Quote of the Week 74 - From Rabbi Jesus

The followers said to Jesus, “Tell us how our end will be.”
Jesus said, “Have you discovered the beginning, then, so that you are seeking the end? For where the beginning is, the end will be. Fortunate is one who stands at the beginning: That one will know the end and will not taste death."

From The Gospel of Thomas, The Hidden Sayings of Jesus, Translated by Marvin Meyer

Shechinah: Rise of the Feminine

Shechinah: Rise of the Feminine
Or, Eve and the Serpent Revisited
By Steven J. Gold

One continuing criticism of traditional Judaism has been the dominance of male images and authority throughout its many varied aspects. Of course, over the past several decades, there have been significant inroads moving towards a more egalitarian approach, with a growing recognition of Bat Mitzvah, women rabbis, cantors and teachers, and changes in liturgy to reflect female involvement and energy. Even within certain sectors of mystical Judaism, there is a growing recognition of the lop-sided male domination of the past and an anticipation of an upcoming rising of the Female aspect.

Eastern spiritual traditions, such as Yoga, Hinduism, Buddhism and Taoism, have generally been more balanced in depicting the essential equilibrium between masculine and feminine energies and depictions, such as the Yin-Yang of Taoism, and the depictions of both male and female energies in the gods and goddesses prevalent in Hinduism and Buddhism. Judaism includes portrayals of some significant feminine figures, such as the Matriarchs, Tamar, Miriam, Deborah, Ruth and Esther, but they are relatively few and far between. “El Shaddai” is a designation of The One contained in the Torah whose meaning includes the aspect of balanced nurturance, providing the right amount of energy to create and sustain life as we know it. It shares the same root as the Hebrew word for breasts, signifying the feminine nature to this suckling nurturance. The noun, “Torah” itself is feminine in gender, and has a curiously close phonetic relation to “Tara”, a designation of the Divine Feminine in both Hinduism and Buddhism. On the spiritual/mystic side of things, there is the extraordinary Song of Songs, an erotic, ecstatic, poetic celebration of the Divine Feminine shunned by traditionalists and embraced by mystics; the concept of the glorious Sabbath Queen; and references, without much elucidation or elaboration, to the Shechinah, the aspect of the Divine Feminine.

So what about this Shechinah, the female aspect of the Divine, meant to dwell among us mortals to provide guidance and inspiration, as is related to have occurred during the existence of the Ark of the Covenant? Let us begin at the beginning, with the infamous incident concerning an apple, a snake, and the first woman.

The traditional theology in both Judaism and Christianity portrays the incident involving the serpent in the Garden of Eden as humankind’s first sin and accompanying fall from grace, for which we have been suffering and seeking salvation ever since. However, viewing this incident and subsequent events in the Bible through the eyes of yogic and Jewish mysticism can yield a very different interpretation, and cast a much different light on our infamous “snake in the grass”.

The motif of encountering in some form or fashion a snake, serpent or dragon can be found in myth and lore transcending time, place and culture, as it is a powerful archetypal figure that resonates deep within. The biblical Hebrew term for this serpent in the Book of Genesis is “nachash”. This is a reference to that same power known in yoga as kundalini/serpent power. Both mystical yoga and Judaism warn against trifling with such a power without proper preparation and great caution, as it is the most subtle, but greatest, power of all manifestation, from which the rest of manifest life emanates. The snake was left to slither at the lowest level of earthly life because it represents the primordial power that animates all of life, including life at it lowest forms.

“Kundalini” and “Schechinah” both contain within their meanings the idea of a “dwelling” or “abode” for this feminine aspect of Divinity. And they both function to assist with individual spiritual development and as a medium to commune with The One. Mystical Judaism informs us that it was this “Shechinah” power that dwelled in the Ark of the Covenant, with whom Moses and the High Priests after him communed; the same power depicted in the movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark, which so graphically portrayed its ability to annihilate forces of evil. The connection between this “Shechinah” aspect and the snake aspect is illustrated by the fact that the Hebrew consonants for “Shechinah” are phonetically similar to the Hebrew consonants for the snake, “nachash”, reversed.

The true function performed by the serpent in the Garden of Eden was to act as an agent of The One to complete the task of bringing manifest life as we know it into being, by causing primordial, prototypical, androgynous Man/Woman to be propelled out of the Garden into the life of manifestation and duality, retaining both the “good” knowledge to remember that all emanates from The One, and the “evil” inclination to forget that and become lost in a sense of separation, the primary root of all evil.

Skipping ahead to the Book of Exodus, we find the figure of Pharaoh representing the ultimate expression of the worldly power of the evil “dark” side of kundalini gone astray. Pharaoh represents the height of a sense of separation, deified as the Be-All-and-End-All god on earth, represented by none other than the same serpent embodied in his headdress. Moses’ first encounter with Pharaoh was to illustrate, not only to Pharaoh, but to the people he had come to liberate, that this ultimate of earthly power of manifestation was not to be deified, but rather to be used as our support to praise and do the work of The One from which it emanated. This power was embodied for Moses not as an ornate headdress as with Pharaoh, but rather served as a simple staff/walking stick, broken off from the Tree of Life, depicting it as a tool useful for his ability to function in the world. By no coincidence, the Hebrew word for the snake that emanated from Moses’ staff is none other than “nachash” the same term designated for the snake in the Garden of Eden. “Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.” It is indeed tricky to take the snake by the tail, as Moses did, and convert it back into a walking stick, but that is what is necessary to achieve the mastery of life which leads to the ability to become the perfect humble servant to the Originator of Life. And thus, to master life is the same as to master service. True mastery does not lead to an arrogant display of triumphant majesty, as with Pharaoh, but rather to an acknowledgement of an Awesomeness beyond earthly comprehension, and thus to humble service, as with Moses. And to this, we owe a great debt of gratitude to the Shechinah, the Divine Mother, without whom Nothing would be the only possibility.


Bio

Steven J. Gold is author of the book, Yoga and Judaism (sub-titled Om Shalom: Explorations of a Jewish Yogi) available at http:/stores.lulu.com/yajc, and at major online retailers. Author’s blog: http://yajcenter.blogspot.com.

Quote of the Week 73 - Studs Terkel

The Great Depression. I was about 17 years old. Hoover was still president. People had been living high off the hog. And then, boom, comes the Crash. It was so sudden. Guys jumped out of windows. They didn’t know what to do. The wise men ran around, and then they cried out after Roosevelt for the government to help them out. Regulation. They asked for it. They cried for it. The wise men were lost, just as they are today. The free market fell on its fanny. We learned nothing. It’s exactly the same today.
The lessons of the Great Depression? Don’t blame yourself. Turn to others. Take part in the community. The big boys are not that bright.
Hope dies last—“La esperanza meure ultima.” Without hope, you can’t make it. And so long as we have that hope, we’ll be okay. Once you become active helping others, you feel alive. You don’t feel, “It’s my fault.” You become a different person. And others are changed, too.

--Studs Terkel, shortly before his death this October at age 96, as quoted by Alex Kotlowitz in an article in the January/February 2009 AARP magazine

A Mystical Perspective on the Biblical Serpent

[Following is an article created for Oracle 20/20 magazine, submitted with the title "A Mystical Perspective on the Biblical Serpent" published in their September 2008 issue under the title created by their editors: "The Power of the Serpent: A Mystical Perspective"]

The traditional theology in both Judaism and Christianity portrays the incident involving the serpent in the Garden of Eden as humankind’s first sin and accompanying fall from grace, for which we have been suffering and seeking salvation ever since. However, viewing this incident and subsequent events in the Bible through the eyes of yogic and Jewish mysticism can yield a very different interpretation, and cast a much different light on our infamous “snake in the grass”.

The motif of encountering in some form or fashion a snake, serpent or dragon can be found in myth and lore transcending time, place and culture, as it is a powerful archetypal figure that resonates deep within. The biblical Hebrew term for this serpent in the Book of Genesis is “nachash”. There is no question in my mind that it is a reference to that same power known in yoga as kundalini/serpent power. Both mystical yoga and Judaism warn against trifling with such a power without proper preparation and great caution, as it is the most subtle, but greatest, power of all manifestation, from which the rest of manifest life emanates. The snake was left to slither at the lowest level of earthly life because it is the primordial power that animates all of life, including life at it lowest forms.

The kundalini is also described in yoga as the feminine aspect of The One dwelling within all manifestation, by which all manifestation is made possible, and through which one can spiritually develop and use as a tool to commune with The One. There is thus also no doubt in my mind that what is called “kundalini” in yoga is the same as what is called “Shechinah” in Judaism, the feminine presence of The One dwelling amidst manifest life. Mystical Judaism informs us that it was this “Shechinah” power that dwelled in the Ark of the Covenant, with whom Moses and the High Priests after him communed; the same power depicted in the movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark, which so graphically portrayed its ability to annihilate forces of evil. The connection between this “Shechinah” aspect and the snake aspect is illustrated by the fact that the Hebrew consonants for “Shechinah” are phonetically similar to the Hebrew consonants for the snake, “nachash”, reversed.

The true function performed by the serpent in the Garden of Eden was to act as an agent of The One to complete the task of bringing manifest life as we know it into being, by causing primordial, prototypical, androgynous Man/Woman to be propelled out of the Garden into the life of manifestation and duality as we know it, retaining both the “good” knowledge to remember that all emanates from The One, and the “evil” inclination to forget that and become lost in a sense of separation, the primary root of all evil.

Skipping ahead to the Book of Exodus, we find the figure of Pharaoh representing the ultimate expression of the worldly power of the evil “dark” side of kundalini gone astray. Pharaoh represents the height of a sense of separation, deified as the Be-All-and-End-All, represented by none other than the same serpent embodied in his headdress. Moses’ first encounter with Pharaoh was to illustrate, not only to Pharoah, but to the people he had come to liberate, that this ultimate of earthly power of manifestation was not to be deified, but rather to be used as our support to praise and do the work of The One from which it emanated. This power was embodied for Moses not as an ornate headdress as with Pharoah, but rather served as a simple staff/walking stick, depicting it as a tool useful for his ability to function in the world. By no coincidence, the Hebrew word for the snake that emanated from Moses’ staff is none other than “nachash” the same term designated for the snake in the Garden of Eden. “Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.” It is indeed tricky to take the snake by the tail, as Moses did, and convert it back into a walking stick, but that is what is necessary to achieve the mastery of life which leads to the ability to become the perfect humble servant to the Originator of life. And thus, to master life is the same as to master service. True mastery does not lead to an arrogant display of triumphant majesty, as with Pharaoh, but rather to an acknowledgement of an Awesomeness beyond earthly comprehension, and thus to humble service and gratitude, as with Moses.

Healing Meditation: Ruach El Shaddai - Breath of Balance

HEALING MEDITATION: RUACH EL SHADDAI - BREATH OF BALANCE
 
The Theory

As is usually the case, there are many layers of meaning to these biblical Hebrew terms, “Ruach El Shaddai,” but for the purpose of this practice, “Breath of Balance” is a simple and appropriate English translation. Comparable to the five layers of a being described in yoga, there are five levels of the soul enumerated in Jewish teachings, with “ruach” being that level one removed from the grossest level, nefesh. However, it is also the word utilized in Genesis designating the spirit/wind that hovered over the face of the deep at the beginning of creation. It is considered that when God breathed life into the nostrils of inanimate man, God was exhaling this “ruach”, breath, life force, comparable to the second layer in the yoga system, called “prana”. In yoga, “pranayama” is often translated as “breathing exercises”, because it is maintained that the essential life force of prana rides with the breath, and through breathing practices, one is also regulating the flow of this more subtle life force. The practice of Ruach El Shaddai/Breath of Balance incorporates and builds upon basic yogic breathing/pranayama practices, so “breath” is an appropriate term, although one should keep in mind that it incorporates the concept of prana/life force/spirit.

While God the Creator is designated in Genesis as “Elohim”, at other points in the Torah, “Shaddai” is one of a few other significant designations of a particular quality/function of God that is very interesting. A common conception to “Shaddai” is that it expresses a quality to the Creator whereby just the right amount of energy in form, quality and quantity was utilized in order to bring about the multitude of the forms of creation. Associated with this is the idea of moderating energy to the extent of “that which suffices” to bring about the desired result; not too much, not too little, just right. There is a further elaboration to this quality that it applies not only to the initial creative function, but in keeping with the idea that “God is a Verb”, it also applies to the ongoing Divine function that continues to create and sustain the universe in just the right proportions. These two functions just described correspond with the designations in yoga as God the Creator, Brahma and God the Sustainer/Maintainer, Vishnu. While it may not be as explicitly recognized as such in the Jewish tradition, the Torah is replete with stories depicting the third aspect in yoga of God the Destroyer/Dissolver, Shiva. Perhaps God as Judge is close. It is clear in the Torah that creation is not static, but dynamic, and that old forms constantly need to be dismantled to give way to new forms. While Justice may serve at times to maintain the statu quo, it also serves at times to help advance change.

Another interesting aspect to the term “Shaddai” is that it shares the same root as the term for “breast” and thus carries with it the connotation of perfect nurturance, obviously also associated with breasts and female energy. When I somewhat creatively translate “Shaddai” as “balance”, it is meant to incorporate the ideas that this quality of Shaddai contains these aspects of perfect nurturing that provides and maintains balance (that which suffices), but it is a dynamic, not a static, balance.

It is this “Breath of Balance” and the three associated functions described above that we are seeking to invoke in our healing sessions to restore balance where there is imbalance, in keeping with the kabalistic conception that our goal is to ascend the middle balanced pillar on the Tree of Life. We are not “doing” the healing, we are merely invoking the Divine healing powers that exist to assist our subjects through the agency of our focused intent. Our intervention and manipulation is thus minimal, as is the possibility for any mistakes, as we are invoking energies beyond us that work in perfect harmony and balance. We systematically invoke first the cleansing Dissolver aspect, to rid our subjects of the negative “dirty energy” and obstructions that are causing their imbalance; second, we invoke the rejuvenationg Creator aspect to restore regenerative nurturing energy to heal our subjects; and last, we invoke the stabilizing Sustainer/Maintainer aspect to circulate, assimilate and maintain the renewed energy in our subjects.

The magic and effectiveness of this healing lies in the words, “focus”, “invoke” and “intent”. We have been imbued with these gifts of being able to use our mind as an instrument of our individual consciousness connected to universal consciousness, to focus our attention and intent, and invoke powers that lie beyond our mortal limitations.

Any kind of healing can be addressed, whether it be physical, mental or a combination. Positive qualities (virtues) can be nurtured while their negative opposites (vices) can be minimized. There is no need for the subject to be present or in close proximity or even aware of your efforts, although it may magnify the effect if the subject is made aware and thus can open up receptivity on their part, even to the extent of participating at the same time, if not the same place. While there may be a benefit to physical proximity and coordination of time (the healing session occurring at the same time that the subject is aware and receptive to it, and even following along in participation), we are working at a level where proximity and simultaneity and cooperation are not essential, although helpful. Time and space are receding and being transcended, and after all, the subject is present with us all of the time on the planet earth.

* * *

The Practice

1. Preliminary stage. This can be performed lying down or sitting up, with the head, neck and trunk in a straight line. Begin with normal yoga breathing and relaxation, using diaphragmatic breathing and breathing only through the nostrils. For those familiar, this can be followed by normal yoga meditation or Jewish Yoga meditation if in the seated posture.

2. Focus on the subject of the healing. After the preliminary stage has been established, bring the attention to the subject of the healing. It is advisable to always begin with oneself as the first subject, as there is usually some need to heal some aspect of oneself, and after healing oneself, you will be better equipped to focus your healing efforts on other subjects. Proceed with the following steps in a complete sequential set for each chosen subject. In other words, do all of the steps in sequence for a selected subject, then begin the process over again for the next subject. It is recommended to end the session with the planet earth as the subject, as there is always need to assist our planet as a whole to heal and attain dynamic balance. The focus on the subject can be narrowed to a specific ailment or group of ailments, or just to the general energy level of the subject. There is no need for the subject to be present or in close proximity or even aware of your efforts, although it may be helpful if the subject is made aware and thus can open up receptivity on their part. We are working at a level where proximity, cooperation, participation, receptivity is helpful, but not essential, as time and space recede and are transcended, and after all, the subject is present with us all of the time on the planet earth.

3. First, focus on exhalation for elimination of “dirty” energy causing imbalance. Once the subject and any specific condition or group of conditions is in focus, focus attention first on the exhalation, regarding the inhalation, which automatically occurs, as just a reloading and preparation for the next exhalation. With each exhalation, visualize all forms of “dirty energy” (negative energy/vibrations, influences, obstructions, depletions, congestions, weaknesses, stresses) that are the cause of the imbalance in the subject being released and flowing out of the subject. Being invoked by your intent and channeled by your exhalation, visualize the Great Force of Destruction/Disintegration/Dissolution removing all of this “dirty energy” in a gentle manner which will not be harmful or shocking to the subject, and dissolving it in the vastness of the cosmos, which is capable of absorbing and recycling everything. If it is helpful, visualize a great Fire or Sun either suspended in the air, on the ground, on a sacrificial altar, or whatever image feels comfortable to you, and visualize that your exhalation is assisting to channel all of this dirty energy out of the subject and into that Fire or Sun for dissolution. Retain the focus with each exhalation simultaneously on the subject, any specified ailments, and the dirty energy flowing out of the subject and being dissolved. Continue this focus on exhalation/elimination/dissolution until you feel it is sufficient for now.

4. Next, focus on inhalation for introduction of healing energy to aid in the restoration of balance. Keeping the subject and specific condition in focus, now shift the focus to the inhalation, regarding the exhalation, which automatically occurs, as just a reloading and preparation for the next inhalation. With each inhalation, visualize all forms of “healing energy” (regeneration, rejuvenation, positive energy/good vibrations, nurturance, health, relaxation) that can relieve and cure the distressed condition and restore balance flowing into the subject. Being invoked by your intent and guided by your inhalation, visualize the infinite resource of the Great Force of Creation/Nurturance providing exactly the precise form, quality and quantity of healing energy needed to effectuate the healing process in a gentle manner which will not be harmful or shocking to the subject. If it is helpful, as before, visualize a great inexhaustible Fire or Sun from which is emanating this healing energy in the needed form, quality and quantity, which your inhalation is assisting to channel to the subject for their benefit. Retain the focus with each inhalation simultaneously on the subject, any specified ailments, and the healing energy flowing into the subject to restore balance. Continue this focus on inhalation/rejuvenation/nurturance until you feel it is sufficient for now.

5. Next, focus equally on inhalation and exhalation as an agency of stabilizing the newly introduced healing energy. Now shift the focus to the subject as a self-enclosed entity. Focus equally on inhalation and exhalation which is creating a cycle/circuit of flowing energy within the subject. Being invoked by your intent and guided by your focus on this cycle of inhalation and exhalation, visualize the Great Force of Sustaining/Maintaining providing exactly what is needed to seal off the channels through which the dirty energy was earlier eliminated and through which the healing energy was earlier introduced, circulating the newly acquired healing energy throughout the subject in a gentle manner which is not harmful or shocking. It will effectuate the greatest benefit for the subject by acting to stabilize this new healing energy and allowing it to be properly assimilated. Continue this focus equally on a circuit of inhalation and exhalation until you feel it is sufficient for now. The healing session for this subject is now complete.

6. Continue with the next subject, repeating steps 2 through 5, and concluding with the planet earth as the final subject. Meditation can then continue, or the session can be brought to an end in the same gentle manner you would bring any meditation session to an end.

Om Shalom.

Jewish Yoga Meditation

Quote of the Week 72 - Enough

The book’s title comes from a poem Kurt Vonnegut once wrote about a party he and fellow author Joseph Heller attended on Shelter Island in the Hamptons, New York’s playground for the rich and famous.
Vonnegut recalled telling Heller that their host, a billionaire hedge fund manager, had made more money in a day than Heller had in the whole history of his novel Catch-22.
"Well," Heller said, "I’ve got something he can never have."
"What," Vonnegut asked, "might that be?"
"The knowledge that I’ve got enough," Heller replied.

--James Pressley, Bloomberg News, in his book review of Enough, True Measures of Money, Business and Life, by John C. Bogle, founder of Vanguard Mutual Fund Group

Fresh Air Fund

The Fresh Air Fund has requested that I post their information, so here it is. You can find out more at http://freshair.smnr.us/.

Quote of the Week 71 - The Orchard

As you seek to learn how to enter the Orchard, seek also to learn how to leave the Orchard and return. For the mystery lies not only in the entering, but as much in the leaving.

Rabbi Chayyim Vital, student of Rabbi Isaac Luria, as quoted by Rabbi Gershon Winkler

Quote of the Week 70 - Amrita-Bindu-Upanishad

The mind is said to be twofold; pure and impure. The impure mind is driven by desire and volition; the pure mind is devoid of desire.
The mind alone is the cause of bondage and liberation to humans. Attached to objects, it leads to bondage; freed from objects, it leads to emancipation.
The mind should always be made devoid of objects by the seeker of liberation, since the liberation of the mind devoid of objects is desirable.
When the mind, freed from contact with objects and confined in the heart, reaches nonbeing, then that is the Supreme State.
The mind should be checked until it meets with destruction in the heart. This is gnosis, this is meditation. The rest is diffuse speculation.

Amrita-Bindu-Upanishad, as presented in The Yoga Tradition; Its History, Literature, Philosophy and Practice by Georg Feuerstein, PhD

Curious Canaan: The Curse of Noah, The Mission of Abram

Many people are familiar with the biblical story of Noah and his Ark. Not as many are familiar with an incident involving Noah and his sons and grandson, Canaan, after The Flood, when they had once again settled on the dry land. One day, Noah imbibes in a little too much of his favorite beverage, the fruit of the vine. One of his three sons, Ham, happens upon Noah lying naked and inebriated in his tent and apparently does something to his father to humiliate him. It is not clear exactly what was the form or nature of this humiliating act, but there are various speculations about it, including castration. He then gloatingly reports this to his two other brothers, Shem and Japtheth, who gingerly approach Noah in his naked, inebriated, humiliated state, and cover him with a blanket. When Noah eventually awakens, he becomes immediately aware of his humiliation and its perpetrator, and curses not Ham, but Canaan, the youngest of Ham’s four sons. There are various explanations/speculations about why Canaan, and not Ham, was the recipient of Noah’s hangover wrath.

Soon after the above story (after one significant aside, relating the tale of the Tower of Babel), the Torah narrative proceeds on to the beginning of the story of the husband and wife pair of Abram/Abraham and Sarai/Sarah, considered to be the first Jews and first Jewish Patriarch and Matriarch. It is clear early on that young Abram is a person of significant spiritual sensitivity with a mission/destiny both personal and communal. An important early initiatory phase to fulfilling his mission (along with his wife, Sarai) is to leave his father’s household, his homeland, and everything that is familiar to him in order to discover his true Self and thus be better equipped to fulfill his destiny. Spurred on by his father, who begins, but does not finish the journey, Abram receives further Divine guidance that leads him, most curiously, to the land of Canaan, the land of Noah’s cursed grandson and his descendants, to accomplish this. So we have here, soon after the story of The Flood, yet another story of waywardness and redemption. That which has been cursed must now be redeemed and serve as a vehicle for self-transformation. Indeed, the processes of redemption and self-transformation seem to go hand-in-hand.

But lo and behold! We are told later on in the narrative that Abraham and his entourage are not the first to come to Canaan for such purposes. Shem (from whose name originates the term “Semite”), the oldest and most favored son of Noah, and a direct lineal ancestor of Abraham (with whom Abraham has already studied, along with Eber, another teacher in the direct bloodline between Shem and Abraham, and the originator of the Hebrew language), has preceded Abraham there and established the first priesthood at Salem (later Jerusalem). When Abraham is ready, after enduring further trials and tribulations, Shem (referred to here as Malchizedek) passes on the yoke/mantle of messiah/priest/prophet to Abraham, which is later successively passed on to the two other Patriarchs, Isaac and Jacob.

Many years later, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, whom had left this land due to famine, only to become enslaved in another land which they hoped would bring them relief and salvation, return from their slavery in Egypt once again to the curious land of the cursed Canaan and the blessed Shem and Abraham; to the Promised Land of transgression, redemption and self-transformation, of blessing and of curse. This time it is not merely an individual or small clan or two as in the past, but rather a large multitude consisting of many tribes and others united as a fledgling people and emerging nation. They take up, once again, the yoke/mantle of messiah/priest/prophet of old through Moses, Aaron and Miriam and the succeeding priests and prophets in the land that we now know as Israel/Palestine.

Quotes of the Week 69 - From Our Youth

Ruminations by a seven-year-old on humans being created in God’s image:
"That’s strange. God is invisible. How could there be an image of God? Maybe it’s more like the other way around, God is in the image of human beings. Only it couldn’t be just one human being, it would have to be lots. And they would all be different from each other. Each one would be like a piece in a jigsaw puzzle. Then you would have to fit all the pieces together. Then they would be a community, and a community is more like God."
-- from a conversation between Rabbi Arthur Waskow and his seven-year-old granddaughter, Yonit Slater

"If you don’t know how to fix it, don’t break it."
"What you do makes me cry at night."
--from a speech by Severn Suzuki, a 12-year-old girl from Vancouver, BC addressing a UN conference on the environment

You Cannot Desire Desirelessness

"I’m not teaching to transmit a tradition or carry on a lineage; I’m teaching to awaken whoever may be interested in awakening." Adya calls himself a "closer" because awakening is his starting point. "For me as a teacher, waking up to the absolute nature of reality is step one. For a lot of other systems, they’re working up to that and it’s almost the culmination. To me, that’s the entry point. Until you’ve done that, we don’t have much more to talk about. Wake up first, and then we’ll see what you need to deal with. We’ll see what’s left, in other words."
Adya’s "formlessness" calls for a different spiritual relationship, one that initially puts a lot more responsibility on the student. With Adya there is no guidance in the classic sense, no teaching of methods to attain a goal, no graded steps. He’s interested only in stopping seekers in their tracks. And if there is nothing left to seek, then what? "If you look at your life, almost everything is in some way a subtle goal," Adya said. "You are always psychologically moving toward something, and when consciousness is no longer moving toward anything, then there is a whole different something that moves you. It’s completely different from the personal, and it’s not always immediately obvious to people. Very often it confuses them."
Contrary to common belief, awakening is not the end of the journey…"Awakening is the end of seeking, the end of the seeker, but it is the beginning of life lived from your true nature. That’s a whole other discovery – life lived from oneness. Embodying what you are; being a human expression of oneness." There is awakening and then there is embodying that awakening, making it real and integrating it into the world. These are Adya’s "two things."
--From A Rare and Precious Thing, by John Kain, chapter on Adyashanti, aka Steven Gray, a contemporary American spiritual teacher

"At that moment, when the world around him melted away, when he stood alone like a star in the heavens, he was overwhelmed by a feeling of icy despair, but he was more firmly himself than ever."
-I believe this is from Siddhartha by Herman Hesse

"…within you there is a stillness and sanctuary to which you can retreat at any time and be yourself…Few people have that capacity and yet everyone could have it."
- Source Forgotten

"Desire is a trap,
Desirelessness is liberation.
Desire is the creator, the destroyer, the universe."
-Source Forgotten, but certainly Buddhist oriented. The paradox is that you can’t desire desirelessness! I remember once a long time ago being accosted on the street in Boston by an aggressive Scientologist. I just looked her square in the eye and stated emphatically (possibly with a slight twinge of insanity) that you cannot desire desirelessness. "What?" she queried. I repeated the statement. She slowly backed away with a quizzical look and left me alone.

"Rejoice, rejoice
We have no choice, but to carry on.
Carry on
Love is coming
Love is coming to us all."
-Crosby, Stills and Nash

"Without love,
Where would we be right now?"
-Doobie Brothers

"Don’t worry,
Be happy."
-Meher Baba/Bobbie McFerrin

What most spiritual traditions have always taught is not only that love is coming, but love and grace are here now all of the time and always available. As one of my mentors put it, the Divine Condition is "always already the case". As another put it, "There is Only God". For such folk, there is really nowhere to go and nothing to do except express and serve. If a person does not have a sensation of this or access to this Divine Benevolence, then the spiritual traditions proceed to prescribe methods/techniques/paths to open up avenues of access to this Divine Love. I would disagree with the semantics of the one quote cited above that few people have this capacity, in that I believe that all people have the capacity or potential to access inner peace, but there is something within them that is obstructing them from actualizing that potential. So the spiritual traditions concoct these various methods that focus on breaking through the inner obstructions to allow the potential that is already there to come forth and express. The semantics often take on nomenclature such as "seekers", "aspirants", etc., and couch things in terms of paths to be trod, goals to be attained, and steps that can be taken to attain the goal. My primary spiritual mentor, Swami Rama, as part of his mission to establish the scientific basis for spiritual practices, always maintained that the traditional yoga and meditation practices that he taught were grounded in scientific method, because he maintained that if the practices were performed properly as prescribed, they would inevitably result in the benefit described. But the benefits are not really newly created modes or states of consciousness, but rather arise as the result of the prescribed spiritual practices that are processes designed for two purposes: (1) to eliminate or minimize obstructions that prevent access to the enlightenment that has always been there all along, and (2) to increase one’s capacity to safely conduct and express higher energy levels that are accessed through the practices in a balanced manner. At the same time, Swami Rama, in accord with most of these same spiritual systems, also acknowledged that ultimately, enlightenment was an act of grace totally beyond any mortal effort or manipulation, but that the grace would inevitably eventually occur, and could be hastened by the sincere efforts of aspirants. And thus, part of the spiritual search also inevitably involves passing through the "Dark Night of the Soul", a profound feeling of despair. There is a realization that true peace and happiness is beyond all effort, which hopefully is followed by a recognition of deep cosmic humor, a sense of awesomeness, and profound humility and thankfulness.

As one controversial Buddhist teacher said, "Enlightenment is kind of a gyp." As indicated in the quote at the beginning of this entry about Adyshanti, enlightenment is not some happily ever after be-all and end-all. Life goes on with its challenges and struggles. There is just a different orientation and perspective. I disagree with some assertions that you are either enlightened or you’re not, and that there are no degrees of enlightenment. I believe that most of us have some sense of inner peace, and the degree of spiritual development is a matter of how often and easily we can access it, and how magnified and expressed it is in our inner and outer being.

Mystical Judaism connects two of our basic bodily systems to more subtle energetic functionings: our circulatory system relates primarily to our lower animal nature, drives and instincts (our inner plumbing system, circulating liquid/blood); and our nervous system relates primarily to our higher Divine nature (our internal wiring, conducting inner electrical impulses). Consistent with this view, when I teach meditation, I often use metaphors concerning our inner plumbing and wiring, and that what meditation and spiritual development is all about is to cleanse, improve, our inner plumbing and wiring so that they have greater capacities to circulate the energies they are supposed to circulate, with less obstructions.

The neo-Advaitists and their like take pot shots at the spiritual traditions that speak in terms of attainments and goals as being delusional and misleading, because you can’t desire desirelessness. You can’t work towards the goal of desirelessness, and if you attempt to do so, you inevitably achieve the opposite, distancing yourself from it and undermining your ability to be that which you want to be. But if spiritual practice is approached from the kind of orientation I have described above, it has its proper place and benefit in spiritual development. It is always great to begin with the attitude and reality that one already has access to inner peace, and that the spiritual disciplines being engaged are for the purpose of expanding that inner peace and expressing it more powerfully. For those who do not have that sense of inner peace to begin with, then spiritual practices can help them discover what already exists within them, but is being concealed from them. Concealment is a significant topic in the Jewish tradition. The iteration is that even when it appears that God is absent, God is never really absent, only concealed, because one of the characteristics of God is Omnipresence. For an individual, there is a big turning point when a sense of vague groping in the darkness (period of God’s concealment) begins to be replaced by a sense of feeling your way through the light (period of God being revealed). As one of my teachers has put it, "I do not feel full or fulfilled, I am lost in the Fullness." And as one of my dear friends, who has been engaged in spiritual practices for many years, has put it, "Sometimes I feel like I have swallowed the sun".

In her book, That’s Funny, You Don’t Look Buddhist, Sylvia Boorstein describes a kundalini-type of experience that was at first pleasant, but then created discomfort and difficulties for many years until it thankfully dissolved. She remembered reading something by a person named Gopi Krishna (with whom I am familiar, but that’s another story!), who had an intense kundalini awakening that resulted in major disorientation and discomfort until it finally stabilized. There are times when folks may encounter such increases in inner energy, and if they are not adequately prepared, this heightened energy level can create havoc and an intense "spiritual cleansing" crisis. Folks who have engaged in spiritual practices regularly will be more capable of handling such power surges, because they have been working on improving the capacities of their inner plumbing and wiring, so that when the power surge occurs, there is not an overload situation. Although I earlier referred to this as metaphor, it is actually close to being literal. I once expressed to one of my early teachers years ago my yearning to want to be able to more fully experience and express Divine Love. His response was to pray that it did not happen before I was ready for it.

Meditation and spiritual practice should be approached more like the way we approach sleeping, rather than like eating. Eating and sleeping are two essential life activities that are quite qualitatively different. In order to eat, there are many things that we have to undertake and actively engage in to accomplish this task. We have to consciously and intentionally obtain, cook and eat the food. There is a clear goal and procedures for accomplishing that goal involving active participation. Sleeping is of a very different nature. We can say that we go to sleep, but it is more like we set up conditions favorable to sleep and eliminate conditions disruptive to sleep. We then allow sleep to happen of its own accord. So our effort in going to sleep ultimately is more passive and receptive. The preliminaries involve activities conducive to receiving sleep, to allowing that state to happen. I think the real basis for the argument that spiritual practices are useless concerns approaching spiritual practice with a mindset similar to the way we approach eating and comparable external activities. This would be limiting, and unfortunately, many people may approach it in this way, as another consumer product that needs to fit in with their schedules, that they partake of at their convenience. Spiritual practices need to be approached more in the manner in which we approach going to sleep: we set up conditions conducive to allowing them to happen, eliminating conditions that might be distracting. Then it is much more a process of allowing it to happen. It is not so much that we are meditating as it is that we are being meditated; we allow meditation that is already there in the background to come front and center. We don’t do sleep, we allow sleep to happen. What we can do is work on eliminating obstacles to meditation, but we can’t actually do meditation itself.

If you can truly practice in your daily life the simple edict, "Don’t worry, be happy", then you might not need a lot of spiritual development or exercises. Congratulations. Go forth and prosper. For the rest of us, perhaps we should carry on.

Quote of the Week 68 - Surviving Water and Fire

"When you pass through the waters I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you."
Isaiah 43:2; Haftorah for Bereishis/Genesis

Quote of the Week 67 - The Best

The best do good without thought of reward.
-- Jonathan Sacks, Chief Rabbi of Great Britain

Hebrew Mantras, Part Three

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Quote of the Week 66 - Georg Feuerstein

"Psychospiritual technology is more than applied knowledge and wisdom. It is also an instrument of knowledge, insofar as its use opens up new vistas of self-understanding, including the higher dimensions of the world that form the reaches of inner space."
"The Indian liberation teachings – the great Yogas of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikkhism – clearly represent an invaluable resource for contemporary humankind. We have barely scratched the surface of what they have to offer us. It is obvious, however, that in order to find our way out of the tunnel of materialistic scientism, we require more than knowledge, information, statistics, mathematical formulas, sociopolitical programs, or technological solutions. We are in need of wisdom. And what better way is there to rejuvenate our hearts and restore the wholeness of our being than on he wisdom of the East, especially the great lucid insights and realizations of the Indian seers, sages mystics and holy folk?"
--From The Yoga Tradition, Its History, Literature, Philosophy and Practice by Georg Feurstein

Quote of the Week 65 - A.D. Gordon

“And when you, O human, will return to Nature, that day your eyes will open, you will stare straight into the eyes of Nature and in its mirror you will see your image. You will know…that when you hid from Nature, you hid from yourself…We who have been turned away from Nature – if we desire life, we must establish a new relationship with Nature.”
- A.D. Gordon, quoted in On the Wings of Shekhinah, Rediscovering Judaism’s Divine Feminine, by Rabbi Leah Novick

Quote of the Week 64 - "Circumcise Your Heart"

"And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live…For this commandment which I command you this day is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will go up for us to heaven, and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, "Who will go over the sea for us, and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ But the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it. See, I have set before you this day life and good, death and evil…I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse: therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice, and cleaving to him; for that means life to you and length of days.."

Some of the last words of Moses, on the last day of his life, which was also his 120th birthday, Deuteronomy 30

Quote of the Week 63 - Small Good Deeds

Even the smallest good deed can change someone’s life.

- Jonathan Sacks, Chief Rabbi of Great Britain

International Medical Corps

Please check out the following web sites: http://internationalmedicalcorps.smnr.us and http://imcworldwide.org

The focus of this blog is on the more contemplative, psychological and philosophical aspects to spiritual development, and not particularly on social causes or activism. That is not to say that spiritual pursuits are inconsistent with social activism, as inner spiritual development should work hand-in-hand with engaging in meaningful external activity. It is only that this blog chooses to narrow its focus on the more internal aspects to human development, and it leaves it up to each individual as to how to integrate their inner spiritual development into engagement in external activities. There is a multitude of worthwhile social and charitable activities and causes which one can support in a variety of avenues available and seeking our assistance, so much so that it can be confusing to sort through them all and decide what choices of support should be made. However, once in a while, when I am contacted by someone representing a social cause that appears to have particular merit to assist in spreading their word, I may choose to lend some assistance. I have been contacted by an organization called International Medical Corps and have reviewed their web sites. They have asked for me to help spread the word about their mission, and I have agreed to do so. I cannot vouch for them, as I know nothing more about them then what I have read on their sites. I will leave it for everyone to come to their own conclusions, and to please notify me if something amiss is discovered about this organization. In the meantime, in response to their request, I ask you to check out their web sites: http://internationalmedicalcorps.smnr.us and http://imcworldwide.org

Quote of the Week 62 - The Peaceful Hum

Vichara [the spiritual exercise of discriminating Self-Inquiry] is characterized by Ramana as attenuation of ego. Ego creates various melodic lines against the hum or drone of primal awareness. When listening to Indian classical music, Ramana reports, his main attention naturally focused on the rich underlying drone rather than on the melody. In the unillumined state, we hardly notice the profoundly integrating tone of primal awareness, because we are distracted by the play of ego. Self-realization, or Enlightenment, is the rediscovery of this peaceful hum of conscious being as a single eternal flow, which does not eliminate the countless melodic lines but harmonizes and grounds them.

Arthur Osborne, Ramana Maharshi and the Path of Self-Knowledge

Quote of the Week 61 - Rabbi Naomi Levy

The art of remaining aware is a challenge. It involves taking great risks. It means opening our hearts wide enough to feel and to receive. We need to peel away the layers of protection, to move beyond fear and arrive at trust.

Before we start praying for new blessings in our lives, we must first uncover the blessings that are here now. All of us have an angel of God calling out to show us the way to blessings, to clarity and to prophetic vision.

Rabbi Naomi Levy

Survivorcorps and Ban Cluster Bombs

Please check out the following web sites: http://banclusterbombs.smnr.us and http://survivorcorps.org

The focus of this blog is on the more contemplative, psychological and philosophical aspects to spiritual development, and not particularly on social causes or activism. That is not to say that spiritual pursuits are inconsistent with social activism, as inner spiritual development should work hand-in-hand with engaging in external activity. It is only that this blog chooses to narrow its focus on the more internal aspects to human development, and it leaves it up to each individual as to how to integrate their inner spiritual development into engagement in external activities. There is a multitude of worthwhile social and charitable activities and causes which one can support in a variety of avenues available and seeking our assistance, so much so that it can be confusing to sort through them all and decide what choices of support should be made. However, once in a while, when I am contacted by someone representing a social cause that appears to have particular merit to assist in spreading their word, I may choose to lend some assistance. I have been contacted by an organization called Survivor Corps and have reviewed their web sites. They have asked for me to help spread the word about their mission, and I have agreed to do so. I cannot vouch for them, as I know nothing more about them than what I have read on their sites. I will leave it for everyone to come to their own conclusions, and to please notify me if something amiss is discovered about this organization. In the meantime, in response to their request, I ask you to check out their web sites: http://banclusterbombs.smnr.us and http://survivorcoprs.org.

Quote of the Week 60 - Appreciate Life, Imageless Prayer

Once you have decided to begin the spiritual path, a good way to get started is in prayer, and a good beginning in prayer is to try to walk around appreciating Life itself. Not any particular of Life, just Life itself. And try to Feel that appreciation, not simply Think about it. Try to Feel grateful for Life.

When one is truly worshipping God, he has no image in his mind. True worship of God is without any picture in the mind or notions in mind about the appearance or nature of God. To truly worship God without images is the Esoteric meaning behind the command – “though shalt have no other images before me.” God is an imageless prayer for man.

Source Forgotten

Quotes of the Week 59 - Lamentations

From Lamentations:

God’s kindness surely has not ended, nor are His mercies exhausted. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. “God is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I have hope in Him.” God is good to those who trust in Him; to the soul that seeks Him. It is good to hope silently for God’s salvation. It is good for a man that he bear a yoke in his youth. Let one sit in solitude and be submissive, for He has laid it upon him. Let him put his mouth to the dust – there may yet be hope. 3:22-29

Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that evil and good emanate? Of what shall a living man complain? A man for his sins! Let us search and examine our ways and return to God. Let us lift our hearts with our hands to God in heaven. 3:38-41

Quotes of the Week 58 - What is Inside

The teacher inside you, according to the sages, is your own conscience.

There is something inside you that will tell you the truth always.

We should find our conscience and follow it, not compromise with it or ignore it in favor of expediency, temporary comfort, or greed.

All beings are only one heart;
Outside this heart there are no beings.

What you are looking for is what is looking.

Love never deserts anyone. It is we who desert Love.

Quote of the Week 57 - Micah

“He has told you, O man, what is good, and what God requires of you: Only to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.”
Micah

Quotes of the Week 56 - Winkler, Evil Inclination

“Judaism is a living path, a dynamic theology. Show me any legal ruling in the traditional Jewish codes and I will show you on the same page one or two or half a dozen sources who contest, qualify, reinterpret, or outright disagree with that ruling. I am a Jew. Give me a boundary, and I shall cross it.”

--Rabbi Gershon Winkler, from his book, Travels with the Evil Inclination

“I will not be to my predecessors as a donkey, eternally hauling their books. I will explain their teachings and study their ways, but when my perception does not correspond to theirs…I will then decide according to what my own eyes are seeing, and will do so with legal confidence. For the Creator grants wisdom in every generation and in every period, and will not deny goodness to those who are sincere.”

--Rabbi Gershon Winkler, quoting 13th century Rabbi Nachmanides, in Winkler’s book, Travels with the Evil Inclination

Quote of the Week 55 - The World is a Refinery

“The world is the world. But the majority of the people will be more conscious. The majority, not the whole world. The world will always have raw materials, half-finished, unpainted. It’s a fact! People get cleaned, refined and then go. So it is a refinery. You can’t expect all pure gasoline in a refinery; crude oil comes in, gasoline goes out. That is the purpose of life.”

Swami Satchitananda

Quotes of the Week 54 - God is Love

Self-importance is our greatest enemy. Think about it – what weakens us is feeling offended by the deeds and misdeeds of our fellow men. Our self-importance requires that we spend most of our lives offended by someone.

Far beyond all thought and death, no matter how smart, lies the magnificent conquering energy that one sees in even the smallest of babes and feels in the body’s very cells and heart: LOVE.

I believe that true love is that which overflows at home to spill out to others in the world.

God is the center of love, and a cruel fire, too. We are not prepared to accept that other aspect of God.

What do you do? I pick up the blossoms dropped by night. I listen to the whispers of silence. I contemplate on the vast void within. I babble Her name in each breath of my life. I revere the beauty of Her radiant face. When sun comes out of bed, I retire. I enter the depths of void and bathe in the eternal fire. Through the clouds of joy, the wingless bird of my spirit soars higher and higher. I am in love and fused beyond desire. That is what I do.

The mere existence of anything is an astonishment without a cause.

Once you identify yourself with universal consciousness, you will experience oneness with all and find great delight in witnessing changes taking place in the external world as well as in yourself. Your fear of death, decay, and destruction vanishes. You become fearless. Because of this fearlessness, you love all and reject none, for you know that everyone and everything in the universe is simply an elaboration of yourself. In this state of realization, love alone is your spontaneous expression because that has become your nature.

-- All sources unknown

Quote of the Week 52 - The Sacred Walk

“There is one more component to the Sacred Walk. It has to do with surrendering. We stand at every moment at the crossroads of life’s greatest challenge: the unknown. We are too often afraid of surrendering to the unknown, to the uncertain. We are inclined more toward evading it than surrendering to it. This is the underlying basis for our fear of death. Death is the ultimate act of surrender to the ultimate unknown.

“The second-century Rabbi Shim’on bar Yochai taught that there are three sounds which never leave our earth. At first they wander from one end of the planet to the other, and then they come to rest in the soil of great canyon walls. These three sounds are: the sound of birthing, the sound of the soul leaving the body upon death and the sound of the snake shedding its skin. These three sounds never leave our sphere of existence because they are the sounds of our greatest challenge, surrender to the unknown, a challenge that is in our face each and every moment. This teaching is fundamental wisdom to walking our life journey. Because the Sacred Walk challenges you to be in that place at all times, the place of awe at this life and at your truth in this moment no matter how frightening it might be at times. That place is sacred. It is God, who is known in the ancient Hebrew also as ha’makom, literally ‘The Place,’ for God is the Place of the Universe, and in that moment you are all of what this universe is all about: Presence.

--from Magic of the Ordinary, by Gershon Winkler

Quote of the Week 51 - Yoga and Judaism

“I met two Jewish rabbis of Indian origin. They discussed the Kabbalah, and I better understood the practices of Judaism after talking to them…Yoga practices and the practices of the Kabbalah are similar. After studying the literature, I have concluded that the spiritual practices are identical in all the great religions of the world.”

“The ancient philosophy of Samkhya, which is the basis of yoga, and the philosophy of Kabbalah seem to have the same source. According to the Kabbalistic system, life is associated with numbers. This is an ancient Samkhya concept. Many of the teachings of the Gita are similar to Judaism. These two great religions, Hinduism and Judaism, are similar and are the most ancient religions in the world. The B’hai temple and religion accepts and emphasizes this fact in its monogram and its literature. The concept of Sri Yantra, a highly and scientifically evolved ancient yoga process for enlightenment, centers on the Star of David, also known as the anahata chakra in yoga literature and as the Sacred Heart in Christian practices. Sri Yantra was most probably known to the ancients of the Temple of Solomon. According to the spiritual literature of the ancients, it is a very sacred yoga process. It helps one to establish his relationship with other beings, the universe and its Creator.”

“I believe that yoga is a complete science of life which is equally applicable and helpful for men, women and children. Religions are social sciences which help to maintain culture and tradition and support the lawful structure of human society. Yoga is a universal science for self-improvement and enlightenment. All the methods of self-growth which are found in any religion are already in yoga literature.”

“It is necessary for the religious and spiritual leaders of various groups from different parts of the world to meet, discuss and share their philosophies and ideas. I am very firm in my opinion that all great religions are one and the same, though their ways seem to be different. Diverse are the ways of enlightenment, but the goal is one and the same. If the spiritual leaders meet, discuss and understand other paths, they can help their communities and thus lead them to communicate with different groups and religions of the world. Anyone who says that his religion is the only true religion is ignorant and misguides the followers of that religion. Prejudice is like a poison that kills human growth. Love is inclusive and is the foundation of all great religions.”

“We [practitioners who have progressed through study and practice of the yoga system of Pantanjali, Advaita Vedanta, Sri Vidya and Prayoga Shastra] do not associate ourselves with any particular religion, caste, sex or color.”

--from Living with the Himalayan Masters, by Swami Rama

Is Yoga Kosher?

[A friend informed me about an interesting discussion on chabad.org under the heading: “Is yoga kosher?” I prepared and submitted a rather lengthy contribution to various issues that have been raised in that discussion. I don’t know yet if my contribution will be accepted at all or in whole or in part. In the meantime, I am sharing it here.]

A friend told me about this discussion, and I feel moved to make a contribution. In order to be properly understood, I think it important to start out by providing the perspective from which I am approaching these subjects. I was born Jewish and my childhood Hebrew School and Bar Mitzvah were through the neighborhood Modern Orthodox synagogue, although my family was not very observant other than for the normal major holidays. In my late teens, I went through an atheist period, rejecting the childhood notions inculcated in my early religious education. Around this same time, I began to be exposed to Eastern thought, yoga and meditation, which I found quite attractive, and I settled into a spiritual path through a traditional Indian yoga/Vedanta lineage, updated for modern sensibilities. I have remained engaged in this path for over 30 years now, but beginning several years ago, I was also led to reinvestigate Judaism from an adult perspective and through the eyes of a practicing Jewish yogi. As many recent polls have indicated, I am one of many Americans who consider myself spiritual, but not religious. For me, religion incorporates spirituality, and clothes it in theology, dogma, doctrine and ritual, which at their best, help communicate and enliven spirituality, and at their worst, obscure, conceal and choke it. So I have always looked for spirituality within a variety of religious sources, finding it most prominently communicated in the mystical branches of many religions. I have felt a particular affinity with Indian yoga/Vedanta and Judaism/Kabbalah, two of the world’s most ancient spiritual traditions from which many others have derivatively sprung. I believe that there is true, unadulterated spirituality that precedes religion and that can be found within religion if one looks carefully. There are strains of yoga/Vedanta that attempt to communicate this pure spirituality, but because it developed in India, many of the same terms and concepts were also incorporated into Hinduism (and for the sake of clarification, “Hinduism” is a term foisted upon these people by Westerners; Hindus maintain that the real preferred term for their religion is “Sanatan Dharma”, which means “The Eternal Path”). So there is inevitably a lot of confusion over what is purely spiritual yoga and what is colored with Hindu concepts. Judaism has traditionally always been regarded and presented as a religion and even something more, a total way of life with ideally no separation of church/religion and state. But what attracts me to Judaism is the incredible spirituality that it contains and communicates. I do not have much interest in the religious elements other than as they may truly enhance spirituality.

Although I do not agree with all of its doctrines, I have great respect for the Chabad movement because it communicates a great deal of the spirituality within Judaism that has not been communicated by other traditional movements. I know the tremendous respect with which all of the Rebbes have been regarded, including Menachem Schneerson. However, I disagree with several of the points he made in his piece on meditation referenced in these discussions. I think the disagreement arises because of different perspectives. He was operating as a proponent of Judaism as a religion, and I am interested in spiritual, but not religious Judaism. He speaks with approval of meditation techniques that are truly secularized as stress management techniques, while disapproving of any with spiritual or religious intentions outside of Judaism. It is apparent to me that meditation originated as a spiritual exercise, a means to discover, nurture and express spirituality, and that is why it is so significant to me. It is also apparent to me that the physical yoga exercises, along with the breathing techniques and the moral dictates, as found in the classic system of Raja Yoga/Ashtanga yoga elucidated by Patanjali, were originally propagated as part of a system for spiritual development, and served as preliminary stages of preparation for meditation meant for deepening one’s spiritual nature and development. It is also apparent that our Western culture has succeeded to a large extent in de-spiritualizing the physical exercises to a great extent, and even the meditation, possibly to a lesser extent, turning them into ends in and of themselves (physical exercises just for the sake of physical fitness, meditation just for the sake of stress management). These are the forms that the Rebbe approved. But my interest is in them as tools for spiritual development, for which they were originally intended.

I do not subscribe to the concept promoted by Rabbi Laible Wolfe that there is a “Jewish soul” unique to Jews, a concept similar to what Chabad teaches of a “G-dly soul” unique to Jews, and that spiritual practices not native to Judaism are harmful to these souls. No matter how much current proponents of Jewish spirituality and mysticism claim that Judaism is a distinct and complete system for the development of the souls of Jewish people, and warn against dabbling in any other spiritual systems, I don’t buy it. There is no question of major overlaps and commonalties between spiritual and mystical teachings and practices that transcend time, place, and ethnicity. I have no problem merging and synthesizing useful elements from all approaches.

Rabbi Schneerson warns against involvement with Indian guru cults. But when I hear and read about the relationships between Chasidic Rebbes and their students, these stories are remarkably similar to stories about Indian gurus and Zen Masters and their students. The Jewish advocates always want to make distinctions, and illustrate how the Jewish way may seem similar to other approaches, but in the end the Jewish way is always the best. This is another idea I just don’t accept. I think that there are many valid spiritual approaches from many sources that can be merged and synthesized for individual spiritual benefit, incorporating the best of all worlds, as some augment others.

Concerning the controversy over the Sun Salutation, I agree with the comments that it is merely a conglomeration of several other unobjectionable yoga postures into a series of movements that unfortunately somehow was ascribed its designated name. My limited research into the origin of the name and the exercise came up with the result that nobody knows for certain who developed it or why it was so named. There is no question that on the surface, the name can be construed as worshipping or praising a sun deity. However, it can just as easily be construed that it is in praise of the Source of the sun, the One Source that is the Source of all. Despite its stress on emphasizing The One, Judaism recognizes and acknowledges many names and attributes to The One: YHVH, Elohim, Adonai, El Shaddai, Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh, Ein Soph, Moshiach, Mogen, the thirteen attributes of mercy revealed to Moses, the names of the Sephiroth, etc. The prayers and blessings of Jewish liturgy are replete with acknowledging the benefits of all of the many varieties of manifestation that have been provided to us by The One, to which we are forever expressing our gratitude, and the many attributes, names and functions by which The One is known and operates. We don’t praise the bread or the wine, we express thanks to the Creator who provided them to us for our sustenance and enjoyment. So why can’t Jewish yogis express gratitude to the Creator for providing us with the sun, the instrumentality of the Creator that enables life as we know it to exist? The Torah tells us that the main entrance of the Temple was constructed to face East in order to receive the first rays of the rising sun. So why is it so horrible to conduct a series of exercises that does the same thing? While Judaism keeps all of the names, qualities and attributes designated to The One in the more intangible realm of name and sound, Hinduism takes it one step further and deifies/personifies these aspects, thus violating the Jewish dictate against idolatry. However, whenever I consider how Jews regard the Torah, placing it in a special housing, rising before it, bowing to it, dressing it, undressing it, kissing it, dancing with it, crying over it – I think of how the average Hindu would behold all of that and conclude how similar it is to how they regard their idols.

As Rabbi Freeman recognizes, Hinduism teaches that there is ultimately One Source of all, just like Judaism. And I hope that Jews don't sit in judgement over Hindus as pagans and heathens due to their pantheon of deities and idol worship. Perhaps it may not be the avenue for Jews, who keep those distinctions on an intangible level, but that doesn’t mean it is not a legitimate religious avenue for others. Kabbalah teaches that there is a spark of Divinity within all beings, the source of internal and external peace and well-being. What is so different, then between the Indian greetings of Namaste/Namaskar which acknowledges this and the Jewish greeting of Shalom?

One area in which I think Judaism is lacking is its overemphasis on the value placed on engagement in everyday common family life, to the exclusion of any other lifestyle. I honor the idea that most of us are here to engage in such activities as participants in the design of manifestation. However, significant contributions can also made in more subtle, quiet, reclusive endeavors. Most other religions acknowledge that there are those of an introspective, reclusive, monkish nature who should also be accommodated and who can contribute in their own unique ways. Judaism seems to be one of the few enduring religious traditions that has not made such an acknowledgement or accommodation.

Rabbi Freeman warns against a kind of transcendence that can serve as escapism. I agree that it is not appropriate to regard life as a prison that needs to be escaped from, or posing a puzzle with the solution being an avenue for an exit as soon as possible. And I believe it is true that some forms of Eastern spirituality seem to promote this attitude and approach. However, I believe there are other strains of Indian spirituality that encompass what is sometimes referred to as “Practical Vedanta”: there is a kind of transcending afforded by meditating on a daily basis that is not escapism, but is as significant and inherent in our nature as are many other activities in which we engage on a daily basis for our overall well-being, such as eating and sleeping. Proper and regular diet, sleep, exercise, and yes, transcending through meditation, are for me all elements essential for optimizing functionality in the external world. The empty mind that one contributor to this discussion warned against is not really empty, it is just quiet and still, remaining vibrant and poised for more efficient functioning when called upon. Likewise, the Void referred to in Zen is not really empty, it is the realm of the unmanifest potentiality from which all manifestation and actualization springs forth.

Concerning the nachash, the infamous snake, there is no question in my mind that it is a reference to that same power known in yoga as kundalini/serpent power. There was reference in this discussion to Jewish teachings warning against involvement with such a thing. Yoga teaches to approach such power with proper preparation and great caution, as it is the most subtle, but greatest, power of all manifestation, from which the rest of manifest life emanates. I believe the traditional restrictions on studying Kabalah served a similar purpose to assure proper preparation before approaching such potency. The kundalini is also described in yoga as the feminine aspect of The One dwelling within all manifestation, by which all manifestation is made possible, and through which one can spiritually develop and use as a tool to commune with The One. There is thus also no doubt in my mind that what is called “kundalini” in yoga is the same as what is called “Shechinah” in Judaism, the presence of The One dwelling amidst manifest life. In fact, the consonants for “Shechinah” are phonetically similar to the consonants of “Nachash” reversed. The true function performed by the serpent in the Garden was to act as an agent of The One to complete the task of bringing manifest life as we know it into being, by causing primordial Man/Woman to be propelled out of the Garden into the life of manifestation and duality as we know it, retaining both the “good” knowledge to remember that all emanates from The One, and the “evil” inclination to forget that and become lost in a sense of separation, the primary root of all evil. Pharaoh was the ultimate expression of this worldly power and sense of separation gone astray and deified as the Be-All-and-End-All, represented by none other than the same serpent embodied in his headdress. Moses’ first encounter with Pharaoh was to illustrate that this ultimate of earthly power of manifestation was not to be deified, but rather to be used as our support to praise and do the work of The One from which it emanated: it served as his walking stick/his ability to function in the world (the Hebrew word for the snake that emanated from Moses’ staff is none other than “nachash”). “Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.” It is indeed tricky to take the snake by the tail, as Moses did, but that is what is necessary to achieve the mastery of life which leads to the ability to become the perfect humble servant to the Originator of life.

Quote of the Week 50 - Leaps of Faith

“’The papers are full of horrible horrors,’ wrote Emily Carr. ‘And the earth is so lovely.’
The earth is indeed lovely, I realized…And so I decided to take a leap of faith. Life is, after all, a series of leaps of faith. Falling in love and believing that I will grow old with my husband is a leap. Losing a parent and believing I will recover is a leap. Giving birth to children and letting go as they grow, hoping they will lead safe, happy lives is a leap. Living in a world of chaos, believing good will prevail over evil, is a leap. I [finally] felt a connection to God…Maybe I could hold God’s hand as I leaped.”
--Priscilla Warner, from the book, The Faith Club: A Muslim, A Christian, A Jew – Three Women Search for Understanding, by Ranya Idliby, Suzanne Oliver, and Priscilla Warner

Spiritual Connections: Yoga and Judaism

[The following is an article originally created for Aquarius Magazine, published in their June 2008 issue]

Spiritual Connections: Yoga and Judaism
By Steven J. Gold

There has been a growing recognition in our culture of a distinction between spirituality and religion. Recent polls indicate that there is a sizeable segment of our population who acknowledge that they are “spiritual”, but not necessarily religious. I jumped on that bandwagon a long time ago, and have been merrily riding on it ever since. I have sought out spiritual elements from many sources, but I have had a particular focus on the equally ancient traditions of yoga and Judaism, from which have sprung forth many of the world’s other spiritual and religious traditions. Just as there is much more to yoga than the common conception of a system of physical exercises, there is also much more to Judaism than just a religion practiced by a small minority of the world’s population.

A close inspection and understanding of the texts and teachings from both traditions yields an incredible amount of commonalties and connections. The common conception of the story involving the much-maligned serpent in the Garden of Eden can be seen in a different light when the insights of yogic mysticism are applied. This serpent is representative of the Kundalini serpent-power described in yoga, whose energy and activity is essential for the existence of life as we know it. Adam and Eve were not intended to remain in the Garden. The serpent served as the instrument to get them out and get on with life. The exchange between Moses and Pharaoh was a confrontation between this serpent power properly employed in the service of the Divine, as depicted by Moses’ walking stick/staff turning into a serpent at his beck and call, versus the serpent power gone astray, placed on a pedestal and idolized as the headdress of Pharaoh, regarded as a flesh and blood God on earth, beholden to no superior power. Yoga and Judaism both teach that the purpose and goal of life is to yoke (same root as “yoga”) our inner power potential in service for the good of humankind, and to never forget its ultimate Source beyond all image, manifestation and understanding, to which we should surrender in awestruck praise and gratitude.

The book of Genesis in the Bible describes a river flowing out of the Garden of Eden and dividing into four major tributaries, one of them named the “Pishon”, which surrounded the land of “Havilah”, containing “good gold” and the “shoham stone”. Some Jewish commentators maintain that the “Pishon” is the Ganges and “Havilah” is India, to which the Bible pays homage by referring to it as the land containing “good gold”. Later on in the Bible, in the book of Exodus, these same mysterious “shoham stones” (which I believe are likely “Shiva lingams” described in the yoga tradition) are incorporated prominently in the vestments and breast plate of the Jewish High Priest.

Many are familiar with the Biblical story of Abraham and his two prominent sons, Ishmael and Isaac. Abraham is considered the originator of the Arab race through the lineage of his first-born son, Ishmael, and is also considered the first Jew and first Patriarch in the Jewish tradition, generated through his second son, Isaac. However, there is also a lesser-known story contained in the Bible about six more sons of Abraham born later in his life, whom he sent away to the East bearing his “gifts”. Some Jewish commentators maintain that these six sons sojourned to India, and the “gifts” they bore were mystical gifts for spiritual development and meditation. In India, they became what the yoga tradition refers to as the ancient Rishis, the originators of the Vedas and Eastern meditation practices and yoga. Proponents of the yoga tradition maintain that such practices originated in India and emanated out from there. And even the Bible acknowledges that Abraham was born somewhere East from the land of Palestine, to which he journeyed in his early adulthood. It was in the Eastern land of his birth that he received his basic revelation of an ultimate Divine unity underlying the diversity of manifest life, consistent with the teachings of Indian yoga and Vedanta.

It is quite clear in reviewing the writings of mystics from yoga, Judaism, and other varied traditions across all times and cultures, that there is a fundamental common recognition of this underlying unified Source of All. The distinctions and difference arise on more external, emotional and intellectual levels, all of which fall away as the realm of pure unadulterated Spirit is approached.

Bio

Steven J. Gold is author of the book, Yoga and Judaism (sub-titled Om Shalom: Explorations of a Jewish Yogi) available at http:/stores.lulu.com/yajc, and at major online retailers. Author’s blog: http://yajcenter.blogspot.com.

Quote of the Week 49 - The Dignity of Difference

“Religious conflicts occur when religious people believe that they possess the totality of truth. In fact, the totality of truth can never by perceived from a single vantage point. That is why each great faith contributes something unique to the totality of knowledge because of its particular perspective. That is what I call the dignity of difference. By being what we uniquely are, we give humanity what we alone can contribute. That means that religions must now value, not fight against, diversity. This is the new paradigm we need if we are to avoid the ‘clash of civilizations.’”
--Jonathan Sacks, Chief Rabbi of Great Britain

Quote of the Week 48 - Blank Mind, Free Heart

“Make my mind blank,
Set my heart free.
Mind that’s blank
And heart that’s free…”
--Joan Armatrading

“Turn off your mind
Relax
And float down stream
Is it not dying? Is it not dying?
Lay down all thought
Surrender to the void
Is it shining? Is it shining?
--John Lennon

Quote of the Week 47 - Understanding the Ordinary

There is only the ordinary. There is no special and exclusive communication that is the truth. There is no exclusive state of truth. But there is the understanding of the ordinary.
--Bubba Free John

Another Hebrew Mantra

This came to me in my meditation today. During the event when Moses encounters the burning bush on Mt. Sinai, when the voice of God calls out to Moses, his response is, “Hinani” (phonetically, “Hee-Nay-Nee”). This is translated as “Here I am”, or “I am here.”, but the commentary on the inner meaning of this response is very significant. This is not the common separative “I/self” asserting itself and indicating physical location, but rather the humble vestige of a separative self responding in awe to the greatness of the Almighty which it is beholding, and offering up itself in complete submission and service. “I am at your service”, would be a more correct translation capturing the inner meaning of the literal translation. Like Abraham’s earlier responding to God by addressing God as “Adonai”, here again is an utterance of another great servant of God in response to God’s call to him. So I believe that “Hinani” would be another suitable term to use as a Hebrew mantra.

Quote of the Week 46 - Meditation is a Philosophy of Transformation

Meditation is not a mere technique, but a complete philosophy of transformation.
--Source Forgotten

Quote of the Week 45 - Optimism

Many of the Hasidic rabbis were noted for their optimistic faith in their fellow men, which could not be weakened in the face of overwhelming evidence of man’s perverseness. “Rabbi,” one of the disciples complained, “some of the congregants are gossiping in the midst of prayer!” “How wonderful are Thy people, O Lord,” the rabbi retorted. “Even in the midst of gossip, they devote a few moments to prayer!”

Source unknown

Hebrew Mantras, Part Two