self-help practice in the succession of traditional esoteric thought. He outlines a historical picture of what has worked and what has not. It's important, after all, to understand modern self-help culture from its earlier mystical and occult movements and how we got to the current interest in the power of positive thought. But here's the ugly truth that many of today's phony teachers with their magic pills and magic formulas won't tell you on their way to selling you a bill of goods or a certificate after several lessons: All real growth requires effort and struggle. It doesn't come easy. It can't. You have to feel it personally. You need to grow outside of the comfort boundaries that hold you neatly in place. The fake teachers do not tell you how the act of spiritual unfolding is uncomfortable. It's like peeling the layers of skin around you, like the layers of an onion. You are working your way through layers of dense material form that shrouds you and conceals your inner being. Ever peel an onion? Not easy is it? And there are tears along the way. That's what it's like peeling down to you spiritual core. Only you can do that. The answers are all inside you. The truth is there, too. And you will find yourself along the way. Here find the difference between real self help and the snake-oil salesmen who offer to make our transformation easy, to bring us instantly to self-realization, and grant us enlightenment in a few easy lessons. Real healing happens from within. You can receive valuable assistance, but you must be willing to do what is necessary to heal on your own to a great degree. And you can.  I asked Dr. Albert Amao a few pointed questions about the self-help programs today and the major focus of his new book. His frank answers follow: (Q) Dr. Amao, how would you assess the scope and problems of the self-help market in modern society? (A) The sell-help culture in the modern developed countries around the world has become a pervasive social system. Taken as an example North America alone, this issue has become a staggering $12 billion industry. There are more than 300,000 books available on Amazon in the category of “self-help.” Given this astounding amount of literature, how can one possibly decide where to look for an authentic self-help book? We are becoming a quick-fix society. Nowhere is this more apparent than in regards to individuals who flock to programs that seek shortcuts in the hope of achieving rapid results. As we frequently see, many proponents of self-help, including advocates of positive thinking, mind/faith healing, and other fictitious techniques aimed at helping others actually focus on fattening their bank accounts as their primary purpose. Self-help is used by some as a business enterprise. No wonder there are many bestselling books in the self-help industry that promise many wonders in a short period of time. This includes Eckhart Tolle’s The Power of Now, Rhonda Byrne’s The Secret, and many others. The purpose of my book Awaken the Power Within is to analyze the accuracy of self-help and positive-thinking claims and to explore what works, what doesn’t, and why. (Q) What harm or hidden downside do you see in the popular self-help market today? (A) Most of the time, people assume as true the recommendations given in most of these books, audio-books, and seminars. Then, when the material they buy does not deliver the benefits promised, they blame themselves and think that there is something wrong with them. Thus, their effects can be detrimental. Consequently, the self-help programs that are supposedly harmless can do more harm than good and may also reflect the social problems now plaguing our modern society. This problem has been addressed by many authors, such as investigative journalist Steve Salerno, who wrote a book titled SHAM: How the Self-Help Movement Made America Helpless. As the title of the book suggests, inauthentic self-help culture can result in clients victimizing themselves. Motivational speakers organize seminars and workshops, where they sell their books, audio-books, CDs, and more, charging seminar fees that range often from $500 to several thousand dollars in the case of Tony Robbins. The same can be said regarding some Christian ministers motivational speakers who use their popularity and their church platforms to indirectly promote their books and audiotapes. Furthermore, Salerno pointed out that market surveys revealed "the most likely customer for a book on any given topic was someone who had bought a similar book within the preceding eighteen months." Since a person did not find what he/she was looking for, he/she kept searching for another book, audio book, or CD. Or sometimes they enroll in future seminars and workshops in an endless search for self-help. HOW THIS HAPPEN IN OUR MODERN SOCIETIES Those self-help gurus who have access to mass communication such as TV and radio have tremendous power to influence naïve and uninformed people. The self-help industry is infested by life coaches but not by authentic self-help providers.  Thus, self-help gurus promote self-victimization. In other words, they advocate the idea that people have problems in adulthood, because they had been victimized in early childhood. The theory is that their inner child has been traumatized by past events. That becomes a negative "tape" that replay over and over in their subconscious minds. They then tell people that redemption comes through empowering themselves with new "life scripts," which are their books, CDs, DVDs, seminars or workshops.   SO, WHAT IS THE REAL ISSUE The real issue is these “gurus” are selling themselves as healers and projecting their own shortcomings on their clients. The gimmicks used to sell self-help material and workshops may provide people with temporary relief, but this does not last much. They offer only a momentary boost of inspiration that fades away after a few weeks, turning buyers into repeat customers. IN A FEW WORDS WHAT IS THE MAIN GOAL OF YOUR NEW BOOK? The main goal of this book is to raise awareness about the modern “snake oil” peddlers who take advantage of gullible people. Again, they sell the idea of victimization. Once the client accepts the idea that he or she was victimized in his early life, the next step for the self-help agent is to propose the idea of empowerment with their techniques. Someone accurately posited the inquiry: Why is it called "self-help" if one has to pay for it? In this environment, as sociologist and cultural critic I feel is my duty to have the courage to clear the air and put things into realistic perspective. Millions of people are wasting time, money, and energy buying ineffective and detrimental systems. (Q) Then what sort of real self-help do you advocate as authentic and effective today? (A) We can’t throw the baby out with the bath water. It is imperative that we rescue authentic self-help from the business mindset. Contrary to critics who blithely dismiss self-help methods, or New Age gurus who sell them as miracles, the book Awaken the Power Within explores the conditions under which self-help is authentic and effective. There is a pattern of powerlessness among common people. From early childhood we have been disempowered and indoctrinated with false ideas and beliefs about our true nature. Currently, quantum physics and metaphysics are fully demonstrating that humans are the creators of their own reality and destiny. The problem is that we took for granted the false beliefs of self-worthlessness and lack of confidence from our parents, grandparents, mass media, and so-called “conventional wisdom.” And with time, these inherited beliefs of disempowerment became part of our personal belief systems and we subconsciously create a wrong self-image of ourselves.  This set of ideas and beliefs is generally oriented to make us feel powerless and victims of circumstances. It seems that there is a huge conspiracy to inflict a sense of powerlessness on humans.  Moreover, some religious organizations create a sense of guilt on humans because Adam and Eve commit their original sin.   The mass media is basically oriented to manipulate and domesticate ordinary people, creating superficial and unnecessary needs. Most people’s behaviors are based upon the actions, decisions, and opinions of others. Under this scenario come false New Age “gurus,” some Protestant religious leaders, and sensationalistic and fake self-help authors to take advantage of naïve people to financially profit from them. They offer a panacea or “snake oil” to solve all humans’ problems under the name of self-help. They demand that people uncritically believe in them, their products, and services. My book clarifies the concept of “self-help” as a mental self-discipline that some people abuse for the sake of entrepreneurship. It surveys the main assumptions of inauthentic self-help culture that keeps humans enslaved in a herd mentality and demonstrates how real power dwells in the individual and only in him or her. (Q) What are the major objectives or aims of your new book? (A) The primary purposes of the book Awaken the Power Within are as follows:  · To raise awareness about modern “snake oil” peddlers who take advantage of gullible people for financially benefit. · To elucidate manipulation with false ideas through TV, radio, and newspapers · To analyze the pseudo self-help movement in America and discuss what makes it a “cotton candy dream.” · To empower people to rely on themselves and their inner strength for guidance.  · To review the history of the New Thought movement and its offshoots. · To make sense of positive thinking · To explain how intentions and the power of assumption play active roles in shaping the future · To explain the nature of reality, consciousness, and awareness.  (Q) What was your basic goal in writing the book? (A) This is the message of my book in one paragraph: To raise awareness about the gimmicks of inauthentic self-help entrepreneurs and empower people in their search for true sources of help. Humans have the inner capacity to confront any difficult circumstances in life. There is no need for external intervention. People are responsible for creating their own reality with their thoughts and beliefs; and they are the only ones who can take back their power and correct whatever is not working for them. The book offers a deeper perspective on the culture of self-help and self-improvement and empowers us to rely on our inner voice as a source of motivation for authentic self-empowerment and self-reliance. It's time that you begin your own hero's journey of self-discovery by awakening the power within. About the Author: Albert Amao Soria is a sociologist, social theorist, cultural critic, an independent researcher, author, a life-long student of metaphysics and philosophy; He has over 30 years’ experience in comparative religion, psychology, and mysticism with emphasis on Western spiritual traditions. He considers himself as Ageless Wisdom student. Mr. Amao is the author of several books including, Awaken the Power Within, Healing without Medicine, and The Dawning of the Golden Age of Aquarius. Mr. Amao is a national speaker of the Theosophical Society; he lectures nationwide (USA) on metaphysics, Hermetic Qabalah, and New Thought philosophy. He is the founder of the “Center for Spiritual Self-Awakening” Dr. Amao can be contacted by email at Stgermain777@gmail.com. For further information, visit http://www.albertamao.com. Von Braschler is the author of several books including Seven Secrets of Time Travel, Moving in the Light, and Confessions of a Reluctant Ghost Hunter. He writes in the areas of consciousness development, esoteric healing, yoga, and time travel. He has led workshops throughout the UK and the US and is active in the international Theosophical Society of Adyar. He was a runner-up finalist for a COVR book award. Podcasts from his show “Healing with Your Pet: Our Psychic Spiritual Connection” and his many broadcast interviews are available online.