what is new age spirituailty ?

Nevyn

NEW AGE SPIRITUALITY
a.k.a. Self-spirituality, New spirituality, Mind-body-spirit

taken from http://www.religioustolerance.org/newage.htm
I have included this for there are many things mentioned here that are used and believed in my all sorts of pagans and by those who still christain.



Introduction:

The New Age Movement is in a class by itself. Unlike most formal religions, it has no holy text, central organization, membership, formal clergy, geographic center, dogma, creed, etc. They often use mutually exclusive definitions for some of their terms. The New Age is in fact a free-flowing spiritual movement; a network of believers and practitioners who share somewhat similar beliefs and practices, which they add on to whichever formal religion that they follow. Their book publishers take the place of a central organization; seminars, conventions, books and informal groups replace of sermons and religious services.

Quoting John Naisbitt:

"In turbulent times, in times of great change, people head for the two extremes: fundamentalism and personal, spiritual experience...With no membership lists or even a coherent philosophy or dogma, it is difficult to define or measure the unorganized New Age movement. But in every major U.S. and European city, thousands who seek insight and personal growth cluster around a metaphysical bookstore, a spiritual teacher, or an education center."

The New Age is definitely a heterogeneous movement of individuals; most graft some new age beliefs onto their regular religious affiliation. Recent surveys of US adults indicate that many Americans hold at least some new age beliefs:
8% believe in astrology as a method of foretelling the future
7% believe that crystals are a source of healing or energizing power
9% believe that Tarot Cards are a reliable base for life decisions
about 1 in 4 believe in a non-traditional concept of the nature of God which are often associated with New Age thinking:
11% believe that God is "a state of higher consciousness that a person may reach"
8% define God as "the total realization of personal, human potential"
3% believe that each person is God.

The group of surveys cited above classify religious beliefs into 7 faith groups. 2 Starting with the largest, they are: Cultural (Christmas & Easter) Christianity, Conventional Christianity, New Age Practitioner, Biblical (Fundamentalist, Evangelical) Christianity, Atheist/Agnostic, Other, and Jewish, A longitudinal study from 1991 to 1995 shows that New Agers represent a steady 20% of the population, and are consistently the third largest religious group. 2

New Age teachings became popular during the 1970's as a reaction against what some perceived as the failure of Christianity and the failure of Secular Humanism to provide spiritual and ethical guidance for the future. Its roots are traceable to many sources: Astrology, Channeling, Hinduism, Gnostic traditions, , Spiritualism, Taosim, Theosophy, Wicca and other Neo-pagan traditions, etc. The movement started in England in the 1960's where many of these elements were well established. Small groups, such as the Findhorn Community in Inverness and the Wrekin Trust formed. The movement quickly became international. Early New Age mileposts in North America were a "New Age Seminar" ran by the Association for Research and Enlightenment, and the establishment of the East-West Journal in 1971. Actress Shirley MacLaine is perhaps their most famous current figure.

During the 1980's and 90's, the movement came under criticism from a variety of groups. Channeling was ridiculed; seminar and group leaders were criticized for the fortunes that they made from New Agers. Their uncritical belief in the "scientific" properties of crystals was exposed as groundless. But the movement has become established and become a stable, major force in North American religion during the past generation. As the millennium comes to a close, the New Age is expected to expand, promoted by the social backlash against logic and science.


The "New Age" that does not exist:

Major confusion about the New Age has been generated by academics, counter-cult groups, Fundamentalist and other Evangelical Christians and traditional Muslim groups, etc. Some examples are:
Many of the above groups have dismissed Tasawwuf (Sufiism) as a New Age cult. In reality, Sufiism has historically been an established mystical movement within Islam, which has always existing in a state of tension with the more legalistic divisions within Islam. It has no connection with the New Age.
Some conservative Christians believe that a massive, underground, highly coordinated New Age organization exists that is infiltrating government, media, schools and churches. No such entity exists.
Some conservative Christians do not differentiate among the Occult, Satanism, Wicca, other Neopagan religions. Many seem to regard all as forms of Satanism who perform horrendous criminal acts on children. Others view The New Age, Neopagan religions, Tarot card reading, rune readings, channeling, work with crystal energy, etc. as merely recruiting programs for Satanism. In fact, the Occult, Satanism, Neo-pagan religions are very different phenomena, and essentially unrelated. Dr. Carl Raschke, professor of Religious Studies at the University of Denver describes New Age practices as the spiritual version of AIDS; it destroys the ability of people to cope and function." He describes it as "essentially, the marketing end of the political packaging of occultism...a breeding ground for a new American form of fascism."


New Age beliefs:

A number of fundamental beliefs are held my many New Age followers; individuals are encouraged to "shop" for the beliefs and practices that they feel most comfortable with:
Monism: All that exists is derived from a single source of divine energy.

Pantheism: All that exists is God; God is all that exists. This leads naturally to the concept of the divinity of the individual, that we are all Gods. They do not seek God as revealed in a sacred text or as exists in a remote heaven; they seek God within the self and throughout the entire universe.

Panentheism: God is all that exists. God is at once the entire universe, and transcends the universe as well.

Reincarnation: After death, we are reborn and live another life as a human. This cycle repeats itself many times. This belief is similar to the concept of transmigration of the soul in Hinduism.

Karma: The good and bad deeds that we do adds and subtracts from our accumulated record, our karma. At the end of our life, we are rewarded or punished according to our karma by being reincarnated into either a painful or good new life. This belief is linked to that of reincarnation and is also derived from Hinduism

An Aura is believed to be an energy field radiated by the body. Invisible to most people, it can be detected by some as a shimmering, multi-colored field surrounding the body. Those skilled in detecting and interpreting auras can diagnose an individual's state of mind, and their spiritual and physical health.

Personal Transformation A profoundly intense mystical experience will lead to the acceptance and use of New Age beliefs and practices. Guided imagery, hypnosis, meditation, and (sometimes) the use of hallucinogenic drugs are useful to bring about and enhance this transformation. Believers hope to develop new potentials within themselves: the ability to heal oneself and others, psychic powers, a new understanding of the workings of the universe, etc. Later, when sufficient numbers of people have achieved these powers, a major spiritual, physical, psychological and cultural planet-wide transformation is expected.

Ecological Responsibility: A belief in the importance of uniting to preserve the health of the earth, which is often looked upon as Gaia, (Mother Earth) a living entity.

Universal Religion: Since all is God, then only one reality exists, and all religions are simply different paths to that ultimate reality. The universal religion can be visualized as a mountain, with many sadhanas (spiritual paths) to the summit. Some are hard; others easy. There is no one correct path. All paths eventually reach the top. They anticipate that a new universal religion which contains elements of all current faiths will evolve and become generally accepted worldwide.

New World Order As the Age of Aquarius unfolds, a New Age will develop. This will be a utopia in which there is world government, and end to wars, disease, hunger, pollution, and poverty. Gender, racial, religious and other forms of discrimination will cease. People's allegiance to their tribe or nation will be replaced by a concern for the entire world and its people.

Nevyn

The Age of Aquarius is a reference to the precession of the zodiac. The earth passes into a new sign of the zodiac approximately every 2,000 years. Some believe that the earth entered the constellation Aquarius in the 19th Century, so that the present era is the dawning of the age of Aquarius. Others believe that it will occur at the end of the 20th century. It is interesting to note that the previous constellation changes were:

from Aries to Pisces the fish circa 1st century CE. This happened at a time when Christianity was an emerging religion, and many individuals changed from animal sacrifice in the Jewish temple to embracing the teachings of Christianity. The church's prime symbol at the time was the fish.

from Taurus to Aries the ram circa 2,000 BCE. This happened at a time when the Jews engaged in widespread ritual sacrifice of sheep and other animals in the Temple.

from Gemini to Taurus the bull circa 4,000 BCE. During that sign, worshiping of the golden calf was common in the Middle East.

New Age practices:

Many practices are found among New Agers. A typical practitioner is active in only a few areas:

Channeling A method similar to that used by Spiritists in which a spirit of a long dead individual is conjured up. However, while Spiritists generally believe that one's soul remains relatively unchanged after death, most channelers believe that the soul evolves to higher planes of existence. Chanelers usually try to make contact with a single, spiritually evolved being. That being's consciousness is channeled through the medium and relays guidance and information to the group, through the use of the medium's voice. Channeling has existed since the 1850's and many groups consider themselves independent of the New Age movement. Perhaps the most famous channeling event is the popular A Course in Miracles. It was channeled through a Columbia University psychologist, Dr. Helen Schucman, (1909-1981), over an 8 year period. She was an Atheist, and in no way regarded herself as a New Age believer. However, she took great care in recording accurately the words that she received.

Crystals Crystals are materials which has its molecules arranged in a specific, highly ordered internal pattern. This pattern is reflected in the crystal's external structure which typically has symmetrical planar surfaces. Many common substances, from salt to sugar, from diamonds to quartz form crystals. They can be shaped so that they will vibrate at a specific frequency and are widely used in radio communications and computing devices. New Agers believe that crystals posses healing energy.

Meditating A process of blanking out the mind and releasing oneself from conscious thinking. This is often aided by repetitive chanting of a mantra, or focusing on an object.

New Age Music A gentle, melodic, inspirational music form involving the human voice, harp, lute, flute, etc. It is used as an aid in healing, massage therapy and general relaxation.

Divination The use of various techniques to foretell the future, including I Ching, Pendulum movements, Runes, Scrying, Tarot Cards.

Astrology The belief that the orientation of the planets at the time of one's birth, and the location of that birth predicts the individual's future and personality. Belief in astrology is common amongst New Agers, but definitely not limited to them.

Holistic Health This is a collection of healing techniques which have diverged from the traditional medical model. It attempts to cure disorders in mind, body and spirit and to promote wholeness and balance in the individual. Examples are acupuncture, crystal healing, homeopathy, iridology, massage, various meditation methods, polarity therapy, psychic healing, therapeutic touch, reflexology, etc.

Human Potential Movement (a.k.a. Emotional Growth Movement) This is a collection of therapeutic methods involving both individualized and group working, using both mental and physical techniques. The goal is to help individuals to advance spiritually. Examples are Esalen Growth Center programs, EST, Gestalt Therapy, Primal Scream Therapy, Transactional Analysis, Transcendental Meditation and Yoga.

The Canadian Census (1991) recorded only 1,200 people (0.005% of the total Canadian population) who identify their religion as being New Age. However, this in no way indicates the influence of new age ideas in the country. Many people identify with Christianity and other religions, but incorporate many new age concepts into their faith.


References used:

1. J. Naisbitt & P. Aburdene, Megatrends 2000", William Morrow & Company, New York, NY (1990)
2. George Barnia, "The Index of Leading Spiritual Indicators", Word Publishing, Dallas TX, (1996)
3. Richard Kyle, "The Religious Fringe", InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, IL (1993), Page 285-298
4. J.Gordon Melton, "Whither the New Age?", Chapter 35 of T. Miller, "America's Alternative Religions", SUNY Press, Albany, NY (1995)
5. R.T. Carroll, "A Course in Miracles," The Skeptic's Dictionary, at: http://skepdic.com/cim.html

Copyright © 1995, 1998, and 2000 to 2003 incl., by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Latest update: 2004-MAY-24
Author: B.A. Robinson

Nevyn

Moved to new Spirituality forum

Asiaprod

Interesting article. I am confused, however, by the inclusion of Reincarnation and Karma since I would not see these as new age beliefs. They have both been around for thousands of years, even predating Christianity which is not IMHO an new age religion. Or is my time frame for what constitutes a new age beliefs to short. Is there a recognized timeframe?
Maybe I read this wrong. Is the article trying to say that these are both considered as new age beliefs, or that many new age believers incorporate these old beliefs in to their new age belief system?

UU

I recently took an online test, the Belief-O-Matic. I took it before so I decided to take it again to indicate any changes in my beliefs. Well, I got 90% in New Ageism! This puts it in simpler form.

What New Agers Believe?
An umbrella term for a wide range of personal and individual beliefs and practices influenced primarily by Eastern religions, paganism, and spiritualism.

•Belief in Deity
God is the impersonal life force, consciousness, ultimate truth and reality, the incorporeal, formless cosmic order personified within all people and matter. God is all and all are God.

•Incarnations
Most believe there are no particular incarnations to worship, as all in the universe are embodiments of God.

•Origin of Universe and Life
The universe, life, and matter were not created by God but "are" God. The universe and life emerged out of the creative power of the eternal universal life force.

•After Death
Some believe in continual rebirth--no death--as life is spirit. Some believe that our souls rest for a time before deciding on a new body (or bodies). Heaven and hell are states of consciousness, self-imposed, due to ignorance of God as all.

•Why Evil?
No original sin, no Satan, and no evil. Most believe people make "mistakes" when they are ignorant of the power of goodness, which is God, within themselves and others. Some believe evil is perpetuated through accumulation of past-life wrongs and spiritual ignorance.

•Salvation
Salvation lies in the realisation of oneness with the impersonal life force. Awareness can be heightened through methods that induce altered states of consciousness, e.g., hypnosis, meditation, music, drugs. Spiritual "tools" include crystals, tarot cards, amulets, channeling, fortunetellers and psychics. Some believe the salvation of humanity will occur when a critical mass is reached, when people converge in experiencing their oneness with God and with each other. This will bring a New World Order or new Planetary Order, resulting in oneness of civilization and one-world government, peace, and harmony.

•Undeserved Suffering
Suffering is the result of greed, hatred, and spiritual ignorance in a person's, or humanity's, past lifetimes, which returns as suffering (karma). Suffering is sometimes viewed as occurring for a specific purpose, to further spiritual growth and learn a life lesson. Suffering is also seen as illusory, in that it results from attachment to bodily pleasure and pain, and only the universal life force within, God, truly exists.

•Contemporary Issues
Abortion is not condemned, as there is no official doctrine. Generally, adherents are supportive of a woman's right to choose abortion.

MeditationMom

Intersting categorizations of the many "beliefs". Except I think they make a mistake by calling it all "belief systems" as some of these describe meditation experiences and first hand knowlege, rather than belief. Huge difference!

To me this just shows that people are studying, searching, experimenting, trusting their own hearts and judgement to find the truth. A big threat to established, traditional churches, philosophies and maybe even the state, as useful as they are in their own right. That is why "New Age Spirituality" always seems to me to be used as a kind of put down. Much of it is nonsense just like in all "religions", but at least there is far more possibility to find your way home and the truth being revealed to you, rather than just guessed at and believed in.

Thanks for the article-

Asiaprod

Asiaprod wrote:

Interesting article. I am confused, however, by the inclusion of Reincarnation and Karma since I would not see these as new age beliefs. They have both been around for thousands of years, even predating Christianity which is not IMHO an new age religion. Or is my time frame for what constitutes a new age beliefs to short. Is there a recognized timeframe?
Maybe I read this wrong. Is the article trying to say that these are both considered as new age beliefs, or that many new age believers incorporate these old beliefs in to their new age belief system?

Your average person has no idea what karma actually is though, it's taking me quite a while to properly get my head around it and that's even with knowing the word literally means "action". And for many, reincarnation seems to be "I'm going to be reincarnated as a - because that's my favourite animal and I'm a good person!" The new age mangling of this is probably what they meant.

odonnell

New Age Spirituality - I see this as being merely a label for what I think is basically, a remembering of olden ways. Since the ritualistic tendancies of the so called new-age generation predate christianity and other such 'religions' I can only come to the conclusion that people have gone full circle, and like everything else in this world - there are many labels dished out by the onlookers of the time. If people stopped being on-lookers and started taking more of an interest in history and the birth of these things, theyd see a definite trend throughout history and across the continents in the belief and ritual involved in many of the new age systems.

For example, havent we all noticed a sharp increase in pagans and spiritualists in the past few years as opposed to when the UK and Ireland were mainly populated by christians? I remember when a website devoted to a pagan coven would have been impossible. Now they pop up all over the place.

These arent new age ideas though, its merely a newly remembered fascination with ancient values in a world full of marketing and brightly coloured packaging. Its a glass of cold water to a person who spent their entire life drinking Pepsi.

How refreshing! And about time too... as for karma, well...just another label given to equilibrium - balance.

AnBealBocht

Mightn't spirituality be the marijuana?.

Húrin

The egocentrism that is at the heart of most new age spiritual doctrines implies to me that it is merely the religious expression of a culture dominated by consumerism.

Nevyn

Húrin wrote: »

The egocentrism that is at the heart of most new age spiritual doctrines implies to me that it is merely the religious expression of a culture dominated by consumerism.

How so ?

Queen-Mise

Thaedydal wrote: »

How so ?

Is it not reflecting the modern society of consumerism, where we can get practically everything we want at our fingertips. the new age religions being ego-centric, are the manifestation of consumerism in the spiritual person. A case of the world revolving around me.... in spiritual & in material fashion.

Nevyn

I diagree but then again I remember this country 15 year ago where you could not buy coloured candles or crystals never mind dragons blood or any other esoteric or occult suppiles and books on such things were very very hard to come by.

Yes all these things are now advailible but they are trappings pertaining to a certain spiritualy path the same way christain statues and pictures are.

It is possible to be in two home each decked to the rafters one with new age trappings and one with catholic trappings and each to be a void of any spirituality, so that is not a new thing.

For me spirituality is reaching out and searching for the connection to others and the world.

Yes in this country there are "new" ways of doing this, but most of them while being "new" here are based on things a lot older.

Sapien

queen-mise wrote: »

Is it not reflecting the modern society of consumerism, where we can get practically everything we want at our fingertips. the new age religions being ego-centric, are the manifestation of consumerism in the spiritual person. A case of the world revolving around me.... in spiritual & in material fashion.

That's one way of looking at it. Another would be that "New Age" spiriualities allow people who question and reject their hereditary religion to find spiritual outlets that they may find a little less stupid, oppressive or remote. You can try all you like to make slavish adherence to the faith of ones forefathers sound like an inherent virtue, but it's only ever going to fly with a particular kind of person. Namely, slavish adherents to the faiths of their forefathers.

Queen-Mise

OK my cynical view.
it gives people a way of believing and acting in a process of faith with a God (?) without being being part of a formal Christian, Islam etc etc religion.

For my rant, I think Angel cards for example are the biggest heap of sh*te ever to be sold. I have this overwhelming urge to hit - the atheists angel card users (doh, doh).

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

queen-mise wrote: »

OK my cynical view.
it gives people a way of believing and acting in a process of faith with a God (?) without being being part of a formal Christian, Islam etc etc religion.

For my rant, I think Angel cards for example are the biggest heap of sh*te ever to be sold. I have this overwhelming urge to hit - the atheists angel card users (doh, doh).

Depends on what you define "God" as. If, in the Buddhist sense, "God" is the perfect self and this is what we are all stricing to become, then you could be right, but if you see God as an external power, then you're incorrect.

Spirituality, for me, is a belief that we all have the answers within, it's a question of finding them, wheeras religion is following someone else's dogma. True spirituality is NOT following anyone.

"Believe nothing because a wise man said it" - Buddha

The best description of "new age" I've heard is moving from an era in which we trusted other people (parents, religious leaders, politicians, etc) with our beliefs and ethics to taking that responsibility for ourselves: people who (especially in this country) would be considered beyond critism are now criticised regularly and their word is less likley taken to be automatically true.

Of course, this doesn't explain the cult of celebrity or tabloid newspapers ! But I'd be far quicker to hit out at someone reading the Sunday World than reading angel cards.

Valdas

I am sure, that Human soul consists of two components: opening and closing. They are opposite, the same as breath and expiration is, and cannot exist one without another. In a state of opening, a person accepts surroundings ingenuously, in unity, infinity, without thinking, just with sensation and emotion inside.

In practice these two states should be divided into two sides: active and passive. Thus, a four-part circle is formed. A person practically can feel only a domination of every of these states.

A state of active opening or active exterior meditation of "flight" (when the state of active opening predominates for a longer time)

It is a state of breath, morning, spring, sun, childhood. Its features are lightness, flight, surprise, joy. There is neither thinking nor activeness of physical force. This state sometimes intensifies negative emotions, so before strengthening this state you should eliminate negative thoughts and strengthen the positive ones.

A state of passive opening or passive exterior meditation of "unity with surroundings" (when the state of passive opening predominates for a longer time) It is a state of stopping of the opening, a day, the youth, the summer. Its features: unity with surroundings, infinity, liberty, immortality. There is neither thinking nor activeness of physical force. Negative psychological disposition does not allow to have a quality sensation of this state.

A state of active closing or a state of "physical force"

It is a state of expiration, physical force, evening, autumn. It is a state of active action, where physical force predominates over mind.

A state of passive closing or "mind"

It is a state of closing inside, night, winter and thinking. Its features: process of thinking, concentration of attention, revealed differences, cause and consequence relation, hierarchy, progress are determined. Deep closing inside is an inner meditation. It is a state of tranquility and relaxation. A state of mind often predominates over the other ones in social life.

P.S. In a process of development of an intellect, rational understanding of a soul is needed.



http://www.valdas.eu/en/