Remembering New Age

I was remembering the New Age movement today.  Doing some house cleaning today I tossed out a copy of Journey to Ixtlan, The Lessons of Don Juan (1972) by Carlos Castaneda .  I made a note in the book, "the world is a feeling."  The quote on page 193 says, "The most difficult part about the warrior's way is to realize that the world is a feeling.  When one is not-doing, one is feeling the world..."  Remember the movie Star Wars came out in 1977 with a big emphasis on feelings:  "Stretch out with your feelings," said Obi-Wan to Luke.  The movie cashed in on some New Age jargon.

I had family that liked the works of Carlos Castaneda and I had friends who liked the book The Way of the Peaceful Warrior (1980) by Dan Millman.  I read both books because I wanted to see what family and friends liked, and I was unmoved by both books.   They made a movie out of the book The Way of the Peaceful Warrior and I took my daughter to see if she, as a young person, could see any value in the story.  My daughter was bored.  I was truly bored to tears.  Yes, my eyes teared up, I was so bored that I discovered that "bored to tears" is more than an expression.

In retrospect, I continue to be amazed at how many people were drawn to so many off-beat ideas within the New Age movement.   But then people still believe in Marxism.  Bad ideas have a long shelf-life.

Robert