The ‘New Age Overview’ taken from Wikipedia and posted by Green Gaia is a good start to understanding the New Age. But it is only the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. It details many of the different component parts of the Movement, but it fails to provide the rationale or the reason for its being, observations are presented but no conclusion or purpose is arrived at. Especially, the spiritual components are sorely deficient and confusing, if not missing.
No, New Age teachings are not old teachings. They are not Eastern, either. They are not a rehash of the old and outdated. New Age instruction begins where the students are situated, be they pagan, atheist, Hindu, Buddhist, Christian or Muslim, and moves them forward from where they were. New Age is a consolidation of all that have been taught us before and upgrades our spiritual education. Teaching as learning is progressive. New, clearer and deeper explanations are made available. There is no end to our studies.
Eventually, all of us will come to understand everything. “We must be perfect as the Father is perfect." All religious teachings are but aspects and parts of the same One Truth. But there are higher and lower level interpretations, depending on the student’s level in the order of evolution. The New Age Teachings are, in fact, the “secrets kept hidden since the foundation of the world” now being revealed for the first time.
From: Inner Quest: Aquarian Conspiracy
“Aquarian Conspiracy
“Understand world events. Political upheavals, social conflicts, environmental concerns, scientific discoveries, religious movements and the Internet are all part of the New Age Movement
(The Spiritual components)
“The old Eastern teachings have resurfaced affording us another opportunity to understand them better. Yoga physical disciplines hone the body and make it more easily responsive to the will of the spirit. Yoga practices relating to doing the right thing and serving our brothers directly develop our spirituality. Meditation, like praying the rosary, clears and focuses the mind and opens it to divine inspiration. Reincarnation, the doctrine of successive lives, together with Karma, the law of cause and effect, sowing and reaping, are the twin principles the operation of which guarantees our continued evolution and spiritual perfection through individual merit.
“Questions and objections regarding Papal infallibility, celibacy, veneration of images, saintly interventions, birth control, abortion, euthanasia and others are being disputed by Catholics and Protestants, even among their own ranks. Eventually, all that are false will be discarded and only those that are true will remain.
“Miracles, supernatural healings and apparitions amaze everyone and new explanations are offered. At about 1850, to call our attention to the more spiritual aspects of our being and commence the necessary preparations for the coming new age, two important major movements drawing extensively from supernatural sources were initiated, one by the Great White Brotherhood, the other by the Spirits of Truth. Eastern and Western, these constitute two seemingly different approaches, but each complements the other and both are working for the same goals. There is only One God and one Truth.
“By 1875, the great libraries had all been razed to the ground or ravaged by war and almost all of the old sacred books and records were destroyed. To reintroduce the Wisdom Teachings of the ancients, the Great White Brotherhood commissioned the services of their "chela," Madame Helena P. Blavatsky. With the use of her spiritual faculties highly developed from past incarnations, she clairvoyantly accessed the lost information from the Akashic Records and compiled them all in ‘The Secret Doctrine.’ She also founded the Theosophical Society to oversee the dissemination of these ancient teachings and prepare candidates for "chelahood," a state where candidates have qualified for acceptance as a student of the Masters, henceforth meriting direct and personalized guidance and instruction. Theosophical studies cover the origin and development of the cosmos and human development in all the planes of being from its beginning to its end.
“Following in this tradition a century later, the Tibetan lama, Lobsang Rampa, was tasked to further simplify, clarify and upgrade the Eastern teachings. Adept at soul traveling, highly clairvoyant and telepathic, he recounts his experiences and provides us with startling revelations relating to the Unseen World. Highly evolved himself, he understands the divine teachings more completely and he teaches and explains them in his books which became bestsellers.
“As early as 1850, the Spirits of Truth with the spirit guides and guardian angels had already initiated their own work in the Christian context. Their primary objective then was to provide proofs of the survival of the spirit. Countless Spiritualist mediums in Europe and America now began to manifest all sorts of magical and highly entertaining phenomena. Tables rapped messages, so did ouija boards convey information from beyond. Ghosts and apparitions regaled and frightened. Objects flying all over the place appeared and disappeared from view. Much of these manifestations were subsequently proven to be false, but enough of the genuine articles convinced those with open minds that there is a greater reality, another world beyond ours.
“After the more thoughtful among the people got over their fascination and wonder, they began to question why all the fuss, what does it all mean. This time, the Spirits chose a Frenchman, Leon-Denizarth-Hippolyte Rivail, a member of several learned societies and a scientist-researcher well known in scientific circles to disseminate their explanations and teachings. Through various mediums and countless seances, a special team of Spirit teachers, among them the Apostle John and St. Augustine, communicated to Rivail the beginning basis of the promised revelations, the All Truth referred to by Jesus, the many things kept hidden since the foundation of the world, which in Jesus’ time, the people would not have been able to understand.
“Rivail included all these revelations in his books, ‘The Spirits’ Book’ and others under the penname of Allan Kardec, according to the instructions of the Guides. They later formed the underlying teachings of Spiritism, which term simply means guidance by the Holy Spirit. In the Philippines and in Brazil in the mid-1900s, psychic surgeons belonging to this school performed their barehanded and painless operations and attracted large followings. In the United States today, Channeling has taken over from Spiritualism. Each addition to the series brings in new insights and reveals deeper aspects of the same eternal Truths.
“To provide Scriptural support to the New Teachings, the Spirits of Truth allowed an American, Levi (Levi H. Dowling), to transcribe directly from the Akashic Records. The fifth gospel account, ‘The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ,’ provides us with a fuller account of the life and teachings of the Lord, which includes reincarnation and contains a complete record of the lost eighteen years so strangely silent in the New Testament.
“In the early 1900s under the control of the same Spirits of Truth, one of America’s greatest prophets, the sleeping Edgar Cayce, revealed useful information during his sleep. Initially, the readings addressed physical complaints and ailments and detailed unorthodox and unknown cures which proved very effective. Soon after, the life readings which over time numbered some 2,500 turned to more important spiritual concerns with reincarnation as their central theme. From the details of past lives bearing on the present situations, invaluable guidance was provided and the increased understanding enabled many to resolve their most difficult and pressing problems.
“The Catholic Church has its own important contributions to the coming New Age. At Lourdes, Fatima, Garabandal, Akita, Medjugorje, in Egypt and Africa, Mary asked for prayers and enjoined the people to live holy lives. Padre Pio and many lesser-known saints and healers effected miraculous healings. Cursillos, life in the spirit seminars, couples for Christ outreaches, youth mobilizations and mass prayer rallies continue to sustain the interest and devotion of the faithful. To revitalize and prepare the Church for the advent of the Third Millenium and reverse the trend of Protestant conversions, a New Catechism was just recently promulgated.
“Revival has erupted everywhere. Protestant preachers and televangelists, the likes of Billy Graham, Benny Hinn and Pat Robertson, with his unique long distance healing by "word of knowledge" over the airwaves, are actively targeting all the nations of the world for evangelization. The lame walk, the deaf hear and the blind now see. And the old Gospel message is preached to all nations.
“New Age schools are raising the consciousness of many. Thoughts are things and thought creates. We are what we think we are. It is possible if we think that it is possible. What we can visualize, we can materialize into being. Therefore, we should concentrate only on what is good and think positive.
“Psychic development courses are well attended. These being our natural and inherent properties, we can if we so choose begin to develop our faculties of clairvoyance, psychometry, astral travel, telekinesis and healing. They will afford us true insights and personal, undeniable proofs of spiritual realities. In the Age of Aquarius, we are no longer to be limited to our five physical senses. Alternative healing classes teach vegetarianism and proper dieting, stress control, herbal medicine, pyramid and crystal powers, and magnetic and pranic healing.
“For the scientific minded, more recent researches done by Dr. Raymond Moody on persons who suffered near death experiences tend to prove survival. Dr. Ian Stevenson’s 2,000 researched cases and the hypnotic regressions conducted by Dr. Helen Wambach support reincarnation.
“But all these did not come easily. There were massive opposition every step of the way and they are not expected to dissipate anytime, soon. After all, we really need to ferret out mistakes and weed out false concepts before we can arrive at the correct conclusions. Hence, opposition to new ideas should be considered healthy and necessary, and to be expected.
“In addition, the upgrading of previous instruction is ever continuing. To spirits, there is infinite progress and no end to learning. Therefore, any new knowledge is not to be feared, instead, this should be scrutinized, analyzed and tested with our minds open. How else can we go forward? So let us be more courageous. Let us venture out into uncharted territories and learn new things. Further down the road, our trust in God will ensure that the Truth will triumph in the end.”
