by Linda Ann Nickerson

Created on: April 30, 2007   Last Updated: May 14, 2007

THE CAN-DO GURU

Self-Help isn't what it used to be. OK, the ideas haven't changed much, but the approach has. Much of modern self-help teaching is based on New Age teachings, which in many ways resemble 21st century incarnations of ancient pantheism.

Dr. Wayne W. Dyer is today's New Age motivational speaker extraordinaire. In fact, his millions of fans fondly call him "The Father of Motivation." Dyer's "You can do it" approach to everything is lighting a fire under folks across the United States. His CHANGE YOUR THOUGHTS - CHANGE YOUR LIFE and I CAN DO IT! conferences draw crowds to convention centers across the US. Folks flock to hear his "No-Limit" lectures.

Dyer talks of faith, but the faith he describes is a New Age concept, rooted in self rather than any Supreme Being. "I call it faith," he says, "not faith in an external being to provide you with purpose, but faith in the call you are hearing from the center of your being."

This self-sufficiency and beating the odds have been Dyer's lifelong crusade, even in his own personal life. Orphaned as a child by an alcoholic father, he grew up in foster homes, but went on to earn a Ph.D. from Wayne State University in educational counseling. He taught as an associate professor of psychology at St. John's University of New York before pursuing his public speaking career.

"Anything you really want, you can attain, if you really go after it," Dyer claims. The key to success, he seems to maintain, is to accept everything around us, whether we agree or not. "Everything you are against weakens you. Everything you are for empowers you," he says. This concept is the hallmark of relativistic New Age thinking.

With more than 50,000 radio and television appearances, Dyer has authored nearly 30 popular self-empowerment books for adults. YOUR ERRONEOUS ZONES was his first best-selling title. Since then, he has published several additional books, including:

* EVERYDAY WISDOM
* GETTING IN THE GAP
* INSPIRATION: YOUR ULTIMATE CALLING
* MEDITATIONS FOR MANIFESTING
* THE POWER OF INTENTION
* REAL MAGIC
* STAYING ON THE PATH
* TEN SECRETS FOR SUCCESS AND INNER PEACE
* YOUR SACRED SELF
* YOU'LL SEE IT WHEN YOU BELIEVE IT.

TEN SECRETS, THE POWER OF INTENTION, AND INSPIRATION were all named New York Times bestsellers.

Dyer's children's books, INCREDIBLE YOU and UNSTOPPABLE ME: 10 WAYS TO SOAR THROUGH LIFE quickly became bestsellers.

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