Human urge to achieve transcendence

 

“There does seem to be a widespread, if not universal, human urge to achieve transcendence. Life seems unsatisfactory when it concerns only our individual existence. This urge must be recognized and, if it does represent a need, that need has to be addressed. But it is also an urge that can lead us astray. We cannot assume that just because we feel this desire, it can be satisfied. And even if it can, we don’t want to end up embracing a way of life or body of belief just because it seems to offer the satisfaction we seek, when on closer examination it may turn out to rest on a mistake. Indeed, I would suggest that much of the appeal of ‘new age’ ideas is based on their promise of something transcendent, since the ideas themselves are largely nonsense.”