When many people think of “new age” they think of crystals and purple decals and ceremic angels in people’s windows and a kind of fuzzy thinking – which is abhorrent to a serious person. Fuzzy thinking is, after all, just one step above not thinking at all. But to take the ideas of serious transformational thinkers and philosophers and throw the “new age” label at them is also abhorrent. I feel that the term “new age” is used by bascically hostile media to diminish and marginalize a conversation that is very significant.
– Marianne Williamson
Author of A Return to Love: Reflections on
the Principles of A Course in Miracles.
From a conversation with Scott London
Author of A Return to Love: Reflections on
the Principles of A Course in Miracles.
From a conversation with Scott London
As a student of the Course, I find the words of Alan Braswell to be very informative and insightful, especially as I’m aware that the Course is often maligned and dismissed by some as “new age.”
Braswell, drawing on the insights of Kenneth Wapnick, challenges such notions in the following post that he originally shared with the Facebook group Let’s Discuss A Course in Miracles.
There is a fairly common misconception floating around that A Course in Miracles is “New Age.” I’ve encountered this misconception countless times over the years, and was recently reminded of this fallacy - which suggested to me that posting [the following] from a letter that Kenneth Wapnick wrote to the Library of Congress on the subject might be helpful.
Ken [who was a clinical psychologist and one of the foremost teachers of A Course in Miracles] maintained over the years of teaching the Course that it is not a New Age spirituality but rather has its intellectual roots in much earlier intellectual traditions, including the teachings of Plato, Neoplatonism, and the higher teachings of Gnosticism.
The following are excerpts from a letter Kenneth sent to the Library of Congress sometime in the 1990’s, requesting that they no longer classify the Course and Kenneth’s books under the category New Age. Kenneth’s efforts were successful.
Here are excerpts from Ken’s letter:
A Course in Miracles in many crucial ways is in sharp disagreement with New Age thinking, with many principles discussed in the book conflicting with many New Age principles. Five examples of this kind of conflict are as follows:
1) The theory of A Course in Miracles is based on a non-dualistic metaphysics; it teaches that the physical universe (including the body) was not created by God, and in fact, came about as an attack on God. No New Age system would support this; they all teach just the opposite.
2) A Course in Miracles does not support the thinking involved in “prosperity consciousness,” a prominent principle in New Age thought systems.
3) In almost all New Age systems there is an overriding emphasis on people’s positive experiences, with scant lip service paid to the overwhelming unconscious feelings of guilt shared by most people. A Course in Miracles teaches that there is only one problem in the world, and that is guilt. Therefore, it focuses primarily on our feelings of guilt, teaching us how to identify them and undo them.
4) Another theme common to many New Age systems is the belief that we are God. A Course in Miracles is emphatic in teaching that we are not God; it teaches that God is our Source – we have been created by Him.
5) On a more general level, A Course in Miracles is distinguished from New Age thought systems in that it draws upon traditional Freudian psychoanalytic principles (e.g., denial and projection), and, within philosophical and spiritual contexts, upon the Neoplatonic tradition and themes common to early Christianity and the Gnostic systems of the second and third centuries. My book, Love Does Not Condemn: The World, the Flesh, and the Devil According to Platonism, Christianity, Gnosticism, and A Course in Miracles, provides an in-depth exploration of these themes. Chapter 19 is especially helpful in understanding these conflicts.
A Course in Miracles:
A Gift of Peace
For previous ACIM-related posts, see:
• In the Midst of the “Great Unraveling,” a Visit to the Prayer Tree
• In the Stillness and Silence of This Present Moment
• The Beauty and Challenge of Being Present in the Moment
• I Need Do Nothing . . . I Am Open to the Living Light
• Finding Balance in the Presence of the Beloved
• Cultivating Stillness
• Resting in the Presence of the Beloved
• Stepping Out of Time and Resting Your Mind
• A Sacred Pause
• Aligning With the Living Light
• Mystical Participation
• Dwelling in Peace
• Inner Peace
• The Soul’s Beloved
• You Are My Goal, Beloved One
• Be In My Mind, Beloved One
• Your Peace Is With Me, Beloved One
Opening image: Michael J. Bayly.
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