Although the New Age Movement (NAM) has been promulgated by its adherents and has been
severely attacked by the Evengelical Churches during a few decades in this century, the NAM has
only recently caught the attention of various scholars of religion. Some have noted that it is
basically a western and perhaps postmodern phenomenon while others state that it has
"surpassed" and out-dated Christianity as a worldview in the West. What is especially
questionable is that some authors have identified the Bahá'i Faith as part of the New Age
Movement. One possible explanation for this identification is perhaps that the NAM has been
admittedly problematic to define and study. Yet, certain areas have been identified as the NAMs
salient characteristics, e.g.: millennialism, holism and healing, eclecticism and syncretism, monism
and pantheism, consciousness and paradigm, evolution and reincarnation.
Although it is possible to identify a variety of similarities and differences between the NAM and
the Bahá'i Faith, such comparisions or correlations do not establish any causation or historical
influences. More importantly, when one compares some of the most central tenets of the NAM:
its theology, cosmology, ontology, soteriology, and especially its view of reincarnation, it
becomes increasingly evident that the NAM and the Bahá'i Faith stand far apart and that the latter
is more akin to the ancient prophetic religions.
However, the NAM and the Bahá'i Faith do not only differ on the theoretical levels but also in
their origins and organisational structures. The NAM is loosely structured and has been defined
as a "meta-network"; hence it has no common founder or established origin, no holy canon, no
unifying doctrine, no common mythology or ritual. The Bahá'i Faith, on the other hand, claims a
new and unique revelation from God, revealed by two prophet-founders; it has a holy canon, a
unifying doctrine, and it contains relatively few myths or rituals. In this respect, the Bahá'i Faith
more resembles the classical religions rather than the NAM.
Although the Bahá'i Faith does contain quite a few commonalities with the NAM - especially the
concept of the emergence of a New Age - such parallels should be traced to the historical-,
religious- and geographical contexts of the Near- and Middle East, rather than in 19-20th century
Europe or America. Hence, scholars of religion who identify the Bahá'i Faith with the
contemporary phenomenon of the NAM have failed to understand its religious origin and
context, and its rather obvious similarities with the classical religions.
Paper:
Note: this online copy of the paper may differ slightly from
the published version in Lights of Irfan vol. I -ed.
The title of my paper is The New Age Movement and the Bahá'í
Faith and I would like to briefly share with you some reflections on this
subject. (I must admit that, in researching this relationship, I was unaware
that Dr. Udo Schaefer had made a similar investigation on this topic in his
Beyond the Clash of Religions, and yet, in my "independent investigation
of truth", I think we have reached similar conclusions. Yet, I believe that
research on this subject has barely begun).
I will briefly cover the following four main themes:
1) Why should we examine the relationship between the New Age Movement and
the Bahá'í Faith?
2) What is the New Age Movement and how is it defined?
3) What are some of the similarities and differences between New Age
Movement and the Bahá'í Faith?
4) How may the New Age Movement be evaluated from a Bahá'í
perspective?
Why should we examine the relationship between the New Age
Movement
and the Bahá'í Faith?
First of all, some authors[1] have
associated the Bahá'í Faith with the New Age Movement and have
grouped it together with religious movements such as Theosophy, neo-Hindu
reform movements and neo-Sufism.
Secondly, it ought to be studied since some scholars of religion think
that the New Age Movement has surpassedand outdatedChristianity
as a belief-system/world-view in the West.
Thirdly, if the above statements are true, and if we as Bahá'ís,
are going to be successful in our proclamations and teachings, especially with
reference to the concept of "Entry by troops", I believe that it is vital that
we understand this "new" world view.
These three reasons, taken together, may suffice to persuade us to examine the
relationship between the New Age Movement and the Bahá'í Faith
more thoroughly in the near future.[2]
What is the New Age?
In a very real sense, humanity is approaching not only a new century but a new
millennium, so it is quite true, from a secular and temporal
perspective, that we are living at the threshold of "a new age". It is also
well known that millennarian and apocalyptic movements flourish at such
critical turning points in history.[3]
The New Age phenomenon, however, has only recently caught the attention of
scholars of religion. It has largely been ignored for two reasons: 1) it was
seen as a "faddish" or appeared to be "shallow", and 2) it has no clear
boundaries (as we shall see later on), and therefore, historically, it has been
much easier to study, what has been labeled "New Religious Movements", since
they are more easily defined and accessible for social research. However, some
scholars maintain that the New Age Movement is a large "sub-culture" and that
it is part of a much greater "cultural shift" in the West, and others have
stressed that it is basically a western "post-modern" phenomenon, while others
state that it has by far surpassed and out-dated Christianity as a
belief-system in the West. Others predict that the New Age Movement as a
movement is a transient fad, that it is doomed, but that its
ideas may continue to influence and transform the present society.
How is the New Age defined?
The New Age Movement has, by a number of scholars, admittedly been problematic
to define and study. For example, it has either ancient historical
roots[4](in Hellenism 300 BC,
Gnosticism 100-300 AD, in Hermetism 1500), or is described as a phenomenon that
began in the counterculture of the 60s-70s.These extreme perspectives
can be seen by the descriptions by two scholars in this field. E.g. Robert
Ellwood sees the New Age as "a modern revival . . . of a long-standing
tradition of what may be called the alternative spirituality of the west", and
that it can be traced to "the Greco-Roman world" via "Renaissance occultism . .
. eighteenth century Freemasonry, and nineteenth-century Spiritualism and
Theosophy.[5]
This statement can, in turn, be contrasted with Gordon Melton who writes
that,
the New Age movement is a relatively new phenomenon. It developed in the
late 1960s and emerged as a self-conscious movement in the early 1970s.[6]
It is further described as either a movement,[7] a religion,[8] or, as a quasi-religion;[9] as non-occult/non-esoteric or
occult/esoteric (e.g. in Germany the term "New Age" has largely been replaced
by the term Esoterik = esotericism or Ganzheitlich = holistic[10]); and that it centers on the
Self/narcissism, (e.g. New Age has been described as the "religion of the
Self"[11]), or that it is basically involved
with a social/global transformation.[12]
Furthermore, the New Age Movement has also been defined by its own adherents.
E.g. David Spangler[13] discerns four levels
of the New Age Movement as being characterized as:
1) commercial (superficial)
2) glamour and popular culture (media attention)
3) "an image of change" (transformation/paradigm shift)
4) the birth of the sacred and a resacralizing of life on earth, "new age is
fundamentally a spiritual event"
Thus, from this brief overview we can conclude and stress that the term "New
Age" (like most religious terms and concepts) is multifaceted, highly
ambiguous, and has many dimensions and levels, and therefore is extremely hard
to define.
What are some of the similarities and differences between New Age Movement and
the Bahá'í Faith?
Nevertheless, and keeping the difficulty of definition in mind, Lewis has
enumerated some general characteristics of NRMs (as defined by Robert Ellwood)
which he believes also are applicable to the New Age Movement.[14] Let us compare these general
characteristics of the New Age Movement to the Bahá'í Faith (a
detailed analysis is not possible here):
Emphasis on healing:
Healing is not emphasized in the Bahá'í Faith although the
concept of healing does occur in the Bahá'í writings, e.g. the
Manifestations of God are sometimes referred to as "Divine physicians" and the
revelation of Bahá'u'lláh is symbolically compared to an
"Elixir".[15] It is also recognized that
humans can heal through spiritual means, especially through prayer.[16]
A desire to be "modern" and use scientific language:
The Bahá'í Faith is sometimes described as a "modern" religion,
especially suitable for this modern age, and that religion and science are seen
as complementary is one of its fundamental principles. It is the religious
language, however, and not the scientific language that dominates the
Bahá'í writings.[17]
Eclecticism and syncretism:
The Bahá'í Faith emerged historically in the Near- and Middle
East, i.e. mainly within an Islamic religious context (both Shi'i and Sunni),
although a variety of religions also coexisted (and still do) within this large
area: Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, and a variety of Sufi orders. It
is quite clear, judging from the Bahá'í writings, that
Bahá'u'lláh was familiar with especially Islam and Christianity,
but also with Zoroastrianism and, to some extent, even Hinduism. It is possible
to point out both eclecticism and syncretism within Bahá'í, but
this is also the case for other religions.[18]
A monistic and impersonal ontology:
It is here where the Bahá'í Faith clearly differs from the New
Age Movement, since the Bahá'í Faith ontology basically is
panentheistic, i.e. God permeates the cosmos, and His attributes are reflected
in creation, but God cannot be identified with, or reduced to, His creation.[19] Although God sometimes is described in
agnostic or negative terms,[20] God is also
described in personal and positive terms.[21]
Optimism, success orientation, and a tendency to evolutionary views:
The Bahá'í Faith may in general be described in optimistic and
progressive terms but yet, there are also notions of decline, crises and even
so called "apocalyptic" tendencies.[22] The
evolutionary views are particularly strong and Darwin's theory of evolution is
not denied but rather reinterpreted in, what could be called, a "spiritual
theory of evolution".[23]
Emphasis on psychic powers:
It is not the psychic powers that are emphasized in Bahá'í but
the spiritual attributes, which, ultimately, are a reflection of the powers and
attributes of God.
Already here, in this very brief and somewhat superficial comparison, it is
possible to discern that it is very difficult to ascertain if
Bahá'í matches the New Age Movement. On some points it does, on
others it clearly does not.
Now, let's look at another scheme of what here is called by Hammer "An aerial
view of the New Age Religion". (For the sake of brevity, I will not go into any
great details here):
Cosmos is an unbroken whole:
There are a few passages in the Bahá'í writings that could
support such a view. For example 'Abdu'l-Bahá writes that:
all parts of the creational world are of one whole . . . All the parts are
subordinate to the whole. The contingent beings are the branches of the tree of
life while the Messenger of God is the root of that tree.[24]
There is a directionality in this wholeness:
Teleological statements can be found in the Bahá'í writings.[25]
This wholeness is permeated by a power or energy which connects us with the
cosmos:
The cosmos is permeated by the Holy Spirit. However, a certain hierarchy is
also recognized in the Bahá'í writings, but the most crucial
difference, however, is that the cosmos is not viewed in monistic or
pantheistic terms, but that it is panentheistic.
Humanity has mismanaged its own wholeness (the relationship between body -
soul):
This is not emphasized in the Bahá'í Faith, but it is rather
humanity's relationship with God, the Manifestations of God, and with the true
nature of religion that have been mismanaged.[26]
The planet earth is a wholeness:
This is also stated in the Bahá'í writings. E.g.
Bahá'u'lláh writes:
Regard ye the world as a man's body, which is affected with diverse ailments,
and the recovery of which dependeth upon the harmonizing of all of its
component elements.[27]
Every human being has a unique place in this wholeness:
This can also be confirmed in the Bahá'í-writings.[28] E.g. 'Abdu'l-Bahá states that:
. . . man is but a part or member of that whereof nature is the whole.
Human beings do not only live this life, but have transmigrated through a
chain of existences and will reincarnate many more times:
Here is another crucial difference between the New Age Movement and the
Bahá'í Faith, although the latter would agree with the first two
sentences in that: 1) there is life after death, and 2) humanity as a species,
has transmigrated through a series of prior existences (the mineral-,
vegetable-, and animal-kingdoms), but the Bahá'í writings do not
harmonize with the concept of reincarnation since it is believed that the human
soul is created at the moment of conception[29], and that after this earthly existence, it
transmigrates into a new dimension - the spiritual kingdom.[30]
There are other, perhaps better paths to knowledge than the senses and the
rational mind:
This is also confirmed in the Bahá'í writings.[31]
Various non-Christian religions contain such ideas or an ancient wisdom which
can benefit us today:
This is a little bit more difficult to answer since the Bahá'í
Faith on the one hand upholds all religions/cultures' spiritual heritage
originates, ultimately, with a Manifestation of God, and yet, on the other
hand, it also maintains that all religions/cultures decline and that they,
eventually, become obsolete and malfunctioning. In other words, although the
various religions/cultures to some degree still contain an ancient wisdom they
are, nonetheless, inadequate to solve the world's current spiritual and global
problems. However, the Bahá'í Faith also stresses "unity in
diversity" and works to preserve the richness and variety of humanity's
cultural heritage.
Humanity faces a spiritual and societal revolution, a new age:
This is perhaps one of the most fundamental features of the
Bahá'í Faith and e.g., the title of Esslemont's book
Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era conveys this theme clearly.[32] The Bahá'í writings
repeatedly emphasize that humanity is facing an unprecedented spiritual-,
societal-, and global revolution, and that it is at the threshold of a new age,
a new world order, the lesser- and the Most Great Peace, and ultimately, the
Kingdom of God on Earth.[33]
Once again we are faced with the same problems as with the previous comparison.
The Bahá'í Faith seems to fit on a number of points, but then
again, it clearly rejects such crucial categories as pantheism, monism, and
reincarnation.
I have tried to show that since: a) the definition of the New Age is highly
problematic and contains a variety of extreme positions, and b) that the
Bahá'í Faith seems to both fit and not fit, it comes as no
surprise that it is possible to both identify it with, and to separate it from,
the New Age Movement.
However, although such comparisons are possible to make, they do not establish
causation i.e. they do not clarify the problem of historical influences. For
example, if one upholds that the New Age Movement is a relatively new
phenomenon (60-70's), then the Bahá'í Faith is a considerably
older phenomenon since it originated a century earlier (1844-63). And, if one
states that New Age Movement has its roots in the synthesis created by
Theosophy during the 19th century, one is faced with another problem, since the
Bahá'í Faith not only emerged several decades before the birth of
the Theosophical Society (1875), but that it also arose outside a Euro-American
context. Finally, if one maintains that the New Age Movement has "a long
tradition in the west", with roots in Hellenism, then one is faced with yet
another problem, since Hellenism expanded not only to ancient Persia (where
Zoroastrianism was a state religion at the time being), but all the way to
India (where both Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism were already established). In
order to explain some of the similarities and differences between the New Age
Movement and the Bahá'í Faith, one rather ought to trace its
influences to the Bábí Faith, Shaykhism, Shí'i Islam,
Sufism, Neo-Platonism etc.
In our comparisons between the New Age Movement and the Bahá'í
Faith we noticed some crucial "theoretical" differences, but it should also be
mentioned that there are some "practical", "structural", or "organizational"
differences. As was mentioned earlier, the New Age Movement is a very loosely
structured movement/religion. According to Heelas, the New Age Movement
should,
not be taken to imply that the New Age is in any sense an organized entity.
Far from being centrally administered, it is comprised of diverse modes of
operation: well-organized NRMs and communities . . . networks . . . one-to-one
paths within . . . centres . . . the week-end training seminars, holiday homes
. . . festivals . . . gatherings . . . shops . . .clubs . . . schools.[34]
The New Age Movement is rather structured in what has been called a
"meta-network" i.e. a "net-work of net-works" rather than as a unified and
hierarchical organization. In other words, taken as a whole, there is: no
founder, no holy canon, no central doctrine, no myth or ritual, (although some
scholars see the New Age itself as a myth and healing as a ritual). Yet, one
has to admit that there are, what Wittgenstein called, "family resemblances"
between various sub-networks (as we have seen in our comparisons earlier), but
this is equally true for other religions as well.
The Bahá'í Faith on the other hand, is based upon what is
believed to be a new and unique revelation from God, it clearly defines two
specific founders (Báb/Bahá'u'lláh), a holy canon, and a
unified doctrine. It contains relatively few myths and rituals.[35] In contrast to the New Age Movement, the
Bahá'í Faith consists of a well-defined organization and
administration that is established on local-, national-, and international
levels. Yet, there is no priesthood, but the individual Bahá'ís
elect their representatives democratically. In comparing the New Age Movement
with the Bahá'í Faith in this manner, the latter resembles more
the so called "classical" religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam), and/or
the so called NRMs, although such comparisons also are highly problematic.
How may the New Age Movement be evaluated from a
Bahá'í perspective?
Since the New Age Movement is so highly complex and elusive, it is not very
easy to evaluate it, but I am sure it will never be evaluated by the
Bahá'ís as it has been by some Evangelical churches, i.e. that it
is a "Satanic Conspiracy", especially since: 1) Bahá'ís do not
believe in Satan, nor in conspiracies, and 2) since the Bahá'í
Faith seems to be in agreement with quite a few categories of the New Age
Movement but, as we have seen, not with other categories, i.e. monism,
pantheism, and reincarnation. Yet, I think that the greatest agreements between
the New Age Movement and the Bahá'í Faith are David Spangler's
third and fourth levels of the New Age: i.e. that it is "an image of change"
(transformation/paradigm shift), and that it may reflect the birth of the
sacred and a resacralizing of life on earth and that the "new age is
fundamentally a spiritual event". Moreover, according to Spangler "the phrase
an emerging planetary culture is replacing the phrase an emerging new age . .
." which also would be in complete harmony with the Bahá'í
view.[36]
However, I do notice a certain paradox with the New Age phenomenon, since on
one hand the western world has, especially since the Enlightenment and the
Industrial Revolution, become gradually more secularized, atheistic, and
materialistic, and yet, on the other hand, the New Age Movement seems to be an
indication of an increasing process of spiritualization.
I think this paradox can be solved by the same token as with the concepts of an
old and a new world order, and in this context I believe that the term "order"
is interchangeable with the term age. In the Bahá'í writings, the
emergence of the two orders, or ages, are not seen as mutually exclusive, but
are evaluated as two simultaneous and parallel processes. E.g., according to
Shoghi Effendi:
We stand on the threshold of an age whose convulsions proclaim alike the
death-pangs of the old order and the birth-pangs of the new. Through the
generating influence of the Faith announced by Bahá'u'lláh this New World Order
may be said to have been conceived. We can, at the present moment, experience
its stirrings in the womb of a travailing age--an age waiting for the appointed
hour at which it can cast its burden and yield its fairest fruit.[37]
This present age is seen as being on the "threshold" between two world orders -
the "death-pangs of the old order" and the "birth-pangs of the new." A similar
expression is found in the writings of Bahá'u'lláh where he says:
"Soon will the present-day order be rolled up, and a new one spread out in its
stead."[38] These and earlier passages by the
Bahá'í authors indicate that the world at present is in a major
phase-transition between two major cycles, and indeed, Shoghi Effendi also
refers to this present age as the "Age of Transition."[39] This age is furthermore represented not
only by two opposing world orders, but also by two major concurring processes.
Again, to quote from Shoghi Effendi:
A twofold process, however, can be distinguished, each tending, in its own way
and with an accelerated momentum, to bring to a climax the forces that are
transforming the face of our planet. The first is essentially an integrating
process, while the second is fundamentally disruptive. The former, as it
steadily evolves, unfolds a System which may well serve as a pattern for that
world polity towards which a strangely-disordered world is continually
advancing; while the latter, as its disintegrating influence deepens, tends to
tear down, with increasing violence, the antiquated barriers that seek to block
humanity's progress towards its destined goal. The constructive process stands
associated with the nascent Faith of Bahá'u'lláh, and is the harbinger of the
New World Order that Faith must erelong establish. The destructive forces that
characterize the other should be identified with a civilization that has
refused to answer to the expectation of a new age, and is consequently falling
into chaos and decline.[40]
It is interesting to note that both processes are being described as
accelerating and that they are reaching a climax which will be "transforming
the face of our planet." The first process is described as "integrating" and
"constructive" whereas the latter is depicted as "disruptive" and
"disintegrating." Furthermore, the former process is associated with the
"nascent Faith of Bahá'u'lláh" and the "New World Order." The
second process, although portrayed as "destructive," is seen in a positive
light in that it tears down the "antiquated barriers that seek to block
humanity's progress towards its destined goal." This barrier is hence related
to a civilization which has "refused to answer to the expectation of a new
age." This last sentence could refer to: 1) the revelation of
Bahá'u'lláh in general, and/or 2) Bahá'u'lláh's
letters sent to various religious and political leaders in the 19th century.[41]
Thus, rather than viewing the New Age Movement as an isolated phenomenon, as a
"faddish", a "sub-culture", a western "post-modern" phenomenon, or a cultural
or paradigm- shift, it could be viewed within a much larger context of the
Bahá'í Faith: in the context of the transition of the old and new
world orders, within the context that mankind is coming of age, within the
context of religious cycles, and therefore ultimately, within the context of
progressive revelation.
I would now like to conclude this paper with a quote from 'Abdu'l-Bahá
who, at the beginning of this century said:
Now the new age is here and creation is reborn. Humanity hath taken on new
life. The autumn hath gone by, and the reviving spring is here. All things are
now made new. . . Renewal is the order of the day. And all this newness hath
its source in the fresh outpourings of wondrous grace and favour from the Lord
of the Kingdom, which have renewed the world. The people, therefore, must be
set completely free from their old patterns of thought, that all their
attention may be focused upon these new principles, for these are the light of
this time and the very spirit of this age.[42]
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——— (1982). The Promulgation of Universal Peace. Talks delivered by
'Abdu'l-Bahá during His visit to the United States and Canada in
1912.Comp, Howard MacNutt. 2nd edn. Bahá'í Publishing Trust,
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——— (1982). Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
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——— (1983). Gleanings from the Writings of
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Hanegraaff, Wouter J. (1995). New Age Religion and Western Culture: Esotericism
in the Mirror of Secular Thought. Utrecht..
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Lambden, Stephen (1994). Doing Bahá'í Scholarship in the 1990s: A
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——— (1997). The Background and Centrality of Apophatic Theology in
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Revisioning the Sacred: New Perspectives on a Bahá'í Theology.
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Lewis, J.R., & Melton, J.G. (Eds.) (1992). Perspectives on the New Age.
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Lundberg, Zaid (1996). Bahá'í Apocalypticism: the Concept of
Progressive Revelation. Unpublished MA thesis. Lund University.
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MacEoin, Denis (1994). Rituals in Babism and Bahá'ísm. British Academic Press,
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McGinn, Bernard (1979). Visions of the End: Apocalyptic Traditions in the
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Romarheim, Arild (1989). Kristus i Vattumannens tecken: Nyreligiösa
uppfattningar om Jesus Kristus. Libris, Örebro.
Rothstein, Mikael (1993). Er Messias en Vandman? En bog om nye religioner og
New Age. G.E.C. Gad, Copenhagen.
——— (in press). New Age bevægelsen i ritualanalytisk
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Lund University.
Schaefer, Udo (1995). Beyond the Clash of Religions: The Emergence of a New
Paradigm. Zero Palm Press, Prague.
Shoghi Effendi (1976). High Endeavours: Messages to Alaska. National Assembly
of the Bahá'ís of Alaska.
——— (1991). The World Order of Baháá'u'lláh -
selected letters. Bahá'í Publishing Trust, Wilmette, Illinois.
Spangler, David (1984). Emergence: The Rebirth of the Sacred. Delta, NY.
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——— (1996). Millennialism in the Bahá'í Faith:
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2It should be mentioned that in 1994 Stephen Lambden already
pointed out the need for Bahá'í scholars to study 'The Age of
Aquarius'. "Such Bahá'ís as are interested in this area should
become acquainted with aspects of 'new age' philosophy and Bahá'í
reactions to it through the study of sensible sources". Lambden also mentions
in a footnote that the LSA of Warwick has produced a leaflet entitled The New
Age in order to approach adherents of the 'new age'. See Lambden (1994:
71-72).
7Most scholars in Lewis' & Meltons book (1992) and Kyle
(1995)
categorize the New Age as "The New Age Movement" and compares it to New
Religious Movements. Even Heelas uses the term "movement", which is also the
title of his book (1996) The New Age Movement.
8Other scholars Hanegraaff (1997) and Hammer (1997: 274)
are more
consistingly using the term "The New Age religion", but Hammer also uses the
term "The New Age movement" (p. 25). Rothstein alternates between the terms
"movement" and "religion" and writes e.g. that "The New Age is . . . a religion
of action" (p. 11, my translation). Both Hammer and Rothstein state that the
New Age phenomena is a "popular belief" (folktro).
