Please do not misunderstand me. I fervently believe in the New Age, and my life has been transformed through what I have learned and experienced through others who are practitioners of various New Age gifts and skills. But, what really metaphorically disembowels me is those of you (and it is probably most of you) who suffer from New Age Righteousness. Let's call the proverbial spade a spade. Righteousness is another word for hypocrisy. Hypocrisy for those of you who may be vocabulary challenged means, "Do I say, not as I do." Alas, there are many New Agers who are Olympic-class hypocrites.

A sampling of what I protest:

Let's begin with my personal favorite, vegetarians. Now, I am not opposed to vegetarians. They lower the demand for meat that according to the law of supply and demand should lower the cost to thoroughgoing omnivores like myself. Bless all of you. Take for example this one, "Oh, I'm a Buddhist and we believe in not harming any living thing," and minutes later is gleefully whacking the unfortunate spider or cockroach invading the kitchen innocently looking for a little food itself. Just because most of us (vegetarian or otherwise) don't indulge in cockroach pate does not mean that they are any less deserving of living out their short lives than Babe or Mr. Ed.

"Well, I am an extreme environmentalist and honor Mother Earth. And I'll having nothing to do with anyone who owns an SUV or other gas guzzler." The same person cranks down the air conditioning at home and in the car on sweltering days without a thought of the fossil and nuclear fuels being consumed to keep environmentalists from sweating a bit. "I'll espouse concern and good intention until I get personally uncomfortable."

"I am a right to life advocate, and anyone who supports abortion doesn't deserve to live." I think there is enough said in that statement to make my point, and there is plenty of evidence that suggests that this is not an unpopular position. The fetus has a right to live but not those who would terminate its growth. Somehow in my earlier Christian upbringing there was this thing that Christ said about some golden rule. So I guess if you really want to club or shoot some one in the name of some ideal, it's okay to have someone do that to you?

My favorite is spiritual arrogance. "You know, she has been to see Sai Baba five times, and she still doesn't realize that it is her relationship with her mother that is holding her back." Really! How fortunate this person is to know what is best for someone else. Causes one to wonder how his or her relationship is with mother? Knowledge is different than understanding how to apply the knowledge. Just because one reads a book or attends a seminar and obtains some good information about the nature of life and how to lead it does not mean that the right to apply the information to everyone you know (and some you don't) has also been conferred.

We are doing really well when we learn something that resonates with us and work at applying it in our lives. Let others walk their own paths. You do not need to be the spiritual street crossing guard telling folks where to go and when. Righteousness is about being right AND that means that someone or something must be wrong. Can't have one without the other. Give up being right and just accept whatever is going on. We simply don't know what is going on for someone else. Can we have compassion and empathy? Absolutely-and we do not have to go around trying to fix someone (it really doesn't work does it? Just makes us feel better when we try and then have sympathy for the poor benighted soul who didn't have sense enough to see our brilliance.).

If you really want to be of assistance to someone who is in crisis, simply make it safe for that person to express whatever is happening and then accept what is said. Don't judge. Do listen from the heart. Do see a fellow soul who happens to be struggling with what may be a huge opportunity for learning. Don't screw it up for him or her. Let go of what you think you know, evacuate your own head for a while, and think about the situation from the other person's point of view. Walk in his or her moccasins.

Now is the time for true confessions. My name is H. Vexson ("Hello Vex!"), and I am a New Age hypocrite. At times, I have said one thing and done another. Not proud of it. I am human like the rest of you, yes, like all of you. The only thing about me is that I accept what I am and I do work at reducing my righteousness. Will I ever purge myself of it? Not until dirt is thrown in my face (for the last time). I am committed to eliminating my righteousness and that gives me something to look forward to the rest of my life.

I will sidestep my own trap of telling you what you should do. I do suggest that New Age Righteousness is a habit and one that, if you believe in the principles of karma, will return to haunt you. All of this is given in love and in the hope that these words are of service.

H. Vexson is a black sheep offspring of an established East Coast (USA) lineage that predates the Internet and who heavily invested in Xerox and Apple at the right time. After graduating from well-known ivy prep and collegiate institutions, he was struck in the head by a mallet in a polo match. Although his team did win, he experienced an epiphany, sold his ponies and the Bentley, and sallied westward to California. There he garnered some minor fame in establishing a chain of aromatherapy stores named Smell This, garnering a small fortune and establishing independence from the East Coast Vexsons. Forsaking the family traditions of Republican conservatism, he is a Libertarian, writes bad poetry, and lives quite comfortably where he may view the ocean and the mountains as well as the poor souls going to and fro their "jobs." If you wish to have a personal communiqué forwarded to him, please do so in care of the editor of this magazine.