Shamanism for the Age of Science: Awakening the Energy Body - Kenneth Smith 2018
New Age Philosophy
Closing in on Fundamentalism
Fundamentalism can strike any person or any group, lay or professional. Earlier I singled out the practice of science because it is ingrained and influential in modern life, yet its internal politics are not that widely known. The same concerns of dogmatism also apply to shamanism. In a discussion of the pros and cons of fundamentalism, yet another force deserves recognition: the pop mysticism culture known as New Age. Over recent decades this movement has commanded significant attention, money, and resources. It has become an industry in its own right and continues to influence cultural values.
During the mid to late 1960s, the extent of this movement allowed the popular media to begin bringing information about metaphysical systems into greater view, leading to a general cultural awareness of chakras and meridians. Acupuncture has since been established as part of Western CAM, and chakras are now under scrutiny. The interest in these and other like-minded topics has not abated and the once recondite knowledge of ancient mysticisms continues to find expression in modern times.
The main thrust of the New Age movement, a renaissance of thought and experience, centers on awakening spirituality. It includes investigations of reincarnation, meditation, healing, and new relationships with God, just to name a few items on the agenda. Yet, much of this agenda has already been very well established for centuries in philosophies around the world. To a large degree the discoveries are incomplete reflections of pieces of metaphysical traditions. Perhaps what makes them new is the amount of attention given to them and the numbers of people who are involved. If this is true, the New Age movement could be considered a result of changes in the energy body’s uniformity. As previously mentioned, the energy body may be evolving into a more spherical shape. If so, this would lend itself to more people perceiving a more holistic world. And holistic thinking is very much part of the New Age.
Like metaphysical philosophies, New Age perspectives are far-reaching and often touch every aspect of a person’s life. Since in some ways New Age could be considered an umbrella for all metaphysical philosophies, it carries immense weight. However, this line of thought is still just another social arrangement, a conditional field based on an inherited set of assumptions about reality, rather than being an ongoing reexamination of our lot as humans. While New Age thinking does provide some direction and offers ways to proceed, it is of finite form and therefore not the pure art of navigating infinity, as is the case with any doctrine.
Metaphysical philosophies deal with the underlying structures of reality, and New Age considerations often only skim the surface. Understanding the difference between occult and mystical makes all the difference in what is experienced. While this movement has provided the service of bringing more ideas to the light of day, New Age quickly gets old when the revelations of new ideas turn to dogma and cultish, occult behavior. People may defer to psychic prowess rather than something of deeper value, for example, reflecting a situation to watch out for as you explore any method for consciousness development. Whether your involvement is with the classic traditions or New Age pursuits, be careful, as you may think you’ve got it all straight when you really don’t.