New Age

[Rennyo]

So what do you all think of New Age teachings? I realize the category if very broad, but has anyone here found anything in New Age teaching to be valuable? I admit to being a fan of the Emmanuel books, Emmanuel being a "channelled" entity. I don't know if there is any validity to channelling, if Emmanuel and other are really distinct personalities or maybe a personification of the channeller's subconscious or connection with a larger reality, but some of the stuff is compelling (to me). Last weekend I was blown away by Ken Carey's book The Starseed Transmissions.

 

Any thoughts?

[fatherman]

I attribute my involvement in a New Age community to bringing me back to Christianity. Particularly the notion of dying to self. When the goal is to be one with the Universe, you have to learn to let go of the self. This fits nicely with Christianity. It helped me to see that Jesus was one of the greatest spiritual avatars in the history of humankind and that his selfless presence is eternal and powerful. This is how my personal relationship with Jesus began. Not at an an altar in a church, but in a meditation circle that meditated on the Buddha and the Christ and others. Christ is just the one who happened to speak to me the most. I've been a faithful disciple ever since. I feel that there is power when a great spiritual master suffers for the atonement of his disciples. And I believe that's what Jesus did.

[Tea]

The New Age has taken me deeper into Christianity, including into what seem to me to be neglected areas.

 

For example, we're supposed to forgive, but we're seldom taught HOW to forgive. It's considered sort of a doleful duty, perhaps. We push ourselves in that direction; we pray for help with it. In the NA, though, I've encountered a couple of different views of forgiveness that offer deeper ways of approaching it that are very helpful.

 

Also, I love the Christian mystics (like Meister Eckhart) and the NA is very accepting of a mystical view of things. It's helped put some of the joy back into Christianity for me.

 

Sometimes I have the feeling that parts of Christianity have been "muffled" or "eroded"--I can see the rich root, but I can't quite find the path in. (How do you love your enemies, for example? What lies behind that injunction that makes it more than a singular rule?) It's as if too much of what's preached now is severely reductive of the richness in Jesus.

 

I have never felt like the "thou shalt nots" were the heart of Christianity. To my mind, you can obey the ten commandments most of the time by accident. It's not so much what you DON'T do as what you DO do--so what is that to be? And where does the joy and love come from?

 

The New Age has helped me a lot with these kinds of topics.

[Tea]

BTW, I liked the first Emanuel book. I'm also not sure "what" E is either, but for now it doesn't matter to me.

 

I haven't heard of the other book you mentioned.

[Inthedark]

I have been reading a little about the Christian Gnostics pushed aside by the emporer and the Christian Mystics. There are definate similarities between these groups' teachings and some of the Eastern traditions. Some of the teachings about consciousness and the self are quite attractive and the way the story of Christ's journey is interpeted as the initiates journey through self discovery is very interesting. Paul has some Mystic leanings which are apparent in his writings; he speaks of inner knowledge and the pneumatic. As you say Rennyo, you can't help but wonder what parts have been censored or tampered with in that respect.

 

Regards

 

Paul

[Rennyo]

Hey, thanks for the replies here.