Reading William James' lecture notes from 1900/1901, compiled into the
famous book "Varieties of Religious Experience", I have come across
descriptions of New Age /already/ describing it as a wave sweeping
across the modern world, and ALSO bemourning the ease at which it has
become commercialized!
I didn't credit the new age with any real noticeability until the
1960s.
William James says that although they use Christian (white light)
terminology, they have clearly departed from the beliefs of normal
Christians, and mentions Hindu influence amonst other influences on
the movements.
I'm just wondering if anyone else is surprised that popular New Age
type things are actually 100 years old already.
Obviously Blavatsky and others have a little to answer for, but, I
hadn't imagined that the "new age" as a whole was identifiable that
early.
Varieties of Religious Experience
October 21st, 2003
As the shackles of Christianity loosened and society became freer, the movement flourished and swept across America (the time was right for revitalizing spirituality to replace the dusty claustophobic anti-human religion that Christianity had stagnated into), and in the process picked up Blavatsky, Crowley, and many other spiritual practices that were semi-underground.
In the light of the approaching 60s, all this broke above ground in a new wave ... which I imagine to be the same as the pre-1900s new thought movement, only truly without the constraints of Christian authority.
However, when you replace authority with complete youthfulness, as happened in USA 60s, you end up with a bubble that bursts as piles of irresponsible actions topple, causing the demise of the movements feel-good factor as the communities new societies failed to find stability, and lost the fresh momentum.
But, the process has made the world a richer place.
Sermon over :P
These things gained and faded in popularity as any other fads do. I think its rather cyclic, like fashion which comes back about every twenty years. A lot of historical stuff reoccurs about every fifty years or so [wars and the like].
Anyhows, that's my two cents, and, btw, hi I added you as a friend. *Laughs*
Obviously a whole host of spiritual practices have been around for thousands of years, I was just surprised to see it coherently labelled as a single movement.
How about
"It has reached the stage, for example, when the demand for its
literature is great enough for insincere stuff, mechanically
produced for the market, to be to a certain extent provided by
publishers - a phenomenon never observed, I imagine, until a
religion got well past its earliest insecure beginnings."
I mean, what a perfect description of new age paraphenalia!
James' also describes influences as being spiritism, transcendentalism and ideas of "development" and "progress".
He says it calls itself the "New Thought" movement, but himself labells it as "Mind cure movement"
Isn't Transcendentalism a part of Hindu belief, or is it only Buddhist?
Mind cure movement?? What would they be trying to cure?
No, no... I just thought you might be interested by way of the topics in your website. You seem to be a philosophy buff as well (as HE is--not me... I know little). :)
I'm not a philosophy buff, but my minds' been going over similar subjects to _what the philosophers write about_, I've never studied philosophy and couldn't dicuss any philosophers' opinions! (Except Nietzsche, who I know well). I'm so much more a classical theologian than a classical philosopher!
I see what you mean here. Philosophy is just ... thinking about thinking. At least religion is thinking about ... something!
Mind-Cure was a description James' used to describe the faith-healing aspects. Although the new age now call it "self help" etc, it started out as the same movement as Christian faith healing movements. The guy(s?) who founded Christian Science were connected with early proto-new-age groups.
I this context, simply, mind-Cure is curing by method of the mind.