Esotericism/Mysticism

[discohaze]

Yeah, Denis Leary definitely ripped off a few of Hicks' bits....

McKenna's written some interesting stuff. I don't agree with all of it, but there's a lot of food for thought there.

I'm interested in a lot of contemporary writings on this subject, but the "classics" can't be beat... I like the Upanishads, the Gnostic Gospels, etc.... all good stuff.

[PureEvil760]

There's a fine line between esoteric wisdom and New Age nonsense, however, so I'm pretty wary about what I read on these subjects.

There cannot be "New Age" nonsence simply because it can only mean what you want it to mean, there is no defined meaning to that phrase. There are however people that call themselves "New Age" because thier psycic, but they dont try to seek enlightenment or a higher state of being like spirit is trying to teach us. A few people that claim to be new age that I have spoken to seem to have one thing in common..they all say that you do not have to be rid of ego to reach the highest consiousness. That is just strait up false so they really have given that phrase a bad name.

Bottom line, "esoteric wisdom" is included in "new age philosophy". What ever you paint over those words is only your own unique interpretation.

You got any good stories of memories while trippin?..hope we can talk about that cause I got an infraction for talking about X the other day.

[discohaze]

Yeah, good point... like a lot of people, I use the term "New Age" to invoke the, erm, flakiness that often accompanies unconventional spiritual beliefs these days. When I think of the New Age, I think of attempts to make old spiritual traditions sound novel and exotic, to put a misleading "self-help" spin on certain spiritual practices, etc., all more or less for marketing purposes. That's not an entirely fair perception, of course, especially since the term "New Age" isn't really easy to define in the first place.

I wouldn't say esotericism is included in the New Age at all. Esoteric thought has been around in diverse forms for thousands of years, whereas the New Age is a recent appellation and, as I said, largely tainted by the efforts of so many to exploit the self-help/marketing angle. Plus, from what I can tell, the New Age often takes esoteric ideas and makes them palatable for an exoterically-minded audience, basically carving the real meat out of the old teachings.

But, yeah, these are all just words, and words have a tendency to reveal some truths while getting in the way of others! I know there are always exceptions in cases where I paint with broad strokes here....

Most of my interesting trip stories, btw, are the bad ones! Lots of stereotypical dumbass-on-drugs moments, but also lots of intellectual/emotional insight gained. I might write more about it later (another thread perhaps?)

[Staurm]

When i use the term new age it is normally with specific reference to the emerging scientific paradigm, replacing the old mechanistic world view. Also because of the many parallels with spiritual beleifs.

[PureEvil760]

The phrase "New Age" originally came from a channeled angel, its one of the only things given by spirit that I notice most people know about..its a start.