I seem to remember this idea of New Age all the way back to the 70’s or 80’s. It reminds me of the old term – Age of Aquarius.
Now, I am indeed a spiritual person, however, I found and still find this idea of New Age to be a muddle of confusion that holds zero interest for me. Spirituality and New Age thinking don’t need to be tied together.
The term “spirituality” is used to elevate one’s belief in a higher principle out of the confines of religion. This is why far more people these days claim to be spiritual but not religious.
Historically, the hippie era of the ’60s and 70’s along with spirituality and new age thinking represented a major shift out of the cozy illusion of the “American Dream” of my parent’s age and into a new era of acceptance, self-expression and freedom of thinking.
So, to tie back into your question: “What do you think of the New Age thought and spirituality” I would say, it began as a much-needed cultural shift, an adjustment that led to a whole new level of openness of thinking.
We can see the effects of this shift of “new age thinking” in the world today. It is becoming all-pervasive – yoga is everywhere and mindfulness and meditation are being practiced in schools, corporations, and even in government. Alternative medicines, such as acupuncture, massage, and many others, once considered woo-woo, are now available in the largest hospitals in the world.
Not only that, but science, medicine, and what was once considered spiritual knowledge are overlapping, you can find this in the work of Bruce Lipton and many others.
I think the days of drawing a line in the sand between ancient spiritual science and modern technological science is starting to blur. I now refer to the practices of meditation and its effects on the mind and body as spiritual science, rather than religious or spiritual “beliefs.”
For me personally, where I am as of today, I feel we should not become too confident or emboldened by our belief in science, just as much as our belief in spirituality. I prefer to think that there is a lot we don’t know or understand about we humans. Our potential in the realm of consciousness, what it is, how it works, and what can we do with it, is barely understood.
We know the effects stress and worry on the physical body are the cause of so many diseases. This is a medical fact. So, what more can we do with our power of thought if we refine and direct it? Make an iPhone? Sure. But what can we do with it to shape our health and well being?
I am not so sure it helps us to throw up a wall around what we may classify as spiritual and say it’s all a bunch of nonsense – just because science hasn’t proved it. Maybe it’s not all nonsense.
It is quite possible that some spiritual practices of the past may become the science of the future.