Self religion

A self religion (or self-religion) is a religious or self-improvement group which has as one of its primary aims the improvement of the self.^[1] The term "self religion" was coined by Paul Heelas^[2] and other scholars of religion have adopted/adapted the description. King's College London scholar Peter Bernard Clarke builds on Heelas's concept of self religion to describe the class of "Religions of the True Self".^[3]

Scope

Hanegraaff notes that "self religion" may equate to New Age spirituality in general.^[4] Author Michael York writes, "If 'self-religion' means personal exegesis and selection by the individual, the general rubric is applicable to trends in the late modern/early postmodern transition, which encompass much more than simply New Age and Neo-pagan religiosities."^[5] Eileen Barker, in her 1999 book New Religious Movements: their incidence and significance, said that they were "toward the New Age end of the NRM spectrum".^[6] Massimo Introvigne, an Italian sociologist of religion, describe "self religion" as "a deep but vague and unorganized interest in the sacred".^[7]

Examples

Groups characterized as (or associated with the concepts of) self religions or "religions of the True Self" include:

• Arica^[8]
• the Emin Foundation^[9]
• est^[10] has been called "the most important of the self religions"^[11]
• Exegesis^[12][13] (an est-offshoot^[14])
• The Gurdjieff Work.^[15] Heelas traces some self-religions to the tradition of Gurdjieff:^[16]
• Insight Seminars^[17][18]
• Landmark Forum^[19] (a derivative of est)^[20]
• the Life Training (Kairos Foundation)^[18]
• Mind Dynamics^[21]
• Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness (MSIA)^[18]
• Rastafari^[22]
• LaVeyan Satanism^[23]
• the School of Economic Science^[24]
• the Church of Scientology is characterized by Heelas as "one of the best known self-religions"^[25]
• Silva Mind Control^[13][26]