Wholism and the New Age

WHOLISM AND THE NEW AGEby				all of life: animals, plants, rocks, air. We are part of an
Diane Brandon				interconnecting and very complex web of life -- the
We find ourselves perched on the "cusp" of a new				ultimate symbiotic relationship. Any time we separate
era, or so we're told -- a "new age." A whole new era				ourselves from the whole, we are negating not only
will be ushered in -- with the emphasis on newness.				the whole, but also aspects of ourselves.
Part of that newness, I believe, will be new thinking, a				There are many ways in which we separate
breaking of the old, the creation of the new. New				ourselves from the whole: by judging others; by seeing
thinking, new forms. But are we still caught up in the old				ourselves as separate or different or better; by
thinking? Are we marching into the "New Age"				criticizing; by "shoulding" other people; by labeling.
dragging our old thinking along?				Personal Causes of Alienation
We talk a lot about wholism -- "wholistic health,"				Why do we feel this separation (so strongly that at
"wholistic living." And I feel that wholism is a form that				times it is more alienation than separation)? One of the
we are inexorably moving towards, an integral part of				reasons is that old word "ego." We are trapped in our
the "New Age." But what does "wholism" really mean				egos -- and the ego need to feel important in
and what are the implications of wholistic being?				comparison to others and separate from things. And
Well, obviously the term wholistic comes from the				the ego need to feel important comes from not loving
word "whole." And a whole is the combination or total				ourselves, from low self-esteem. Which ultimately goes
of its parts. "Wholeness" is considered to be desirable:				back to not accepting ourselves -- and all our parts
we strive "to be whole."				and traits. Ergo, learning to accept ourselves -- all of
Unfortunately the age and culture we live in has heavily				our parts -- is a step towards loving ourselves, as well
swayed us against wholeness. We separate and				as loving and feeling connected to others.
compartmentalize, rather than uniting. We live in an age				Another cause of separation is our own pain. And our
of specialization, splitting off parts of ourselves and				pain comes from different things -- from not accepting
earning a living doing one thing, thereby neglecting our				ourselves, from unresolved issues from the past. The
other talents and interests.				more we go into our pain (similar to going into fear), the
We separate and reject, rather than unite and accept.				more we resolve and heal it – and heal ourselves.
We compete, rather than cooperate. We fear and				As we heal our pain, we become more whole. Pain
push away that which is feared, rather than accept				closes us in into ourselves. It pulls our energy in and
and understand. We judge, rather than forgive and				prevents that energy from radiating out. As we heal
accept. We talk about dualities of good vs. evil, light vs.				ourselves of pain, we feel our energy flow outward --
dark, rather than look at the whole, which is composed				thus connecting ourselves to other things and people.
of both, and combinations and gradations thereof. We				Even our language may contribute to our feeling of
engage in simplistic labeling and thinking, rather than				separation. We define by difference, rather than
deal with totalities and nuances -- the polar opposites,				similarity or commonality. We want to know how
rather than mixtures or shades of gray.				something is different from something else. We have a
All of these engrained habits of thinking have been				need to distinguish by differences. It is interesting to
salient characteristics of the Piscean Age, and we				note that many Native American languages do not
have all been under their spell.				have nouns, only verbs. In these languages, what we
So, how do we move toward wholeness, given all the				see as things or people are instead processes or
influences on us to the contrary?				actions -- a dance of energy, rather than something
The Personal Level				fixed or immutable. It is very hard to label something
Let's take a look first at wholeness as applied to the				that is in movement and thus changing. And once we
individual or personal level. I would think that, to be				label or define, we cease seeing something or
whole, we must first accept ourselves as a whole.				someone as unique; we cease seeing them afresh. It is
Rather than split off parts of ourselves as undesirable				a mental shortcut to label and define -- we no longer
and disowning them, we can accept that everything				have to deal with the more involved process of seeing
exists for a purpose. To believe otherwise is to reject				freshly.
creation and second guess the Creator.				Our very society has influences for alienation. As our
Therefore, we can first accept all our faculties: left				population has increased and increasing urbanization
brain and right brain; logic, feeling, and intuition. How				has crowded us together more and more, we
many times have we heard someone say, "I don't				increasingly tend to view other people as objects -- as
think; I feel?" Why not think and feel. Instead of labeling				obstacles that get in our way. We have to "fight"
one as "bad" and the other as "good," why not				through traffic. We have to stand behind others in line.
consider that both serve a purpose? Why thinks in				It is hard to feel connected to others when we feel
terms of "ors" that separate, instead of "ands" that				others are "in our way." So some of us seek a more
unite? If any of these faculties did not serve a purpose,				"wholesome" life in less urban settings.
why were they created? There are times when I don't				Cooperation
know where my thinking or ideas come from: from my				The very idea of competing for things -- competing for
logic or intuition or feeling. It feels, instead, as if the parts				food, for jobs, for space -- has been a hallmark of the
are working together as a whole -- which is a nice				Piscean Age. The Aquarian Age, we are told, will be
feeling, a feeling of wholeness. We can become more				one of cooperation, rather than competition or
whole by reclaiming all parts of ourselves.				domination. Some people speak of the shift from the
Emotions				Piscean to the Aquarian Age as a shift from the
Emotions get a lot of bad press. We tend to reject				dominating, paternalistic force to the rise of the
emotions as undesirable qualities, especially "negative"				cooperative, feminine principle.
emotions like pain or anger. We suppress our				Certainly cooperation is a facet of wholism -- the parts
emotions; it's not "good" to be "emotional." Isn't it				of a whole cooperating or working together, rather
possible that emotions serve a purpose, perform a				than fighting or abrading against each other. But striving
function? To me, emotions are indicators, or signals:				for wholeness in society or the world ultimately begins
they tell us when something is going well or needs to				on the personal level. A whole entity cannot be
be worked on. If we pay attention to our emotions, we				working together smoothly and "wholesomely" if the
can learn and grow.				individual component parts are not smooth,
If the different parts of ourselves are working together,				whole-functioning microcosms of the whole.
then we achieve a wholeness or balance in our lives. If				Charity Begins at Home; Wholeness Begins in the Self
we suppress or deny parts of ourselves, the energy				Perhaps healing our pain, working on our issues, shining
of the parts disowned does not dissipate; it remains				a light on our less-illumined areas, accepting ourselves,
and throws us off balance.				striving to be whole within ourselves, developing our
The Role of Fear				potential, having an open, curious outlook, and changing
Certainly fear is an emotion that is a big bugaboo to us.				our thinking -- all of this together is the first step. It is no
When we label something as "bad," we push it away.				coincidence at all that there has been an intense flurry
The more "bad" it is for us and the more we push it				of activity in the past several years as more and more
away, the more we fear it. As anyone who has				people have been "working on their issues." This is
worked on his or her issues knows -- or as any truly				definitely happening for a reason, for we can't bypass
spiritually wise person knows -- fear is our teacher, if				the personal work to leap into the divine. Ofttimes an
we go into it. Fear separates and holds us back; it				intense desire to immerse oneself in the New Age
does not unite. If, however, we face our fear and go				movement without having done one's personal work
into it, we learn from it and reclaim a disowned part of				may represent an unconscious desire to escape from
us. We also usually learn that our fear of the fear was				pain -- a denial of one's reality and diversion of
worse than what we thought we feared, the object of				attention from one's problems. (Denial is not just a river
our fear. We learn that superstition and fear are only				in Africa!) If we are here for a purpose, then part of
shadows, projections from within ourselves with no				the purpose may be to fully experience life and learn
real substance, projections from our own lack of				and grow -- here and now.
wholeness. We also gain in self-confidence when we				I often hear some people refer to themselves as
go into fear. We become more whole.				"lightworkers," who are on a mission to save people.
A healthy curiosity can also help with fear, because				That we are now in the throes of a struggle between
curiosity opens us; its energy goes outward. An open				light and dark. That people are being forced to choose
mind is an inquiring one. A closed mind holds us back.				between "life" and "death." And woe to those who
Curiosity impels us forward to learn and grow.				choose "death."
Fear exists in the New Age community as well and,				This is a very seductive idea. But does this picture feel
unfortunately, at times is taught to others. There was				right to you? It encompasses a lot of the old thinking
an idea going around last winter before the first				and pulls people in through fear and separation. It taps
Uranus-Neptune conjunction about "negative space				into a lot of ego needs and pain-based needs.
entities" that were going to use the conjunction as				Physician, heal thyself.
some sort of opening to do "negative," bad things to				We first have the duality of light vs. dark, the totalitarian
"lightworkers."				and simplistic thinking dividing things and people into
I was taken aback when I heard this, as well as				polar opposites -- no grays, just black and white.
baffled and somewhat saddened. Here was fear in all				People are good or bad, light or dark. Period. There is
its grandeur, rearing its head again -- this time in the				no in-between. We also have the old separatist thinking
New Age community, a community I had thought was				of Us vs. Them, the Good Guys vs. the Bad Guys. (If
enlightened. New drama, old thinking. The old myth and				we wanted to give it a Western touch, we could add
fear of evil and Satan in New Age clothing. The old				white and black hats -- just so people could tell at a
need to fear something and project it outward in an				glance who was who.) We also strongly have the
anthropomorphic fashion: Satan was now "negative				element of fear: if you don't choose life, you get death.
space entities."				It pushes people's fear buttons big-time. (If you're not
Fear wields its power pervasively, especially when one				good, you'll get coal in your stocking; "so you'd better
feels separation, and it rules with an iron fist.				be good for goodness' sake....")
Unfortunately fear can contaminate and be contagious:				And, after it has pushed all the big fear and separation
we teach our fear to others. Again, we can learn from				buttons, it then gives a pay-off, the Reward, by pushing
going into fear and examining it openly, thereby				the ego-need button. The need to feel good about
reclaiming our wholeness. A life without fear is a				oneself. And not just good -- superior. Superior to
"whole"-some life.				others. A savior. A "lightworker," separate and above
Self-Development				others (except for those other lightworker members
The human potential development movement also				of your exclusive clique). Who needs a country club
springs from a move toward wholeness. As we				when you can have your own New Age substitute
develop talents that have lain dormant and acquire				version? This, for many, is an enticing notion, coming
new skills, we develop more parts of our selves –				out of pain and need, but, unfortunately, at the expense
and thus become more of a whole.				of others: others must be seen as in the dark and
As we start to reclaim disowned parts of ourselves				needing to be saved in order for the "lightworker" to
and truly develop ourselves as whole human beings,				be exalted. For anyone with low self-esteem, who
wholeness is not the only result. Self-development can				feels alienated from others and has deep-seated
also lead to self-acceptance, self-esteem, and				fears, and who has not done his or her personal work,
self-empowerment.				this is very strong stuff.
We can also apply wholism and new forms to the				And it is exactly the same heady brew of
personal area of career. I first found myself				button-pushing that we have seen in religions over the
expounding the following idea during a reading and				years. Take a populace that has fears, is alienated
was surprised by what was coming out of my mouth.				from itself as well as others, and is into separation (Us
An idea had formed, unbeknownst to me, and it was				vs. Them) and, voila: we have the Crusades and other
an idea that I could apply to myself.				variations on a theme. We can all be susceptible to
Basically, I found myself saying that one could assess				such ideas.
one's talents, abilities, and interests and come up with a				We all have a mission and a purpose. Otherwise, why
career that combined these, thus drawing on one's				are we here -- any of us? But are we divine saviors?
wholeness. That perhaps we err in trying to think of				(Or are we all not divine saviors?) Must others be
having a job or career that already exists in our				base, foundering in the dark and needing to be saved
economic structure -- of trying to fit ourselves into a				-- by us in our elevated and rarefied position? Or are
pre-existing hole, instead of carving out and creating a				we all not a mixture of light and dark -- somewhat less
career that suits us. A new form customized for us				than perfect (and yet perfect because we are where
specifically.				we are meant to be)?
In our one-dimensional society, we tend to think of				In reality, we are all at different places on our
people as being or doing only one thing. But this, of				respective paths, and we all contain grays and
course, is the antithesis of wholeness. The eclectic				gradations of light. We are all in this together and are
person tends to be whole. And that eclecticism can be				connected. We all learn from each other, and we all
incorporated into how one earns one's living. This idea				have something to contribute.
runs counter to our era of narrow specialization, but I				And, as we contribute, there is an exchange of
feel that we are truly moving toward just this sort of				energy, which can be wholistic as well -- a circle, if you
whole living and career, and away from specialization				will. With wholistic energy, the cycle must be complete:
that cuts us off from things.				if it goes out, it must be returned. An equal give and
Wholistic living does not imply a closed system. The				take. As we teach, so we learn. As we give, so are
moment we think we have all the answers and stop				we given.
seeking and questioning and adding to our whole -- we				Transitions are not easy. As we go through change, a
close down and cease learning and growing. Closing				lot of dirt and discomfort are stirred up. We are,
down -- not being open -- also implies separation.				however, inexorably moving towards wholism. All our
The Societal or Larger Level				separation and fear and underlying dualistic thinking are
Which brings us to another area of wholism -- the				gradually dying away. The old rigid and separatist
societal, or our interactions with others and our world.				forms and thinking are winding down. More and more
How can we apply wholism to our interactions with				people are changing their thinking, working on their
that which is outside us?				issues, healing themselves, and becoming whole. And
Just as being whole means accepting all our own				seeing themselves as part of the whole. And as we
parts, it also implies accepting other people. It means				heal and grow, the whole reflects our change by also
feeling a connection, rather than separation. Just as				healing. The throes of change may be discomfitting,
Native Americans view all of life as interconnected,				especially when the change is fundamental, but
wholism as a world-view implies that we are part of a				wholism will be part of the future. We can be healthy
whole. We are not only connected to other humans				parts of that whole.
(both those we deem "bad," as well as "good"), but to

Aloha Manhc

Wholism and the New Age