Deepak Chopra: January 2008 Archives

The New Age still matters because it is the best resort we have to age-old traditions of wisdom. I wanted to say that up front, even though I have never used the phrase "New Age" in any talk or writing. The New Age has become a byword for any cheap shot or automatic sneer directed toward a carnival of spiritual noodles and charlatans. But that's not the whole story, or even reality. Behind the label is something very different--a loose coalition of people who want to reach beyond organized religion and its many drawbacks.

I've been pondering the belief that good people go to heaven while bad people go to hell. "Good" can be defined by absolutist rules pertaining to sin, like the Ten Commandments and much of the Koran, painting a clear map of what it takes to be good enough for God. Or "good" can be left to a person's own moral values, in which case relativism prevails: terrorists in Iraq, for example, feel that they are doing good for God and expect heaven for actions that horrify people outside their sequestered belief system.

Dear Friends,
I’m delighted to join all of you on Beliefnet in this wonderful journey toward spiritual wisdom and grace. In this space I would like to share thoughts and feelings on how we can strengthen our connection to our divine source as a means to living a more conscious, loving, and happier life. I’ll be sharing my current ideas as well as information from some of my earlier books. Over the years I have answered thousands of questions on spirituality, and I believe some of that information would be of interest to readers here as well. I will be blogging here not as a religious authority, but rather in the spirit of a fellow-traveler sharing gifts I have been blessed to receive. In that same spirit, I will be eager to learn from the experience and wisdom of the contributors here at Beliefnet as well.
Love,
Deepak