By Katherine Ramsland

(Crime Library, 3/01/06) — Even the simplest philosophy, which may seem harmless and even growth-enhancing for the average person, can induce harm in those who take it to an extreme.  The people most likely to utilize a set of beliefs for self-damaging behavior are idealistic teenagers driven by intense passion and obsessive types who find in the philosophy a way to establish a sense of control. There's speculation that this may be what happened to Heather Brianna Wilkins, missing for seven weeks.

advertisement

The seventeen-year-old was last seen on January 11, 2006.  She apparently went out on a cold winter day from her home in Livingston, Montana, wearing only what she had on and carrying about $200 and a bottle of water.  There was some indication that she might have decided to meet up with her biological father in Hawaii, because he had sent her letters with what her mother alleges was inappropriate advice (disputed by Brianna's aunt, who said that Brianna left because she does not get along with her mother).

Whatever her purpose, it's useful to consider why she might have walked away so ill-prepared.  Brianna had reportedly been fixated on a self-help guru, Eckhart Tolle, who wrote The Power of Now, which emphasized living in the moment to find spiritual enlightenment. 

A week before she left, she had listened to a tape of Tolle's ideas, and her mother reported that it had transformed her. While there's nothing inherently dangerous in such notions, some people can infuse them with a sense of urgency, giving up everything to attempt to achieve spiritual purity.  If a girl walks out into the bitter winter cold without appropriate clothing or ID, and keeps going, believing that some divine entity will guide her just because she's "in the moment," then this advice becomes a factor in her self-destructive behavior. 

Next Page

Heather Brianna Wilkins Full Coverage

For more daily crime news