New Age: A Paradigm Shift to Divine Consciousness and a Universal Philosophy
by G. Kumar

The New Age Movement (NAM) is a revival of spiritual and divine values and can be called a divine regeneration movement. New Age philosophy has conquered the West intellectually, and Western culture is currently experiencing a phenomenal shift -- sociological, spiritual and ideological. New Age is a secular, multicultural, multi-religious synthesis of the Oriental mystical philosophies, mainly Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism and Western Occultism, emphasising Holism, the doctrine that reality is organically one (now taught in American universities after Einstein's theory of relativity).

Behind the evolution of the species, there is an evolution of
consciousness. The aim of life is self-actualisation, to evolve to the level of unity consciousness, defined as the seventh state of consciousness in transcendental philosophy.

The social disturbance caused by the Vietnam War, the threat posed by AIDS, the disillusionment with materialistic ideas and the erosion of faith in morality and ethics brought a sense of futility and meaninglessness in the Western psyche. In addition, the limitations of the Western system of chemotherapy and adverse side-effects of antibiotics, sedatives and certain other drugs, and the disillusionment with the promises of science and technology, made millions turn to Oriental philosophies, occult practices and systems of therapy. (Interest in alternative medicine has developed to such an extent that there are now more than 180 systems of alternative medicine.)

Exponents of New Age philosophy in Europe and America include transcendentalists like Thoreau, Emerson andWalt Whitman, Wordsworth, Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772); theosophy introduced by Madame Helena Blavatsky (1831- 1891) and Col. Olcott; and the philosopher, Annie Besant. As the world witnessed a consciousness revolution, transcendental meditation, yoga, Zen, Carlos Castañada, the Beatles, holistic medicine (both Western and Ayurveda), tantra, astrology (both Western & Vedic) all became popular.

There are six million New Age sites on the Web, and the NAM consists of a massive and well organised network of thousands of groups, trusts, foundations, clubs, lodges and spiritual groups whose goal and purpose is to prepare the world to enter the coming Aquarian Age (The Age of Aquarius). In astrological symbolism, Aquarius represents spirituality and Pisces rationality. The Piscean Age, an age of computer and cybernetics revolution, will be followed by an age of consciousness revolution, or a spiritual revolution, the Aquarian Age.

Some New Age organisations are: California New Age Caucus, New World Alliance, World Goodwill, The Church Universal and Triumphant, The Theosophical Society, Amnesty International, Zero Population Growth, the Forum, Planetary Initiative for the World We Choose, the Club of Rome, Christian Science and the Unity School of Christianity.

New Age believes in the essential goodness of man and the divine spark in man. The New Age movement is not a unified cult system of beliefs and practices, even though its roots derive from Vedic philosophy. There is no central authority, no official leader, no headquarters, nor membership list, but instead is a network of groups working toward world peace and universal love. There are millions of worldwide followers of various New Age practices, and the world is moving from chaos (disorder) to cosmos (order). This is a phase transition from entropy (disorder) to order.

Significant influence has been gained by the NAM affecting almost every area of Occidental culture: sociology, psychology, medicine, the government, ecology, science, arts, education, the business community, the media, entertainment, sports, and even the church. Organised spiritual forms such as Christian Science, Unity and even forms of witchcraft (from the German "Wicca" meaning the wise; witchcraft means the craft of the wise) are all its expressions. Various human potential seminars, transcendental meditation, zen meditation and some alternative holistic medicine practices are also among its manifold manifestations.

Some popular New Age publications and journals are New Age Journal, the Z Files, Clarity, Body Mind Spirit, Yoga Journal, Gnosis, East West, Noetic Sciences, the Millenium Being and Omega. The new tendency of many people now is to view everything from a New Age perspective

The major goal of the New Age Movement is to prepare humanity for entering the Aquarian Age and to bring world peace in an already bruised world. Some of the other goals of the NAM are to establish an entirely New World Order in the fields of economy and government. The idea of a world government was proposed by Bernard Shaw earlier and was implemented by Mahesh Yogi and occurs in the writings of the foundational apostle of the New Age Movement, Alice Bailey.

The word "initiation" is derived from the Latin "in ire," to go within, and initiates were termed by the great master as the salt of the earth. One mystic defined reality as "Within and within and within and within." Another mystic described it as, "It is hidden, it is hidden and it is hidden." To the mystic, self evolution is the means and only by changing and correcting ourselves can we change others. The primary goals of the movement then are to prepare the world to receive the Divine Consciousness and to enter the Age of Aquarius, thus establishing the New World Order. New Age philosophy believes that human evolution can be accelerated, if not in the entire mass of humanity, at least in suitable individuals. Human nature is perfectible, through an intensive process of purification and initiation.

The New Age Movement is secular and universally diffused over the globe. Its basic underlying philosophy emphasises gnosticism and occultism. (Gnosticism is an ancient philosophy stating that divine essence is the highest reality, and that the self of man is actually this essence. Behind the phenomenal world is the transcendent reality, which intuition alone can see). It bears a remarkable resemblance to the universal religion that H.G. Wells predicted would one day take over the world.