1. Why do you believe the New Age movement has been declared dead when millions of people still hold to the idealistic beliefs once made popular by the movement?

I never heard that the New Age movement was declared dead, but in effect the label seems to have died out.  In any case, it’s labels that the press and the pundits deal with and in their eyes these ideas are no longer worth discussing.  I think the main reason why the interest in alternative spirituality ceased to be featured in the news had to do with the catastrophic Bush era of fear- and war-mongering.  This was a field day for journalists – the concept of the “New Age” is more a journalistic idea than anything else.  Not that real ideas and practices and a real movement of consciousness was not behind it all.

2. Do you believe “New Age” is still a fitting emblem for alternative/holistic spirituality?  If not, then why not, and what do you call it instead?

 

Language and rhetoric are key in the art of communication.  No label, catch phrase, or emblem of itself really matters; everything depends on how it’s used.  However, since most people react to labels and abstractions, I myself would not wish to carry a banner with “New Age Revival” emblazoned on it.  Nine out of ten people will see it as a throwback.  On the other hand, it could be used cleverly as a reminder that something of value has been suppressed or forgotten, and then proceed to reinvent the language of alternative/holistic spirituality.  Personally, my feeling is this: one should avoid any term that is technical, rigid, stale, or laden with too many dubious connotations.  On the other hand, if one is too original, too exotic, too unheard of in one’s vocabulary, people will shy away because of the strangeness.  So every writer and thinker and communicator has to discover her or his own personal, unique, and persuasive idiom.  Sure, that’s a challenge, not easy, but, I think, the best way to proceed.

3. Does having a common identity matter?  Is it possible to join our efforts for the greater good without a common identity?

The question of common identity relates again to the question of language.  There is no doubt that a common language is the key to communication.  But there are all sorts of possible variations, and people are touchy, ornery, and idiosyncratic.  Lots of people call themselves Christians, but there all sorts of sects and variations, and they can end up killing each other, and have.  Catholics and Protestants love to abuse each other – remember the 30 years war; Islamists are mad about mutual slaughter; the difference between a New York Jew and a fanatical Zionist is the difference between earthlings and martians, etc.  So, my solution to this is to try to speak the common language of humanity: wit, humor, heart, but with your own honest voice, not dogmatic or self-consciously universal.  William Blake said that every honest person is a prophet.  Above all, try to show respect for the opinions of those who oppose you, but when you disagree, use a rapier with grace, not the ax of a slovenly butcher.

4.  Do you believe alternative spirituality still carries the potential to transform society?  Do you think a New Age "revival" could help along this transformation?   

In my opinion, all genuine spirituality is alternative spirituality.  That is, it is fresh, original, even if simple and crude, and comes from the depths.  Chuang-Tzu said somewhere, “I may seem crazy but don’t imitate me; be crazy in your own way.”  (That’s a paraphrase.)  The potential for any kind of life-enhancing and soul-transforming idea or movement never dries up; the reason is that human beings are forever needy creatures, caught between aspiration and finitude, the spark of divinity within and the limitations of death, history, and the other.  Any one of us, at any hour of the day, anywhere on the face of this earth can do something wonderful, memorable, even miraculous.  The conditions are always ripe for transformation.  But at the same time there is the eternal counterpoint of the Freudian reality principle – all hail the master!  Each of us is an acrobat, a tightrope walker, tiptoeing over the abyss, frightened by the risk of falling and tempted to dance beautifully onward.   So take your pick; and when you do, you still have to contend with luck, good or lousy.

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