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 scholar-
philosophers 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.