And if so, should we?
The ironic thing about the "New Age" movement is that it's an ongoing revival of outdated beliefs that appeal to the sapient aspects of our existence. Our eternal quandaries and existential capabilities get subsumed into a broad amalgam of ignorant universality and then disgorged through a duplicitous facsimile of logic. We all have the capacity to comprehend a higher state of consciousness and/or a greater reality and we subsequently construct our riddled beliefs around that notion. But with the burgeoning scientific culture, is it right to discredit mystic pseudo-science as outdated hokum? Isn't there something more to these inherent sentiments?
Take, for example, the ubiquity of the belief in a spatially and temporally ambiguous afterlife. Every ancient culture (post-paleolithic, for clarification) has a sophisticated ideology that is transfixed upon infinity, necessitating a belief in some sort of transmigration of the individual spirit, be it reincarnation or ethereal ascent. As humans, why is this inclination something universally understood? and more recently, losing popularity?
To answer these questions, we'll have to take a few steps back.
I want you to look at the clock remember the time, close your eyes, and transcend your locus of thought into a previous moment, whether it be five minutes ago or ten years ago.
(you can open your eyes now, but most people keep them closed the rest of their lives anyways)
If time is relative, wouldn't our specific existence have to be irrelative? because if the linear model of time is logically unsound (or illogically sound), then the chronology of our individual lives would also be illogical, correct? This would force our existence into an irrelative fragmentation of individual moment held together by the same aware consciousness who happens to have a knack for organizing such events into a logical order. We can't persist through time if time doesn't persist through time. We can, however, organize "ourselves" into the illusion of persistence, can we not? if nothing else, you're aware of your life as a linear progression, and who/what's causing that awareness? (You are).
So how does "New Age" philosophy tie in to all of this?
New age philosophy is temporally discordant. All of the wisdom of the world is there and will always be there ("there" being the collective entirety of space and time). If "New Age" philosophy is a usurpation of lost ancient wisdom, then that would mean wisdom is not always there, it is contingent to a specific location in space and time, and thusly everything is not always there, which makes no damn sense. What does that mean for these neo-mystics?
It means they're making it all up. Manufacturing "knowledge" isn't so hard to do. I see it done all the time as an art history major and then later someone comes along and realizes the other person was just speculating.
"But Diego! If that's the case then how come all of this stuff makes so much sense? And how come some of those yogis can astral project (or whatever) and phase shift into alternate dimensions of higher consciousness?"
I don't know, why don't you go ask someone who cares!?
And that person who cares is Shaq.
No not the mystic Aztec god Shac or whatever, I mean the real man.
Shaquille O'Neal
The Big Aristotle
William Shaq-Speare
(A pic of Shaq for reference)
SHAQ!
He represents this entire dilemma in physical form. A modern liaison between two diametric realms of existence: the physical and the unknown.
In 1996 Shaq was a magically hood genie named Kazaam.
Upon being drafted into the NBA, it was uncertain if there was any vestigial magic left in the big guy from his days as a genie. This is not unlike the problem of "ancient wisdom" wherein the dregs of a past existence carry over into the next phase of life. Shaq's transformation from magic guy to NBA star is a perfect analog for comparison when considering the dilemma of ancient wisdom. Though his days of being a timeless genie are behind him and he's been relegated to the mortal world to live among us, he still has some holdover from his past--but not all of it.
When one chooses a different plane of existence, one cannot simultaneously remain the same person as they were in that previous plane. The same goes for wisdom; though it is always there, the wisdom we choose to have is conditional to the existence we choose to have. Shaq may be an All-Star #1 guy but he can no longer use the full spectrum of his once insurmountable magic skills. Before we surrendered to the capitalist paradigm we had a grip on our spiritual quest, but we gave that up in favor of a material existence. what's left of our spiritual existence is just a faint memory that we are slowly trying to piece together, but we won't until we once again transcend our existence. If you want to transcend, you must transcend. But no matter where you are on the merry-go-round of Samsara, you can always have fun. Shaq is living proof.
Shaq is a great role model because he humbled himself just to be one of us. Even though he had more powers as Kazaam, it didn't stop him form being the best possible version of himself no matter where (or when) he was. And that's something everyone should live by. No matter who you are, you can always be better. Because you are you and you are here. Shaq transformed himself into a marketing guru and now look at him! He's spreading his love all over the world in liquid form! Soda Shaq is a hit!
So go out there and be your own Shaq. You don't need to use mysticism or "New Age" philosophy to try and transcend your reality or justify your spirit. Be happy with your reality! There's no reason to want more. People seeking enlightenment are wasting their time because they are still blinded by desire. The key to enlightenment is to be. Because it's always there. But if you're not, then there's no way.
Sure, we have Soda Shaq to alleviate some of our languish, but it can only do so much. Shaq's helping, one soft drink at a time, but that's only the beginning. If you're still lost, go out and by a Soda Shaq and enjoy the moment because that's closer to enlightenment than any New Age shaman will eve come. And remember:
"The Power is in your heart"
-Kazaam aka Shaq
If you don't know Shaq, you don't know.
Thanks Shaq!
