Author and self proclaimed spiritual Guru Jay Shetty.
Credit: Reuters Photo
The world wide web today is flooded with social media influencers and so are the seekers of information regardless of the topic. From mental well being to quick life hacks and till religion, British author Jay Shetty is one such influencer who is followed by over 15 million people on Instagram while his "life coaching" videos on YouTube have garnered millions of views worldwide.
The 36-year-old who grew up as a British Indian in north London is often seen on Instagram where he regularly posts videos on how to cope with stress and daily life situations. Amid much buzz around Shetty's preachings in his videos centered around "life hacks", details of his book titled Think Like a Monk: Train Your Mind for Peace and Purpose Everyday have come under scanner in a report by The Guardian which revealed certain findings after interactions with universities and institutions— who said that they were not aware that Shetty or his coaching schools are using their names.
Interestingly, the report also pointed out that much of Shetty's spiritual education happened in Watford, an orbital town outside north-west London, and not in India— as he claims.
Coming to his book— Think Like a Monk, the report said that many of the details Shetty has included in the book about him pursuing the life of a monk in India, are "false". The book narrates to the reader the life of Shetty as a business student who wished to be a corporate leader until one day when he decided to become a monk after attending a guest talk. “It changed my life,” Shetty said on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and added “It was the most captivating presentation I’ve ever been to. He spoke about selflessness, service and kindness, and it just got me hooked.”
In his book, Shetty writes that he was 18-year-old when he witnessed the lecture by a monk that he claims changed his life. The report further reads, "After graduating, Shetty forgoes a life of material success to live as a monk himself. Three years later, he has another revelation: his purpose in life is not to live the humble life of a monk but to use his preternatural oratory skills to share wisdom with the world. Thus begins his transformation into a public self-help personality and his swift rise to fame. Shetty's success is largely predicated on this riches-to-rags-to-riches backstory.”
Of the many concerns being also raised by netizens and influencers about Shetty's works, a social media influencer Nicole Arbour published a video in 2019 with title "Jay Shetty Is Full Of SH*T!". Arbour basically pointed out that Shetty enhanced his presence on the web "by lifting content from other people, making inspirational quotes..." as The Guardian reported.
The link to the video is below. This was at the time when Shetty was working with HuffPost— a job that the report said he later quit, to further pursue his career in the divineness of his spiritual teachings online.
“They sent email after email begging him to take [his posts] down or at least credit them, and he just didn’t. That was pretty upsetting to me,” recalled Arbour as she refers to the many content creators who wrote to Shetty seeking removal or acknowledgement of their ownership and content.
Shetty’s former girlfriend Lila who is a practicing psychotherapist for 13 years and the head of mental health services at a university in the UK was quoted by The Guardian as saying, “My issue as a mental health professional is that Shetty has misrepresented his persona, his knowledge and his credentials,. Misinforming others is not only unethical, it is potentially harmful to vulnerable people.”
The report further shares excerpts from reportage involving persons from Iskcon and educational institutions, and says: “Shetty is hardly the first self-help guru to embellish his spiritual credentials to amass followers, but he demands huge sums of money for his guidance. Shetty has used his spiritual authority to launch a number of subscription and education services, including the life-coaching school, which charges $7,400 a term for “Postgraduate Diploma (Level 7) qualifications” – equivalent to a master's degree.”
The report then also reveals that Shetty convinced many youth content creators to make and promote content for him in the guise of serving Lord Krishna. “You have to appreciate that Jay was like a superstar within Iskcon at that point, and he was getting people to do so much stuff for him for free,” The Guardian quoted an Iskcon member as saying, who knows Shetty.