Although the New Age movement is not technically a religion , eight to nine percent of
people that do not believe in organized religion find the New Age as their replacement.
The New Age movement is very difficult to describe although not impossible. It is a
complex sociological phenomenon that can be perceived in many ways. Basically, what
another person sees, the other may not. The New Age movement is best understood as a
network of networks. A network is an informal, loosely knit organization which is very
different in both structure and operation than other types of organizations. Networks
are spontaneously created by people to address problems and offer possibilities primarily
outside of established institutions. Networks tend to be decentralized, often having no
single leader of headquarters and with power and responsibility widely distributed.
Networks also see through many perspectives. The New Age movement is an extremely large
and structured network of organization and individuals that are bound together by common
values. These values are based on mysticism and monism which is the world view that "all
is one".
The New Age movement is not a cult by any accepted sociological definition. Although
there are several cults which could be classified within, such as the Transcendental
Meditation and the followers of deported Indian guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. Cult
membership is by far the exception and not the rule for New Agers. New Agers tend to be
eclectic which means that they draw what they think is the best from various sources.
Exclusive devotion to a single teacher, teaching or techniques is not long term. They
move from one approach to "wholeness" to another in their spiritual quest.(Miller. 1989.
P.18)
New Agers consider spirituality much more a matter of experience than belief. Some New
Agers do not believe that their beliefs are universal. Beliefs are often portrayed as
direct impediments to enlightenment. As I stated before, all New Agers believe that "all
is one". A second assumption is that this Ultimate reality is neither dead matter nor
unconscious energy. In other words, it is Being and Awareness. New Agers believe that
man is separated by God only in his own conscious and awareness. Therefore he is the
victim of a false sense of separate identity which makes him unable to see his essential
unity with God. This is supposed to be the cause of all his problems. New Agers believe
that a man can be saved and made whole by spiritual technology. New Agers believe that
specific techniques for changing the consciousness can enable the seeker to consciously
experience his supposed oneness with God. The techniques can be meditation, chanting and
dancing. Salvation for the New Ager is linked with experimental knowledge. In addition
to the beliefs just stated, most New Agers adhere to the ancient Hindu doctrines of
reincarnation and Karma. By the definition of Karma, it is understood that whatever a
person does, whether it is good or bad, it will return to him in the exact proportion of
good or bad. It should be made known that New Agers go on to spiritualize the universe
by making consciousness its essence, rather than matter. (Miller. 1989, p.22)
Until the later 1980's the majority of Americans were unfamiliar with the New Age
movement. There is no doubt that they had encountered certain elements of the New Age,
such as Yoga, reincarnation, and astrology. It was not until late 1986 and throughout
1987 that the New Age movement finally caught the media's attention. A large and varied
assortment of believers including celebrities were just the type of publicity that the
New Age movement needed to catch the media's attention. And so, one article after
another began to appear. However, the media's focus remained entirely on the movements
more sensational side, treating it like a fad or fashion. But, the New Age movement has
yet to be discovered by the media due to the fact that this movement is a serious
cultural development. (Chandler. 1988. P.26)
Even though the New Age movement is a minority within our society, it is an active
minority. It currently has very little political power, but an expanding social
influence. It views its ideas and programs as the new wave of the future and believes
that it only needs the support of a few people to overturn traditional religion.
Misunderstanding the New Agers is not rare, Christians have viewed them as people who are
anti Christ, therefore, most Christians have regarded them with fear and hate. But,
further in my reading, it was stated that New Agers are intelligent, humanitarian and
generally sincere group of people. It seems that what the book was trying to project to
the reader was that people should try to understand the New Agers instead of looking for
the evil, because if they do not, they will fail to see New Agers for who they really
are. (Miller. 1989. P.21)
In some respects, New Age religion can be classified as the classic monistic Hinduism,
known as Vedanta. Their most basic beliefs about God, the world, man and salvation are
the same as are the mystical experiences. Much of the New Age technology that produced
these experiences has come from India. But, New Agers have rejected the traditional
Hindu view of the world because many of them have a social conscience. Their desire is
to change the world not leave it. The other reason is that many of them desire personal
as well as spiritual fulfillment. In comparison to the Christian religion their
difference lies in the belief that all is one (god), therefore there could be no sin and
no death. The death of Christ for our sins becomes meaningless. Although the New Agers
will agree that Jesus Christ is God, his world view will always compel him to say that
Jesus is no more God than anyone else. In the Christian religion, Jesus is separated
from the rest of humanity in fact that he is demonstrated as divine. In my opinion, I do
not think that I could consider myself as equal with God or Jesus, therefore I personally
did not believe in some aspects of this religion. (Lewis. 1992, p.48)
In choosing this religion as my area of research, I never realized the complexity of
the topic. Through extensive research I have developed a keen understanding of this
topic. There are some things that I strongly agree with while others need to be put to
the test.
WORK CITED
Chandler, R. 1988. Understanding The New Age. Word Publishing. Dallas
Miller, E. 1989. A Crash Course On The New Age Movement. Baker Book House. Michigan.
Lewis, J. 1992. Perspectives On The New Age. State University of New York Press. Albany.
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