Reading Between the Margins

On Integrity, Guru Culture, and the Writing That Changes Us

Recent posts I’ve been reading (and sometimes sharing) from people who are standing in their integrity to call out and question what we’re seeing not only with Deepak Chopra in the Epstein Files, but also in wellness and spirituality culture more generally, powerfully articulate what’s been hovering nebulous in my awareness for a while.

For genuine thought-leadership in this conversation, please check out these articles: ‘Blowing The Whistle On Deepak Chopra, The Epstein Files, Cancel Culture, & Holding My Influencer Peers (& Myself) Accountable’ by Lissa Rankin; ‘The Silence: Inside the Chopra-Epstein Files’ by Scott Mills; and ‘When Gurus Fall’ by Rachael Cannard.

I’ve been thinking about why I’ve actually (truly) never read any of Deepak Chopra’s books. His was a name I always respected in the field - until now - but I hadn’t taken time to actually engage with his writing.

Sometimes I’m embarrassed because, as a Transformational Nonfiction Writing Coach, I often haven’t read the biggest names in the self-development genre.

It’s the same with Literature. With three degrees in English, most people expect me to be familiar with certain famous books that I simply haven’t read.

Now I know why.

Photo by Tetiana Padurets on Unsplash

Because I’ve tended to avoid the biggest names, the mainstream successes, the overnight bestsellers. Rarely have those books - in any genre - held enough depth or shadow to fully embrace the nuance of our shared humanity.

Typically, I have often found the most ‘successful’ books to also be the most superficial.

I read between the margins.

But many of us - myself included - have been exposed to and participated in various facets of a spiritual culture that’s become increasingly disembodied and disengaged from social reality.

This raises questions that are now urgent and ripe for us all to explore. And there are many voices rising in this chorus.

Mostly, our friends in more marginalised communities have already been trying to tell us what’s up for a long time. A book I’m currently reading and highly recommend is The Altar Within, by Juliet Diaz.

The ending of the Age of Pisces IS the dismantling of the shadows of guru culture. The ways we’ve outsourced our responsibility and projected far too much authority onto others, who have been only too eager to stand up shamelessly and lead. Because that unequal power dynamic is what has defined the rise of this dominant western culture.

And this is the time to dive into the shadows of spirituality and wellness culture, too, for all of us who carry its torch.

When I guide visionary writers to write their transformational nonfiction books, I bring all of the ethics and integrity that my PhD study taught me. I call out spiritual bypassing, I question implied power dynamics, and I refuse to skip over the messy vulnerability in the story - but I refuse to get stuck in it, too.

I’m not perfect - and neither are the writers. But perfection is not the goal here, that’s just another construct of purity culture and a gaudy performance of sterile elitism - the pretence of healing and completion when the journey and the reality is much more nuanced and complex.

In my writing, and in my coaching, we stay with that discomfort. We embody that tension. Because that’s where real change becomes possible - when we can hold space as the compassionate witness to the ugly truth of ourselves and the world. Without having to reject or disown the parts we don’t like.

That’s what makes visionary writing an alchemical practice, the first purpose of which is to transform the author. That doesn’t mean the job is done. It means that a part of ourselves we had not previously been able to own can move a little closer. And that the more of ourselves we can contain, the more we can step into service for others.

There’s so much more to say about this, and so much deeper to explore.

I’m grateful for the compassionate wisdom of visionary leaders, such as Christian Ortiz - who works to elucidate the problems inherent in contemporary culture and who has suggested a framework for redefining leadership in times of eroded trust.

My intention is to keep writing my own excavation, and to support other visionary writers who are asking what this means for them and how to keep writing in the crucible of these times.

Now, more than ever, your visionary voice is needed.