New Age Philosophy

“Question: Where did "New Age" philosophy come from? It seems to encompass several different ideas, but from what I know about it, there is no "bible" that contains it all, like most of the other major religions would claim to have. Who is it that you answer to? Yourself? Do you believe in a "god"? 

Answer: It really can't be determined where "New Age" philosophy originated. Some researchers have tracked the conceptual roots down to the transcendentalist poets, and then further back to the tenets of traditional Asian religions. Some claim that "New Age" began with ancient mystery religions of the Celts or the Greeks. Some say it comes from the lost continent of Atlantis, a Brotherhood of Light, and the "civilizations of the stars" even before that. There are those who assert that the New Age is an astrological era that was destined to take place at this particular time. Despite all this research into backgrounds, if you asked the average New Ager today, where their beliefs originate, they would answer "inside."  

You are quite correct in your observation that New Age has no official scriptures. We have no ordained ministers performing sacraments and no central headquarters issuing edicts. Still the New Age "message" gets out. Each year thousands of New Age books are being published and New Age music is being played in supermarkets and shopping malls. Right now New Age ideas in health care are being integrated into private medical practices and offered in modern hospitals. More and more people are finding "New Age" values to be compatible with their own changing lifestyles, and perhaps necessary for a healthy peaceful world in the future.  

New Age is not a world religion but a modern form of spiritual mysticism. It is an effort to follow one's own spiritual path and express the essential divinity that in present in all living things. The realization of this "holy oneness" is left for each person to interpret and implement for themselves. This is the primary reason that we see such such a diverse range of New Age practices and beliefs. New Age confirms the innate awareness that "spirituality" can not be legislated or manipulated externally.   

Now to your question about "god" there are many names for our spiritual source. Most "New Agers" believe in a "God" of some type, usually the universal force present in all creation.  On the whole "New Agers" are trying to release themselves from negative cultural conditioning and regain a clearer perspective concerning the spiritual potential of humankind. They answer to their "conscience" depending upon their "consciousness." ”

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