Jay Shetty scam: True or not?

A year ago, I was keen to read Jay Shetty’s bestselling self-help book, ‘Think Like A Monk’.

I had heard Shetty speaking in an interview with South African comedian Trevor Noah, and thought to myself that Shetty sounded quite knowledgeable. He seemed to have a solid understanding of psychology, human behaviour, and Eastern philosophy. So I got hold of his book in anticipation of being enlightened with wisdom and learning practical tips for living a healthier life.

As I read the book, I found that there was no substance to it, and it sounded much like any other meaningless self-help book. I pushed myself to continue reading, in hope that it would get better, but I could not even get halfway through the book, I gave up after reading about 40%.

It has now come the public’s attention (via an article in ‘The Guardian’), that Shetty sold his image, as a Guru, to the masses based on several lies and inconsistencies in his backstory. Whether these speculations are true or not, no one really knows. Neither Jay Shetty nor his publisher have given any official statements to admit or deny the allegations of dishonesty and fraud.

I can’t say that I know the truth about Jay Shetty’s life, but what I can say is… I have never managed to complete reading a single self-help book; I find these books to be extremely simplistic. They touch on surface-level behaviours without taking a deeper dive into all the facets that influence human thinking and behaviour.

These types of books tend to promote that one can simply change their thinking by changing their mind. It is an over-simplification of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). They give no consideration to the physiological and psychological roots that are at play in determining behaviour. These kinds of surface-level teachings lead to brainwashing, rather than curing underlying causes for harmful/negative behaviour.

Having said that, I would be disappointed if it is true that Shetty is a fraud. The world has already had one too many of those, and their harm to society should not understated.

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