
ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP)–The New Age Movement can be described as a blend of eastern religions, paganism, humanism and the occult. Groups and individuals who would align with many of its tenets often reject the term, “New Age,” preferring to be known as “spiritual seekers.” New Age beliefs and practices commonly are presented not as religion but as secular, scientific or self-help tools or philosophies.
Beliefs common to many New Age adherents include:
Pantheism — God is All and All is God. Everything that exists is a part of a universal “God.” Since everything is God, each individual is also God. While adherents talk of God in personal terms, most understand him as ultimately impersonal. God is often referred to as a force or energy.
Monism — All is One: Everything that exists is One. All distinctions –including the individual’s sense of being distinct from everyone and everything else — are really illusions. This is a central belief in contemporary witchcraft, many eastern religions, neo-paganism and the growing environmental awareness movement. Monism is closely related to Pantheism.
Reincarnation — After we die we will be reborn as a baby and live another life. Repeated cycles of birth, life and death are necessary in order to lose the illusion of separateness from the All. We progress toward this Oneness, in the Hindu expression, by acquiring positive “karma” — the fruit of our life and actions that are carried by the soul to its next life.
Coming New Age of Enlightenment — As individuals evolve spiritually, our world is also about to undergo a transformation to a higher level. This change will be brought about by a shift in human consciousness toward New Age concepts of viewing the world.
People are divine — The sensation of existing as finite creatures is an illusion, and people need to be enlightened about their true divinity in order to evolve spiritually. Exercises intended to transform consciousness – such as yoga, meditation, past-life regression and supernatural experiences — can help one attain enlightenment.
Morality is relative — Since all is one, there is no difference between good and evil, right and wrong.
The man Jesus is separated from the Christ Spirit — Jesus was only one of several great teachers who obtained the Christ Spirit (self-actualization of one’s deity).