I'm a fan of Tony Robbins. Tony is a motivational speaker, and he offers life coaching seminars on a massive scale. I've never attended one of his pricey getaways, but years ago I picked up a used copy of his Personal Power II audio series on eBay and worked through it at least twice. His strategies and exercises helped me clarify a number of personal and professional goals at a transitional moment in my life.
Oprah Winfrey firewalking at a Tony Robbins seminar
Tony was in the news last summer because of a reporter's attempt to sensationalize a fire-walking exercise that has been a crucial part of his seminars for some 35 years. It began with this article in a local San Jose paper and swiftly hit the wires detailing reports of "agonized shrieks" and "third-degree burns".
I'm more inclined to believe this version of the story. It's a pretty quick read, but if you'd like to cut to the chase, here's Tony's side of the story:
For 35 years, I have had more than 4 million people go through my programs from 100 countries, with more than 2 million specifically doing the fire walk seminar itself. Throughout that time we have been conducting these events healthfully and successfully, and we have medical support and attention at every single event for those 3.5 decades. This program in San Jose was no different than any other one that we have ever done. The fact is that the ratio is usually about 1 percent of the people will get some pain, hot spots or blistering, and at this event it was only one-third of 1 percent: 21 people out of 6,000. So while I don't want anyone to feel any pain, and I care immensely... and we make sure that everyone is taken care of, I also know that part of life is facing a fear and there is risk! You take those risks if you choose to, and that's how you reap the rewards.
We'd all like a means of improving our lives and raising our level of self-awareness. But if you're actively seeking such a thing, how do you go about distinguishing the masters from the poseurs? I can present to you Deepak Chopra and his bad science on the one hand and Tony Robbins and the reasons I think his technologies do promote greater self-awareness on the other. But if you're just a moth to a flame, how do you know the difference? Most of the people who find Tony Robbins do so via his televised infomercials. They're hungry for something that will help. They're more likely to respond to his charisma than to research the validity of his offerings. There's a way in which someone who ends up in his camp does so through sheer luck, because they could have otherwise ended up with someone with a lot of charisma and no real valuable content, or a self-styled guru who would take advantage of them or even put their lives at risk.
Shinzen Young offers this very useful distinction:
Every spiritual/meditative tradition offers something valuable (the bait) and has some sort of challenge, or something that can become an attachment (the hook) that goes along with it. Imagine it as if you were a fish. You want to be able to nibble at the bait without getting caught on the hook. The bait is usually there; the hook is always there. Be mindful of both and avoid the hook.
While you may long to immerse yourselves in your art with religious fervor, you simply cannot afford to choose a studio based on faith and charisma. You need to know as much as you can about the content on offer.
It's my aim to quantify and articulate what makes for valuable content where vocal instruction is concerned. Extraordinary singing will always be a magical thing, but there need no longer be any mystique regarding vocal technique.
Make no mistake: I am indeed offering to lead you on a breathtaking, mind-blowing journey that will help you unlock depths of passion, power and creativity you never dreamed of experiencing!
I just want to make sure that in between these revelations you know how to do your homework, so that the mind-blowing stuff becomes more of a daily pleasure. Not to mention the marketable commodity you need it to be.
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