From: A Catholic Response to the New Age Phenomenon prepared by the Irish Theological Commission in 1994
"New Age Movement" is abbreviated as NAM.
Since the 1960s western civilisation has experienced great unrest. Combined with progress in the fields of science and technology, great material wealth on the personal front, and unparalleled exploration of space, there is deep personal and social unease. The modern person is often unhappy. None of our achievements have produced what we most need, peace of mind, and peace among nations, combined with justice for the individual and society. The modern utopia has produced family and social disintegration on a vast scale. Modern means of communication have had the effect of isolating the individual, who feels lost in a world that has become a global village.
Secular humanism, atheistic materialism, rationalism and religious scepticism, which were so popular in the early part of this century, left a great void in the human heart. Unfortunately, our secular society did not look to God to fill this void. Instead, it turned to eastern religions in search of a new mysticism. The result was a flood of gurus who came to teach the west how to meditate. They introduced yoga, transcendental meditation, mantras and related teachings, but without reference to Christ, the Church, or revealed truth. Many Christians have participated in these exercises, even thinking they could 'Christianise' them by using Christian language to explain what is essentially non-Christian, for example the use of so-called 'Christian' mantes, and putting Christian explanations on yoga or TM practices. But these gurus taught the only thing they knew, which is Hinduism, and the Hindu Pantheon.
This movement coincided with a new interest in psychology, not as a science, but as a tool to help solve personal problems. 1 Thus, encounter groups and self-help groups became very popular. The tendency has been to turn away from the teaching of the Church to this new psychology to find answers to life's problems, and to overcome the sense of powerlessness experienced by many in today's world. To a considerable extent the Church's moral teaching has been put to one side, while people seek secular answers to life.
The problems of the past thirty years have seen the Peace Movement, the Environmental Movement, the Holistic Health Movement, the Human Potential Movement, the Women's Movement and many other movements arise in response to the problems that confront the 'global village'. Included among them is the New Age Movement (which will be referred to by the abbreviation NAM), which is the subject of this document.
Our analysis will dsecribe the following elements:
