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| * Belief in Deity * God is the impersonal life force, consciousness, ultimate truth and reality, the incorporeal, formless cosmic order personified within all people and matter. "God" is all and all are "God." * Incarnations * Most believe there are no particular incarnations to worship, as all in the universe are embodiments of "God". *Origin of Universe and Life * The universe, life, and matter were not created by God but "are" God. The universe and life emerged out of the creative power of the eternal universal life force. * After Death * Some believe in continual rebirth--no death--as life is spirit. Some believe that our souls rest for a time before deciding on a new body (or bodies). Heaven and hell are states of consciousness, self-imposed, due to ignorance of "God" as all. * Why Evil? * No original sin, no Satan, and no evil. Most believe people make "mistakes" when they are ignorant of the power of goodness, which is God, within themselves and others. Some believe evil is perpetuated through accumulation of past-life wrongs and spiritual ignorance. * Salvation * Salvation lies in the realization of oneness with the impersonal life force. Awareness can be heightened through methods that induce altered states of consciousness, e.g., hypnosis, meditation, music. Spiritual "tools" include crystals, tarot cards, amulets, channeling, astrology. Some believe the salvation of humanity will occur when a critical mass is reached, when people converge in experiencing their oneness with "God"and with each other. This will bring a New World Order or new Planetary Order, resulting in oneness of civilization and one-world government, peace, and harmony. * Undeserved Suffering * Suffering is the result of greed, hatred, and spiritual ignorance in a person's, or humanity's, past lifetimes, which returns as suffering (karma). Suffering is sometimes viewed as occurring for a specific purpose, to further spiritual growth and learn a life lesson. Suffering is also seen as illusory, in that it results from attachment to bodily pleasure and pain, and only the universal life force within, "God", truly exists. * Contemporary Issues * Abortion and homosexuality not condemned, as there is no official doctrine. Generally, adherents are supportive of a human's right to choose. |
| How are the beliefs of the New Age Explained? |
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| The Tenets |
| Origins of Theory |
| God being "One with All" can be seen as having no specific persona or human characteristics and is often referred to in the sense of being "The Universe". Under that umbrella of being "One with All", this also encompasses that everything which came from the universe, including humans and animals that have specific characteristics and personalities, and is then personified as a 'being'. Further, "God" can be personified as a trait, such as perfection, love, spirit, etc. This encompassment is ultimately of One, which is manifested in all, because of the different impersonations that Perfection, or the Universe has brought forth from itself. Because the universe is ultimately of One, the creation of the universe was in and of itself, since "God" is All. |
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| The energy of the universe which is the universe does not cease to exist. It changes forms of complexity over time, which, by the laws of energy, manifests in different ways. God, or, the universe, being the ultimate resting place of our energy, is causal to no heaven or hell, except what has been created to be seen as heaven and hell in the earthly sense. |
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Salvation, by definition, is the liberation from ignorance and illusion. The practice of meditations of all types to seek inner truth, is a reminder on how to break free from ignorance and break free from what we think are limitations. Over time, when all come to an understanding that there are no limitations except what one places on themself, the new order of the world will be one of peace and harmony. Because the universe or god, is all energies, suffering is an energy that is transferred between personifications. Negative energies such as hatred and greed are released from personal energies, also attract like energies, creating suffering, and its karma. In this matter, the choice to create, endure, or harbor suffering, is the manifest of a specific negative concentrations of energy. It is known that there are positive energies available within and around it, making the manifestation of suffering a choice, and also an illusion of something smaller than the big picture, which includes positive energy. All things are made of energy from energy. The attractions or rejections of specific energies, are based on the conclusions of one on how a particular energy should be physically manifested. Because "one" is all, there is no absolution, since "one" creates, and is ever-changing, there is no ultimate destruction, just changing of energy forms. |
| "God" being All, is One with all that is created. In this sense, Satan and evil are unfavorable acts attached to mankind used as an allegory to differentiate between doing for the purpose of harmony with the universe or doing for the purpose of harm. Energy that is negative is perpetuated until it changes form. |
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