Is Modern Day Society Culturally Appreciative?

Spirituality and Religion has always surrounded society for many centuries. As Christianity was growing, so was Confucianism and Buddhism.

But in the 70s and 80s, the start of New Age Spirituality began to become more popular.

Today, celebrities such as SZA, Erykah Badu, and India. Arie has shown their appreciation through meditations, spiritual practices, and positive mindsets. Others have incorporated it into their personal aesthetics. But is New Age stealing from Asian, African, and Indigenous cultures?

In this article today, I provide to you information based on research on different philosophical backgrounds, how it is incorporated into New Spirituality today and how people can learn to appreciate it, rather than appropriate from it.

Buddhism vs. New Age

Buddhism was established in the 6th century and was inspired by Siddhartha Guatama, known today as the Buddha. According to AsiaSociety.org, Buddhism has assumed in many forms, but in each case, there has been an attempt to draw from the life experiences of the Buddha, his teachings, and the "spirit" or "essence" of his teachings; called Dharma or "dhamma." According to the legend, he sat under a tree for 6 months to later gain an enlightened mentality. He began teaching people how to seek and understand the beauty of stillness, peace, and positivity.

He left his wife and son behind and started to seek Enlightenment. Legend says he meditated under a tree for 6 months to reach an enlightened state of mind. Later, he taught others about seeking peace through suffering.

In New Age Spirituality today, a lot of Spiritual practices are from Buddhism. Meditation is originally used as a form of practice to stay in stillness and let your mind be still for a period of time.

Today it is a practice to help relieve stress and is even used as a form of practice for mental health.

According to Headspace, an app used to help people incorporate mediation into their daily lives, "The benefits of meditation are numerous and varied and supported by science. Many people started to meditate to manage stress, reduce anxiety, and cultivate peace of mind."

Meditation is something to greatly appreciate, especially recognizing the origins of where it originally came from.

Hinduism Vs. Media

Hinduism is another theology that greatly influences New Spirituality today, as yoga is originally from it. It's a Hindu spiritual practice that allows people to connect not only with their spirit but also their bodies.

Hinduism was said to be established between 2300 B.C. and 1500 B.C. in Indus Valley, near modern-day Pakistan, according to History.Com.

In Hinduism, several sacred writings, as opposed to one, like the Holy Bible, use to teach and guide followers of Christianity/Catholicism. And are known as the Vedas. Vedas was established in Hindusim around 1500 B.C. The verses/ hymns and are made up of scripture that to this day is rare. Some are even known to be lost.

The Rig Veda or Rigveda- has at least 1000 hymns, organized into 10 books called the Mandalas, and is one of the oldest Sanskrit books.

The Samaveda or Sama Veda- is scripture or hymns established to guide Hindus to chant or sing.

Yajurveda - meaning "knowledge of worship." is a Veda that was made for worship rituals.

Atharvaveda- includes directions and mantras used to guide and help followers of Hinduism through life with spiritual guidance.

Hinduism also has Gods and Goddesses, which are spiritual figures of Hindu culture. You can learn more about them here.

In the photo above, Cardi B was in an issue of FN's Style's Influencer of the Year. She was later under fire for lack of awareness when posing as the Goddess Durga. She later apologized to her fans, specifically her fans who are Hindu followers, stating that she wasn't trying to be disrespectful, that she was trying to pay homage to the Goddess of Protection. She later stated that she will do more research in the future.

Indigenous Spirituality vs. Coachella

Indigenous spirituality, according to Britannica.com, is a spiritual community that lacked sacred texts or moral codes. At one point, Native Americans in the 1800s were forced to be more like the Europeans who "discovered" the Americas. This process is called Assimilation. They were forced off the land to have their children taken away and sent to boarding schools set up by the government. The separation made it easier for the children to forget their families and culture, according to NationalGeographic.org.

John Collier, who was the commissioner of Indian Affairs in 1934, announced that the government would no longer get in the way of Native-American culture and practices.

Later in 1978, the American Indian Religious Freedom Act (AIRFA) became a part of government law and allowed Indigenous people to practice their native religions.

This caused generations of Native Americans not to know much of their culture and their spiritual history. Recently, Gen Z Native Americans are reconnecting with their native cultures and are incorporating their traditional clothing into their daily clothing.

In later years, around the 2010s, Native, Indian and Asian cultures were becoming a tone-deaf trend, which was offending people who truly understood the meaning of the things used only for fashion sense.

From dream catchers to feathers on T-shirts saying "free spirit," this caused people to be outraged.

In an article by TeenVogue.com, feathered headpieces, dashikis, and war paint were a form of cultural appropriation. South Asian women use Dashikis as a spiritual symbol of the third eye and are more than just a pretty accessory.

With more resources and more discussions on racial issues, we can no focus on New Age spirituality without offending someone from the culture itself.

So what's next?

Since the conversation has started, people are becoming more aware of respecting others cultures and traditions, and instead of making them outfits, or making the material from the original sacred spaces, we instead buy from small POC spaces and do our research.

If you walk in the costume aisle during Halloween, you may still come across offensive costumes. The problem isn't completely gone. We've only just started identifying the issues. But it's good that we at least started somewhere.

So before you purchase the store brand Palo Santo, think about who it's truly affecting.

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