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New Agers Believe All is One, Not Catholics

all is oneKI asks: "Where does the idea of 'all is one' come from? What does it mean? I don't believe it could possibly be compatible with Catholic teaching."

"All is one" is a core philosophy of the New Age and many eastern religions and is based on the notion that we are one with whatever divinity we worship as well as with each other.

The notion of "all is one" is considered to be a monistic worldview which posits that all existing things can be explained in terms of a single reality or substance - that everything is one and all are part of a united whole.

This is different from Catholics who are monotheistic, meaning we believe in a single, personal God.

There are many types of monism, but for the purpose of this blog, we'll stick to religious monism which encompasses Hinduism, Islam and the Kabbalah and Hasidic philosophy of Judaism.

Hindus would be an example of pantheistic monism, meaning they believe the universe is identical with divinity or that everything composes an immanent God. Thus, they do not believe in a personal God as Christians do.

Panentheism, or "all-in-God", is a belief system which posits that the divine - be it the monotheistic God, a multitude of gods, or a universal life force - penetrates every aspect of nature. Panentheists, which can also be found in Hinduism and other eastern religions along with practitioners of Kabbalah and Hasidic Judaism, believe that the divine is synonymous with the universe rather than maintaining a separate identity or significance, as it does in pantheism.

Pandeism is a belief that the creator of the universe actually became the universe, and so ceased to exist as a separate entity.

Notwithstanding how radically at odds the concept of "all in one" is with Christianity, it's easy to see why the New Age "umbrella" includes so many eastern practices that espouse the "all in one" worldview such as in the promotion of yoga, tai chi, transcendental meditation, mindfulness, eco-spiritualities, shamanism and other neo-pagan earth-based practices.

It also explains the worldview of  New Age "energy workers" who push Reiki, acupuncture, therapeutic touch, and hundreds of other healing modalities that are based on the existence of a universal life force, which was described by the authors of the pontifical document, "Jesus Christ, the Bearer of the Water of Life", as "the new age god."

 

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