5D View on the Madness of the New Age Movement
Contributions to The Dark Side of Spirituality,
Rebel Wisdom’s conversation between
David Fuller, Alex Ebert & Jules Evans
Berlin Wall. Photograph by Paulo Freitas.
I was thinking about Nazis, and I had been thinking about Nietzsche a little bit, about his übermensch, and there was just something nagging, something very similar to me between the light worker, the new age light worker, and their talk about transcending the 3D world for the 5D world and their sort of not so tacit rather than explicit dismissal of those who are dying from a disease because they are not sufficiently self-empowered to create their own sort of like sovereign egg of impermeable health and wellness; that those people living in a three-dimensional plane are going to sort of perish. Don’t worry about them. We’re rising to the 5D plane. It struck me as eugenic. (Alex Ebert. 01’44” – 03’22”) [my own highlight]
In 1995, my disappointment with esotericism, holism and the new age was already high. After reading dozens of such books and participating in a few organizations, I asked myself what I had learned and the answer was: nothing. And that was before I started reading the ‘dynamite-man’, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Carl Jung, one or two years later.
Always rebellious, I have, since then, fiercely criticized these movements. For decades, I was an isolated voice. I frequently heard that my perspective was absurd, after all I was disagreeing with something everyone else agreed on — given the usual desperate need for consensus, originality is often perceived as an unacceptable mistake.
My defense of the ego as an indispensable, healthy and eternal psychological structure — soon to be expanded on in an upcoming article — has always been considered outrageous. My defense of the need to integrate evil and other contents of the Shadow — a basic understanding of Analytical Psychology — has always been seen as something between immorality and absurdity, even by Jungians (reason below).
However, my strongest weapon against new ageism would only emerge on 2008. At that time, after 10 years dedicated to the individuation process, I was struck, awe-struck, by the fifth-dimensional reality of the Spirit. That vision would develop and later become a book, Paradigm of Sense — a guide to the consciousness of the Fifth Dimension© (original Portuguese version in 2018, English version in 2020).
When I watched Rebel Wisdom’s The Dark Side of Spirituality, I was delighted to find clever people with similar views — yes, I am human and don’t want to be all alone. Also, given its proximity to my work, I felt compelled to contribute to the ideas discussed on the video by offering three main reasons why new ageism has lost contact with the reality: the denial of the ego, the denial of evil and the denial of Transcendence. I have addressed these themes extensively in other places, quoted or linked here. So, in this article, I’ll keep it simple. Here I go.
THE DENIAL OF THE EGO
Jumping from our third-dimensional (3D) world to a fifth-dimensional one (5D) is impossible. Nonetheless, the idea is emblematic of the madness present in new ageism, and could only lead to Nazi-like ideas, as Alex Ebert correctly put.
New ageism states that most of mankind is now in the 3D world, dedicated to building the ego. By implying that the ego should be left behind, new ageism suggests that this world and the ego are inferior, and deny them. That idea is the basis of one of the most pernicious dogmas of new ageism: the destruction of the ego. (Watch my series of videos: Illusion: Destroying the Ego)
As Carl Jung teaches, whatever is denied possesses the individual. Since New Agers deny having an ego, a humungous-ego-like idea possesses them (Watch: The Ego of Spiritualists): they portray themselves as superior beings moving to the superior 5D world. Selfishness skyrockets: New Agers will leave everyone else behind in the falling 3D world. That’s cold.
On the unconscious side of the spectrum, the New Agers’ beliefs betray their self-hatred. They have egos like everyone else, and they have the same responsibility to build the world as anyone else. So, if the ego and this world are inferior, so are they. If they are trying to escape their own reality, they probably hate themselves.
We are the egos, and it’s important to own that as well. (Alex Ebert. 52’20”)
We are still humans on the Earth. The idea that we have purified self-sovereignty [is false]. (Alex Ebert. 17’37”)
Do you want to learn a practical way to reach Wholeness?
Wholeness is a bitch. The idea of Wholeness implies that all elements must be included. No exceptions. The ego must be included.
Paradoxically, the ego is the part of the Wholeness that perceives itself as being separated from Wholeness, therefore, partial. That is a good thing. That separation creates the space for us, egos that we are, to move towards Wholeness, to learn, developing our consciousness, while making mistakes and being human.
Why should we not want to develop our conscious further, make mistakes and be human? Why should we hate ourselves and no longer try to be who we are? I would not even say “We are still humans on Earth”. I would rather say: I would gladly forever be a human on Earth.
I was never able to clearly understand New Age’s definition of ego. As a matter of fact, New Agers are terrible at defining things, preferring an incomprehensible conceptual mess that stimulates blind belief instead of knowledge. That’s typical of those who seek to have followers.
On the other hand, Carl Jung has an extensive definition of ego. For a short text like this, let’s use a simple one: the ego is the center of consciousness.
The important fact about consciousness is that nothing can be conscious without an ego to which it refers. If something is not related to the ego then it is not conscious. Therefore, you can define consciousness as a relation of psychic facts to the ego. (1)
From this perspective, destroying the ego means destroying consciousness. Decide for yourself. What is it going to be?
Of course the ego can jeopardize the development of consciousness by holding on to its partial worldview. Nevertheless, if a child lacks education, the solution is not killing it: you educate the child. Individuation is the process of developing consciousness, the ego, to the point of totally surrendering to the Self and following its directions. By integrating one thing after another, the ego in fact grows, as consciousness grows.
The real death of the ego only happens at the very last instant of the individuation process. You cannot kill the ego though (Watch: You don't get to choose in which dimension you are). Since you are the ego, trying to kill your ego would be like trying to escape from a hole, pulling yourself up by your own hair.
The Self kills the ego and you won’t like the experience. The climax of individuation is the ultimate victory of the Self over the ego. That can only happen by the latter’s complete destruction by some terrible life situation, intentionally created by the Self, this multi-paradoxical entity, simultaneously good, evil and beyond-good-and-evil. That is one of the meanings of the symbol of Crucifixion.
Don’t worry. It is terribly painful, but it lasts three days only.
Right after that, the ego resurrects — after that terrible situation that forever shifts your life’s paradigm, your life will resume. “Before enlightenment; chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment; chop wood, carry water.” (Zen Kōan). Again, resurrection happens by the transcendental action of the Self, the same way our consciousness is awaken every morning.
The resurrected ego is now a 5D ego. It is even larger. In the fifth-dimensional reality, the 5D Self offers the ego not one prevailing direction, as it did in the individuation process (4D), but many possible directions, among which the 5D ego may choose any. I know it’s absurd: the ego is now being summoned to direct consciousness development.
[In 4D], a more or less complex archetypal constellation would determine a precise direction of psychological development, to which the 4D ego could only temporarily and painfully resist. Through the force of the archetype, this precise direction would become a highly significative purpose to the 4D ego. [In 5D], all archetypes are integrated into consciousness, therefore all directions constitute integrated purposes available to the 5D ego. So, in the paradoxical coincidence between consciousness and unconsciousness, typical of the fifth dimension, Sense is the self-determination of an integrated purpose.
Sense is the strictly individual perception that a certain reality is preferred in relation to all others.
(CAVALHER. Paradigm of Sense. Sense. Page 168)
This quick walk-through of the ego’s development across 3D, 4D and 5D reveals that being human is not a transitory condition that will be replaced by some more elevated spiritual goal. Being human is the goal.
[…] after an experience of universality (OṀ), that is, after an experience of stable union with the Whole – it is fundamental to return to the human level, in order to realise the Whole in the human life and in the material world (HŪṀ). […] even bigger than to be united to the Whole is to realise the Whole in the human life and material world.
(CAVALHER. Paradigm of Sense. Force. Page 267.)
Enough of the ego. Let’s explore deeper waters now.
THE DENIAL OF EVIL
Jumping from 3D to 5D also means skipping 4D. That’s when things get really ugly.
A small clarification is necessary. Analyzing the Psychology of Kundalini Yoga, Jung says that […] “one must consider the fact that it is hard to talk of these things, because most people are still identical with maṇipūra [the third chakra, 3D].” (2) Also, talking about the fourth cakra (4D), anāhata, Jung declares that in this level “you discover the Self; you begin to individuate. So, in anāhata individuation begins.” (3)
Transform your shit into wealth:
do effective Shadow work
From Carl Jung’s perspective, most people are 3D and the individuation process is 4D. Therefore, the New Age’s proposition reveals to be absurd: skipping 4D means skipping the individuation process.
Among the many characteristics of this complex process called individuation, one of the main ones is the integration of the Shadow. For the purpose of this text, let’s not use the more complex concept about the Shadow — that is, the sum of all unconscious elements, as perceived in the beginning of individuation — but its simpler, most common (and inaccurate) version: all that is considered evil.
By skipping the individuation process, New Ageism proposes that the Shadow remains dissociated from consciousness. (Watch: Unconsciousness of EVIL: The illusion of Positive thinking)
I’m going to totally paraphrase Rhonda Byrne, author of The Secret. She was responding to an email from someone who specifically asked about 9/11 and hurricane Katrina. She responded that in catastrophes like hurricane Katrina and 9/11, the victims were vibrating at the same level of the event and so attracted the event. Let’s just say that that is part of the truth, which I am open to. I am open to the idea that like attracts like. But the exclusion of the external factors? This is where we really get into the bypassing, […] into some of the awful aspects of the new ageism, the good vibes only, the exclusionary tactics, where we end up in a Jungian problem, where suddenly we are really denying our Shadow Self. […] Our Shadow Self being so denied with the good vibes only sort of thing, that suddenly now I think it makes sense that new ageism is now projecting these ultra-hyperbolic evils out into the world, as opposed to sort of doing an integrated integral yoga where they dive deep out down into their own mulch […] (Alex Ebert. 20’36” – 22’04”)
Alex Ebert has done all the work here.
I’ll just synthesize. Again: whatever is denied possesses the individual. By denying the existence of evil and the Shadow, at least in themselves, New Agers adopt eugenic Nazi-like stances and are ready to let those they dislike fall into the abysmal 3D world.
Also: New Agers project “ultra-hyperbolic evils out into the world”.
I would like to add something to Ebert’s perfect observation. Psychological processes are not merely abstract concepts someone uses to explain things. They are energetic operations, constituted of psychic energy that is capable of causing concrete events in our lives (4). That said, by projecting evil onto others, New Agers are effectively helping to push the world towards evil. For those who prefer to remain on the concrete level: the same way Bret Weinstein argues that “Demonizing ‘Whiteness’ Spreads White Nationalism”, I argue that spiritual systems systematically preaching that others are inferior and evil, will spread, at the very least, some kind of resentful reaction.
Speaking of the Devil, I have bad news for New Agers.