~ Quote by Ben Riggs

I do not care how Amazon or Barnes-&-Noble discerns between spirituality and self-improvement.

I am describing the actual movement—the real life attempt to fix yourself—not some section of a bookstore or system of classification authors are shoved into willy-nilly.

Fixing yourself is violent because it requires, first, a rejection of yourself, then, a brutal attempt to “improve” upon the aspect of yourself you have rejected or deemed unworthy. It is like plastic surgery for the soul. Except the “improvement” turns out to be nothing more than the violent installation of a foreign ideal. Self-help is an attempt to become what society, your parents, or some author or authority said you “should” be. While, spirituality is about allowing the totality of the human condition to express itself without mediation or censorship…over and over again.

To read more about the differences between spirituality and self-help, click here.

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