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

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”)

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)

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.

The myth of the Garden of Eden brings forth the psychological landscape of idyllic good and perfection. One of the myth’s consequences is that it is projected both at the beginning of times and at the end of times: we have all come from the Eden and those who deserve it will go to the Eden, after death. The Eden is the first and the ultimate psychological stage.

The Eden is also projected onto future stages of psychological development, seen as the ultimate solution. Many Jungians make this mistake. I often participate in conversations where the integration of the Shadow is perceived as elimination of the Shadow. That is a common 4D mistake. I, on the other hand, take the responsibility of stating that the integration of the Shadow means adding its contents, above all evil, to consciousness — and, since Consciousness is Act, that means putting evil into practice. Yes, I do not deny evil.

If the Eden is projected onto the 4D climax, i.e., the integration of the Self, its projections onto the Fifth Dimension are even stronger — thus the New Age proposition of jumping to 5D.

The bad news is, when they finally get to 5D, i.e., the reality of the Spirit, they will meet the Demon.

The individuation process can be described as the establishment of a series of psychological paradoxes that emerge from each integration of unconscious contents into consciousness. The most basic example is: a good person integrates unconscious evil and becomes someone who is paradoxically beyond-good-and-evil. The same rationale can be applied to all pairs of psychological characteristics. When the Self is finally integrated at the “end” of the process, a multi-paradoxical 4D psychological reality has been established. That is the peak of the Fourth Dimension.

Nevertheless, that is the base of the Fifth Dimension. There is no duality in 5D. All elements are in unity.

The Spirit is the Totality of the Universe, including all things, including the deepest darkness imaginable. There is no way to “save” the Spirit. We either admit that all the filth in the Universe is totally included in the Spirit, together with dimensions of ineffable luminosity, or we will create a dualist perspective, which does not happen in five dimensions.

[…]

In the Paradigm of Sense, the 5D ego is again in unity. […] Spirit and Instinct coincide: the dimensions of Jehovah are again seen and experienced in unity. We already know that to enter unity is to enter Paradise. It is important, therefore, to understand that the nature of the Paradise of Eden includes Lilith and the Serpent. To not admit to this would implicate in regressing to a dualist view. Therefore, the arrival of the Spirit necessarily implicates in the arrival of the Demon.

(CAVALHER. Paradigm of Sense. Demon. Page 215.)

Even more shocking is that, in the same way the integration of the Shadow in 4D ultimately means putting it to practice, in 5D one must Educate the Demon and use its energy, if they want to ever Create Spiritual things on a concrete level — the Spirit and the Demon are ultimately one thing.

Enough about the Shadow and the Demon. Let’s explore higher waters now.

THE DENIAL OF TRANSCENDENCE

Remember: skipping 4D means skipping the individuation process. The Shadow is usually the first archetype to be encountered in the individuation process. How about the last?

From behind all the unconscious complexes and all the Archetypes, the Archetype of the Self is the ultimate force, regulating the entirety of the individuation process, paradoxically aiming at itself: Totality. It defines which psychological forces will be at play, their meaning, and which life situations they determine in the reality.

The Self determines our behaviours too. But, to avoid saying that the Self forces us to behave in a certain direction — and cause a panic attack in those born in the Western Hemisphere — let’s just say that it knows how we are going to behave.

The Self transcends us completely, meaning that no matter how developed one may be, the Self is always beyond them, and infinitely more complex. Paradoxically — through dreams and by determining behaviours in us, and attracting people and situations to our lives — the Self always points the direction one must follow in life, in order to go beyond oneself, therefore developing consciousness and becoming more complex, becoming the Self. In that sense, the Self is Transcendence.

When defining the unconscious mind, ultimately the Self, Jung time and time again calls attention to its autonomy. That means the Self does whatever it wants, whenever it wants, whatever way it wants, with or without the permission of the ego (our permission), and, most importantly, it is able to enforce its will over the ego, over us.

A reporter from Good Housekeeping Magazine interviewed C. G. Jung just days before he died. One of the questions the interviewer asked Dr. Jung regarded his thinking about God. Dr. Jung responded: “To this day, God is the name by which I designate all things which cross my willful path violently and recklessly, all things which upset my subjective views, plans and intentions and change the course of my life for better or worse.” (5)

This perspective shows up in Alex Ebert’s precise critique of New Ageism:

One of the things I hate the most about the new age movement is intentionality: what intention should we have. I don’t want to get in the way of fucking life. I don’t want to master life. I want life to master me. And that means I have to not know. I have to get out of the way. I think that there is something beautiful, mystic and religious about not knowing. (Alex Ebert. 29’26” – 29’49”)

By skipping the individuation process (4D), New Ageism ignores the 4D Self, its autonomy and its ability to go against us.

The interesting, shocking and worrying fact is that the “law of attraction”, as preached by The Secret, and Positive Thinking, are similar to some 5D processes, like Draw and Manifestation. However, since these 3D processes disregard the autonomy of unconscious mind and the Self, they pervert the 5D processes.  

Curiously, there are various best-sellers that, in the past decades have attempted to describe the fifth dimension, but they are essentially dualist. They describe the use of psychological techniques apparently similar to those described in the [Paradigm of Sense]: the visualization of images in order to materialize them. They call this “law of attraction”. The same confusion made between the third and the fifth dimension occur between Draw and the so-called “law of attraction”. Clearly third-dimensional, they attempt to describe the fifth dimension without having even entered the fourth. These authors and their followers cannot distinguish between ego and [the 4D Self], since they do not know it, a common circumstance of the third dimension. So due to this lack of knowledge, I cannot criticize them. That way, the choice of images that will be materialized evidently comes from the ego, completely ignoring the existence of the [the 4D Self]. What we see are people choosing mansions and luxury cars from magazines and sticking pages on the wall so that they can have it “through visualization”. At most they seek physical cures, which is, to some extent, honourable. Commonly in the third dimension, people do not realise that not having a mansion or a luxury car could actually be a richer psychological experience than having those things, nor do they realise that the disease could be the experience that leads them to the psychological advance. They do not know that “a neurosis is truly removed when only when it has removed the false attitude of the ego [...] we do not cure it – it cures us”. (6) More importantly, they do not know that the [the 4D Self] is good and evil at the same time, and as such, can perfectly go against our desires, defeating them: they believe that if the ego is happy with their mansions, their luxury cars, and their perfect bodies, the Soul will be approving. – As I have mentioned, a “spiritual” system that is not capable of solving the problem of evil cannot go beyond the third-dimension and therefore cannot be taken seriously. – The practice of the “law of attraction” is the practice of phantasia. As RAFF says, the phantasia “fantasy is about the ego’s needs, desires, and quest for aggrandizement” and “fantasy leads to inflation, illusion, and stagnation.” (7)

(CAVALHER. Paradigm of Sense. Macroimage. Page 254.)

Now, compare the “law of attraction” process to the 5D process of Draw (easier to explain than the 5D process of Manifestation).

The 5D process of Draw starts from a very different point. Instead of choosing which direction to follow among the ego’s desires (law of attraction, 3D), 5D people Draw by choosing one transcendental image among those present in their dreams, visionary states typical of peak experiences (such as ayahuasca ceremonies), symbolic instruments (such as astrological charts and kinesiology) and so on. These images transcend the ego, since they cannot be controlled by consciousness. They come from a higher center — the Self — and are presented to the ego, to us.

One of the key elements that makes Draw a 5D process instead of a 4D one, is that it involves human choice. In 4D, through transcendental images that converge to a certain point, the Self points the direction of life that must be followed and developed by us. In 5D, through many divergent Images, the Self presents many possible directions of life that may be followed and developed by us, who in turn need to choose which Image to Draw, according to what makes Sense to ourselves.

After the choice is made, a series of Creative actions will be taken in order to make that Image come true: 5D people now need to re-Create their lives to reflect the transcendental Image they have chosen.

Since 5D processes require an understanding of the multi-paradoxical reality of the unconscious mind (4D) and the multi-dimensionality of the pneumatic reality (sort of a 5D version of the unconscious mind), they are infinitely more complex than the “law of attraction” or Positive Thinking. However, their resemblance is undeniable.

That makes me think about my own responsibility in feeding the dark side of spirituality.

The idea of psychological projection implies that unconscious contents are seen in other people and situations in a distorted way, therefore filled with prejudice and harsh criticism. I declare to know 5D processes. But here am I, harshly criticizing what I deem to be 3D distortions of these 5D processes: the “law of attraction” and Positive Thinking.

What am I missing?

References:

1. JUNG, C. G. Analytical Psychology – Its Theory and Practice. Pantheon Books, New York; page 10.

2. JUNG, C. G. (1996) The psychology of Kundalini Yoga. Lecture 2. Bollingen Series XCIX. Princeton University Press. p. 36.

3. JUNG, C. G. (1996) The Psychology of Kundalini Yoga. Lecture II. Bollingen Series XCIX. Princeton University Press. p. 39.

4. Jung discusses that on CW VIII/1.

5. Edward EDINGER. Ego and Archetype, Baltimore: Penguin Books. 1974. 101.

6. JUNG, C. G. (1978) Civilization in transition. Translated by Hull, R. F. C. CW X. Bollingen Series XX. Princeton University Press. §361.

7. RAFF, J. Jung and the alchemical imagination. Op. Cit. Chapter 2 “The alchemical imagination”. “Fantasy and imagination”.