New Thought Movement And Vedanta

New Thought Movement and Vedanta Nenmeli K Srinivasan New thought movement in the United States started in the late 19th century.There were different strains of this, reinterpreting the Bible [New Testament] among Protestant churches and also the personality of Jesus Christ.These were departures from the early fundamental christian denominations. New Thought leaders spoke more about the divine spark in man,the creed that "Kingdom of God is within You", emphasing less of external rituals and worship , saying that every one has inner "Divine" "god's potential, only to be uncovered.Some spoke in terms of achieving prosperity in material terms and in wholistic approach to Life.Some even when to the extent of saying that one can heal himself or herself with divine spark within--- without using external drugs or treatment.The mental affirmations and self-image were considered as the tools to attain 'divine consciousness' and allow the flow of God's energy and abundance to manifest in one's life. These 'New Thought' concepts were limited to a small segment of the Protestant population.The two great leaders who founded churches in this movement are Ernest Holmes with "Religious Science' church and Charles Fillmore and his wife Myrtle Fillmore with "Unity Church". As one studies these churches and their tenets, it is apparent that they had drawn some basic concepts from Hindu religion and Buddhism as well.The thought leaders were influenced by Ralph Waldo Emerson whom they quoted often.Emerson was himself influenced by Hindu doctrines to consdierable extent .[Read his poem "Brahma"]He used the Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads for the soul-affirming concepts of Divinity within, that God is present in our hearts and would give energy and guidance ,if only we turn inwards in our thoughts and meditations. We can see also the influence of many great Hindu saints and savants who visited the United States or wrote extensively in English ---Swami Vivekananda who attended the Parliament of religions in 1893 in Chicago,Swami Ram Tirth who spent a few years in California among others.The well-known poet of India, Rabindranath Togore's works,especially his work "sadhana" ,summarises the Vedantic thought.Since Tagore received the Nobel prize for literature, a few from the east in those days, his works were quite well known among scholarphilosophers in the west. Another important influence among the New Thought movement could be the writings and lectures of Paramahansa Yogananda of SRF [Self Realization Fellowship] from Los Angeles.After swami Vivekananda's visits [twice to USA] several vedantic centres were established by the monks of Sri Ramakrishna Order,the order founded by Vivekananda.These centres, both in USA and in many countries of Europe, have been dissemenating the vedantic concepts in a quiet and profound ways.We may surmise that these influences have slowly moulded the thinking of New Thought leaders.

There has been several leaders who may not identify with specific churches in the Christian tradition, but following new thought concepts and speading them in the USA. An important outgrowth of all these efforts are the large number of books whcih became best sellers,read by millions of readers whether they called themselves new thought followers or not. Rev Norman Vincent Peale's 'positive thinking" books, Catherine Ponder's "prosperity" series, Eric Butterworth's 'spirituality economics' , Louise Hays' "Affirmations" series,Vernon Howard's books and numerous others have lead many people to think away from man with 'sins' , but man with divine potentials.Many of them were ordained ministers of some of the churches too.Many were lay preachers or self-help book writers. In recent times Marianne Williamson,Ram Dass and Wayne Dyer have carried these much further ,drawing from eastern/Hindu traditions ,just to mention a few of them. It is interesting to study how this genre of writing have infleunced two or three generations of Christians,who have moved away from fundamentalist doctrines. It is also to be noted that with the spread of new thought movements ,church-going has taken a new meaning---not so much for listening to sermans from the Bible, but more to reflect on the application of Christianity to practical problems and every day issues.[At the other end of the spectrum, several 'secular' churches have come into being,which may not accept some of the tenets of Christian faith or details of Christ's life at all.] I am writing this mainly to emphasize how the thoughts from Hinduism,especially about the divine spark in each of us which may find unison with Almighty or Cosmic spirit, has slowly percolated and transformed the thinking of Christian churches and the general population in the USA.This influence is tangible and longer lasting than the influence of some yogis and gurus making flashes for a short time, leaving a trace of their impact with a few ashrams and temples --often mismanaged and raked with misbehavior of the community members. I am not ,however, suggesting that these thought strucutres are totally new to Christian theology or doctrines.Many things are to be found in the Bible and in the lives and teachings of the mystics in Christain tradition as well.In fact while mentioning the Hindu texts or vedanta, many new thought leaders refer back to the Chrisitan literature only.But their bold interpretations from the tradional,organized curches may have come about due the the influence of Vedanta and Advaita philosophy from the late nineteenth century.