Editing New Age (section)

===Ethics and afterlife===
There is no ethical cohesion within the New Age phenomenon,{{sfn|Partridge|2004|p=35}} although Hanegraaff argued that the central ethical tenet of the New Age is to cultivate one's own divine potential.{{sfn|Hanegraaff|1996|p=281}} Given that the movement's holistic interpretation of the universe prohibits a belief in a dualistic [[good and evil]],{{sfn|Hanegraaff|1996|p=277}} negative events that happen are interpreted not as the result of evil but as lessons designed to teach an individual and enable them to advance spiritually.{{sfn|Hanegraaff|1996|pp=236–237, 278}}
It rejects the Christian emphasis on [[sin]] and [[guilt (emotion)|guilt]], believing that these generate fear and thus negativity, which in turn hinder [[spiritual evolution]].{{sfn|Hanegraaff|1996|pp=294–295}} It also typically criticises the blaming and judging of others for their actions, believing that if an individual adopts these negative attitudes it harms their own spiritual evolution.{{sfn|Hanegraaff|1996|p=293}} Instead, the movement emphasizes positive thinking, although beliefs regarding the power behind such thoughts vary within New Age literature.{{sfn|Hanegraaff|1996|p=240}} Common New Age examples of how to generate such positive thinking include the repeated recitation of [[mantra]]s and statements carrying positive messages,{{sfn|Hanegraaff|1996|pp=240–241}} and the visualisation of a white light.{{sfn|Hanegraaff|1996|p=242}}

According to Hanegraaff, the question of death and afterlife is not a "pressing problem requiring an answer" in the New Age.{{sfn|Hanegraaff|1996|p=258}} A belief in [[reincarnation]] is very common, where it is often viewed as being part of an individual's progressive spiritual evolution toward realisation of their own divinity.{{sfnm|1a1=Hanegraaff|1y=1996|1p=262|2a1=York|2y=2001|2p=364|3a1=MacKian|3y=2012|3p=109}} In New Age literature, the reality of reincarnation is usually treated as self-evident, with no explanation as to why practitioners embrace this afterlife belief over others,{{sfn|Hanegraaff|1996|p=263}} although New Agers endorse it in the belief that it ensures cosmic justice.{{sfn|Hanegraaff|1996|p=264}} Many New Agers believe in [[karma]], treating it as a law of cause and effect that assures cosmic balance, although in some cases they stress that it is not a system that enforces punishment for past actions.{{sfn|Hanegraaff|1996|p=286}}
Much New Age literature on reincarnation says that part of the human soul, that which carries the personality, perishes with the death of the body, while the Higher Self—that which connects with divinity—survives in order to be reborn into another body.{{sfn|Hanegraaff|1996|p=266}} It is believed that the Higher Self chooses the body and circumstances into which it will be born, in order to use it as a vessel through which to learn new lessons and thus advance its own spiritual evolution.{{sfn|Hanegraaff|1996|p=262}} New Age writers like [[Shakti Gawain]] and [[Louise Hay]] therefore express the view that humans are responsible for the events that happen to them during their life, an idea that many New Agers regard as empowering.{{sfn|Hanegraaff|1996|p=234}} At times, past life regression are employed within the New Age in order to reveal a Higher Soul's previous incarnations, usually with an explicit healing purpose.{{sfn|Hanegraaff|1996|pp=271–275}} Some practitioners espouse the idea of a "soul group" or "soul family", a group of connected souls who reincarnate together as family of friendship units.{{sfn|MacKian|2012|p=109}} Rather than reincarnation, another afterlife belief found among New Agers holds that an individual's soul returns to a "universal energy" on bodily death.{{sfn|MacKian|2012|p=109}}