Humanity is going to need a substantially new way of thinking if it is to survive![1]
So now we have come to the point of answering the query posed: Is it a New Thought or just Ancient Wisdom in modern dress? And the answer must be yes ... and no.
Yes, it is new: New Thought gathered what had been scattered, brought order from what was chaos, and codified what had been described for millennia by various sects, parties, movements and religions as the Truth – all to bring at-one-ment to the world without the riddles, secrets, mysteries, prejudices, or tales that have too many times confused, confounded, and damaged the spirits and lives of Humanity and, ultimately, the rest of Nature on this planet. New Thought is the culmination, the best practices, you might say, of Ancient Wisdom.
And no, it is not new: New Thought, much like our relationship to God, is an individualization of what we may call Ancient Wisdom. The Truth about how the Universe works, though Ancient, is always reNEWed. Since we live within a creative energy, creating individualizations of Itself to use a creative medium to live a Life of Good, it is an always emerging and evolving journey, always a Now proposition.
This distinction between new and old matters, and orients us within our learning – and it also matters not at all. I believe there never was a secret and the answer was and is always here, not kept from us. This Truth, this Divine Intelligence and Power were never hidden from us – except by ourselves – and have always been available. How we discover (or remember) the Truth and embody it, live by and through it and Be it, consciously and consistently, is the challenge of the ages, old and new. The Universe calls, listens, and answers, but as long as generations refuse to hear and hold on to this Truth, they are destined to require a “new” way to learn to use that which was given at birth. The Over-Soul, as Emerson called it, that Thing Itself which we are in unity with, individualizing and personalizing as the various forms of beings in existence, acts through Love and Law, to have us be Self-Reliant, as Emerson said, and use a Creative Process, as Troward described, to apply a Science of Mind and Mental Healing, the focus of Quimby and Hopkins, for a “life triumphant over loss, pain, sickness, poverty, sin, and [yes, even] death, and the joy that comes from living the Christ [Consciousness] Life.”
New Thought is the best of Ancient Wisdoms spoken in a modern way. It is the truth of truths of how the Universe works, why we are in it and how to be in it for a fulfilling life. The major influences of the influencers – Emerson, Troward, Quimby and Hopkins – were the “ancient” and the not so ancient thinkers that preceded them. Their writings inspired New Thought’s influencers to come up with their individualized version of an amalgamation of the Truths from Eastern and Western philosophies and traditions. It is a New Thought because of these amalgamations of the Ancient Wisdoms into modern verbiage. And yet we must always stay open to optimization by allowing a continuous revealing of this Absolute through current socio-political-cultural rhythms and needs. When the student is ready, the Teacher arrives.
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