Relational Spirituality, Part 1 Paradise Unbound: Cosmic Hybridity and Spiritual Narcissism in the “One Truth” of New Age Transpersonalism
International Journal of Transpersonal Studies 2010 DOI: 10.24972/ijts.2010.29.1.31 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Transcendence philosophy Creolization Spirituality Narcissism Aesthetics Spiritualism Literature Religious studies Psychoanalysis Anthropology Epistemology Jungian analytical psychology |
| Citations | 21 |
| Key points | Argues that popular New Age transpersonalism breeds a self-serving, Self-as-everything form of spiritual narcissism, and proposes a more relational spirituality as an intervention. |
Abstract
Cosmological hybridization, a process in which spiritual paradises are bound together, is highly active in American religious culture. Beginning with an early Christianized version of the Buddha, this religious Creolization gathered speed after WWII and peaked during the Vietnam War, leading to a complex spiritual revolution in which transcendence became an all important orientation. This revolution set the scene for the emergence of a non-relational transpersonal psychology in which Americanized nondualism gained ascendency. It is argued here that popular New Age transpersonalism traps the spirit, breeding a self-serving, Selfas-everything form of spiritual narcissism. Given that some are calling the New Age the religion of global capitalism, a more relational spirituality may be a vital intervention into transpersonalism's self-centeredness and a salve for a world in Creolization.