The Commoditization of Consciousness

Consciousness has become an industry. A $4.2 billion industry, according to the latest wellness economy data. Branded retreats. Enlightenment apps. Microdosing masterminds. Instagram shamans. The marketplace has absorbed the sacred like it always does—turning inner liberation into a revenue stream.

But that alone is not the problem.

People have a right to make a living through their calling. In fact, they should. Wisdom should feed the wise. The labor of love is still labor. And in a world addicted to distraction, the people offering medicine for the soul deserve to be paid. At its best, the marketplace is how ideas spread, how healers eat, how artists survive, and how transformation scales.

But the marketplace is also where sacred things go to be defanged.

It’s not a sin that consciousness is for sale. It’s not a betrayal to charge money for guidance, space-holding, or insight. What is a betrayal is when the medicine is diluted, manipulated, or dressed up in glittering bullshit to make it more palatable to the insecure or the wealthy. The betrayal is when someone hijacks the language of awakening not to liberate—but to exploit.

That’s the real problem. Not the selling. The grifting.

These are the new colonizers; the charlatans who’ve learned to mimic depth. Who build brands on borrowed light. Who turn longing into lead gen. They use the ache for truth as bait and sell you a box of trinkets. They don’t want you free. They want you dependent. Subscribed. Enrolled. Ascending on autopay.

Here’s how to spot them:

1. Monetizing what’s already free

There’s a sacred economy at the heart of real wisdom: freely you have received, freely give. That doesn’t mean no one should ever charge for anything spiritual. But it does mean the core gifts—presence, silence, awe, divinity—were never meant to be paywalled. If someone is selling you access to what God already gave you for free, that’s not guidance. That’s a hustle.

There’s a difference between a guide and a gatekeeper. A real guide helps you remember what’s already yours. They offer structure, space, companionship. They charge for their time and effort, not the mystery itself. A grifter, on the other hand, wraps the sacred in exclusivity. They turn breath into a box of “enlightenment”. They package stillness like a luxury good.

Watch for the ones who charge you to “drop in,” to “access presence,” or to “reclaim your soul.” That’s not a service. That’s a scam. Presence isn’t pay-per-view. Stillness isn’t a feature upgrade. If it sounds like a gym membership for your spirit, run.

2. Bullshit Bingo

The real language of consciousness is clear—nothing hidden, nothing coded. It’s evocative—it stirs something ancient in you. It’s inviting—drawing you closer to your own knowing. And it’s challenging—pushing you to see what you’d rather avoid.

Bullshit Bingo is spiritual sales copy. It’s not about insight—it’s about conversion. Terms like 5D activation, divine codes, quantum field work are designed to signal status and sell packages.

This is where it gets dangerous. It turns consciousness into a caricature—something soft, performative, and profitable. It trains people to sound awake instead of being awake. And it flattens real spiritual work into aesthetic branding. Enlightenment as a look. Healing as an image.

If every word feels rehearsed, if every phrase sounds like it belongs on a sales page, you’re not in the presence of a teacher. You’re in the presence of a performer. And the show always ends the same way: with a pitch.

3. Self-Guruization

The real ones point at their scars not their status. They’ll tell you where they got it wrong, where they’re still learning, where their ego still sneaks in. Their authority comes from humility. They’ve done the work, but they’re still in it. Always.

Grifters skip that part. There’s no self-examination, no accountability, no edge. Just endless certainty dressed up as spiritual truth. “I was sent.” “I have the codes.” “I’m here to wake people up!” It’s not humility—it’s a performance of power. And it always circles back to them.

If it starts to sound like a Marvel origin story, trust your intuition. Real teachers point you back to yourself. False ones pull you toward them. If someone builds a brand around their own “uniqueness,” they’re not awakening you—they’re auditioning for your devotion.

4. No Social Justice Component

The real ones know that awakening means responsibility. The deeper they go inward, the more connected they become outward. They see systems. They feel injustice. They can hold grief and beauty in the same breath. Their practice makes them more human, not less. More engaged. More courageous. More accountable to the collective.

Any so-called consciousness practice that doesn’t include justice is just another escape room for the privileged. If mindfulness leads you away from the suffering of the world instead of toward it with compassion, it’s not mindfulness—it’s spiritual sedation. The point of waking up is not to transcend the world, but to become more responsible to it. If your practice isn’t making you more connected, courageous, and compassionate, it might just be a spiritualized ego trip.

Walk when someone’s version of mindfulness makes you less connected to real people and real pain. When “inner peace” requires your silence. When your freedom comes at the cost of someone else’s. If your spiritual path floats above the world, it’s not consciousness—it’s denial in disguise.

5. Karaoke Singers

The real ones honor where they came from. They name their teachers. They carry the lineage with reverence, not ownership. They don’t pretend to have invented the medicine—they’re just living it in their own way. You can feel the integration. It’s not just repeated—it’s embodied. They’ve made it theirs by living it.

The karaoke singers copy the words but skip the work. They quote Brene, Ram Dass, or Gabor Maté—then slap their logo on it like it’s original thought. It’s mimicry packaged as mastery. They’re not building on the tradition—they’re extracting from it. No depth. No digestion. Just repackaged insight and a product link.

Walk when someone speaks in borrowed wisdom but never shares their sources. When every post feels like déjà vu. When their voice sounds more like a compilation album than a lived experience. Consciousness isn’t memorized. It’s earned.

6. Existential Coping vs. Actual Transformation

The real ones don’t help you feel better in the illusion. They help you get out of it. They won’t sell you peace of mind while you’re still playing a role. They’ll show you the role. They’ll help you see the trap. And they’ll ask what you’re willing to lose to get free.

The grifters sell upgrades inside the hologram. More calm. More confidence. More clarity. They don’t care if it’s still fake—as long as it feels good. They know people will pay to be soothed, not shaken. So they offer just enough insight to keep you dependent, but never enough to break you out.

You can memorize all the right words. Wear the right beads. Say “holding space” and “vibration” and “shadow work” until your lips fall off. But if your nervous system is still fried, your relationships are still hollow, and your values are still for sale, you haven’t transformed. You’ve just layered a new language over an old self. Consciousness isn’t supposed to make your hologram feel better. It’s supposed to dissolve the illusion.

Walk when the promise is comfort. When nothing in you has to change except your mood. Real transformation isn’t about feeling better. It’s about seeing clearly—and choosing something else.

7. Anything that forces you to deny your personhood and intuition

The real ones help you come home to yourself. They don’t flinch when you’re angry, confused, or resistant. They know those are signs of aliveness. They help you get curious about your reactions—not ashamed of them. Real consciousness deepens your humanity. It doesn’t ask you to erase it.

The grifters do the opposite. This is the most dangerous form of spiritual manipulation: convincing you that your fear, your doubt, your intuition means you’re “not evolved.” That your anger is “low frequency.” That your boundaries are “resistance.” It’s not feedback—it’s gaslighting.

Walk the second someone tries to override your intuition in the name of growth. When you’re told to feel less, question less, want less. That’s not healing—it’s control. And it’s how people lose themselves inside systems that look conscious on the outside but are hollow at the core.

Be a Smart Seeker

It’s tragic, but not surprising thing. The consciousness space draws seekers—people who are open, curious, and often in pain. And where there are seekers, predators follow. Narcissists and manipulators love this space because it’s built on trust and lacks accountability. All they need is a soft voice, a few borrowed phrases, and an origin story. The costume is easy to wear.

And the damage runs deep—because it doesn’t look like abuse. It looks like healing. The manipulation is wrapped in affirmation. The control is dressed as clarity. You don’t notice you’re being drained until you’ve already handed over your power.

Jesus warned us: “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.” And Hafiz added: “Stay close to any sounds that make you glad you are alive. Stay away from those who want to convince you they hold the key.” The false ones want your devotion. The real ones want your freedom.

There are real teachers out there. You’ll know them by their fruit—by what their life produces. Look at how they treat people. How they handle stress. How they talk about those who disagree with them. Look at the quality of their relationships, the consistency of their values, the steadiness in how they move through the world. That’s where the truth is—not in what they say, but in how they live.

They’ve been through real pain and let it shape them into something solid. They’ve faced their own shadows. They’ve lost things that mattered and found something deeper on the other side. Their wisdom wasn’t purchased—it was earned.

They speak clearly and directly. They don’t need big language or big energy. They say what’s true, even when it’s hard. They ask questions that stay with you for days. They don’t create dependency—they create clarity. When you’re with them, you feel more capable, more honest, more like yourself.

Real consciousness doesn’t coddle your ego. It reconnects you to what’s true. It makes you more awake, more honest, more human.

If it disconnects you from your intuition, dulls your conscience, or teaches you to avoid pain—walk.

If it makes you feel chosen, superior, or more evolved than everyone else—walk.

If it asks you to surrender your power, ignore your anger, or silence your questions—walk.

The grift is everywhere. But so is the truth. Your body knows the difference. Listen. And don’t buy what’s already yours.