New Age:
A Paradigm Shift to Divine Consciousness and a Universal Philosophy

(continued)

by G. Kumar

Since the New Age is a conglomeration of spiritual practices, let us analyse the basic principles of NAM

1. The divine source of authority. New Agers do not claim any source of authority, only inspiration by the divine. By the divine we mean a principle within, the divine spark or the self, and many receive the revealations of the self within, or the intuitive insights of the self.

2. The Lord. Since matter and energy can neither be created nor destroyed and the sum total energy in the universe is an absolute constant (universal being), the Lord did not create the world; he became the world. Monism ("all is unity") avers that there is only one essence in the universe, everyone and everything being a part of that essence. The self is an utter being, and all these are its becomings. New Agers view God as an impersonal life force, consciousness, or energy (e.g., the "Star Wars Force") primarily. But they also believe in His personal aspect, as the ocean ( which is formless) can take the form of an iceberg! They aver that every human has a divine spark within him or her, because all created beings are reflections of the divine idea. The eternal state is called by various terms among different New Age groups, i.e., God-consciousness, universal love, self-realization, the I AM, higher self, Brahman, Nirvana, etc.

3. The Redeemer, Jesus Christ. Christ consciousness or the divine consciousness is what the New Age advocates mean by Christ. In other words, Christ is a divine principle rather than an individual, such as Jesus. This idea of Christ consciousness asserts that Jesus was only one of the Christs but that He equipped Himself to receive the Christ consciousness (i.e., He was a great Master who attained Christ consciousness), as did other prophets like Buddha, Krishna and Mohammed. New Agers believe Dr. Paul Brunton, who stated Jesus spent 18 years in India, absorbing Indian mysticism, and that he was initiated into the highest esoteric doctrine.

3. Human destiny. Humanity is the measure of all things and is more divine than the animals. Hence, the salvation of the world depends upon humanity. Cleansing the negative elements from the collective subconscious should be the aim of humanity. Once negativity is cleaned from the collective subconscious, the human positive energy will shine forth, and the noble ideals of the New Age will be actualised in an era of enlightenment. Since humanity is intrinsically divine and perfect, the only real problem is ignorance of that fact. Gnosis means experiential knowledge, and salvation in the New Age is for humanity to become enlightened through this divine gnosis. New Age groups offer various spiritual techniques to enable individuals, and ultimately the world, to evolve into this unitive consciousness. These techniques may include psychotechnologies for attaining altered states of consciousness - transcendental meditation, yoga, zen, attunement, channeling (spirit guides), psychics, acupuncture, etc.

4. The ethical opposites, good and evil. Believing in the Oriental philosophies, New Agers make the distinction between good and evil. All wickedness is weakness and evil is imperfection. By the method of trial and error, we come to know what is good and what is bad for the world, and we have to transcend the dualities.

5. Reincarnation. New Agers believe in the ancient Vedic philosophic concept of reincarnation: that through a long process of rebirths, humanity can eventually attain divine perfection. They also teach the universal law of karma; the law of cause and effect, where every effect has a cause; the law of action and reaction; the law of retribution, that what a person sows, he or she shall reap. This is also the doctrine of God's non-responsibility, that the self is not responsible and it is the ego which experiences bitter and sweet mental experiences, due to its own karma.

6.Salvation is self-actualisation and sin is ignorance. Some theoreticians taught the concept of humanity's original sin. New Age exponents teach the concept of humanity's essential goodness. Instead of systems which emphasised the human negative aspect and sin, New Age highlights that every person is essentially divine, and it is a sin to call person a sinner! However, New Agers speak of troublesome desires, which are natural impulses which retard human evolution and make the ego move away from the self. Sin is merely ignorance of man's essential divinity.

The atrophied spiritual consciousness of the normal person who lives in ignorance of this divine self is sin. Like the law of conservation of energy, which states that energy cannot be created or destroyed, the law of conservation of soul states that the soul can neither be created nor destroyed.

Matter exists in three states, liquid, gaseous and solid. And matter cannot be created or destroyed. Nothing ever begins to be. Similarly, life does not at physical birth begin to be. It merely enters physical conditions and assumes physical guise. It merely undergoes a parallel transformation into conditions which pre-existed in other conditions. The soul is reincarnated in different bodies in a continous succession of lives. The good or bad karma earned in the present lifetime determines one's subsequent incarnation. Attaining higher states of consciousness should be our aim. There are many different paths to the goal of divine perfection, and we should be tolerant of other paths.

The divine Aurobindo predicted that spiritual influences from India will trigger off a global spiritual movement.There will be mass incarnations (many people divinely inspired) who will work for world peace and universal love!

I saw them cross the twilight of the Age
The massive barrier breakers of this world
The sun-eyed children of a marvellous dawn
The architects of immortality Carrying the magic Word,
the mystic Fire Carrying the Dionysian Cup of Joy!

The four systems of philosophy which triggered the NAM are Hinduism, a product of 5,000 years of development; Buddhism, circa 560 B.C.; Taoism, circa 500 B.C and Druidism, circa 300 B.C, the religion of the Celts, which extended up to the Middle Ages.