The Selling of Gongs As Snake Oil

“There's a sucker born every minute” is a phrase that was popular among gamblers and confidence men in the past. They often used sleight of hand, or double talk, in order to bilk ordinary people out of their money and property.

 And things haven't changed much today. With the amazing growth and popularity of using Gongs for personal or group therapy/healing/meditation, there has also been a rise in people hoping to find a sucker to sell their snake oil to.

 Today's subject has pinned the BullShit Meter totally into the red…


This advertisement for a 4-day Gong Masters Training Workshop, came across my radar recently. Please check it out here.


They make some interesting claims, throw in some flowery new age language filled with buzz words (Gong master, cosmic, life transforming, ancient, powerful, activation), and make some amazing promises. I have to say that I'm impressed. But what really gets me is the very last sentence at the bottom, after the list of What You Learn:
“This Seminar will make you competent & qualified enough work as a professional Gong master with tremendous success & global recognition.”

Please, go back and reread the above a few more times. 

 They claim that after a 4-day seminar, you will be competent & qualified enough [sic] work as a professional Gong master with tremendous success & global recognition.

 Tremendous success & global recognition! And after only 4 days! Where do I sign up? Take my money please!


Let's be realistic here people, is there anything in the world you can master after just 4 days/30 hours of instruction? These kind of claims are a slap in the face to people who do real study and real training, like actual Music Therapists, who go to a certified college or university, and study for years before getting a degree.

This is just like those get rich quick schemes that promise you amazing wealth in only a few days—the only ones getting rich are the sellers of the schemes.


A 4-day seminar may get you started on the path. That is it. It’s up to you to keep walking on that path for years and years, and to keep learning.


~ MB
Chop Wood / carry Water / Play Gongs™ / Work Hard
PS - Don't get me started on the “Planetary Gong Bells”…

Comments

  1. OzymandiasMarch 29, 2018 at 4:07 PM

    I have been working with my instruments as Tranquil Sound Gardens for a good while now. I do not tell people that I OR the instruments do anything to the audience. I do say that I intend to cultivate tranquillity. I do say that people might relax, nap, consider healing, or just listen to the sounds. I do not hold any certifications, authorizations, or identifications. I continue to study the physics of the instruments, and the reactions to sound and music that people have, but that study does not make me anything except a guy that likes to play for people who hopefully will enjoy the experience in their own way. I feel that the instruments can speak for themselves, and dosing the audience with a ocean of snake oil is unnecessary to my purpose. The purpose is the key. (Steps down off soapbox) Anyone else?

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