New Age, Spirituality & Dogma – 10 Myths Revealed

Merriam-Webster’s Online Dictionaryndefinition of dogma is as follows:

Main Entry: dog • ma
Pronunciation: ‘dog-m&, ‘däg-
Function: nou

Inflected Form(s): plural dogmas alsondog • ma • ta /-m&-t&/
Etymology: Latin dogmat-, dogma, from
Greek, from dokein to seem a point of viewnor tenet put forth as authoritative withoutnadequate grounds

While we recognize the positive influences ofnorganized faith, most religions, including
Buddhism for example, have their share ofndogma. Despite valuing many Buddhist tenets,nwe detect plenty of dogmatic beliefs among itsnfollowers. The following email sent to us fromna Buddhist who chants daily exemplifies our point:

“I think fate and destiny goes back to karma,nyes we have karma from previous lives, but wencreated our own karma, so we also can changenit! Although we may not change all bad karmancompletely, my master promised us that thrunchanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo we can absolutelynreach enlightenment in this life time! Andnwe can expedite the changing process! That’snthe power of our chanting!

If you start chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyonyou’ll reach enlightenment way faster thannany methods you suggest. I’ve used the powe
from my prayers (thru chanting) to overcomenobstacles in my everyday life and achieve myngoals - many times making impossible intonpossible... Quite mystical, but also a lot of work”

We asked the gentleman who emailed us tonshare how much closer he thinks he is ton“enlightenment” from chanting and exactlynhow he has “changed” his karma, but he didn’tnrespond back to us.

The Buddhist above states that his maste
“promised” him that he’d reach “enlightenment”nif he chanted a certain verse. Chanting is a formnof meditation and can be used to become morencentered and to focus.

However, if you have further karma to work outnand need to come back for other lifetimes (thatnmay have been planned well before this one), allnthe chanting in the world isn’t going to changenthat.

As we always say, you cannot erase your karma andnbypass the earthly experience needed to balancenit. Sure, you can change how you react to it, whichncan make the lessons easier to tolerate, but innno way can you erase what your ego doesn’t like orncreate what your ego wants if it’s not part of you
destiny.

Other forms of dogma linked to various beliefnsystems include the following:nn*The “Harmonic Convergence,” (a label given, byncreative and opportunistic astrologers, to a type ofnirrelevant astrological planetary alignment that hasnbeen occurring regularly for eons) and other “cosmicnevents” like it; promoters make bogus claims ofn“unparalleled times” in the earth’s history, promotingntheir web sites and selling their products, yet the onlyn“unparalleled time” is for them to take advantage ofnthe uneducated, misinformed, and those who arenimpressed by far-out, “spiritual” sounding, New Agennotions; other key phrases commonly used include,
“now is a momentous time unlike any other,” andn“many facets of the Divine Plan are unfoldingnsimultaneously”nn*Men need women in marriage in order to grownspirituallynn*Women can’t be spiritual or religious leadersnn*Sex before marriage is a sinnn*Directives issued by “ascended masters” throughn“channeled messages;” these are sometimes valid,nyet so often bogus and long-winded cosmic fu-fu;nobvious red flags are if the “messages” arenbiased-sounding in any way and/or deny thenfact that varying degrees of adversity in people’snlives has a divine purposenn*Getting married and having children is the rightnthing to donn*Divorce is a sinnn*You can “Ascend” or “reach enlightenment” innthis life if you consciously choose itnn*Because the Universe is changing, we aren’tngove
ed by the laws of karma like we used to benn*You can live forever; all you have to do isn“download” your consciousness into a clone ofnyourselfnn*Once you die, all your “sins” are forgiven andnyou get a “get out of jail free” card; you aren’tnaccountable for your actions in this lifenn*You have complete free will while inca
atednand you can create anything you want in this life;nwhat the mind can conceive, you can achievenn*You have the right to anything you desire; it’snyour “birthright”nn*Cursing is a sinnn*Nudity is a sinnn*Making a lot of money is a sinnn*Taking a vow of poverty is the right thing to donn*Having a drink once a while will corrupt you
spiritualitynn*Eating meat isn’t very spiritualnn*Vegetarianism is the most spiritual dietnn*Listening to Rock music is not very spiritualnn*Dressing provocatively is a sinnn*If you don’t adhere to a particular beliefnsystem, you’re doomednn*Select Feng Shui “cures” such as, “Beautifynthe money area in your house and become anmillionaire!;” yes, we value many Feng Shuinconcepts, but you can’t cheat fate through itsnmethods

Copyright © 2007 Scott Petullo, Stephen Petullo