Wayne Dyer (1940–2015)

This book was a hot topic when it hit the shelves in the mid ‘70s. I remember some people saying it was no big deal, the ideas in it were just common sense but for a number of us it was revolutionary. Looking back now I realize those reactions were gender based. Approval seeking, guilt, and dependence, which are covered in the book, were a big part of the traditional social roles for women then but not so much for the men who thought the book just stated the obvious.
Now on rereading it, show more I’m seeing it clearly addressed gender role issues. For example, the chapter ‘Declare Your Independence’ focused on submission in relationships, such as the traditional marriage role for women, and on ways to change those dynamics. But it bothers me that it did not take into account the risk of domestic violence. That and a few other instances made the book feel a little glib and superficial, and, let’s face it, dated. On the plus side, it had some good approaches for procrastinators like me and a sage reminder that anger gets in the way, it is good for nothing. show less

Wishes Fulfilled went above and beyond what I expected when I started reading it. I know it would be interesting, would have gentle guidance for how to improve our lives but never, ever did I expect it to touch me to the core of my being! Of course that is basically what the book is about, connecting with your inner self, your Higher Self and knowing that by doing this your life will change dramatically!

Dr. Dyer does an outstanding job of explaining in simple terms the difference between show more higher self and lower self. He shows us by example how to change the way we think, to choose what we think about and to learn to look at every thought, desire, etc in a way that benefits us to the highest degree.

He includes quotes from many teachers or Masters such as St. Germaine, Uell S. Anderson, Neville Goddard and many more. In each chapter Dr. Dyer takes us one step further along on how we can achieve anything we want with the power of our thoughts and intention. Each new chapter expands on the ideals of the last and brings it all together. Each chapter ends with three ways to implement the teachings in your own life.

I have to be honest, I have read Dr. Dyer before and found his books to be hit or miss and a lot of times so over my head that I could not make sense out of them. Clearly it was not his writing but myself not being ready to really 'hear' what he had to say. Not once did I feel that this book was confusing or over my head. I found it helpful in so many ways. This was an e-book review copy but I am going to buy it. Wishes Fulfilled is one of those books that needs to be read again and again with each reading bringing something different to the reader. My only regret is that the pictures that Dr. Dyer talks about were not included in the review copy. That's ok though because I will be buying it anyway!

Highly recommended. show less

“All my life I wanted to be somebody,
Now, I finally am somebody….
But it isn’t me.”

Like a little prose poem!

It’s true, too. You can only really have what you give away, although it’s not about giving away more than, or as much as, or Enough, you know.

You just have to be nothing and have everything, or maybe have nothing and be everything, like Jesus on the Cross, you know….. Dying, yet always alive.

Anyway, Wayne is I guess like his friend (if you will) the poet William S. show more in that he likes everything, so he files a few entries into each genre, whether ‘comedic’ if you like, or not. So he writes a book like this, and he also writes prosperity books, and probably makes them decent to boot. The first two (I bought them together) Wayne books I got (when I first started to read, really), were this book and Real Magic (along with a pocket Bible and some more forgettable entries), at Barnes and Noble, I think right after he died and the bookstores were full of his stuff on the shelves, you know, although the dates are fuzzy for me now.

But of the two, Real Magic and Sacred Self, Sacred is much bigger, at least on the inside. There’s enough money in the world. I have enough money. The world’s problems are not primarily money problems, in my opinion, (at least for people who have had decent schooling, but even then, much of the education system was designed by Sir Jeeves and Sheldon Cooper, you know, and they don’t know what people really need to know—not even to appreciate the world’s quixotic geniuses, of whom there have been a few). People starve, but it’s not because there isn’t enough food grown. The world is heading for a climate disaster, but not because it’s physically impossible to stop eating animals (“meat”), but because it’s psychically impossible for most people to take less from things, to be less greedy.

People are just not apt to believe that you become bigger by taking less—and less ready still to believe that even then, it’s not about *any* ‘bigger’, in a way.

And yet, the world does what it does, and life goes on, like it always has, and because of God always will. I just started reading Kate today (I can’t call her Katie because that’s her last name, and can’t call her Byron because that’s not Really a first name at all, not a ‘Christian’ name, as people used to say, although here that’s ironic, lol), and the first thing she does in the Second Edition foreword to Loving What Is is, saying that it’s a friendly universe, and you can realize that…. I suppose I ought to go farther than I have and realize even that, since I suppose if somebody had a right to say, or would say, that the universe is unfriendly, that it doesn’t come out, that person would be Jesus Christ, but I don’t think he does….

Do I really, though, have that in me? I’m sure I will, so it must be in there somewhere, now, you know….

Anyway. —grand conclusion— lol….

…. …. The first time I read the part about practices in this book, they all kinda blurred together as, He talks about meditation a lot. (I’d better meditate!)…. But now I think I can kinda distinguish those four parts: banish willful negative thinking, observe yourself in daily life, do formal meditation practice, and observe the absence of presence of the fruits of the spirit.

But don’t listen to me, you know.

…. For a long time when I heard Wayne, or others, talk about the opposite of fear being love, I didn’t know exactly what was being signified, and, although life is more than a verbal formula, it was still something I wanted to know. (I remember I heard a priest commenting/explaining on a Bible verse, one that you kinda automatically gloss over, by saying, It can kinda just sound like ‘Bible talk’, right?)

But I think the idea is that love is giving and fear is selfish. Fear can be incredibly selfish, you know. Please guarantee that I’ll have mine, please do for me, please take away what I don’t like, for me, because that’s what I want.

But love’s not like that, you know.

…. Elsewhere I criticized or whatever Wayne’s use of poets, which can be misleading or naive—poets are philosophers! Gosh, I have so many friends!—but at the same time, it is often a good thing for all its seeming subtle idiosyncrasy. The—often theology-mandated, if unbiblical—divorce of religion from literature is harmful to both, tending to make lit people frantic and worldly and theologians or whatever snobbish gatekeepers who lash out at people…. Wayne does mention Jack, although for many Christians, Jack Promotion is a sort of bait-and-switch, you know. “Now that you’ve read Narnia, you’ll never, ever, EVER have to read another novel, EVER again…. You’ve arrived.” 😎🤩

…. It’s not competition per se, but competitive success confused with ‘superiority’, that’s the problem. Maybe I’ll even read a very few books (less than music/movie books) on sports history, either about those few sports that I know somewhat well (basically baseball, tennis, and football, more or less in that order), or where sports history intersects with wider social history (eg Muhammed Ali, or the 1930s boxing match between the German Nazi and the Black American)…. I’m not really a sportsman anymore, and many sportsmen are very macho-yet-repressed, but that’s not an inherent thing in playing games, this miscellaneous fantasy, and it’s good to include.

Anyway Wayne does a great job dovetailing the different aspects of purity and higher consciousness; some aspects are stereotypically ‘left’ and others ‘right’, but generally he does a relatively good job of weaving together the garment of destiny, you know. show less

The Secrets of the Power of Intention is one of those books I have returned to again and again, and each time it just keeps getting better. This audiobook version, read by Dr. Dyer himself, is a treasure trove of good advice, funny and touching stories, and easy to implement practices designed to achieve a happy, healthier you and me. As someone who has followed his teachings post-accident as I navigated the after effects of a traumatic brain injury, I was pleasantly surprised at how show more effective his methods can be applied for alleviating anxiety and mild depression. As Dr. Dyer discusses the importance of intention and the law of attraction in creating the life you want to live, one can’t help but feel empowered and encouraged by his suggestions that are backed up with quotations from and references to many spiritual paths as well as his personal stories. The Power of Intention is one of my favorite all-time books that I have recommended many times. I’ve also quoted from it in my classes. I never get tired of listening to Dr. Dyer speak truths and tell stories, and revisiting this book always feels a bit like coming home again. 5 stars show less