“Getting in balance is not so much about adopting new strategies to change your behaviors, as it is about realigning yourself in all of your thoughts so as to create a balance between what you desire and how you conduct your life on a daily basis.” – From the book
In his book Being in Balance, bestselling author Wayne Dyer attempts to bridge the gap between human desire and actual experience. Offering nine approaches to balance the scales towards optimal living, vibrant spirituality, and personal dreams, Dyer maintains that you and your environment are the direct product of your thoughts. These nine recommendations to restore equilibrium include:
1. An Infinity of Forests Lie Dormant Within the Dreams of One Acorn
2. There’s More to Life Than Making It Go Faster
3. You Can’t Kiss Your Own Ear
4. Your Addictions Tell You, “You’ll Never Get Enough of What You Don’t Want”
5. You’re Not *What* You Eat; You’re What You *Believe* about What You Eat
6. You Can’t Discover Light by Analyzing the Darkness
7. Fighting Any Adverse Condition Only Increases Its Power Over You
8. Love Is What’s Left Over When Falling in Love Fades Away
9. Earth’s Crammed with Heaven
Like his previous book Inspiration: Your Ultimate Calling, Being in Balance draws heavily from the Law of Attraction. As a result, much of the text reads like recycled Abraham material, but without the basic understanding of the Art of Allowing. And, like Inspiration: Your Ultimate Calling, this book overflows with muddled logic and contradiction.
For example, in the chapter on eating, Dyer asserts that an individual can eat whatever they want and still attain perfect health. It’s not what we imbibe that affects our health, but merely the thoughts we think about certain foods. The interesting thing is that I used to buy this line of thought, never once reading a nutritional label and consuming anything I darned well pleased. I was in good overall health and I saw no reason to monitor what I consumed. (Magical thinking comes quite naturally to me…)
Well, guess what? I recently had a physical and lo and behold—my cholesterol and triglycerides were elevated! I never thought of “high fat” or “high cholesterol” and yet, here I am with elevated levels! So—should I keep eating anything and everything with this knowledge? I think not. I immediately went on a low fat, low-cholesterol diet, having dropped 23 pounds, and committed to actively reversing these high levels.
But if I continued with my magical thinking, I could just affirm to myself that nutritional labels don’t matter, that “all things are good” and that my health is all in my mind…
Here are a few other glaring contradictions in Being in Balance:
•
Dyer states in Chapter 6 that “You can’t discover light by analyzing darkness” and repeatedly states that you get more of what you focus on. Yet he uses phrases like “purging resistance”, “refusing to collaborate with the energy of hatred”, “break the cycle of violence in the world”, and “banish the excuse…” Aren’t these attitudes resisting “what is”?
Dyer states in Chapter 6 that “You can’t discover light by analyzing darkness” and repeatedly states that you get more of what you focus on. Yet he uses phrases like “purging resistance”, “refusing to collaborate with the energy of hatred”, “break the cycle of violence in the world”, and “banish the excuse…” Aren’t these attitudes resisting “what is”?•Dyer creates solutions to imbalance, but his idea of “balance” is a homogenous Pollyanna ideal of what Spirit is, including cheerful (even if it has to be faked, page 54), amicable, peaceful, and positive. He goes so far to say, “Spirit has no excess fat, indigestion, hunger pangs, or overeating habits…” So, does this mean that Spirit is lean, satisfied, and engages in portion control? Talk about making God in man’s image! Dyer states, “The sales pitch is that if you don’t look like a super model, you should feel remorse.” If he doesn’t agree with superficial U.S. culture, why the need to say, “Spirit doesn’t have excess fat”?
Dyer creates solutions to imbalance, but his idea of “balance” is a homogenous Pollyanna ideal of what Spirit is, including cheerful (even if it has to be faked, page 54), amicable, peaceful, and positive. He goes so far to say, “Spirit has no excess fat, indigestion, hunger pangs, or overeating habits…” So, does this mean that Spirit is lean, satisfied, and engages in portion control? Talk about making God in man’s image! Dyer states, “The sales pitch is that if you don’t look like a super model, you should feel remorse.” If he doesn’t agree with superficial U.S. culture, why the need to say, “Spirit doesn’t have excess fat”?•Dyer maintains that any kind of judgment and generalization is out of balance yet says things like “When it’s unhealthy, it’s wrong, and on some level you feel that.” He also includes quotes like “Whatever good you have is all from God. Whatever evil, all is from yourself” (The Koran) and “To see and listen to the wicked is already the beginning of wickedness” (Confucius).
Dyer maintains that any kind of judgment and generalization is out of balance yet says things like “When it’s unhealthy, it’s wrong, and on some level you feel that.” He also includes quotes like “Whatever good you have is all from God. Whatever evil, all is from yourself” (The Koran) and “To see and listen to the wicked is already the beginning of wickedness” (Confucius).•On one hand, Dyer says that “all is one”—a part of God—but portrays the Divine as a “giver” of abundance and as a parent (“we’re all God’s children”). He states, “The longing for love is a longing to become more like God in your thoughts.” I disagree. I believe that the longing for love—and feelings of emptiness—stem from believing you are SEPARATE from God. To try to be “like” God—to try to “receive” from God—is to believe that God is somewhere “out there”, not within. In my opinion, the illusion of separateness is the “first cause/first thought” of war, loneliness, scarcity, and the other states of being that Dyer tries to combat in this book.
On one hand, Dyer says that “all is one”—a part of God—but portrays the Divine as a “giver” of abundance and as a parent (“we’re all God’s children”). He states, “The longing for love is a longing to become more like God in your thoughts.” I disagree. I believe that the longing for love—and feelings of emptiness—stem from believing you are SEPARATE from God. To try to be “like” God—to try to “receive” from God—is to believe that God is somewhere “out there”, not within. In my opinion, the illusion of separateness is the “first cause/first thought” of war, loneliness, scarcity, and the other states of being that Dyer tries to combat in this book. One bright spot in Being in Balance is the latter part of Chapter 8, where Dyer shows what love looks like through the eyes of a child. It’s the profound simplicity of “Love is when my daddy makes coffee for my mommy, and he takes a sip before giving it to her to make sure the taste is okay” and “Love is what’s in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen” that shows the essence of giving and receiving love. Too much of this book is “what you should do”, but not HOW to do it. By sharing stories of love in action, the rational mind is bypassed and the reader gets an immediate sense of how love feels and looks.
I also enjoyed Chapter 9 where Dyer elaborates on the quote by Elizabeth Barrett Browning “Earth’s crammed with heaven…”, explaining that heaven is right here, right now, and by adjusting our lenses (perspective) we can see the spiritual energy and purity of nature, people, and events.
I count Wayne Dyer as one of my favorite authors, which is why his last two books have been especially disappointing. Your Sacred Self, There’s a Spiritual Solution to Every Problem, and Your Erroneous Zones are self-help/spirituality classics for a reason: the profound wisdom rings true and Dyer embodies the lessons. With his last two books, I get the sense that he’s trying to play “me too!” attempting to ride the popularity wave of the Abraham/Hicks teachings. However, like Dyer once said, he learns best by teaching—but it feels like either the Law of Attraction isn’t a natural fit for his life or that he hasn’t yet grasped (or isn’t convinced of) the viability of this particular teaching.
I’m all for expanding vistas, modifying perspectives, and learning on the journey, but sometimes, “writing what you know” makes the difference between a heartfelt, authentic book and one filled with superficial recycled theories and fluffy platitudes.
If you want to achieve balance and peace of mind, I’d recommend the books Loving What Is by Byron Katie and The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle.
Related Articles
Content copyright © by Janet Boyer. All rights reserved. This review was written by Janet Boyer. If you wish to use this content in any manner, you need written permission.
