discover your inner magic 8-ball

Among the set of concerns (let's call them) that led me to start Mystic Bourgeoisie, was the question of why certain New Age types -- especially those who most vehemently deny that's what they are -- seem to believe that the answers to all life's most profound questions are to be found, you know... {{{ WITHIN }}} Even if your literary masochism amounts to but a fraction of my own, you can't avoid running into this bizarre concept if you read anything in this genre. Look within, my child, and your questions shall be answered! I strongly suspect that heading the FAQ Hit Parade in this regard would be: "Who's the fairest of them all?" And the #1 most popular corresponding answer: "Why, you are, Queenie!" I got thinking about this again today because a reader kindly sent me a link to an interesting post titled Folk Theories Of Guru-Based Spirituality, which included such items as... The folk theory of everything being connected The folk theory of ancient wisdom The folk theory that only the heart knows what is true The folk theory that the mind is an enemy of the spirit In the comments, someone added one of my all-time favorites... The folk theory that the Universe has a plan for Your Life To me, that last is perhaps best expressed by this collection of psycho-spiritual hillbillies doing "That's The Way God Planned It." If you too have a rusted busted old brokendown Ford pickup parked in the weeds of your frontal lobe, feel free to sing along. Meanwhile, I added... The folk theory of the Inner Magic 8-Ball But then, thinking that might well beg for further explication, I finally started my own post on the subject. And as Madge would say: "You're soaking in it." OK then, let's go to the source... Of course, that's not really the source of this meme. Nor, despite the highly self-assured (if terse) rhetoric of the reply, is the answer definitive. But even after years of searching and frustrated head-scratching, I have yet to discover where the idea originated that "the answer lies within" -- or words to that general effect. I did, however, just today -- and totally by accident, opening a random book in my downstairs bathroom as if it were the I Ching (it was not) -- find the following passage from Tupak Okra's The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success: A Practical Guide to the Fulfillment of Your Dreams (pp. 43-44). Consciously put your attention in the heart and ask your heart what to do. Then wait for the response -- a physical response in the form of a sensation. It may be the faintest level of feeling -- but it's there, in your body. Only the heart knows the correct answer. Most people think the heart is mushy and sentimental. But it's not. The heart is intuitive; it's holistic, it's contextual, it's relational. It doesn't have a win-lose orientation. It taps into the cosmic computer -- the field of pure potentiality, pure knowledge, and infinite organizing power -- and takes everything into account. At times it may not even seem rational, but the heart has a computing ability that is far more accurate and far more precise than anything within the limits of rational thought. The cosmic computer, aha! So I guess there's my answer. But now I'm wondering if something like this is what Nietzsche was maybe on about with his whole "Gott ist tot" shtick...