What are the different New Age religions… and how have these seeped into our society? As I’ve stated in other posts, this really isn’t a “religion” per se.

Why not?

Because there is no central church… no formal religious text… and no “core beliefs” that all New Agers hold.

For example, all Christians believe that Jesus is the only way to Heaven. There might be differences of opinion on theology and doctrines, but they all hold this common idea.

This isn’t the case with New Age

This is defined more by practices than its’ <u>central beliefs</u>–because there really aren’t any. It derives a lot of its’ teachings from traditional Eastern teachings.

Common practices include meditation, visualization, self healing, self help, hypnosis, channeling, and many others.

But it’s no longer confined to the “Eastern World”

More and more this philosophy is gaining prominence in Western Society… and <u>especially</u> in the business world.

Nowadays “success seminars” and motivational speakers are constantly promoting visualization, hypnosis, and other New Age principles to become financially successful. These seemingly harmless “success techniques” are what get many sucked in.

You make it sound like a bad thing!

That’s because—based on my experience–I firmly believe it is.

Let me explain

For those who aren’t familiar with me, I was bought up a “born again Christian”… but gradually adopted more New Age ideas when I first saw the movie, The Secret.

It blew me away

The idea that the Universe was my personal genie… and I could control my circumstances with my thoughts—simply flabbergasted me.

Don’t get me wrong…

I had <u>no intention</u> of changing religions–I was perfectly happy with my Christian faith. I just wanted to make a lot of money… and if visualization helped me do it, then so be it.

But it didn’t stop there

I slowly began incorporating more Eastern practices into my Christian faith. Along with my prayer and Bible time, I would say my daily affirmations—and eventually I started meditating to become more “aware of my thoughts”.

At first I tried to convince myself I was still a Christian

But inevitably I began exploring Eastern Philosophy more fully. I read every book I could get my hands on the subject… and the more read, the more sense it made. It wasn’t long before I was converted.

Things were going great

I was a 22 year old owner of a fledgling business I <u>loved</u> doing… I was visualizing my success daily…and it was only a matter of time before I owned that mansion on the ocean and a Ferrari 360. My life was ahead of me.

That’s when things started going wrong…

After a few months I no longer had the energy or enthusiast I had in the beginning. Things just seemed sort of… meaningless.

I began to consider what would happen AFTER I had bought all the materialistic things I had always wanted… climbed every mountain… and done every extreme sport I’d dreamed of. It didn’t seem I had much to look forward to.

Previously as a Christian I had always believed that there was more to life than just what this world had to offer.

When I died I had been counting on meeting Jesus face to face… getting a mansion in Heaven… walking on streets of gold… and generally a life of eternal happiness.

What did I have to look forward to now?

In New Age/Eastern Philosophy the whole goal—once you’ve moved past the “materialistic and experiencing” phase—is to become enlightened.

What is Enlightenment?

Basically it’s where you experience yourself as “one with everything else”. According to Eastern thought everything is connected… but simply knowing that isn’t enough—you have to “experience it”.

Once you die in this state, you essentially “merge” into the one energy source you came from. Then you simply “cease to exist”.

That didn’t sound very appealing

Even if there was some eternal “bliss” waiting for me at death—no longer would God be a part of it.

The emptiness of everything suddenly hit me—without God, nothing really means anything. At this point I seriously began to question my newfound beliefs.

I came to some VERY INTERESTING conclusions

If you’re completely satisfied with your life right now—and if it as the meaning you want it to—then you can stop reading right now. Heck, I’m surprised you’ve made it this far.

But if you are dissatisfied with how your life is turning out… or it just feels like nothing has any meaning—then I FIRMLY believe these conclusions will change your life forever. Click here to learn more…

So what is New Age Religion? This really isn’t a “religion” per se–rather it’s more a philosophy that encompasses many different beliefs and philosophies.

It doesn’t have any holy text or central belief system which differentiate it from most organized belief systems. It’s more a worldwide movement of like-minded people (for the most part) who are tired of “organized religion”.

Where does New Age Philosophy come from?

It’s largely influenced by eastern thought such as Hinduism and Buddhism—although there are some significant differences as well.

So what do they believe? There are 2 main ideas:

#1) We create our reality with our thoughts

If you’ve seen the movie “The Secret” you know what I’m talking about. New agers believe that our thoughts literally affect the world around us–and just by visualizing what we want we actually “attract it”.

As you can imagine, New Age teachings are HUGELY popular in the business world. The idea of using visualization to create wealth is one of the things that attracts a lot of people to this philosophy.

IDEA #2) There are MANY paths to God

There is no single right religion–it’s “whatever works for you”. Followers are actually urged to use whatever beliefs they prefer to get them to God—after all, they all lead to the same place.

But what is God?

They don’t believe in an All-Supreme God that is separate from His creation—like in Christianity and Islam. Rather they say that everything is part of God since we all come from the same energy source.

What about life after death?

This is where New Age and Eastern thought really collide. They both share the belief in reincarnation, and that we have all lived many lives.

What about morality?

“Right and wrong” don’t exist in this philosophy–—and how can they if an All Supreme God didn’t create the world? After all, if everything is really “one” than how could there be 2 dualities such as right and wrong?

The people who invented evil are those that are not enlightened–or haven’t realized their “divine nature”.

So how do we achieve enlightenment?

By becoming more “conscious”. What is “consciousness”? In simplified terms, it’s becoming more aware. At first it’s primarily about becoming aware of thoughts to enable you to create whatever you want.

But at some point–after you’ve attracted your “dream lifestyle”–you stop being focused on creating things or experiences. Instead you become more intent on achieving higher levels of spirituality—or becoming ENLIGTHENED.

And when you’ve achieved enlightenment you become less concerned with creating material things… and more concerned with helping others become enlightened as well.

Lifestyle

What’s the typical lifestyle of a new age practitioner like? While it obviously varies slightly from one to the next, they for generally share 3 “core” elements.

#1) “Holistic health”

Most tend to stay away from “traditional” medical practices… and instead gravitate towards more natural healing and eating habits. A common staple of this philosophy is the vegan diet.

#2) Meditation

This is used by many to become more “conscious”—and it’s a very important part of most New Agers’ lifestyles.

#3) Environmentally conscious

On the whole people who subscribe to these ideas try to protect the environment as much as possible.

So let’s review–what is New Age Religion? It’s not a religion—it’s a philosophy that has its’ roots in Eastern thought. But is it the right philosophy? Click here to find out…