Chapter 6. Religious Searchers and the 'New Age' (Divine Energy: God Beyond Us, Within Us, Among Us) (Dorr, Donal)

The approach which I have adopted in the first five chapters of this book is one which opens up the possibility of a fruitful dialogue with people of other religions, and with those who profess no formal religion but are searching for a spirituality which they find meaningful. For instance, chapter 1 (Where People Find God) lends itself to dialogue with Celtic and Native American Religion, with African Traditional Religion and other so-called 'primal' religions such as those of the Australian Aborigines, the 'Tribals' of various parts of Asia, and the indigenous peoples of the Pacific. It invites us to notice and respect the great variety of ways in which God chooses to be revealed to such people. It reminds us of how much we can learn from them in our search for a deepening of our spirituality�and particularly in our attempts to open ourselves to a sense of God's presence. The two chapters on prophecy and inspiration take this a step further by adverting to the work of the Spirit in every culture and every ae. These chapters also offer the opportunity for an interesting dialogue with Buddhists and Zen Buddhists on meditation, on the role of the breath, and on mystical experience.

It is relatively easy to have dialogue with non-Christians on questions about God and God's Spirit. The really difficult issues arise only when the dialogue comes to focus on Jesus Christ. The sticking-points for those who do not share the Christian faith often prove to be questions about the uniqueness of Jesus and the universality of the salvation which comes from him. In the two chapters about Jesus I have attempted to take account of such difficulties.

In my treatment of Jesus I have emphasised the fact that he explores and reveals what it means to be human. But it must be remembered that the Buddha and many other great religious leaders were also deeply engaged in plumbing the depths of the human spirit; so Christians cannot claim a monopoly on the understanding of what it means to be human. Therefore the approach I have adopted challenges Christians to be open to dialogue with people of other religions and philosophies of life. Such people are likely to be more amenable to a dialogue about what is involved in being human than about some teaching which is especially characteristic of Christianity.

In my account of Jesus I have stressed the fact that he, the perfect human image of God, invites us to follow him in becoming images and revelations of God. This makes it easier to dialogue with Hindus because it recognizes that Jesus is not the only one in whom God is revealed. It allows for the possibility that other 'holy people' could also be manifestations of God's presence among us�and it does this without betraying Christian belief.

The approach I have adopted to the life, death and resurrection of Jesus also makes it somewhat easier to dialogue with Islam and Judaism. It does so by respecting the oneness and transcendence of God which are so central for Muslims and Jews. This involves an emphasis on the human character of Jesus, leaving less room for the accusation that Christians see Jesus as another God.

The development of the notion that Jesus is 'the Human One' provides an opening for a dialogue with humanists-which is particularly important in the modern Western world. Adopting this approach, Christians can find common ground with them in emphasising the central importance of what is truly human. On this basis Christians can join with humanists in defending fundamental human rights and the values of democracy and participation. Humanists and Christians can also agree in refusing to present Jesus as one who used a magical or incomprehensible power, or as one who demanded that his followers believe things which are contrary to commonsense and human reason.

All of these forms of dialogue are important for Christians today, and particularly for those who work on the frontiers where the Church meets other religions and ideologies. But, unfortunately, inter-religious dialogue nowadays is frequently left to the scholars-the specialists. How can it be made accessible, comprehensible and interesting to those who do not see themselves as 'experts'? By ensuring that 'professional' dialogue is balanced and complemented by a 'dialogue of life'.

This involves moving from academic discussion to the exchange of real-life experience. There can be a shift of focus from dialogue about systems of belief to sharing on spirituality-at least in the case of those who feel comfortable with the word 'spirituality'. When this less formal style of dialogue takes place we can all find ourselves sharing the complexities, the ambiguities, the unanswered questions, and the inexpressible experiences of our spiritual search. At this level we often discover that we have far more common ground than when the various official belief-systems are compared. Furthermore, this sharing about our spiritual journeys opens up the possibility of rich and deep dialogue with the many people today who feel unwilling or unable to give a systematic (theological) expression to their beliefs.

Today, perhaps more than ever before, there are many 'searchers' who are deeply interested in discovering or working out a spirituality for themselves but who do not see themselves as belonging to any formal organized religion. Inter-religious dialogue needs to be defined and carried out in such a way that it includes these 'searchers'. Christians have no right to tacitly ignore such 'searchers' as partners in the dialogue. For one thing, many are more deeply interested than are those who belong to formal non-Christian religions in learning more about the Christian understanding of God-provided it is articulated in concepts and language which find echoes in their own religious experience.

Furthermore, Christians have much to learn from them. Because they are not attached to a formal religion they do not experience the world through the 'lens' which a religious system offers. So, in their spiritual search they may have a more immediate experience of the particular spiritual currents which flow through our world today. The negative side of this is that they may at times be carried along by the spiritual 'fads' of the moment. But the positive side is that they may be able to hear the voice of the Spirit speaking in today's world, without trying to fit it into the religious categories of the traditions of the past. 'Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?' (Is 43:19).

I believe it is very important that Christians today should engage in a dialogue of life with those who embark on a serious spiritual exploration without belonging to any of the traditional formal religions. That is why in my treatment of God, of the Spirit and of Jesus I have quite deliberately adopted an approach and a pattern of language which leaves an opening for such dialogue. In these two final chapters of this book I propose to engage more explicitly in a dialogue with these people whom I have named 'the searchers'. In the present chapter I shall give some account of the kinds of beliefs and values which are common among them. In doing so I shall offer reflections on how these relate to the values and beliefs which lie at the heart of Christianity. In the following chapter I shall endeavour to take the dialogue deeper by focusing particular attention on Jesus and seeing how the spiritual energy which we draw from him relates to the conception of spiritual energy which is current today.

We frequently hear it said that the Western world is highly secularised. In some respects this is true, but it can be quite misleading in view of the different shades of meaning attached to the word 'secular'. Undoubtedly the West is more secular than in the past, if that is taken to mean that traditional religious practice has declined very noticeably and that the Churches no longer have the dominant position they used to have. Furthermore, very many Western people are secularised, in the sense that they are quite disenchanted with traditional religious language. They find that it does not articulate any deeply significant part of their own experience. They seldom 'talk to God' and a lot of them do not have much sense of a personal God who cares for them.

The advance of secularisation (in the senses just mentioned) means that the lives of many people are no longer shaped by Christian faith but by the values and beliefs embodied in conventional Western lifestyles. Nevertheless, a lot of people are deeply dissatisfied with the Western way of life. They feel trapped in a culture of affluence, waste and triviality; and some of them realize that this is linked to gross exploitation of the Earth and of the poorer peoples of the world. This disillusionment has led many to become engaged in a serious personal search for deeper values and a worthwhile meaning or purpose in life. So, while formal Christianity has lost much of its credibility in the West, that does not add up to the end of the search for a deeper 'religious' meaning in life. Quite frequently the word 'secular' is associated with a lack of concern with 'the spiritual'. If the word is taken in this sense, then the West is not at all as secularised as people sometimes assume.

The search for fundamental values and for the purpose of life took a philosophical form in the nineteenth century and for most of the twentieth century. This led to the development of such major ideologies or philosophies of life as humanism, liberalism, fascism, and the various versions of Marxism and socialism.

Within the past generation, however, many have become rather disillusioned with the great 'systems' or ideologies�and even with the commitment to ideas and the notion of working out a philosophy of life through thinking. Consequently, the search for a deeper purpose in life has tended to take a less cerebral and more inclusive form; it has become more experiential. The 'searchers' of today generally prefer to be guided at least as much by the heart as by the head. Consequently, their search is more overtly 'religious' in the traditional sense.

Some of the 'searchers' have stayed within the Churches in which they were brought up, but with a more questioning attitude; this has led a number of them to become '� la carte Christians'. For the majority, however, the search for a deep spiritual purpose is by no means an attempt to discover or re-discover a Church or an organized religion. Rather, they engage as individuals in a very personal and eclectic religious search, where they pick up bits and pieces from a wide variety of sources. They frequently reject the word 'religion', but generally feel comfortable in speaking of their 'spirituality'.

Such people usually end up with a spirituality which consists of their own particular melange of beliefs, rituals and values. For instance, their beliefs might be that God is to be found within oneself, that one religion is as good as another, that after death people are reincarnated, and that religion needs to be rescued from patriarchal assumptions. Their rituals often include meditation techniques, or sacred dances. Their values might include care for the Earth, and a commitment to vegetarianism. Needless to say, these people generally also include within their spirituality a good deal of the values traditionally associated with religion-for instance, gentleness, kindness, respect for others, forgiveness and inner peace. Quite frequently these 'searchers' do not feel any need to organize their spirituality into a fully coherent system or even to articulate it in any very explicit form.

Despite the somewhat inchoate character of the beliefs and values of many modern 'searchers', there are certain common threads running through the new spiritualities which are flourishing in the West today. In the 1960s and 1970s many of the values, beliefs and rituals which are typical of modern 'searchers' were expounded and propagated by writers, lecturers, or workshop organizers who identified them as belonging to what is called 'the New Age'. The influence of these 'gurus' extended far beyond those who identified themselves as New Age people. It even affected many who found this title quite off-putting and would never apply it to themselves-people in the mainstream religions or people who thought of themselves as non-religious.

More recently the ideas, rituals and values of 'the New Age' have largely become assimilated into the broader stream of the modern spiritual search. This means that at the present time the number of those who formally identify themselves as belonging to 'the New Age' is relatively small. In fact the very title 'New Age' has come to seem somewhat pass�. Some bookshops still find it convenient to have a section marked 'New Age'. Otherwise the title is now used mainly as a derogatory label employed by those who are suspicious or frightened of the kind of beliefs and practices which I shall sketch out in the following section.

Even in its heyday a generation ago, 'the New Age' was not an organized religion and it could be called a movement only in a rather loose sense. It was more like a trend-one which might have developed into a distinct tradition but which in fact became more diffuse by feeding into the broad stream of the modern spiritual search. Its central emphasis was on spiritual transformation. Its adherents saw this transformation as a process taking place on a global level; and they also believed that each individual is called to a personal inner transformation. Needless to say such beliefs have a very long history. The strands of the spiritual tradition which contributed most to New Age beliefs and attitudes were minority ones such as the mystical and the gnostic strands rather than mainstream Christianity; there was also a significant input from Eastern religions.

Over the past generation these ancient spiritual beliefs became linked with, and enriched by, ideas and trends which came to the fore in recent times e.g. ecology, holistic health and humanistic psychology.{1} These trends did not originally emerge in a New Age context; but they were taken up enthusiastically by many New Age people. On the other hand, there was also an influence in the opposite direction: many of those involved in ecological or holistic movements found a certain spiritual underpinning in New Age beliefs. In this way there was a good deal of cross-fertilization and a good deal of New Age thinking became inculturated in the world of the spiritual 'searchers' of our time.

In their search for truth and the deeper meaning of life, many of the modern spiritual 'searchers' are working on the cultural frontiers of the late twentieth century, in touch with insights and values which are characteristic of our time. So there is a strong case for Christians to become actively involved in dialogue with them. But few of these 'searchers' have developed an organized systematic theology similar to that which was developed by Christian theologians over the centuries. In the absence of such a single coherent theology, inter-faith dialogue with them must be mainly a 'dialogue of life'. This involves gaining a sympathetic understanding of their outlook and approach, obtained as far as possible through lived experience, rather than through books or on the basis of second-hand reporting or even detached observation. Those who seek to be objective by refusing any serious personal engagement are likely to miss the very heart of what they are trying to investigate and evaluate.

Many Christians are afraid of such an experience-based dialogue. They are put off by the fact that the 'New Age' label has been pinned on many of the 'searchers'; and they have heard stories of Christians who reduced their faith to New Age ideas. They have been warned of the dangers of becoming involved in occultism, esoteric cults or neo-pagan practices. In fact some Christian apologists have engaged in truly shameful attacks on anybody who seems to them to be influenced by New Age ideas or practices. They see the whole trend as demonic without making any serious attempt to discriminate between its various strands. In the following pages I hope to contribute towards a more balanced approach by looking briefly at some beliefs or practices which are characteristic of modern 'searchers'. Some of these are particularly associated with the New Age approach while others come from a variety of other sources.

Probably the most distinctive feature of the lifestyle of serious religious searchers in modern times is the commitment to the practice of meditation. There is a great variety in the type of meditation used. The most common forms are borrowed from the Hindu, Buddhist, or Zen-Buddhist traditions. Most of them involve attention to the breath and some of them entail the use of a mantra. Meditation is sometimes linked to the performance of yoga exercises. For some people, meditation is closely related to a process of visualization, while for others there is a deliberate attempt to empty the mind of images of any kind. It is fairly common to envisage meditation as a kind of focusing of spiritual energy.

In recent years the Enneagram has become an integral part of the spirituality of many Christians. It has been said that it originated in Afghanistan nearly 2,000 years ago and developed within the Sufi mystical strand of Islam.{2} A generation ago it came to the West. It was used in the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California which had become one of the focal points of the New Age movement. Before long it was taken up enthusiastically both by many non-Christian 'searchers' and by members of Catholic religious communities.

The Enneagram has fitted in so comfortably with the spirituality of many Christians (especially those who belong to Catholic religious congregations) that it never occurs to them to associate it with the New Age. It is likely that, by now, more than half of the religious sisters in Western countries have done an Enneagram workshop. Most of them see it as a means of gaining a better knowledge of their own character-type and the particular compulsions to which they are subject. For them it is a source of valuable insight which is fully compatible with Christian faith. Many evangelical Christians, on the other hand, remain deeply suspicious of it. They see it as part of the New Age movement, which they believe is contaminating the Christian faith.

It is interesting to note that the Enneagram wisdom has been adapted significantly in the process of entering into mainstream Christian spirituality. It is now seen more as a psychological tool (like the Myers-Briggs categories) than as a religious belief-system. Furthermore, the elements of numerology which were linked to it have been omitted or subtly changed so as to eliminate what might be seen as superstition.

Many of the modern 'searchers' are very convinced of the importance of dreams. They often interpret them by using Jungian techniques and other modern psychological approaches. But they also pay a lot of attention to the prominence accorded to dreams in primal religion (for instance, by the Australian Aboriginal peoples).

Up to a generation ago most Western Church leaders and theologians were dismissive of those who 'believed in dreams'. Christians were taught that this belief was both superstitious and foolish. But Carl Jung showed how important dreams can be in revealing, in veiled and symbolic form, our deep hopes and fears and the direction in which we are called to move. Jungian and Gestalt psychologists developed effective 'dreamwork' techniques which have helped to bring healing and wholeness to many people's lives. Some theologians have designed workshops and workbooks which integrate such techniques with Christian spirituality.{3}

In dialogue with the 'searchers' on the subject of dreams, Christians need to be more humble than in the past-to acknowledge that they may have much to learn. But Christians also have an important contribution of their own to make to the dialogue. Christian faith precludes one from approaching life as though it were a predetermined maze to which our dreams provide either a ready-made map or a magic key. Christians experience themselves as being in the hands of a loving and provident God. This personal God has spoken in the past�and may speak again-in a variety of ways, including dreams. But, for Christians, Jesus is God's most perfect 'word' about the meaning and purpose of human life.

Acceptance of the centrality of Jesus gives Christians a framework in which some of them may find it helpful to look for ways of interpreting the symbolic material of their dreams. It also gives the freedom to choose whether that is the appropriate course of action at a particular time; and, if they choose to engage in dreamwork, they have the freedom not to push unduly but to wait for the time when the meaning of a dream comes clear.

Many modern 'searchers' (especially those influenced by New Age practices) make use of Tarot cards. These cards, or similar sets of symbols, have played an important role as sources of wisdom or instruments of divination in religions of the past or in other cultures.{4} Christians were taught to believe that they would be guilty of superstition if they used such cards. And there is no doubt the practice can be superstitious. But, in recent years, psychologists of the Jungian school and specialists in the history of religions have helped people to appreciate the depth of symbolic meaning which can be expressed thorough such enigmatic pictures. For Christians, therefore, there is no simple universal answer to the question, 'is it wrong to use Tarot cards?' Everything depends on how they are being used. To imagine that they have some magic power to control one's destiny or predict the future is a distorted form of religious faith. But it would be quite legitimate to use them in the course of a workshop on personal growth as powerful symbols which could throw light on one's personality.

The title 'New Age' comes from astrology; it refers to the transition from the Age of Pisces to the Age of Aquarius which, according to the astrologists, is occurring around this time. (The age of Aquarius is understood to be one in which we shall have a holistic approach to all aspects of life, in sharp contrast to the age of Pisces which is seen as one of contrasts and dualisms.)

The reading of horoscopes is one of the more characteristic features of 'the New Age'; it is also common among other spiritual 'searchers', including many who would reject the 'New Age' label. It is a practice which is quite repugnant to many traditional Christians; for they were taught to be profoundly distrustful of astrology. Not merely was it seen as superstitious but it also seemed to assume that humans live in a world with a pre-determined pattern, where one's destiny depends on the position of the sun and the planets in the sky at the time of one's birth. Christian distrust of astrology was reinforced by the scientists: there is a complete absence of any hypothesis of orthodox science which would indicate a connection between astronomical data and the predictions of horoscopes.

In recent times astrology has moved in three different directions. One is towards trivialization and commercialization: this is what we find in the horoscopes of the popular newspapers. A second direction is towards the occult; and Christians have good reason to be suspicious of this trend; for they have learned through long experience that dabbling in the occult can be dangerous. The third direction is towards linking astrology with psychology. Once again Jung is the primary influence. Jungian psychotherapists such as Liz Greene {5} have gone a long way towards offering a credible psychological interpretation of the complex categories used in a serious astrological chart. In this approach the emphasis is not so much on predicting the future-at least not in any deterministic sense. Instead, the astrology chart is seen more as a means of throwing light on the different aspects of a person's character-rather like a more sophisticated version of the Myers-Briggs personality chart.

Such an approach to astrology largely removes the taint of superstition and determinism which were repugnant to Christian faith. It still remains a mystery why there should be any connection between a person's character and the location of the planets in the sky at the time of that person's birth. But if a Christian chooses to accept that there is some scientifically inexplicable link between the pattern of the planets and human temperament that is not necessarily a heretical belief.

The difficulty in accepting such a connection seems to be based more on Western 'common sense' than on Christian faith. But what people see as 'common sense' varies in accordance with their worldview. Astrology made perfect sense in the ancient worldview where what happens 'above' (in the heavens) has its counterpart in what happens 'below' (on Earth). The 'scientific' view of the world which emerged a few hundred years ago eventually dislodged the older worldview and gave rise to the present Western notion of 'common sense'. This rather mechanistic worldview�and the 'common sense' which it underpins-has no room for astrology.

However, the so-called 'scientific' worldview has been undermined by the science of the present century and is now out of date. The aspects of our current 'common sense' which are incompatible with contemporary science will probably change over the next few generations as the more recent scientific ideas become popularized. So the fact that astrology contradicts present-day commonsense is not a totally decisive argument against it. It is not utterly preposterous to imagine that there could be some real but non-causal link between such apparently unrelated realities as one's temperament and the position of the stars and planets at the time of one's birth. Jung used the word 'synchronicity' to describe such non-causal connections. Dialogue with the those 'searchers' who believe in astrology raises the question of whether there may be more than meets the eye in coincidences, and instances of 'serendipity' or 'synchronicity'. This is a point to which I shall return in the next chapter.

Very many of today's 'searchers' are deeply engaged in various forms of human growth work and therapy. Needless to say, they are not the only ones involved in this kind of personal work. But their particular interest is in the 'integrative', holistic, and inter-disciplinary forms of growth work�and above all in those which put an emphasis on the flow of energy in the human body. Largely as a result of this holistic approach the spirituality of those who were involved with 'the New Age' became enriched, and even changed its direction (or at least its emphasis) over the past generation. (During the same period of time, spirituality in the main Christian Churches has gone through a similar development, moving from being rather dualistic and 'escapist' to being holistic and life-affirming.)

Probably the two best-known names in this area of integrative 'growth work' are Arnold Mindell and Paul Rebillot. Both of them use techniques taken from Jungian psychology, Gestalt therapy, bioenergetics, Buddhist meditation, shamanism, primal therapy, and 'holotropic' breathing techniques or 'hyperventilation'. They draw on the insights of Joseph Campbell who contributed so much to comparative mythology. Their approach also incorporates art-work, body-sculpting, dance, and rituals borrowed from primal religion.

Mindell is a Jungian psychotherapist who went on to develop 'process oriented psychology' in order to provide a more holistic approach to human growth.{6} One of the most valuable aspects of this form of 'process work' is its emphasis on the various 'channels' in which material from the unconscious can find expression. For instance, during the time a person is concentrating consciously on communicating verbally, a deeper and more significant process may be going on in the body; the person may be quite sincere in saying, 'I am very close to my friend', but at the same time the person may unconsciously be making gestures of rejection. In this case, the person may make an important breakthrough by learning to notice what is happening in this other 'channel', namely, the body.

Paul Rebillot's background is in drama and the main focus of his work is personal transformation through ritual enactment. He is best known for having developed a very intense workshop called 'The Hero's Journey'. It offers participants the opportunity to get in touch with the heroic aspect of themselves, to confront their demonic aspect and eventually to bring the two into some kind of synthesis. Subsequently he designed other workshops such as 'Owning the Shadow' and 'Death and Resurrection'. These make use of similar integrative techniques and rituals to enable participants to 'own' the deeper aspects of themselves and to have the experience of going through fundamental human rites of passage.

It appears that some mainline psychologists and psychotherapists feel threatened or frightened by the holistic process work developed by Mindell and Rebillot-particularly when it includes work with 'altered states of consciousness'. That is understandable, because it can seem very 'far out' to those who know about it only at second hand or from the outside. Those who go through the process, on the other hand, find it much less frightening; and quite frequently it leads to major beneficial changes in their lives.

Rebillot, Mindell and their associates and followers recognize that psychological processes and techniques simply cannot replace the richness and depth of meaning and direction contained in religious rituals, symbols, beliefs and values. So their workshops are not only psychological but also religious. Oddly enough, one of the features of their process work which some 'orthodox' psychologists find unacceptable is this refusal to make a sharp separation between psychology and religion. From a Christian point of view, however, this linking of the spiritual and the psychological can be a positive advantage since it takes seriously the fundamental bodily-psychological-spiritual unity of the human person.

Certain conservative Christians object to process work on the grounds that it deliberately stirs up 'negative' emotions-for instance, by encouraging people to be angry. Those who are engaged in this work respond that they are encouraging their clients to ventilate, work through, and be free of, blocked emotions which had been buried within them and had blighted their lives.

Some Christians are deeply suspicious of 'process work' because it makes use of rituals and symbols drawn from 'primal' religions. Even some theologians who think of themselves as 'broad-minded'�and who are in favour of dialogue with mainline religions such as Judaism, Islam and Buddhism-feel they must 'draw the line' when it comes to using material borrowed from the traditional religions of Africa or North America. There is a deep half-articulated fear of 'paganism' and 'witchcraft' which is not overcome simply by being broad-minded; for this fear is not chiefly located in the mind. One needs to have a certain freedom in relation to feelings and to the body if one is to engage in the dialogue of life with primal religions-which is part of what is involved in engaging in the kind of process work to which I am referring.

But if the challenge is great, so too are the rewards. For this kind of process work offers people the opportunity to get in touch with aspects of themselves which modern living tends to ignore and 'blot out'. At its best it enables people to become more integrated, more authentic, and more in touch with the deep parts of themselves. It helps them to face basic human fears such as the fear of death and, perhaps, to have a kind of 'resurrection' experience where they discover new life, a deep spiritual freedom, and renewed hope.

This kind of work can be particularly helpful for Christians. For it helps to liberate them from a very narrow moralistic 'Victorian' conception of Christianity which has very little in common with the religion of Jesus. Its use of ancient religious rituals and symbols reminds us of how the Church in the past integrated the native so-called 'pagan' rituals and symbols of different peoples. The use of such material today offers Christians the opportunity to recover much of the richness of primal religion which underlies the Christian faith. At its best it offers to Christians and non-Christians alike an opening for a deep healing of wounds at the personal, family, societal, international and ecological levels. And its adoption by Christian believers can help the Church to recover and deepen its role as an agent of spiritual healing in our broken and troubled world.

Many of today's religious 'searchers' believe in reincarnation. The idea seems to have come mainly from the Hindu tradition; but, in crossing over to the West, its 'tone' and implications have changed quite significantly. The Hindu view is that re-birth is a burden: a person may have to live through many lives, carrying the weight of the 'Karma' of previous existences, before eventually being set free of the body.{7} Among Western 'searchers' the emphasis is subtly different. The body is not generally seen as a burden of which one hopes to be set free eventually. And re-birth is seen more as a opportunity to take up again, in a further life journey, challenges which were just coming on to one's personal horizon in the present life.

This indicates that critics who dismiss the modern 'searchers' as 'gnostic' are not taking adequate account of the complexity of the religious currents of our time{8}. It is true that the original spiritual thrust of the New Age, which contributed so much to the approach of modern 'searchers', was in more or less direct continuity with the gnostic strand which runs through the whole Western tradition, at times on the surface, at other times driven underground. Traditional gnosticism was quite dualistic; it set the spiritual over against the material and saw the body as inferior and even, in some sense, evil. But on the other hand, the New Age people of the 1960s and 1970s came to adopt a more holistic approach: they saw the human person as a body-spirit; and they believed in caring for the body. This more integral thinking was carried into the mainstream of the modern religious search. So, most of those engaged in this search today have an approach which is much richer and more holistic than gnosticism ever was.

Dialogue with these 'searchers' has to be on the basis of their practical spirituality of living. A dialogue based on their 'doctrines' will make little progress since most of them have no interest in developing official formulations of their faith. We need to take very seriously the ancient Christian dictum, 'lex orandi, lex credendi', which can be freely but accurately translated as 'the beliefs of people are to be interpreted according to the pattern of their spirituality'. This applies especially when the dialogue is about issues such as life after death, where the practical implications are not so obvious (as distinct from dialogue about immediate decisions in relation to how society is organized-e.g. whether or not one is in favour of allowing the death penalty, or abortion, or women priests). When we discuss life after death, the issues that arise are not immediate 'yes-or-no decisions'; what really matters here may be spiritual attitudes. Therefore dialogue should focus more on the underlying spirituaity than on the verbal expression of beliefs.

If the belief in reincarnation is expressed as a doctrine then it seems to be incompatible with Christian teaching. But the incompatibility is less evident when one focuses on spirituality rather than on formal doctrine. There is a significant degree of convergence with Christian spirituality when we explore the attitudes and outlook which find a partial expression in the modern Western notion of reincarnation (as distinct from the Hindu and Gnostic understanding and spirituality of it).

First, those people who accept reincarnation are affirming their belief that life does not end with death; this puts them alongside Christians over against the very large numbers of people who think death is the end. Secondly, they are affirming that life after death is not just the attenuated life of a disembodied soul or of a ghost; nor is it an increasingly vague existence as part of the collectivity of 'the ancestors'. It is rather a bodily existence. This outlook finds a lot of common ground with genuine Christian spirituality (as distinct from the 'spiritualized' conception of life after death which many Christians hold even today). Fundamentally what they have in common is a real hope in a personal future. As a Christian theologian I am inclined to argue that such a hope can be undermined by a belief that a person goes through an apparently endless succession of lives. But that is just an argument based on theory. The test of its validity is whether the commitment of religious 'searchers' to the present life is in fact weakened by their belief that they will be re-born. I find no evidence that this is the case.

In attempting to reach out to the 'searchers' in a dialogue about spirituality it may be helpful to explore the Christian instinct which finds expression in the Catholic belief in Purgatory. This belief seems to suggest that in some sense life's journey is not entirely complete at death. So there is a certain convergence of outlook between this aspect of Catholic tradition and the views of those 'searchers' who believe in reincarnation. It has to do with our ultimate hope. The convergence is not in words or doctrine but in the way we experience life and our expectation of how life is to reach its fulfillment. If our dialogue is to be fruitful we should perhaps concentrate on exploring our own and others' spirituality along lines like these, rather than attributing old-style gnostic beliefs to the modern 'searchers' and then judging them in terms of such beliefs.

More than thirty years the Findhorn Foundation in northern Scotland was founded as a place where many of the New Age ideas and practices could be lived out; since then it has become an important centre not merely for those who identify themselves as New Age people but for spiritual 'searchers' of all kinds. A number of years ago some of those who were living in the Findhorn community set out to design an exercise which would encapsulate as much as possible of the inner core of the Findhorn spirit. The result was 'The Transformation Game' which is now available in a variety of different formats. Some versions of 'The Game' are designed for very large groups, others for medium-sized or small groups or for individuals. In some cases it is an intense workshop lasting several days and in other cases it is an experience of just a few hours.

The 'Game' is a kind of simulation which mirrors the journey of life. Each player moves along his or her own path without competing with other players. On this 'journey' the player meets with a great variety of spiritual experiences such as insights, setbacks, miracles, opportunities for service, depressions, stress situations, exercises of free will, intuitive flashes, and experiences of being blessed and of blessing others. Players are accompanied and guided on their 'life journeys' by their own personal 'guardian angels'; and at key moments of the game they may find themselves enriched by the empowering presence of other angels (e.g. an angel of joy, of strength, or of peace).

One of the distinctive aspects of the Transformation Game is the careful distinction it makes between a deliberative choice on the one hand and an action based on one's hunch or intuition. In emphasising intuition it is very much in tune with the approach of most modern 'searchers'. An even more significant feature of the Transformation Game is that it presupposes and fosters a belief in the availability of spiritual energy channelled through the angels. This is very typical of the New Age approach which often invokes the assistance of 'spirit guides'.

Central to the Transformation Game is the conviction that all its moves are played out under the direction and inspiration of a spiritual presence called the Deva or Angel of the Game. Those who play the game find themselves astonished time after time at the apparent coincidences which occur: they get just the right 'insight-card' at the moment they most needed it, or they find themselves blessed by the coming of just the right angel at a moment of deep depression. The coincidences are so remarkable that it feels as though every move is being directed by some benign intelligence that is highly creative and has a great sense of humour.

Newcomers may assume that the facilitators are controlling the apparatus of the game. The discovery that these coincidences are just 'happening' leaves some players with a 'weird' feeling. But this sense of the uncanny is not frightening because the coincidences fall into a providential pattern which is experienced as benevolent, utterly respectful, yet challenging one to face the struggle of personal spiritual development.

'The Transformation Game' was designed as an instrument to promote spiritual transformation. Obviously, then, its designers had a conception of what spiritual transformation involves. But they were very aware of the plurality of spiritual beliefs of those who would play the game. So they deliberately adopted language and symbols which are compatible with a variety of religions and spiritualities. Some of those who play the game think of the angels�and the Deva or Angel of the Game-as distinct personal entities. Others have some more vague sense of spiritual presences, without specifying whether, or in what sense, they are personal. A lot of people may not 'believe in' angels as distinct entities. For some, this may be because they understand 'angels' to be simply aspects of God's providence.{9} For others, it may be because they interpret all the language about angels as purely symbolic and see the coincidences as arising from the workings of the group unconscious.

Playing this 'game' is a profound spiritual experience for many of those who take part in it. It is in no way incompatible with Christian faith. People are certainly astonished at the series of remarkable coincidences which they experience while playing. But the pattern of these coincidences is so benevolent that there are no grounds for suspecting that they come from any malign forces. In fact the 'game' opens people up to experiencing a similar caring providence in their daily lives. (I shall return to this issue in the next chapter.) The 'game' can also give Christians a deeper appreciation of the importance of angels as symbols and sources of spiritual energy. Because of its threefold emphasis-on spiritual 'guidance', on intuition, and on spiritual energy-the Transformation Game is a quintessential expression of some of the most typical aspects of the beliefs of modern religious 'searchers'. Christians have every reason to be grateful for this valuable contribution to the enrichment of their faith.

Having looked at eight typical features of the approach or beliefs of today's religious 'searchers' I want now to refer briefly to a recent best-selling book called The Celestine Prophecy{10}. This book represents some of the most characteristic aspects of New Age thinking. But it has become a best-seller because it struck a chord with a very large number of people who never think of themselves as 'New Age people'. Perhaps the most typical New Age feature of this book is the way it constantly highlights the importance of spiritual energy. It also emphasises the reawakening of interest in 'the human subject' after hundreds of years during which priority was given to the discoveries of 'objective' science (pp. 34-42). It accentuates the importance of a sense of communion with nature-promoting a kind of nature mysticism (e.g. pp. 118-22, 128). The first part of the 'prophecy' from which the book takes its title notes that coincidences have become much more frequent, or that nowadays more people are noticing them The significance of these remarkable coincidences, according to the book, is that they suggest that there is a pattern or a guidance of people and the world towards some higher purpose (p. 17). On all these points The Celestine Prophecy undoubtedly strikes a chord in today's world-for Christians as well as for others who are searching for a meaningful spirituality. Some of the other 'revelations' in the book are insights of popular psychology, which, though somewhat over-simplified, can nevertheless be quite helpful.

On the other hand, The Celestine Prophecy also illustrates some key weaknesses in the typical 'New Age' conception of religion. For instance, it indulges in the use of pseudo-scientific language by saying that advanced people 'exist at a higher vibration' (e.g. pp. 175, 203, 276-7). This lends credibility to what can only be called a mythic statement by couching it in what sounds like objective scientific language.

More dangerous, however, is its author's apparent blindness to the seriousness of the problem of evil. The book suggests that humanity is moving more or less inevitably to an advanced stage of spiritual evolution (e.g. pp. 255-61, 277). But the book seems to overlook specifically modern horrors ranging from the Holocaust to Rwanda and Liberia.{11} The author fails to distinguish adequately between moral progress and other kinds of human advancement.

His book offers no convincing evidence or indications of moral breakthrough by humankind to a 'higher state'.

The religious 'searchers' of today do not generally see themselves as professing any formal religion. But in fact they are having a profound impact on our current approach to spirituality. We must therefore assume that we have much to learn from them and that they are an important channel through which the Holy Spirit communicates with us today. But in order to discern where the Spirit is speaking through them we need to engage in a 'dialogue of life' with them.

In the present chapter I have been taking some preliminary steps in such a dialogue. But in order to take this dialogue to a deeper level we need to look more closely at the conception of spiritual energy which is common among many of these 'searchers'. I believe that this emphasis on spiritual energy is exceptionally important in our time, both in the Western world and in the various non-Western worlds. For it offers us a category which is midway between a totally other-worldly 'spiritual' world and the crudely material world of popular science and technology. It is not surprising, then, that it touches a deep chord in modern people. In the following chapter I shall attempt to make some comparison between the understanding of spiritual energy which is common today and the kind of spiritual energy which is offered to us by Jesus. I shall also look at the approach to prayer which is associated with each of these conceptions of spiritual energy.