Whatever Happened to the New Age Movement?

If you were a Christian back in the 1980s and 90s, or even if you were not, you almost certainly heard a lot about the then burgeoning New Age Movement (NAM). You may have even been involved in it one way or another and, perhaps, did not even know it. Millions of Americans in those days bought into (and I mean that quite literally) the NAM in one or more specific ways. Actually, thousands of various organizations, book writers, speakers, gurus, and health promoters composed the vast mosaic of organizations and ideas that composed the New Age Movement. To some extent, they still do. However, the faddishness for the NAM that was so evident in the last century has given way to more subdued varieties of NAM concepts.

So what happened to the NAM? Is it still around? If not, where did it go? In this article we will examine the essential aspects of the New Age Movement (maybe they are not so “new” anymore). We will also suggest some reasons why the mania that surrounded it a few decades ago has waned in the 21st century.

What is the New Age Movement?
It is simply impossible to identify the NAM in any definitive way. It just does not lend itself to a narrow definition. If there is any one characteristic to describe the NAM it is that there is no one characteristic to describe the NAM. It has no central leader(s) or headquarters. No one keeps an official list of its members. It is as broad a circle of spiritual perspectives as you can imagine.

Now, that does not mean there are no common principles that we can find in the NAM spectrum of spiritual illumination. Let’s review a few philosophical and worldview concepts that most, but certainly not all, NAM groups and practitioners would affirm.

Monism
The first principle most NAM exponents espouse is the concept of “monism.” Monism is the worldview idea that all that exists is, in realty, one substance or being. All the physical universe of time, space, matter, and energy is a unity. The perceived differences and separations are merely illusions. Of course, if you are a regular reader of this website’s articles, you know this monistic worldview perspective comes directly from Far Eastern Thought (FET).

Pantheism
The second element of the NAM is inextricably tied to the first. Pantheism is the belief that, not only is everything one, but, therefore, everything is God. However, this one god is not the personal Creator of the universe as taught in the Judeo-Christian Bible. Rather, it (not really he or she) is an impersonal force or energy that imbues the self-existent universe and cannot be distinguished from it.

You are God
So, based on the first two principles, a third naturally follows. That is, since the universe is one, and everything is God, then you are God. Thus, the purpose of life is, as one NAM writer put it, “to awaken to the God who sleeps at the root of your being.” Most of the spiritual techniques taught in the NAM are designed to help a person discover the inner divinity they already possess. Since you are God, then you must be powerful and have the potential to accomplish amazing things.

Ignorance is Humanity’s Problem
The Bible and Christianity teach that mankind’s basic problem is sin. That is, we all have the natural tendency to think and do things outside of the will of the holy God. The NAM does not see mankind’s primary shortcomings as sin. In fact, it denies what we call sin even exists. The basic shortcoming of humanity is ignorance. But ignorance of what? Ignorance of the oneness of all the universe and that we are God. It is not a matter of right and wrong but of knowing or not knowing. In fact, many NAM teachers contend that the whole notion of morality is a hindrance and an illusion. People live unhappy lives, says the NAM, because they fail to realize their divine potential, not because they do bad things.

Reincarnation
So, we might ask, what does the NAM believe about life after death and judgment? Again borrowing from FET (especially Hinduism), most NAM teachers affirm some notion of reincarnation. Reincarnation is the belief that the soul, or the essential, non-physical being of a person (and other living things), never actually dies, but rather is transferred at death to rebirth in another life-form or body. Thus, a human soul will live many lifetimes over thousands of years until it is finally absorbed into the total oneness of the Universal One. Of course, reincarnation has absolutely no empirical basis.

Karma
The fate of the soul’s next life is dependent on the accumulation of karma. If a person accumulates positive karma (i.e.: “the fruit of one’s actions”), positive benefits accrue in later lives. Negative karma produces negative consequences in later lives. Now understand, karma is not necessarily the same as doing what is right or wrong or good and bad. The NAM is essentially a relativistic ethical system. In traditional FET, karma is acting in accordance with your preordained fate and station in life. It is the basis of the traditional Hindu caste system. According to that faith, a person cannot change or escape his or her caste, no matter how low or high, until a future life. NAM teachers tend to focus on the positive aspects of “good” karma and ignore its deterministic and fatalistic consequences (i.e.: “You get what you deserve”).

Enlightenment
So, given the seeming endlessness of the cycles of reincarnation, can a person ever get off the roller-coaster, so to speak? The NAM would say “Yes.” A person can escape the cycle of reincarnation through the experience of “enlightenment.” As we said, mankind’s ultimate problem is ignorance. However, ignorance can be overcome through enlightenment, or an inner discovery or experience of one’s true divine self. This can be achieved through various NAM techniques taught by NAM gurus and teachers (usually at a high price).

One methodology is through various forms of meditation. The best known is Transcendental Meditation (TM) which is marketed as a way to increase mental acuity and to decrease stress. Brought to America in the mid-sixties by Indian Guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and numerous other celebrities learned to do TM. A similar process is still advocated by well-known author and regular PBS speaker, Deepak Chopra.

Another road to enlightenment is through yoga. Though most people regard yoga as merely a form of physical fitness training, it is based on the FET notion that the mind and body are intrinsically intertwined. The various yoga positions are formulated to help release the inner spiritual power of the mind.

Another means of achieving enlightenment is to follow the teachings of those men and women who practice Trance Channeling (TC). TC is the ability some people claim to turn their minds and bodies over to disembodied spirits which then impart truth to their disciples. Two popular TCers in the 1990s (and still at it) were J. Z. Knight, who claimed she channels the spirit of an ancient entity from Atlantis named Ramtha, and Jach Pursel who claimed to channel a spirit being named Lazaris.

So these are just a few of the techniques used by NAM adherents to work their way to enlightenment. Other related movements that were in the mix of the NAM included the use and sale of crystals, communicating with UFOs and aliens, divination, speaking with angels, mediums (spiritism), astrology, and other occult arts.

A New Age is Coming
Many NAM advocates in the last century claimed that a great explosion of spirituality would inevitably bring peace and harmony to the world. They declared, as the 5th Dimension sang, “This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius.” In the early 1990s, when the Cold War ended, that belief might have had some credence. However, barbaric terrorist events like 9-11, and subsequent numerous wars around the world, blew that unfounded optimism completely out of the water.

So What Happened? Did the New Age Movement Disappear?
Certainly the ideas and concepts that fed the NAM are still present among us. New groups based on the FET worldview continue to multiply. That being said, the faddishness that characterized the NAM in the 1980s and 90s has definitely waned. At one time, thousands of people would pay big money to participate in and attend New Age workshops, festivals, and trade shows. It was big business and the media took great notice. Hundreds of books flooded the market to promote NAM ideas and products. Other books exposed the diabolic truth about the NAM and warned Christians of its dangers. Some authors claimed that the NAM was actually a worldwide conspiracy to make way for a world government or the antichrist.

However, since the turn of the century, the number of NAM advocates has diminished (or gone out of business), and NAM principles have faded from the public’s attention. I would like to think that the influence of Christianity was responsible for its decline, and that most NAM followers turned to Christ. That, however, was not the case. Yes, some New Agers became Christians and we rejoice for them. But sadly, most did what ex-cultists and victims of religious abuse usually do: they no longer believe anything. The NAM, cults, and religious abuse, set disillusioned people up for agnosticism or atheism.

All that being said, I would like to suggest five reasons for the diminishing influence of the NAM in America.

1. The generation that was drawn to the spiritual exploration of the NAM has grown older and is dying off. The Millennial generation, for better or worse, simply does not share that fascination with mystical experiences. This is also evident in the decreasing numbers of Americans identifying themselves with specific religious labels.

2. Many of the old NAM leaders were exposed as frauds. Some of the so-called channelers were discovered to be just acting in their mystical trances. Some who were once hailed by NAM advocates, such as Oprah Winfrey, later were discredited and she was forced to disassociate from them.

3. Many people taken under the NAM spell eventually discovered that the spiritual techniques they were taught (and usually paid for with big bucks) failed to provide the enlightenment they sought. Also, the “Age of Aquarius” never arrived. As this disillusionment set in, the earlier faddish excitement was quashed by bad publicity. As Lincoln said, “You can fool all of the people some of the time, some of the people all of the time, but you can’t fool all the people all the time.”

4. As the immigration to America of people from other nations has grown, so has the proliferation of older traditional non-Christian religions. Millions of Hindus, Buddhists, and Muslims have flooded into this country over the past two decades. The rise of radical Islamic terrorism has become the primary focus of the secular media. This growth of new (to us) world religions has pushed the NAM from the consciousness of most Americans and Christians.

5. And finally, many of the presuppositions of the NAM have been incorporated into American popular culture. This is seen in the growth and acceptance of NAM ideas in ethics, health care systems, business practices, the promotion of meditation, music, art, and even in law and science. So, maybe the New Age Movement never actually went away, but has now just become the “Old Age Movement.”

© 2016 Tal Davis