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News of a New Human Nature: The Best Features & Articles on the New Spirituality

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The "new age" has gotten a bad rap over the years, and for good reason: there's been a lot of flaky nonsense out there, and a lot of self-delusion. But as reporter Patrick Miller points out, "Many ideas and practices once deemed New Age have never been more influential than they are today." Miller is referring to things like meditation, yoga, and vegetarian diets, but this remarkable book of 25 interviews and essays--culled from an illustrious decades-long career in the "journalism of consciousness"-- covers a much wider gamut than just individual lifestyle choices. Subjects explored here include paths to creativity; therapy for victims of torture; shamanism (homegrown and indigenous varieties); how to do what you love for a living (an extraordinarily comprehensive and well-researched analysis!); "spiritual machines"; how cults exploit--and provide a channel for--the devotional impulse (a thoughtful and most unusual piece, incorporating interviews with a former Moonie and other cult alumni); the relationship between therapy and ecology, altered states of consciousness (of course); and much more.

"Most forms of journalism have a short shelf life of relevance," Miller notes in his introduction. "My aim . . . for this book was to include only information and insights with 'staying power' for years to come." Miller's interviewees include Dean Ornish, Malidoma Some, Theodore Roszak, Ralph Metzner, and Jacob Needleman among others. The pieces in this book were were all published previously in periodicals such as Yoga Journal, The Sun, Intuition, Gnosis, Mother Jones, and Natural Health.

Miller divides the bulk of this book into two "somewhat arbitrary" (he admits) sections: "Changing the Self" and "Changing the World." The first section contains interviews and essays that pertain primarily to "self-work" and personal transformation, while the second section is more concerned with social activism and cultural transformation. There is a third and final section, entitled "Changing Journalism," containing two essays by Miller about the business of news, and his own evolution from a muckraking political journalist in the late '70s to a respectful and open-minded investigator of matters spiritual and unorthodox. Cover to cover, this book is a compelling and--dare I say it?--enlightening tour-de-force!

NEWS OF A NEW HUMAN NATURE is an interesting collection of interviews and articles conducted and written by D. Patrick Miller. Mr. Miller interviews many people in the forefront of the contemporary spiritual movement that was at one time largely known as the "New Age," the roster includes: Charles Tart, Riane Eisler, Malidoma Some, Sobonfu Some, Helen Palmer, Theodore Roszak, Dan Wakefield, Jacob Needleman, to name a few. Miller examines why most interviewed in NEW OF A NEW HUMAN NATURE will not use the term New Age anymore: because it has been cheapened due to poor media representation. New Agers are often thought of as flaky and trend-obsessed rather than serious spiritual seekers. Miller argues that New Agers should be applauded for at least making spiritual awareness a part of contemporary society. Still, that label is going the way of the Dodo. And those interviewed are anything but flaky; they are individuals committed to aiding in creating a spiritual awakening in this society.

The interview with Malidoma Some, which occurs in chapter 16, is my favorite part of NEWS OF A NEW HUMAN NATURE. Malidoma, a spiritual leader from Burkina Faso (West Africa) and author of the book OF WATER AND THE SPIRIT, makes the wise comment that when we speak of saving the environment it is rather backwards that we see it as being something "outside" of our own survival. As Malidoma points out, human existence is only a small blip on the scale of global existence; by destroying the environment we are destroying ourselves. The planet will gladly rebuild once we are gone . . . it's done it before. Malidoma says that when we talk about saving the planet, we need to keep in mind that we are talking about saving our own "[behinds]." Our survival depends on the planet, not the other way around.