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Thirst: On the New Spirituality

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Thirst: On the New Spirituality
By Bambi Sheleg  |  13/05/2010

The "New Age" movement, which is thriving in Western culture, including Israel, can no longer be ignored. Some believe that it is the largest spiritual movement since the Christian reformation of the 16th century, and as such, it has a tremendous influence on every one of us, whether or not we identify with it.
                                                                 Illustration: Udi Gindi
 
 
The longing for spirituality resides in the heart of every human being. So too, can we understand the aspiration for meaningful religious experiences that are not mediated by the religious establishment. The "New Age" movement is gaining momentum in the context of the crisis that modernism has precipitated in the monotheist traditions. In the West, the strong rationalism that characterized modernity has deprived humanity of a religious past that he could relate to; and yet, it has also become clear that human beings cannot disengage from the spiritual dimension of their personality, requiring holiness as a component of life.

The search for holiness of a new kind is germane to a person who lives in a consumerist and alienated society, whose economic demands are of a Darwinian nature. And yet, there's a catch. Consumerist culture has already identified the tremendous consumerist/profit potential of the "New Age" culture, and today, it is almost impossible to distinguish between the "New Age" movement and the global economics that promotes these ideas in order to harness them for its financial objectives.

The rejection of the old religious institutional authority, characteristic of the "New Age" movement, is often a source of blessing, which gives fresh and innovative expression to new interpretive voices. On the other hand, rejection of the old religious authority is often a broad palette for ethical obscuration, emotional and ethical manipulation, and sometimes, even a source of outright corruption.

An additional phenomenon that characterizes this movement is to entrench the atomization of the individual, who is increasingly sinking into a bubble and who is preoccupied mainly with himself, his experiences and his feelings. This phenomenon bears perilous implications for the future of the world's democracies.
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