2.2. BASES TEÓRICAS
2.2.15. LA IMPORTANCIA DE LA IMAGEN INSTITUCIONAL
West, but Susumu Shimazono (1999, 2004) notes that a phenomenon which is similar to the NAM in North America and Europe was also emerging in Japan in the late 1980s. He argues that the the ‘NAM’ is not a proper academic term and proposes, instead, an alternative term, ‘New Spirituality Movements and Culture’ (NSM&C).
Shimazono begins by pointing out that the term ‘NAM’ is seldom used in Japan, and that ‘World of the Spiritual’ is the preferred alternative.
Publications exhibited in bookstores in Japan about this phenomenon include topics on healing, self-transformation, reincarnation and karma, near-death experiences, qui qiao, yoga, meditation, shamanism, animism, evolution of consciousness, occult experiences, transpersonal psychology, holistic medicine, ‘new science’, etc.. In addition, those who are interested in these topics are people who themselves are on a quest for something spiritual or healing.
According to Shimazono, the term ‘World of the Spiritual’ implies not only a new form of a revived ancient spiritual tradition but also a brand-new world, which has evolved from a combination of traditional religious systems and modern rationalism. Therefore, the ‘“World of the Spiritual” represents the civilisation of a new age which will follow the current “modern” age’ (Shimazono, 1999, p.124). In addition, the ‘World of the Spiritual’ in Japan is not equivalent to the NAM in the US. The two phenomena are similar but have their own distinctiveness, in addition to elements that overlap. However, just like the term ‘New Age’, the ‘World of the Spiritual’ can also be regarded as being a problematic term for academic purposes. The denotation of the
term is ambiguous; and people who are involved in the phenomena do not like to be regarded as participants.
According to Shimazono (1999) , the reasons for arguing that the term ‘NSM&C’ is more appropriate than ‘the NAM’ include the following: first of all, he insists on using ‘movements’ in the plural because the term includes various types of ‘New Age’ and ‘World of the Spiritual’ groups. Moreover, many people involved in these movements consider that they belong to a new age of ‘spirituality’, which follows the end of the age of ‘religion’. Here, Shimazono suggests that spirituality ‘in a broad sense implies religiousness, but it does not mean organised religion or doctrine. Rather, it is used to mean the religious nature expressed by an individual’s thoughts and actions’
(Shimazono, 1999, p.125). As for using ‘Movements and Culture’ rather than merely ‘Movement’, Shimazono says (1999, p.125):
It is often believed that the accumulation of many individuals’ transformations in consciousness will automatically lead to a transformation in consciousness for all human beings. This individualistic inclination with little joint activity suggests a classification as a ‘culture’ rather than a ‘movement’. ‘Culture’ here means aspects of the production or consumption of culture, rather than active individual practices. As the phenomenon has facets of both ‘movement’ and ‘culture’, it is appropriate to call it ‘New Spirituality Movements and Culture’.
Shimazono (1999) adds that people who participate in NSM&C are individualistic and less willing to participate in collective actions. As a result, the phenomena are more appropriately designated as a ‘culture’ than a
‘movement’ (p. 125). At the same time, he also differentiates the NSM&C from NRMs (Shimazono, 1999, pp.126-127). He points out that the NSM&C
lack the basic characteristics of NRMs, such as a clear system of ideas, practices and religious organisations － although some groups among the NSM&C do have a specific system of theory and practice, which is the part of the overlap between these two categories.
One of the most important differences between the NSM&C and NRMs concerns the concept of salvation (Shimazono, 1999, p.126). Shimazono argues that, unlike members of NRMs who seek to overcome the limitations of human beings by following such principles as the disciplines, rules, values of the religion they advocate, participants in the NSM&C are inclined to avoid any idea that could be considered as a precondition of salvation, such as discipline, obedience, obligation, service or solidarity (p.127).
In discussing the characteristics of the NSM&C, Shimazono (1999, pp.128-129) compares them to salvation religions and concludes that the NSM&C have no concept of human suffering or personified agents such as God, gods and the sacred Other, which are found in salvation religions. The NSM&C aim at self-transformation; the worldview they manifest represents a new movement or culture that seeks to overcome the effects of both traditional religions and rationalist modern science (p.127).
Finally, Shimazono indicates that there is an increasing volume of information and culture shared globally, which has spread rapidly across national boundaries. The development of high-tech communication and media also influence people in the NSM&C in terms of globalisation. The NSM&C are regarded as a part of global information and culture, with many centres and facets. However, he emphasises that the influence of NSM&C on the world is different from that of the NAM in the West. For example, one of
the elements in the NSM&C, the presence of a nationalist inclination, such as animism or qui qiao, functions to inspire a form of pride in the common traditions of East Asian nations (Shimazono, 1999, p.131). Therefore, Shimazono suggests that our understanding of the strong individualistic nature of the phenomena should be modified. In this regard, he also reminds us that this individualistic nature is closely associated with its global, multi-facted, multi-centred nature. However, Shimazono does not offer detailed
explanations of the way in which the NSM&C participate in the world in this regard.