Are you a new ager?

[Identity]

After watching most of the video on the forum and reading Leo’s comments, I would like to open a conversation on the topic of new age.

It seems that my ‘form’ is to a large extend that of a new-ager. 
Most of the characteristics mentioned in the video are boxes I check:

- Beliefs, attitudes, clothes (to some extend), relationships, interests, practices.

A telling sign; one of the people at the tantra centre where my girlfriend and I are doing a series of seven retreats said:

”I assume that you’re one of those ‘man circle’ guys, that lack any spiritual depth.”

Aaand, my reply was; ‘I kind of do, huh? Looking at my feminine loose patterned pants.’

Aaand, at the same time, I truly feel that I have directly grasped, experienced and am embodying many of the truths and principles that we pursue in this work.

Interestingly enough, from a young age, it had been challenging for me to find my place. To ‘create myself’. To take a particular form in the collective world.

In the end… some form needs to be taken right? You’re either wearing feminine loose patterned pants, or you’re wearing stiff jeans in which it’s impossible to move. I’ll take the first any day of the week.

Anyhow, I’m opening the floor here;

Are any of you taking this form as a ‘new ager’?

or have you found other ways of finding your place in this collective world?

[Identity]

@Leo Gura Surely you own a pair of those loose patterned pants yourself 😉

[Carl-Richard]

Not one person on this forum is not a New-Ager 😂

[Recursoinominado]

[UnbornTao]

1 hour ago, Carl-Richard said:

Not one person on this forum is not a New-Ager 😂

Why wasn't Buddha a Buddhist?

May be missing a crucial distinction here.

Edited August 28 by UnbornTao

[PurpleTree]

i almost bought such pants today

tried to upload a pic but it doesn’t let me

“Spiritual” pants with the totally different colours squares and patterns

thought it would be fun to walk around with those and look like a guru or psycho

but then i thought that’s just my spiritual ego talkin, better not buy them

 

 

[Carl-Richard]

1 hour ago, UnbornTao said:

Why wasn't Buddha a Buddhist?

May be missing a crucial distinction here.

Do we have Buddha on the forum? 🤔🧐

[Yimpa]

@Buddha say something NOW please, or forever hold your peace...

[Buck Edwards]

New ager is not a bad thing. 

[UnbornTao]

11 hours ago, Carl-Richard said:

Do we have Buddha on the forum? 🤔🧐

My question on Buddha exemplifies a principle, that of authentic experience.

What you said fails to acknowledge the possibility of eliminating beliefs rather than being suck into new ones. 

Edited August 29 by UnbornTao

[Carl-Richard]

8 minutes ago, UnbornTao said:

It exemplifies a principle, that of authentic experience. Fails to acknowledge the possibility of eliminating beliefs rather than being suck into new ones. 

What does?

[UnbornTao]

@Carl-Richard I cleaned up my post a bit.

Edited August 29 by UnbornTao

[aurum]

53 minutes ago, Buck Edwards said:

New ager is not a bad thing. 

Says the new ager 

[Carl-Richard]

21 hours ago, UnbornTao said:

The question on Buddha exemplifies a principle, that of authentic experience.

What you said, the way you think about this matter, fails to acknowledge the possibility of eliminating beliefs rather than being suck into new ones. 

Like in the video that OP referenced, New Age is religious eclecticism, steeped in individualism (which in virtually all cases means postmodernism, but that's a bit besides the point).

Whether or not in your bag of eclectic beliefs you have things like "Buddha exemplifies a principle of authentic experience", is rather orthogonal to whether or not it's New Age. "But it's not beliefs". Ok, let's grant that: you're still professing something. What you're professing, and despite of how epistemically stripped down you sometimes profess it to be — over our repeated interactions, it seems like New Age describes that.

In general, when people start to speak about what their religion is, it's possible to describe that, and when I see people on this forum do that, I generally see New Age.

Edited August 29 by Carl-Richard

[Lyubov]

It's not really for me, but there are plenty of cool people who are new age and I do like to go to new age retreats sometimes. I'm just me, I try to avoid labels. I don't really like the new age label because I don't want to build into my identity that I'm all spiritual. I also generally don't like the aesthetic of it.  

[Leo Gura]

5 hours ago, Identity said:

@Leo Gura Surely you own a pair of those loose patterned pants yourself 😉

No legs, no pants, no problem

[Lila9]

There is some stage green conformity in the New Age movements, which makes me a bit cautious.

There is some toxic positivity and unfounded beliefs that make me feel uncomfortable and unsafe.

Many times, they are more focused on pleasant and shallow spiritual ideas, attempting to bypass the struggles of life, distracting themselves with the community, various labels they put on themselves, or with hedonism while avoiding deeper spiritual work.

But people are individuals and vary, and there are some cool, nuanced, and deep people in these communities.

[Leo Gura]

2 minutes ago, Lila9 said:

distracting themselves with the community

Bingo!

[Identity]

@Lila9

Yup, definitely agree that there is a lot of stage greeny shallowness going around in most new age places.

And then again, it also varies a lot depending on the community and the individuals.

It comes back for me to this challenge; there is some form that needs to be taken. Some way to show up, behave, interact, live.

Say you want to dance, waaay rather go to a hippy-filled Ecstatic Dance then to go to a macho orange club.

I guess the point I’m making; if behind the new age externals, there is actually the seriousness, the depth, the direct experience. Don’t see the problem.

[Leo Gura]

10 minutes ago, Identity said:

if behind the new age externals, there is actually the seriousness, the depth, the direct experience. Don’t see the problem.

That's a big IF.