New Age Spirituality
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New Age Spirituality is not yet completely formed; it contains rough edges, inner-tensions, and even flat-out contradictions. But despite its inherently eclectic character, it has taken shape and we can visualize it in a series of propositions, as we have done with other worldviews.
The New age bases much of their hope on the evolutionary model. Human beings evolve towards higher consciousness, societies and cultures evolve towards greater comprehensiveness. Many futurists are in this category and visualize progress towards a “Type I High-Level Civilization” in which our descendants will routinely travel to other planets.
New Age Spirituality is highly syncretistic and borrows from every major worldview. There is no Lord of the Universe (unless it be each of us). Each person is capable of God-consciousness and of creating our own reality. The universe is “peopled” by beings of enormous intelligence and power. In this manner it is similar in form (and ritual) to Animism. New Age Spirituality frequently employs the use of psychedelic drugs to achieve altered states of consciousness.
History is of relatively little importance to New Age Spiritualist, but cosmic history is of great importance. The great hope is that the human species is on the verge of a quantum leap into a whole new way of being.
Paraphrase: Sire, J. (2009) The Universe Next Door. 5th ed. (pp. 167-180) IVP Academic
Survey Questions:
- What is Prime Reality? What is really real? –Whatever the nature of being (idea, or matter, energy or particle), the self is the kingpin, the prime reality.
- What is the Nature of the World? - The cosmos, while unified in the self, is manifested in two more dimensions; the visible universe, accessible through ordinary consciousness, and the invisible universe (or Mind at Large), accessible through altered states of consciousness.
- What is a Human Being? - As human beings grow in their awareness they grasp the fact that the human race is on the verge of a radical change in human nature.
- What Happens at Death? - Physical death is not the end of the self; under the experience of cosmic consciousness, the fear of death is removed.
- Why is it possible to know anything? -The core experience is Cosmic Consciousness, in which ordinary categories of space, time and morality tend to disappear.
- How do New Age Spiritualists know Right from Wrong? - Each of us is capable of God-consciousness and of creating our own reality.
- What is the Meaning of Human History? - History as a record of events that actually occurred in the past is of little interest. But cosmic history, which ends with the deification of humanity, is a great vision and a great hope.
- What personal, core commitments are consistent with your worldview? – New Age Spiritualists are committed to realizing their own individual unity with the cosmos, creating and recreating their own image.
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