Kevin R.D. Shepherd > Quotes

“There are currently many gurus and 'psychotherapists' getting rich at the expense of uncritical followings and clients who are becoming increasingly illiterate. Illiteracy is very much in the interests of the 'New Age' bandwagon, and also convenient to the commercial publishers who so regularly dish up the sordid offerings of commercial writers.”
― Kevin R.D. Shepherd, Meaning in Anthropos

“The subject of 'perennial philosophy' is currently one of the many misleading themes employed in vulgar mysticism. Emanating from enthusiasts of traditional religion, this topic has been appropriated by new age communities and figureheads, to the extent that even Huxley can appear profound by comparison. The Latin phrase is often associated with Leibniz, who may be credited with a more genuine attitude, though it is clear that he did not resolve the issue involved. The term philosophy is currently so confused in application that it can mean anything saleable or novelistic.”
― Kevin R.D. Shepherd, Some Philosophical Critiques and Appraisals: An Investigation of Perennial Philosophy, Cults, Occultism, Psychotherapy, and Postmodernism

“Many people who want a worthwhile alternative to current societal attitudes will have to become much more literate in order to be able to gain a critical sense that distinguishes viable values from crippling ones. Few people read Plotinus and other temperate writers of the past, and so it is little wonder that philosophy is not understood, and that mysticism has become a con game. Most professed seekers of 'values' fall victim to the sentiments of 'New Age' psychotherapy and Western Occultism. With Aleister Crowley an advanced yogi and Wilhelm Reich a visionary genius, it is anybody's guess what further Western monstrosities will be created in illiterate climates.”
― Kevin R.D. Shepherd, Meaning in Anthropos

“There is the rather strange coincidence of that at Shirdi, Sakori and Meherabad, the deaths of the venerated saints were believed to change nothing for the devotees. The venerated deceased entities were somehow still alive. Rivalries between sects continued, one difference being that there was no stress on miracles at Meherabad.

If one is prepred to credit in any way the relevance of Shirdi Sai, Upasni Maharaj and Meher Baba as mystics, then it is evident that their teachings differed. Their policies differed also. Such details tend to confound the issue of a 'perennial philosophy' as popularly promoted by various writers. One possible conclusion afforded is that the underlying impact of the saint/master is circumscribed by audience capacities, and shaped by some extent by their own temperament.”
― Kevin R.D. Shepherd, Investigating the Sai Baba Movement

“... finer tendencies of the psyche are eroded by crude stimuli, crude verbiage, and crude behaviour.”
― Kevin R.D. Shepherd, Meaning in Anthropos

“Anthropography is my contribution to the vacuum created in education by specialist academe and the 'New Age' commercial machine.”
― Kevin R.D. Shepherd, Meaning in Anthropos

“Perhaps the major philosophical lesson to be drawn here is that Shiva becomes incarnate in those humans who achieve the requisite level of experience. The rest is mythology, popular religion and 'left hand' fiascos.”
― Kevin R.D. Shepherd, Minds and sociocultures: An analysis of religious and dissenting movements (Intercultural research series of anthropography)

“I do not believe that all Eastern traditions reputed to have an esoteric value actually contain such value, since it is very often only nominal values that are represented. The esoteric is, far more often than not, a highly extroverted exercise in advertisement, gimmicks, and reliance upon hoary associations yoked to simplistic or erroneous belief ... What constitutes a traditional esoteric psychology is likely to remain a subject for disagreement amongst various parties, but one might venture to suggest that it would be invisible and unobtrusive by comparison with less esoteric manifestations of great secrets and prerogatives.”
― Kevin R.D. Shepherd, The Resurection of Philosophy

“There are many follies now popular which derive from the doctrine of Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961). One of the most insidious is the New Age tactic of jettisoning any onus for honest analysis of setbacks in purported spiritual or therapeutic communities. 'We deny the existence of our shadow and project it onto others.' Thus the critic is evil; the criminal goes free, especially if he happens to be an alternative therapist.”
― Kevin R.D. Shepherd, Some Philosophical Critiques and Appraisals: An Investigation of Perennial Philosophy, Cults, Occultism, Psychotherapy, and Postmodernism

“In view of the continuing widespread use drugs like marijuana, a due warning about the effects of such usage is imperative. Cannabis is a popular drug of self-abuse, though described by some retarded minds as a 'recreational drug.' The scientific approach is very different to the rhetoric of drug supporters. 'It is a popular myth that cannabis is harmless, and the media repeatedly promote this myth ignoring scientific evidence of its pathological effects.' [quote from D. Copestake]”
― Kevin R.D. Shepherd, Some Philosophical Critiques and Appraisals: An Investigation of Perennial Philosophy, Cults, Occultism, Psychotherapy, and Postmodernism

“One of the therapists that has financially profited from the lore about archetypes is Dr Stanislav Grof, controversial for his LSD psychotherapy, and more recently, on account of his Holotropic Breathwork TM. The commercial trademark is surely indication of an investment that raises questions. Dr Grof describes in one of his books his vision of archetypes (including the anima) while under the influence of 200 milligrams of MDMA (known as ecstasy).

That is not proof of archetypal significances, but rather a strong indication of confusions prevailing in alternative therapy. Archetypes are big business, whether or not they carry the credentials of LSD or Ecstasy.”
― Kevin R.D. Shepherd, Some Philosophical Critiques and Appraisals: An Investigation of Perennial Philosophy, Cults, Occultism, Psychotherapy, and Postmodernism

“In Meher Baba, the investigator has the opportunity to view at close range the Iranian spirit divested of Zoroastrian and Islamic dogma and ritualism. He is as much 'Mazdakite' and Zurvanite as he is sufi; he is both ishraqi and irfani (gnostic) in affiliated perspective, and yet at the same time elusive of ready-made labels which require a deeper understanding than customarily awarded them.”
― Kevin R.D. Shepherd, Meher Baba, an Iranian Liberal

“There are currently very few writers in either East or West who demonstrate much understanding of mystical ranges, and hence the values here are largely in abeyance. The typical 'Western Mysticism,' of the modern variety, is an excuse for narcissism and banality. Its vaunted therapy is sometimes classified, appropriately enough, as Neo-Reichian. It is arguably suitable fare for an increasingly illiterate audience who are narrowing down their alternatives to one only: ignorance of real values.”
― Kevin R.D. Shepherd, Meaning in Anthropos

“Aleister Crowley has been a damaging influence in the popular mind, a trend facilitated by the general license inspired by Jungian thought, which so often desires to descend to the depths and integrate shadows that wise men transcend. In Jungian thought, finer standards are reversed, as Jung himself demonstrated in his private life. Crowley is a god of diverse Satanist and New Age groups, and his feminine persona was known as Alys, to use his own name for that abnormal phenomenon. The ascension of Alys is not a pretty sight, and is more than enough to sicken anyone even remotely sensitive.

It is very fashionable nowadays to eulogize the Beast, another designation of Crowley. In a typically commercial work, Colin Wilson justified Crowley's philosophy of 'do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law'. That is as good as glorifying the personality of Crowley, which is bad form by any standards save the satanic.”
― Kevin R.D. Shepherd, Some Philosophical Critiques and Appraisals: An Investigation of Perennial Philosophy, Cults, Occultism, Psychotherapy, and Postmodernism

“A common fate of Eastern traditional disciplines is currently their execrable employment by Western gurus and pop-psychologists. Whether it is antique Chinese wisdom, Buddhist lore, Yoga, Sufism, or whatever, the alert critic should take most of it with the proverbial pinch of salt, while not denying a basis in more authentic practice for the more viable ingredients of such traditional psychology.”
― Kevin R.D. Shepherd, The Resurection of Philosophy

“The question of Meher Baba’s background context has to date been neglected. The devotional movement associated with his name has never shown any interest in antecedents. Former biographers have exhibited an ignorance of philosophical links pertaining to the subject’s ethnic and ideational heritage. These omissions require correction, not least because of the instructive nature of the links discernible.”
― Kevin R.D. Shepherd, Meher Baba, an Iranian Liberal

“For those who are pedantic about classifications, it is perhaps best to describe Meher Baba as a neo-Kaivani, just as the Kaivanis can be termed neo-ishraqi in their departure from Islamic idioms. The gnostic dynamic does not stand still in its intercultural avenues of expression, and indeed, if it does so in a mono-cultural guise, it is likely to be no longer a dynamic but merely petrified conditioning. The easiest thing for anybody to do is to repeat secondhand material; the consequence is generally unenlightened dogmatism, not to mention distortion.”
― Kevin R.D. Shepherd, Meher Baba, an Iranian Liberal