The "New Age" is nothing but Hinduism remasked?

It's been a long time since I've studied or practiced anything new age outside of silent meditation. I first came across the 'new age' while studying various cultural aspects of my heritage and nationality. This was around 2011 and I must admit that my strong inquisitiveness soon led me into all things related to the age of aquarius.

But sitting here today while randomly watching Netflix movies a light bulb came on in my head that all that I studied a few years ago is nothing but Hinduism reworked more suitable for a Western market. Chakras, Maya (sanskrit word for 'illusion'), kundalini, reincarnation, karma, and the fairly new rage of yoga amongst many other things.

I also realized that a lot of people use 'archangels' for various purposes whereas in Hinduism they use their gods.

This bothers me because this is not spirituality. This is a new religion with many different sects. Some use the name of an archangel, some call on the Hindu devas, starseeds, Sanskrit mantras, etc.

I see nothing wrong with yoga and stretching/exercises, meditation, and nature because all of these are necessary to maintain physical, mental, and spiritual health but everything is else seems to be a cause of division to the true purpose of spirituality.

This is not to chastise anyone for what they do or believe. I could careless as long as you dont interfere with my free will or physical activities. I'm just voicing my revelation.

Anyone noticed the same? How do you feel about it?

[Seawolf]

Originally Posted by Melanin

seems to be a cause of division to the true purpose of spirituality.

New Age religion is certainly heavily based on reworking Eastern beliefs for a modern Western society. And there are more influences than just Hinduism, it's mash of lots of religions and has individuals with wildly different beliefs.. but I'm not sure what you mean by it causing division.

In the West we value independence and freedom, and New Age religion is very much rooted in those ideals. So as a result there's not any official New Age church, even though many still meet in groups. I think meetup.com is going to be the launching point for New Age people meeting together and forming mainstream groups. Which will be a good thing and a bad thing, because it can strengthen spirituality to meet together, but will have the problems associated with groups that always happens.

[sunsoul]

I might agree to a certain degree that some Hindu beliefs have been 'repackaged' but this is the same for Zen, Sufism, Gnosticism and a variety of other beliefs and philosophies.

The New Age can cover a whole spectrum of beliefs including Wicca, Paganism, Occultism and maybe other things, and even what one person may class as New Age wouldn't necessarily be agreed upon by others.

It really is a hotchpotch of ideas and practices, and therefore not really a copy of Hinduism, although some practices like yoga are very popular, of course.

In terms of critiquing the New Age, one problem is that certain practices like Kundalini have been taken in isolation from the teachings, and not probably contextualised or taught in the right way. In Indian religion, lineages are important, and help to protect the transmission of the teachings, as well as making sure that bona fide spiritual masters are teaching people in the correct manner.

[Belle]

I'm not a fan of "New Age" for myself, I prefer the spirits and the practices that are tried and tested of thousands of years.

But that's me. I don't think I fully appreciate what new age is but how great would it be to extract the similarities and purities of different religions and scratch backwards.

[Tanemon]

I came to feel, quite a few years back, that "the new age" has to do with people disengaging with the religions of their parents or even a lengthy family heritage, and exploring new (for them) spiritual concepts and spiritual practices. From my reading, I believe that back in the 1960s & '70s much was derived from Theosophy, which drew heavily on Vedanta and Buddhism.

There are concepts, methods, practices, etc... a lot of things out there today.

People pick and choose, and they explore what intrigues or draws them. What others have said above about the many other ingredients, besides Hindu ones, seems true to me. Think of the dream work and pstchology of Carl Jung (a German-Swiss, who was a dissenting student of Freud). Or of Chinese Taoism. Or of some people's interest in Native-American or ancient Egyptian religion or spiritual paths.

I know that my own ethical thinking is much influenced by the Christian & humanistic traditions of the West, even if my spiritual practices are largely derived from the East. I feel good about it.

My parents think the Beatles brought the upsurge in Hindu awareness as part of the psychedelic 60s. It was already here, evidence Blavatsky and the Theosophical Society and others (Woodroffe had translated a number of tantric texts including Serpent Power but they never took off probably because they were more the province of the occult). Yoga appeared around the same time here, Iyengar sometime in the 70s I think.

The New Age has given people the chance to grab back responsibility for their spiritual well-being from the orthodox churches of the Piscean age that had commandeered it, though the basic teachings of those faiths still hold good, the Christian ones, anyway.

♀

[Miss Hepburn]

Hahaha, made me laugh out loud at the Subject Title...
I think that may be true!!

[Touched]

New Age borrows from many things. The important contribution of Hinduism is that of all religions it was closest to a 'science' of spirituality. Tibetan Buddhism is a close second.

The 'new' thing about 'New Age' is not only in how it freely utilizes the spiritual disciplines and insights of any tradition, but also in how it avoids the constraints that comes with holding to a single tradition.

[wolfmanthe1st]

The "New Age" is the Age of Aquarius. The age that preceded or precedes (uncertain when the Age of Aquarius starts --- some say 2012) was the Age of Piceses.

What is important with regard to the Age of Aquarius is the raising of the consciousness of the human species. For some ultimately it means they ascend into the fifth dimension and graduate from the wheel of rebirth. For many this is this last lifetime.

[Touched]

Originally Posted by wolfmanthe1st

The "New Age" is the Age of Aquarius. The age that preceded or precedes (uncertain when the Age of Aquarius starts --- some say 2012) was the Age of Piceses.

What is important with regard to the Age of Aquarius is the raising of the consciousness of the human species. For some ultimately it means they ascend into the fifth dimension and graduate from the wheel of rebirth. For many this is this last lifetime.

Cool!