self-help.

Sometimes you'll hear people speak very dismissively about "motivational speakers" or the "self-help" world.  I was just in a conversation with a person who said "I know this is a little self-helpy... but...." 

The general thought process is that "motivational" and "self-help" aren't exactly at the "spiritual" level of life and therefore something we can dismiss a bit. 

A few questions. 

1. If someone is motivating a human being... what is that? Evil? Good? God? 

2. If someone is helping someone help themselves... better understand who they are and what they are capable of... is that evil? Good? God? 

3. Are explicitly "spiritual" people not trying to motivate humans? Help humans? Help humans help themselves? If they aren't, what are they doing? 

We can stop being dismissive or apologizing for both now, right?