What is meant by the term, "The New Age Movement?"
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NOTES 1 "Kabbalah," Encyclopedia Judaica, vol. 10, column 613. 2 "Afterlife," Encyclopedia Judaica, vol. 2, column 339. 3 "Eschatology," Encyclopedia Judaica, vol. 6, column 882. 4 "Kabbalah," Encyclopedia Judaica. 10, column 610. 5 David A. Cooper, God is a Verb, Kabbalah and the practice of mystical Judaism (New York: Riverhead Books, 1998) p. 107. 6 "Kabbalah," Encyclopedia Judaica, vol. 10, column 610. 7 Ibid., vol. 10, column 613. 8 Ibid., vol.10, column 612. 9 David A. Cooper, God is a Verb, Kabbalah and the practice of mystical Judaism, p. 96. 10 Ibid., p. 262, In pages 263-264 of God is a Verb, the author outlines the ways that a nefesh can be redeemed: (1) By serving Tzaddikim (saints) in reclaiming the world for righteousness, invisible, yet active in this world in ways similar to angels; (2) By the intercessory prayers of loved ones; (3) By the merits of ancestors; (4) By the compassion of God. Inc., 2001) p. 142 11 Perle Epstein, Kabbalah, The Way of the Jewish Mystic (Boston, Massachusetts: Shambhala Publications, Inc., 2001) p. 142. 12 "Eschatology," Jewish Encyclopedia (New York: KATV Publishing House, Inc., n.d.) vol. 6, p. 881.
[Please note: these cyclical concepts do not play a major role in classical kabbalistic tradition. They were first promoted by one eccentric school of Temunah and ignored altogether by the writer of the Zohar (Kabbala’s main sacred text). However, it seemed proper to include this category for the reader’s sake.] According to the Kabbalah of Gerona, in the Sefer ha-Temunah (anonymously written about 1250 A.D.) the following cyclical view is presented. "The first three Sefirot remain concealed and do not activate ‘worlds’ outside themselves…From the Sefirot Binah, also called 'the mother of the worlds,' the seven apprehendable and outgoing Sefirot are emanated." (See "Kabbalah" under The Origin and Nature of the Universe.) "Each one of these Sefirot has a special role in one creation-cycle. Each such cosmic cycle [historical aeon], bound to one of the Sefirot, is called a shemittah or sabbatical year—a term taken from Deuteronomy 15—and has an active life of 6,000 years. In the seventh millennium, which is the shemittah period, the Sabbath-day of the cycle, the sefirotic forces cease to function and the world returns to chaos. Subsequently, the world is renewed through the power of the following Sefirah and is active for a new cycle. At the end of all the shemittot there is the "great jubilee," when not only all the lower worlds, but the seven supporting Sefirot themselves are reabsorbed into Binah. The basic unit of world history is therefore the 50,000-year jubilee."1 A 13th century Jewish writer (Babya b. Asher) proposed "the world-process lasts for no less than 18,000 jubilees."2 This time-span is not calculable by present standards, though, because with each seventh millennium "measurements of time change," being affected by a gradual slowing of universal bodies. Though some assert that at the conclusion of each "great jubilee," God begins a new creation out of nothing (ex nihilo), no Kabbalist writings imply an infinite stream of jubilees yet to unfold. There are diverse opinions concerning which shemittah in the jubilee period we are participating in presently. The generally accepted view is that we are in the shemittah of Din (judgment), ruled by the Sefirah Gevurah, and the principle of strict justice. The previous era was the shemittah of Hesed (lovingkindness) an "aeon of Grace… entirely bathed in light… [in which] there existed no evil inclination and no tempting serpent."3 This age of judgment and justice began with the giving of the Torah. Other projections include the posture that we are in the last shemittah of the present jubilee period. The world will ultimately, at the coming of the Messiah, return to the bosom of its Infinite Source. Then hell will disappear and endless bliss will begin. NOTES 1 "Kabbalah," Encyclopedia Judaica, vol. 10, column 582. Bracketed words inserted by author. 2 Ibid. 3 Gershom Scholem, Origins of the Kabbalah (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, in association with the Jewish Publication Society, first paperback printing, 1990) p. 467. Kriya Yoga (Swami Sri Yukteswar and Paramahansa Yogananda) http://www.thetruelight.net/religions/kriya_yoga.htm Paramahansa Yogananda was born January 5, 1893. His parents were Bengalis of the Kshatriya caste. He studied Kriya Yoga under Swami Sri Yukteswar who later encouraged him to carry this belief system to the West. (The word Kriya means "action" or "to do.") In 1920 he came to the United States, eventually establishing the Church of All Religions and the Self-Realization Fellowship, building a large headquarters and yoga center in 1949 in Los Angeles, California. Since then Self-Realization Fellowship Centers have sprung up all over the world. Yogananda was one of the first Indian gurus to receive widespread recognition in the Western world. One of his most popular and well-known works is the book entitled, The Autobiography of a Yogi. He died in 1952. The Origin and Nature of the Universe (Swami Sri Yukteswar): Creation sprang into being from four manus (primal thoughts): the Word, Time, Space and the Atom. The utterance of "Aum" (synonymous with Amen) brought all things into being. "This manifestation of the Word… created this visible world."1 The universe is the body of God and is comprised of the same five elements as men’s bodies (earth, water, fire, air and ether). (Paramahansa Yogananda): Corresponding to a belief that Ultimate Reality is an impersonal being (a being that does not feel or experience emotion), he taught, "Creation came into being by a desireless desire of spirit."2 NOTES 1 Swami Sri Yukteswar, "Sutra 3 & 10," The Holy Science (Los Angeles, California: Self-Realization Fellowship, 8th ed., 1990), pp. 23-24, 93. 2 Paramahansa Yogananda, Journey to Self-Realization (Los Angeles, California: Self-Realization Fellowship) p. 241.
"The Lord is Spirit; the Impersonal is invisible. But when He created the physical world He became God the Father. As soon as He assumed the role of Creator, He became personal. He became visible: this whole universe is the body of God."3 "In forming for Himself a physical body of planetary systems, God manifested three aspects: cosmic consciousness, cosmic energy and cosmic mass or matter."4 Yogananda especially promoted the idea of addressing God either as the "Heavenly Father" or the "Divine Mother". He insisted that if a person approaches God in this latter role, his prayers are especially efficacious. He also taught that a seeker can approach God in any form and by any name, and God will respond. In interpreting the concept of the Trinity, Yogananda offered, "The Father (Sat) is God as the Creator existing beyond creation. The Son (Tat) is God’s omnipresent intelligence existing in creation. The Holy Ghost (Aum) is the vibratory power of God that objectifies or becomes creation."5 NOTES 1 Paramahansa Yogananda, How You Can Talk with God (Los Angeles, California: Self-Realization Fellowship, 1997) p. 14. 2 Ibid. 3 Ibid., p. 21. 4 Ibid., p. 22. 5 Paramahansa Yogananda, Journey to Self-Realization (Los Angeles, California: Self-Realization Fellowship) p. 437, under "Trinity." The Origin and Nature of Man (Sri Yukteswar): Each person is a "Son of God" (purusha). Each purusha is covered by five sheaths (koshas): (1) The heart (Chitta), that which "feels or enjoys… the seat of bliss" (anandamaya kosha); (2) The intelligence or buddhi: the seat of knowledge (jnanamaya kosha); (3) The mind (manomaya kosha), composed of the sense organs; (4) The body of energy, life-force or prana (pranayama kosha); (5) The body of gross matter (annamaya kosha).1 (Paramahansa Yogananda): Human beings have three bodies (from which Consciousness must be delivered): (1) A physical body of sixteen elements; (2) An astral body of nineteen elements (composed of life-force and mind); (3) A causal body of thirty-five elemental ideas (the combination of the sixteen God-thoughts that produced the physical body and the nineteen God-thoughts that produced the astral body). The "consciousness, or soul, is a spark of the cosmic consciousness of God."2 "God is the essence of our own being."3 "He is your Self… He exists equally and impartially in all beings."4 NOTES 1 Swami Sri Yukteswar, "Sutra 14," The Holy Science (Los Angeles, California: Self-Realization Fellowship, 8th ed., 1990) pp. 35-36. 2 Paramahansa Yogananda, Man’s Eternal Quest (Los Angeles, California: Self-Realization Fellowship, sec. ed., 1998) pp. 263-264. 3 Paramahansa Yogananda, How You Can Talk with God (Los Angeles, California: Self-Realization Fellowship, 1997) p. 13. 4 "About Self-Realization Fellowship," www.yogananda-srf.org, (January 4, 2002) A quote found on the opening page.
1 Paramahansa Yogananda, God Talks with Arjuna, The Bhagavad Gita (Los Angeles, California: Self-Realization Fellowship, sec. ed., 1999) pp. 213-214. Dimensions or Planes of Existence (Swami Sri Yukteswar): Proceeding from the highest substance, the Absolute, to the lowest, gross matter, there are seven spheres of existence: (1) Satyaloka, the Sphere of God; (2) Tapoloka, the Sphere of the Holy Spirit, a normally inaccessible realm; (3) Janaloka, the Sphere of Spiritual Reflection; (4) Maharloka, the Sphere of the Atom, the beginning of maya, the door and the link between the spiritual and material creation; (5) Swarloka, the Sphere of Magnetic Aura; (6) Bhuvarloka, the Sphere of Electric Attributes; (7) Bhuloka, the Sphere of Gross Material, visible to everyone.1 The first three comprise the spiritual creation, the last three comprise the material creation and the fourth is the door between the two. Paramahansa Yogananda emphasized three main planes: Physical, Astral and Causal. NOTES 1 Swami Sri Yukteswar, "Sutra 13," The Holy Science (Los Angeles, California: Self-Realization Fellowship, 8th ed., 1990) pp. 33-34. The Spiritual Journey and Ultimate Destiny of Man (Paramahansa Yogananda): Promoted a scheme of reincarnation in which the soul always progresses to higher lives, though it can be retarded by negative actions. Full cosmic union with God is the ultimate goal. Cycles, Ages and the Ultimate State of the Universe (Swami Sri Yukteswar): This patriarch of the Kriya Yoga worldview redefined the cyclical view espoused in Hinduism. Drawing from Oriental astronomical beliefs, Swami Sri Yukteswar proposed that our solar system as a whole (the sun and its planets and their moons) makes a revolution around a certain universal focal point every 24,000 years. This involves an Ascending Arc of 12,000 years and a Descending Arc of 12,000 years. The development of dharma is divided into four stages: Kali Yuga (1,200 years); Dwapara Yuga (2,400 years); Treta Yuga (3,600 years); and Satya Yuga (4,800 years). Altogether these four yugas make up the Ascending Arc. Notice that each Yuga is a multiple of 1,200 years. Each yuga increases, not only in time span, but in spirituality. In the final yuga (Satya Yuga) dharma (mental virtue) is fully developed and "the human intellect can comprehend all, even God the Spirit beyond this visible world." The fourfold cycle altogether is called a "Daiva Yuga," also referred to as "the Age of the Gods." One thousand of these ages constitute "one day of Brahma," with a “night of Brahma” of equal length (12,000,000 years each). According to certain cosmic calculations, around the year 500 A.D. the Kali Yuga (in the Descending Arc) reached its darkest moment. The next stage became the Kali Yuga (in the Ascending Arc) ending around 1700 A.D. Then the ascending Dwapara Yuga began, destined to continue for 2,400 years, bringing with it an increase of mental awareness in the human race. In 4,100 A.D. the Treta Yuga will begin. In 7,700 A.D. the Satya Yuga will begin. According to Yogananda, in that final age of the Ascending Arc "men will work in harmony with the divine plan."1 Swami Yukteswar insists that the Hindu calculations are wrong which predict a continuance of the dark Kali Age for approximately another 427,000 years, and calls such scenario, "A dark prospect! And fortunately one not true." Because this is an ascending age, and humanity has been freed long ago from the Kali Yuga, the human race is "reaching out for spiritual knowledge, and men require loving help one from the other." These alternating cycles continue throughout the ceaseless ages to come.2
1 Paramahansa Yogananda, Autobiography of a Yogi (Los Angeles, California: Self-Realization Fellowship, 13th ed., 1998) pp. 193-194. 2 Swami Sri Yukteswar, The Holy Science (Los Angeles, California: Self-Realization Fellowship, 8th ed., 1990) p. 7-15, 19-20. 3 Paramahansa Yogananda, Journey to Self-Realization (Los Angeles, California: Self-Realization Fellowship) p. 438, under "Yuga." Kundalini Yoga (Yogi Bhajan) http://www.thetruelight.net/religions/kundalini_yoga.htm In 1969, at the age of 40, Yogi Bhajan came to the Western world from India. He formed the 3HO Foundation (Happy, Healthy, Holy Organization) and began spreading the message of achieving a happy, healthy and holy life through the practice of Kundalini Yoga. Some recognize Yogi Bhajan as the Siri Singh Sahib, the chief religious and administrative authority of Sikh Dharma of the Western Hemisphere. There are other Sikhs who question his right to bear this honorific title. Kundalini Yoga is professed to be a combination of many other types of yoga (hatha yoga, mantra yoga, raja yoga, etc.). It is called the "Yoga of Awareness". Its emphasis is the arousal of the "kundalini" power in order to achieve enlightenment. The Nature of God Yogi Bhajan offers a monistic and pantheistic view of God. "We have never realized what God is. On the other hand, we say, 'God is omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent.' We say it. We know it. We all agree to it. We expect to find him in a church, in a temple; we find him here, we find him there. God is a stick, God is a cup, God is a man, God is a woman; God is everything and God is nothing-anything which exists in any totality… that dance goes on… Hindus call it anhat, Christians call it communion, Buddhists call it light, Confucians call it wisdom, a Sikh knows it as ecstasy. All is one and one is all."1 NOTES 1 Yogi Bhajan (Siri Singh Sahib Bhai Sahib Harbhajan Singh Kalsa Yogiji), The Teachings of Yogi Bhajan, The Power of the Spoken Word (Pamona, California: Arcline Publications, 1977) p. 77, #277. The Origin and Nature of Man Human beings possess ten bodies: a spiritual body (the soul), three mental bodies (the negative mind, the positive mind and the neutral mind), the physical body, the arc body, the auric body, the subtle body, the pranic body and the radiant body.1 There are eight main chakras (energy centers): the seven chakras traditionally taught in Yoga, and an eighth (the aura or magnetic energy field around a person). Of the three functional minds there are nine aspects, twenty-seven projections and eighty-one facets.2 NOTES 1 Shakti Parwha Kaur Khalsa, Kundalini Yoga, The Flow of Eternal Power (New York: The Berkley Publishing Group, 1996) pp. 183-186. 2 Yogi Bhajan, The Mind, Its Projections and Multiple Facets (Espanola, New Mexico: Kundalini Research Institute, 1998) p. 135 (diagram), p. 207 (fold-out diagram).
"If you want to get out of your karma there is only one way, vibrate the Nam. The Nam is the vibration of the praise of infinity."1 This quote is an echo of Sikh doctrine. The word Nam, meaning "name," is usually combined with Sat, meaning "true." Sat Nam or "True Name" is the main designation for God in Sikhism. Yogi Bhajan also taught, "Who is the savior? It is your own higher consciousness which can save you from your own lower consciousness."2 NOTES 1 Yogi Bhajan (Siri Singh Sahib Bhai Sahib Harbhajan Singh Kalsa Yogiji), The Teaching of Yogi Bhajan, The Power of the Spoken Word (Pamona, California: Arcline Publications, 1977) p.177 #709. 2 Ibid., p.129 #510.
Reincarnation ultimately liberates the soul into oneness with God. At the end of each incarnation, when a person dies, the Spiritual Body (the Soul) and the Subtle Body leave the other eight bodies (See "Kundalini Yoga" under The Nature of Man.) to begin the spiritual journey to the next karmically determined destination. The ultimate goal of the soul is absorption into God. However, becoming one with the Universal Consciousness is not considered a "loss of identity," but rather, a "loss of limitation," the "discovery and experience of one’s greater identity which is infinite… Succinctly put: Sat Nam: Truth is your identity."1 NOTES 1 Shakti Parwha Kaur Khalsa, Kundalini Yoga, The Flow of Eternal Power (New York: The Berkley Publishing Group, 1996) p. 55. Meher Baba http://www.thetruelight.net/religions/meher_baba.htm Born February 25, 1894, Meher Baba’s name was originally Merwan Sheriar Irani. According to tradition, five Perfect Masters (Qutub — a God-conscious individual) influenced him over a period of seven years to achieve the realization that he was the Avatar of this cycle. The first was an elderly woman of the Muslim faith, Hazrat Babajan, who initiated the process when she kissed him on the forehead. The word "Avatar" means an embodiment or manifestation of God on earth. Followers of Meher Baba believe he was the most recent manifestation of God, having previously visited the earth as Zoroaster, Rama, Krishna, Buddha, Jesus, Mohammed and others. Meher Baba maintained silence for the last forty-three years of his life, communicating primarily with hand gestures and an alphabet board. He never sought to establish a religious sect, but proclaimed the unity of all religions. A large following of disciples, from many different faiths, continues to grow worldwide. Meher Baba established a Universal Spiritual Center in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. He died January 31, 1969, at Meherabad, India. The Origin and Nature of the Universe Meher Baba taught that God did not actually, consciously create the universe. "It started automatically. First there was God and nothing else. In God was everything: experience, power, knowledge and existence. But he had no consciousness that he was God. All this bother and headache you see around you is to gain that consciousness."1 Prior to the act of creation, God was in a state of "infinite unconsciousness."2 God himself passes through three levels or states of consciousness: (1) His Original State (unconsciousness); (2) Helplessness (by expressing himself in the form of helpless humans); (3) All-powerfulness (by unveiling his divinity in enlightened beings).3 Meher Baba also proposed that matter does not exist because "there is nothing but God… the existence of matter is due to the existence of the mind. When the mind disappears, matter also vanishes."4 "The whole world is created and carried on by the force of the imagination."5 Actually, it is only God who appears as the universe. "The manifold evolving universe arises from the mixing of the one Reality and Nothing… It is an outcome of Nothing and is nothing. It only seems to have existence."6 Meher Baba proposed that there are other universes. Within this universe, "there are 18,000 worlds in creation which are inhabited… but the value of our Earth… is inestimable. For it is here and here alone… that God-realization can be attained."7
1 Bhau Kalchuri, Lord Meher, vol. 3 (Asheville, North Carolina: Manifestation, Inc.) p. 855, Meherabad, October 7, 1926. 2 Ibid., pp. 988-989, Meherabad, December, 1927. 3 Meher Baba, The Everything and the Nothing, ed. Francis Brabazon (Myrtle Beach, South Carolina: Sheriar Press, Inc., 1995) pp. 95-96. 4 Bhau Kalchuri, Lord Meher, vol. 3, p. 1148, Meherabad, March 28, 1929. 5 Meher Baba, The Path of Love, ed. Filis Frederick (Myrtle Beach, South Carolina: Sheriar Press, Inc, n.d.) p. 32, also The Awakener (Magazine) 10:4, ed. Filis Frederick, p. 1. 6 Meher Baba, Discourses (Myrtle Beach, South Carolina: Sheriar Press, Inc., 7th rev. ed., 1987) p. 24. 7 T.K Ramanujam, Much Love, (1994) p. 529, Notes dictated by Meher Baba. The Nature of God God is beyond all distinction and thought, the one Reality at the heart of all religions. God is both an Impersonal Absolute and personal in manifestation. Creation is an emanation of God himself. "God has three Infinite aspects: Knowledge, Power, Bliss."1 There are "Ten Principal States of God:" (1) God in Beyond Beyond State; (2) God in Beyond; (3) God as Emanator, Sustainer and Dissolver; (4) God as an Embodied Soul; (5) God as a Soul in the State of Evolution; (6) God as a Human Soul in the State of Reincarnation; (7) God in the State of Spiritually Advanced Souls; (8) God as the Divinely Absorbed; (9) God as a Liberated Incarnate Soul; (10) God as a Man-God and God-Man.2 A Man-God is a Spiritually Perfect Master. A God-Man is the Avatar, the Christ. God in his original state existed in "infinite unconsciousness."3 (See The Origin and Nature of the Universe.) The first two states mentioned above are descriptions of God in an Impersonal State. The third is a semi-personal state, while the other seven states concern God manifesting in creation. The evolution of creation is actually the process of God discovering himself, or becoming fully conscious of his own divinity and nature. Yüklə 1,08 Mb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
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