Relational Spirituality, Part 1 Paradise Unbound: Cosmic Hybridity and Spiritual Narcissism in the “One Truth” of New Age Transpersonalism

Summary

Cosmological hybridization has significantly influenced American religious culture, particularly after WWII and during the Vietnam War, leading to a spiritual revolution centered on transcendence. This movement fostered a non-relational transpersonal psychology, where Americanized nondualism became prominent. However, New Age transpersonalism is criticized for promoting a self-serving form of spiritual narcissism. A shift towards a more relational spirituality is suggested as a necessary response to counteract this self-centeredness in an increasingly Creolized world.

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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.

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