The Cardinal Sin of New Age Spirituality

5 things the 'New Age' doesn't want to admit to itself

The cardinal sin of New Age spirituality is pride.

New Age spirituality says, “Everything is already perfect and I am God and I have infinite power and so I can do and manifest whatever I want.”

This seductive line of thinking contains massive distortion.

It’s ultimately a self-serving philosophy that tends heavily toward ego-inflation, ungroundedness, grandiosity, selfishness, arrogance, and hedonism.

It’s an operating system that works well for childless men and women who want to justify their self-absorbed ‘escape the matrix’ lifestyle.

It’s a stage of spiritual immaturity—not a lofty spiritual destination.

I was once quite deeply immersed in this paradigm.

I even published a book called ‘You Are God’ in 2021.

The danger is not that there is a total lack of truth in New-Age-ism. Rather, it’s that New-Age-ism is full of self-serving half-truths that sound amazing and appeal to the ego.

5 Things the ‘New Age’ Does Not Want to Admit

Let’s take a closer look at the line I wrote above to illustrate this point and illuminate ‘the other side of the coin’ that the ‘New Age’ does not want to acknowledge:

“Everything is already perfect and I am God and I have infinite power and so I can do and manifest whatever I want.”

Yes, in some sense there is a certain perfection and completion to life in this moment now, just as it is. Yes, we are children of God—and our innermost essence is of the Divine. Yes, through God all things are possible, and through God we have been gifted a great participatory power to create. Perhaps you can already see how I’m subtly re-framing some of these claims.

And more crucially, these claims are really only ‘half the story’ (if that).

It’s equally important to realize that:

1. Everything is not already perfect. Earth is awash in sinfulness, sorrow, violence, insanity, and bloodshed. Mankind murdered 100,000,000 of its own kind in the 20th century alone. Pride and greed are absolutely rampant in our civilization, and as society continues to fracture, we are beginning to reap what we’ve sewn—on a mass scale.

2. You are not God. If you believe you are God, then your conception of God is far too small. I am a self-absorbed joke in comparison to God. The selfless holiness of God is like the Light of a trillion suns. Through Grace and Humility we are invited to partake of the holiness of God—embodying His Love bit by bit, becoming gradually sanctified through an eternal process of devotion. This may sound intense, yet it’s actually a great honor to walk this journey—and we dishonor God when we believe that we simply need to ‘see reality as it is’ and then boom!, we’ve become God. Doesn’t work like that.

3. You have no power of your own. All that you have—and all that you are—comes from God. God is the source of your being and all your gifts and blessings. If this is not recognized and humbly honored, then “pride cometh before a fall.” If the ego believes it has become God and gained infinite power, it’s only a matter of time until the ego receives a ‘karmic roundhouse kick to the face.’ (Do not mistake this for an idea of God delivering punishment; it is better seen as Fierce Grace and Love built into the very structure of reality, so as to deliver us a ‘rude awakening’ when we stray onto the path of destruction.)

4. On a related note, you cannot do anything without God. You cannot ‘manifest’ anything without God. “For in Him we live, and move, and have our being.” God is the only reason you presently breathe, my friends. This is simply the truth. And it is not wise to simply “do and manifest whatever you want” in life. Living selfishly and hedonistically—and creating from ego—invariably leads one toward destruction at the hands of devils. I went far enough down that road to look those demons in the eyes. You’re free to test it out yourself, of course. (And I’m not saying said destruction is necessarily a permanent or eternal state—it could be quite painful, prolonged, and karmically tangled though. I personally affirm the lesser-known Christian idea of Apokatastasis—or, an eventual universal salvation.)

5. On a related note, be careful with ‘following your bliss’ and ‘doing what makes you come alive.’ Too many New Agers interpret these maxims in a shallow, self-serving way that doesn’t do them any favors. I would re-frame them as: Follow your heart’s deepest, purest bliss. Do what makes your heart and soul come alive. I would suggest to you that your purest bliss and aliveness will be found within avenues of service and connection to others. Your true bliss and aliveness will not be primarily about you, but will help you focus less on yourself. And your true bliss and aliveness will likely take you through a great deal of pain and sorrow, so as to humble you, crack your heart open, and strengthen you. By all means, play and have fun and “become like little children”—but let yourself be drawn toward the soul’s play, the heart’s joy, the wholesome omni-uplifting fun.

The Next Step for New Age Spirituality is Humility

I am coming to see humility as an indispensable keystone when it comes to true spirituality.

It’s really, really hard to even articulate the full depth of what is meant by this.

Humility.

I can illustrate it this way:

Ask yourself honestly: Do I feel any resistance to the idea of falling to my hands and knees right now in prayer, thanking Divinity, and acknowledging that I owe my life to Divinity, am nothing without Divinity, and have no power of my own? Can I literally stop and do this right now? Can I acknowledge that without Divinity I am weak and lost? Can I acknowledge that I am a sinner—one who makes mistakes, becomes prideful, and misses the mark? Can I let my Divine Father and Mother know that I need their help? Can I humbly ask them to be with me, guide me, clean my heart?

I just paused and took some time to do this. Perhaps you feel called to try it out as well.

This sort of practice is good, good medicine for prideful egos (like mine).

A great way to re-establish right relationship with Divinity.

Many New Age spiritualists would recoil from this sort of practice.

And therein lies a supremely important clue.

Amen.

With Love,
J