Exploring Spirituality Through New Thought

The name "New Thought" sounds like a belief system that is just being explored for the first time. But on the contrary, the movement has been around for more than a century. New Thought believers focus on spirituality that is focused on practicality, emphasizing living wholly through meditation, constructive thinking, prayer, and consciously seeking the presence of God. The movement includes groups such as Divine Science, Unity, Religious Science, and other systems of belief.

New Thought maintains the concept that the mind is growing and expanding continually, and therefore beliefs are not static and unchanging. Traditional religious thoughts are still held fast as an important part of the developing mind, but practitioners of New Thought think that permanent dogma such as that found in traditional organized religions contradicts the mind’s innate desire to strive for advancement. The ongoing development of a believer’s mind is referred to as "unfolding" or "progressive thinking."

Those who practice New Thought believe that only one God exists, an omnipresent, creative, universal intelligence that manifests itself equally within all people. This entity is impersonal and universal, but it is felt and realized by each individual personally and perfectly. The universe and everything in it were all created by this universal intelligence - God - and there is no end and no beginning. Because God is within each person equally, there are no specific incarnations or examples of God on Earth. However, some New Though practitioners believe that Jesus may have exemplified someone who was fully aware of his divinity, and therefore was designed to show others the path to divinity.

New Thought groups often create and practice unique worship events dedicated to renewal and encouragement of the developing mind. For example, near the end of the year many churches have ceremonies to pray out the old year and pray in the new year, as a way for believers to center themselves and release the bad experiences and feelings of the old year and get ready for a new year focused on growing in God. These services often involve a type of "burning bowl" ceremony, where group members can write letters asking for forgiveness for bad habits, negative feelings, unkind or inappropriate actions, etc., and then burn them in the bowl, thereby leaving those negative feelings in the ashes of the past.

Most New Thought groups borrow many of their belief concepts from Eastern religions. The thought that God is omnipresent - God is everything and everything is God - leads believers to develop their own plan for salvation. New Thought practitioners can be licensed to counsel believers about spiritual healing concepts for physical and emotional problems. Some believe that after a person dies, their individual soul is merged with the overarching universal spirit. Others believe that we are all continually reborn, so that each person can advance toward immortality, with each experienced lifetime a step along the way to achieving perfection.

Followers of the New Thought movement do not adhere to the concepts of original sin, evil, or Satan. They believe that making mistakes and suffering the consequences of them are a result of ignoring one’s own nature as being a perfect combination of love and a developing mind, which is the true God. Salvation comes from realizing that we are all one with an impersonal, universal life force, and therefore healing lies within.