Perception can be like trying to explain color to a blind person. Our over-reliance upon a stagnant form of intellectualism obstructs the true growth of our finer perceptions. Once the bars of intellectual imprisonment have been removed there is the possibility for more subtle modes of perception to operate.
The haphazard collection of shiny objects will not necessarily produce a functioning system. And it is highly doubtful that it ever will. This is a matter of perception, which needs to be developed upon. For this reason a degree of personal perception is crucial in recognizing the wheat from the chaff.
Many so-called ‘spiritual teachings’ have fallen to a lower level than their original functioning. Many now operate through repetition and/or emotional release mechanisms. In such systems there is an absence of real experience; replaced instead by subjective experience that the person takes to be significant, and an indicator of ‘higher knowledge’.