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I mentioned the New Age movement in another discussion, related to the spiritual evolution of people, or the human race. I mentioned that I feel that the new age movement combined with the awareness of scientific advancement is responsible for the feeling that we are advancing.
Firstly, science, or the effect of science on society is advancing. Technology is advancing, people’s acceptance of science as the ultimate authority of explaining things, the mysteries of life etc.
The new age movement is also responsible for this. What exactly is the New age movement and philosophy? Well, it started as early as the 18th century, but really took form in the late 19th century, early 20th century. There were some key figures who you could say could be the ‘founders’ of this movement, Blavatski, Gurdjieff..
The new age movement is what you could say, a seamless movement that has absorbed and adopted teachings from a multitude of ancient oriental philosophies and practices. It was a portal to the east. The theosophical society was one of the main propagators. Although it didn’t have its own philosophy, it nevertheless developed its own ‘look and feel’ . And this look and feel was strongly mixed with idealism and positivism. The new age philosophy is very idealistic. It already sais that it’s a ‘new age’, that sounds like something new, good, better etc. Whenever you see a modern guru of the new age, you can recognize them by their color, motivation.
This motivation is like a trail left behind by the founders of this organization. Swami Vivakanda, Madam Blavatsky. They were proselyting their message to the whole of the West. To proselyte something, you have to be very positive. You know, when you sell something, you have to have a very positive Energy.
So New age incorporated many parts of ancient philosophies, spiritualism, holistic practices and healing methods, and naturally, it taught fragments of these too. It seems good, because of more information, more opportunity to learn from ancient knowledge. That is definitely a good thing. If it weren’t for these kinds of organizations, I probably would never have learned anything about Buddhism and yoga.
But the truth is not that simple. I am using the word, ‘fragments’, which is actually a word I adopted from Gurdjieff himself. He talked about ‘fragments of an unknown teaching’. He taught that many of these ancient practices were risky, and that some students didn’t have the capacity to understand it, others were not benefited, even harmed. If you practice yoga and meditation intently, you are going to encounter roadblocks, and passing these without a competent master could be impossible for some people. It is here where things can go wrong. It is here where some people give up, or even presume the status of a false master.. and the new age movement has had it fill of false masters.
So, if you are not really practicing, or you are pretending to be a teacher, when in fact you are just preaching a watered down ideology that seems attractive to people (to make money or a living of that) you may not harm anyone, because no-one is in fact doing anything.
You may start to see that the feeling of a spiritual evolution, in many cases is just that – a feeling.
There have been people who have come forward saying that the ancient traditions were ´long winded´ and here, now in the West, we can do things faster, better. Go on a course and attain enlightenment in 30 days! You don’t need to waste your time. You can have it now!
This is a characteristic of the West – fast food, instant gratification culture.
The patience that the people have, and had in ancient cultures are beyond our understanding. And so is their knowledge and wisdom.
So the idea of an evolution is a Western concept. It comes from the influences of our times. We cannot advance an ancient knowledge or wisdom that was perfect to begin with.
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