Canada's (Post) "New Age" Spiritual Centers and the Impact of the Internet in the Context of Digital Religion

As a phenomenon that has had overwhelming social, cultural and political influence, the internet has become so embedded in our lives that it is difficult to imagine how we communicated or accessed information before its invention. It is not surprising, then, that the web is also a very active religious environment with religious and spiritual groups using it extensively to proclaim their beliefs and to be in contact with their followers. In a macro sense, web-based religion is any online activity, from the simple dissemination of information about a religious group or church to full web-based religious practice. It can be understood as occurring along a spectrum from religion online at one end to online religion at the other. First developed by Christopher Helland and further refined by Lorne Dawson, religion online means the use of the internet as a means of providing essential information about, or by, religious groups, movements, and traditions. At the other end of the spectrum, online religion sees the internet as a space that permits the practice of religion or ritual, or worship. In other words, rather than use their web browsers to simply search for information, religious followers use the web as an integral part of their religious lives (Helland, 2000; Dawson, 2005). However, a new term has entered the academic vocabulary and is being applied to online/offline religious praxis and that is Digital Religion. This latest definition brings a broader meaning to online/offline religion because it accepts the reality that current religious practice co-exists in an online and an offline world simultaneously and the rapid growth of digital technology has included religious or spiritual movements. This dissertation focuses on three New Age spiritual groups in Canada (English Canada only): the Universal Oneness Spiritual Center1 in Toronto, Ontario, the Centre for Spiritual Living in Calgary, Alberta and Unity Vancouver in Vancouver B.C., and reviews how these three groups use the internet in their everyday activities such as ritual, prayer and meditation and compares and contrasts the pros and cons of online and offline New Age spirituality, paying particular attention to issues of social, cultural and geographical differentiation in the light of Digital Religion.