undecided burgin

[spiritualy_debased]

I'm thinking about going to burning man for the first time this year in the hopes of experiencing something spiritually authentic and achieving personal growth in the process. Unfortunately someone who is not only illegitimate but has been able to easily use the 'social capital' and credibility that burning man has developed over the years to gain patronage for himself and his pseudo-spiritualist organization wants nothing more than to put out my flame. I really admired him until I found out the truth for myself. What makes him truly dangerous though is that he will readily give spiritual advise to the naive without knowing how that will effect them and I've witnessed the devastating effects that sort of recklessness can have on people's lives. To be able to get a clearer picture of who he is; imagine a really minuscule or small time James Arthur Ray. I myself was fooled by him because he seemed 'brilliant' and he's actually been to burning man so I thought that automatically gave him credibility through experience. Then I started meeting other burners and I realized that wasn't the case. So here I am wondering if burners are any different or are they really just a large group of saps with a few hiding in the midst who are just like him. If so I would be wise to steer clear of the burn because my very soul would be at risk... I would like to think I'm wrong though and that there's actually a significant difference between most burners and a power seeking scumbag who has got a sick fascination with destroying other peoples relationships. At any rate being exposed to him has made me really skeptical and cautious to trust others just because they've been to burning man before, and as a result I can't be as open as I would like to be which makes enjoying my experience difficult at best.