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New Thought Movement

TakuanTakuan Veteran
edited June 2011 in Faith & Religion
What do you guys think of the growing New Thought movement in America and Europe?

Comments

  • personperson Don't believe everything you think The liminal space Veteran
    Never heard of it, can you provide a link?
  • TakuanTakuan Veteran
    Basically, the New Thought movement is a mixture of beliefs from different faiths. Depending on the organization, it can range from prosperity preaching to enlightenment philosophy.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Thought
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    Old knowledge, gift-wrapped.

    And why does there always have to be a 'God'...?
    Can't they either call it something else, or agree to take responsibility for stuff for themselves?

    In short - what's the point?
    I'm sorry, but this seems to be an American Trend - all this new-age, self-help find-yourself crud always comes from America.
    It's like they always have to be the New Foundation of everything....

    There's absolutely nothing 'New' about this.

    At all.
    They're just trying to re-invent the wheel....
  • IronRabbitIronRabbit Veteran
    Popular media seems to firmly plant the source of this New Age folderol firmly in the USA. However - tracing this philosophical/spiritual trend leads as far back as Plato. Interestingly, Renaissance Humanism - whose starting point was Italy in the 14th century can be seen to have spawned what is referred to as "New Age" thought - no, not really very new is it?
  • personperson Don't believe everything you think The liminal space Veteran
    Is this what the "Secret" is about? Is this Oprah's religion?
  • DaltheJigsawDaltheJigsaw Mountain View Veteran
    Old knowledge, gift-wrapped.

    And why does there always have to be a 'God'...?
    Can't they either call it something else, or agree to take responsibility for stuff for themselves?

    In short - what's the point?
    I'm sorry, but this seems to be an American Trend - all this new-age, self-help find-yourself crud always comes from America.
    It's like they always have to be the New Foundation of everything....

    There's absolutely nothing 'New' about this.

    At all.
    They're just trying to re-invent the wheel....
    I agree with you Federica!:)
  • personperson Don't believe everything you think The liminal space Veteran
    Old knowledge, gift-wrapped.

    And why does there always have to be a 'God'...?
    Can't they either call it something else, or agree to take responsibility for stuff for themselves?

    In short - what's the point?
    I'm sorry, but this seems to be an American Trend - all this new-age, self-help find-yourself crud always comes from America.
    It's like they always have to be the New Foundation of everything....

    There's absolutely nothing 'New' about this.

    At all.
    They're just trying to re-invent the wheel....
    We shipped all our manufacturing jobs away, its the new 'innovation' economy at work in religion. People can make alot of money by just repackaging old stuff. :-/
  • zombiegirlzombiegirl beating the drum of the lifeless in a dry wasteland Veteran
    repackaged or not, if it promotes unity between churches and compassion, i really can't find anything bad to say against it.

    i'm not surprised to find that the Unity churches are a major proponent of this. my aunt has been involved with them for years (she runs one of their youth organizations) and it sounds very similar to the things that she has told me when we discuss religion/spiritualism. i don't think that their teachings will exactly lead to liberation in a buddhist sense of the word (they tend to study ALL religions and as such, seem to lack focus, but this is just imho), but they are a very accepting and well meaning bunch.
  • TakuanTakuan Veteran
    Actually, I agree with @zombiegirl. Although they take from a lot of different faiths, they always stress compassion for ones fellow human being regardless of differences. I respect them for that. The New Thought church in my area actually hosts the local Zen sangha.

    God is interpreted differently depending on who you ask within the movement. Some believe that there is a omnipresent being that they're held accountable to; others believe that God is the "collective consciousness". It really varies from organization to organization.
    Old knowledge, gift-wrapped.

    And why does there always have to be a 'God'...?
    Can't they either call it something else, or agree to take responsibility for stuff for themselves?

    In short - what's the point?
    I'm sorry, but this seems to be an American Trend - all this new-age, self-help find-yourself crud always comes from America.
    It's like they always have to be the New Foundation of everything....

    There's absolutely nothing 'New' about this.

    At all.
    They're just trying to re-invent the wheel....
  • DaltheJigsawDaltheJigsaw Mountain View Veteran
    Old knowledge, gift-wrapped.

    And why does there always have to be a 'God'...?
    Can't they either call it something else, or agree to take responsibility for stuff for themselves?

    In short - what's the point?
    I'm sorry, but this seems to be an American Trend - all this new-age, self-help find-yourself crud always comes from America.
    It's like they always have to be the New Foundation of everything....

    There's absolutely nothing 'New' about this.

    At all.
    They're just trying to re-invent the wheel....
    We shipped all our manufacturing jobs away, its the new 'innovation' economy at work in religion. People can make alot of money by just repackaging old stuff. :-/

    What an awesome point!
    This is why the rise of new and old religions.
    Repackaged and delivered through modern technology!
  • SeaOfTranquilitySeaOfTranquility Veteran
    "The New Thought movement promotes the ideas that "Infinite Intelligence" or "God" is ubiquitous, spirit is the totality of real things, true human self hood is divine, divine thought is a force for good, sickness originates in the mind, and 'right thinking' has a healing effect." from wikipedia

    It kind of sounds similar in some ways to Buddhist ideas to me. Although I suppose the words are subject to different interpretations.

    I keep hearing people speaking disparagingly about New Age. I don't know what it is so I guess I will not have to worry about it. To me New Age is a style of music I like on the satellite radio. :)
  • MountainsMountains Veteran
    I agree with Zombiegirl. I used to belong to a Unity Church (and in fact, was married in one). Unity is very much like Buddhism in that you can believe pretty much anything you want to believe and it's okay with them. Promoting unity, empathy, and compassion can never be a bad thing.

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