Quote of the Week 104 - Journey of Awareness

It has taken me thirty years of hard discipline to come to a cognitive plateau in which don Juan’s statements are recognizable and their validity is established beyond the shadow of a doubt. I know now that human beings are creatures of awareness, involved in an evolutionary journey of awareness, beings indeed unknown to themselves, filled to the brim with incredible resources that are never used.
-- Carlos Castaneda

Quote of the Week 103 - Laughter

The human race has one really effective weapon, and that is laughter.

--Mark Twain

The four solemn Zen vows:

“Creations are numberless, I vow to free them.

Delusions are inexhaustible, I vow to transform them.

Reality is boundless, I vow to perceive it.

The awakened way is inexhaustible, I vow to embody it!”

The four solemn Zen vows, revised by Michael Dobbs, director of a Zen Center on Long Island and a member of the Order of Disorder, (OD or “odd” for short), a loose alliance of Zen practitioners with clowning skills:

“Creations are numberless, I vow to count them.

Delusions are inexhaustible, as if you hadn’t noticed.

Reality is boundless, and so are parts of Long Island.

The OD way is unavoidable; what were we chanting about?”

--Taken from August 2009 issue of Ode Magazine

Quote of the Week 102 - Bill Maher

People have come up to me and told me they get my criticism of religion. They tell me they are spiritual, not religious. I didn’t get what that meant. But then it came to me what it meant. It meant they weren’t afraid to die.

— Bill Maher

Quote of the Week 101 - Carole Lynne

"I am now in my sixties. I still have a deep love of God, but I do not see the personified God I saw at age thirteen. He is not an old man sitting up in heaven directing me. In fact, the God of my understanding is not a he or a she and has no personality as we human beings think of personality. I see God as Cosmic Energy — Spiritual Light. God is Divine Consciousness far beyond my human comprehension. I do not have adequate understanding or words to accurately describe God. I still have a love of Jesus, but I see Jesus in a different context than I did as a child. For me, Jesus remains in my heart, but as one of the greatest spiritual teachers, healers, and mediums who ever lived. I believe the spirit of Jesus still guides us. And I still believe Jesus is a son of God, but he is a son of God as we are all sons and daughters of God. I have come to value not only Jesus, but also many other great spiritual teachers, such as Buddha and Gandhi.”

“If God is beyond Human comprehension and we have no adequate words to describe God, then how can we, as human beings, comprehend God? This question is extremely important, because as we come to understand that God is beyond our comprehension, we can begin to understand why God ­— or, as many of us say, Spirit — needs to speak to us in ways that we can comprehend: through spiritual dreams, revelations, synchronicities, and mystical experiences. As God speaks, Divine Consciousness flows through the mind of each individual soul. But because our mental perceptions differ based on our age, nationality, cultural upbringing, and possibly past-life tendencies, we do not each receive the messages from Divine Consciousness in the same way. Even though the Divine Consciousness is always the same, our perceptions of it differ. And that is as it should be.”

-- from the book Cosmic Connection, Messages for a Better World, by Carole Lynne (Ms. Lynne’s father was Jewish, her mother was Christian, and her religious upbringing was through Congregational and Presbyterian Christianity)

Quote of the Week 100 - Everything Has a Crack in It

Everything has a crack in it.
That’s how the light gets in.

--Leonard Cohen

[Flip side:
Everything has a crack in it.
That’s how the light gets out.]

YOGA AND JUDAISM, SECOND EDITION Coming Soon

I apologize for not posting much new content on the blog in recent weeks. I have been very busy working on the finishing touches for a revised and expanded Second Edition to Yoga and Judaism. I have also been working on a new book project, but that is probably several months away from possible publication. However, YOGA AND JUDAISM, SECOND EDITION, should be ready for publication within the next two or three weeks if all goes well. It will first be available only through lulu, the publisher, but a few more weeks out, as it makes its way through the distribution process, it should become available through online retailers such as Amazon, Borders, Barnes and Noble. So keep your eyes peeled for the announcement!

Quote of the Week 98 - The Universal Truth

Throughout the ages, spiritual masters have walked among humanity, reminding us that we are divine embodiments in physical form. Each has revealed the universal truth that we are more than our bodies, more than our minds, more than our daily tasks, more than our relationships with others. Each has shared with those with whom they have come into contact that love is our essence, that suffering is our challenge, and that there is a power in each of us that may be revealed to bring us peace, joy, and the realization of heaven on earth, right here and right now.

--Donna Mosher, Editor-in-Chief of Science of Mind magazine

Quote of the Week 97 - Zohar, Pinchas

“You fill all worlds, You contain all worlds, and there is nothing real except for You.”

Zohar, Pinchas p. 225a

Quote of the Week 96 - My Servant Moses

“And he said, ‘Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord make myself known to him in a vision, I speak with him in a dream. Not so with my servant Moses; he is entrusted with all my house. With him I speak mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in dark speech; and he beholds the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?’”

Numbers 12:6-12:8

The Patchwork Quilt

I have been engaging in an extensive discussion on some Chabad blogs and sites concerning Jewish doctrines and attitudes that remain prevalent in some circles leading to airs of superiority. The metaphor of a patchwork quilt was brought up, a common image used in discussions about honoring diversity. After further thought, I came up with the following as a succinct summary of my view on the subject.



The Patchwork Quilt

Imagine that all of the various peoples of the world and the texts that they have designated as their Scriptures, and the various theologies that have been generated are all represented by distinct patches on a quilt. Patchwork quilts are constructed by first taking one large piece of material that is the size of the finished quilt and usually the same homogenous color, which serves as the backing for the quilt. Each patch is sewn both to the backing, and also to all of the other patches that border it.

There are views prevalent among some quarters of Christianity and Islam particularly, that hold that their patch is more special than any of the others, and has greater and special access to the backing that none of the others have. This belief justifies a view that their patch has a imperialistic Divine Right to expand and take over all of the other patches until there are no other patches, just their one big patch. The remaining patch will still demonstrate some individuality and diversity, but all within much more limited confines than the original multi-patched quilt. This is the view of those who believe that theirs is the only true religion, and that everyone needs to convert to their religion. It is a very juvenile view, anchored in and driven by a deep sense of insecurity whereby anything that is too contrary or different to their myopic and provincial point of view is seen as a threat that must either be converted or destroyed. It manifests as a frightening doctrine of arrogant imperialistic superiority. It fuels actions consistent with it, leading to inevitable conflict, as more than one group maintains this view, in addition to the fact that others that would just like to be left alone resist and resent efforts to change them. Such views also fuel all kinds of supremacy movements and attempts at genocide.

Then there is a different perspective, prevalent among some quarters of Judaism and Hinduism, particularly. This perspective acknowledges that there is validity to at least many of the other viewpoints expressed by the other patches, but still maintains a similar notion as above that their particular patch is more special than any of the others. It has a more special connection and access to the backing than any of the others. It alone was the first and original patch that emanated out of the Oneness of the backing. All of the other patches originated from and are somehow derived from this one special patch. The special patch does not seek to convert or obliterate all of the others as described above concerning Christianity and Islam. Rather, it accepts and celebrates the diversity expressed by the others. However, it would certainly be helpful for the betterment of humankind as a whole if the others would acknowledge and honor the specialness of the special patch, but it is okay if they don’t, as long as they at least respect its integrity and afford it dignity. So this viewpoint also has an inherent notion of superiority, just as the imperialistic view does, but it has a different twist to it. Instead of the imperialist drive to convert or obliterate anything that is different, it establishes an elitist “in-crowd” approach. Outsiders can convert to gain such status, but it is not encouraged, and even discouraged.

Just as the Christian and Islamic imperialistic views are going to clash with each other and any other views, so will the Hindu and Jewish “exclusive club” views clash with each other and the imperialist views that inherently do not wish to tolerate them. The story of Abraham provides a good example of how the Jewish and Hindu views have a clash of interpretation. It is a particularly good example, as it is a foundational story. The Jewish view is that Abraham was the first monotheist and first Jew, and the Torah and Covenant originating with him in nascent form came to full fruition in the actual giving of the Torah and sealing of the Covenant through Moses at Mt. Sinai. All true religion and wisdom in the world originates with the Torah and is derived from it. The Jewish people alone have this special relationship with the Torah and its Originator, and thus stand in a special relationship with the rest of mankind concerning all things spiritual. Abraham sent forth the six sons of his old age to bring this message to the East, but it unfortunately got distorted and debased in the process, resulting in an inferior spirituality that developed as the Vedic tradition in India.

The Hindu view on the story of Abraham differs from the Jewish view in much the same way as the Muslim view of the story of Ishmael and Isaac differs with the Jewish view. Hindus point to the fact contained within the Jewish version that Abraham did not receive his initial revelation of the Oneness in the area of the Promised Land, but rather somewhere considerably to the East of the Promised Land. This “East” might not be the physical location generally conceived by the Jewish authorities, but may be even further to the East, in India. This “East” may also be construed more as a spiritual, rather than a physical realm, again indicative of the spirituality developed in eastern spiritual realms such as India prior to or around the same time as Abraham. Abraham was like a pioneer who had a special mission to bring forth this eastern spirituality and message of Oneness to the shores of the Mediterranean, in an area that is a crossroads between East and West, between Africa, Asia and Europe. He left his descendants Isaac and Ishmael in this new frontier region to carry on this mission in their own separate ways, and sent back his later six sons to the original land of his initial revelation. The descendants of Isaac were instructed to erect a Temple in this region and face it East, as a vehicle to continue to receive the message from the East and transmit it to the West, on a horizontal level, while also receiving and transmitting vertical spiritual energy. The spiritual message of Oneness, therefore, originated in India, and was propagated in areas west by Abraham, not vice-versa, as the Jewish tradition claims. It was propagated in areas further East as Buddhism, another derivative of the ancient Vedic spirituality, the most ancient in the world, from which all other religions are derived.

So the Jewish and Hindu viewpoints share common characteristics, just as religious fundamentalists, regardless of their stated faiths, share common characteristics. They just all have a different version of WHO IS NUMBER ONE. BECAUSE WHO IS NUMBER ONE IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO THEIR RESPECTIVE COLLECTIVE BLOATED EGOIC PSYCHES.

What about considering that nobody has to be number one? What about considering that each patch on the patchwork quilt has equal validity and equal access to the same backing that supports it all? What is being given up or conceded by considering such a notion? How necessary is it for any tradition to incorporate as a core value that they are number one? Aren’t there deeper core values that are the true essence of these traditions that are not dependent on the doctrine that they are number one? Are there any truly, significant, essential chips that would fall by the wayside if the number one claim is abandoned? Every patch is unique, every patch is special in its own unique way. Every patch has a mission that only it can fulfill. There is no patch that is more special, more central to the whole than any other. There has been a concern expressed that full equality whereby all traditions have equal standing would somehow lead to bland homogeneity. But such a notion would not result in the horrible sameness that is so objected to if everything in fact was totally equal. All flowers would not smell the same, all mountains would not be leveled or valleys elevated to create a horrendous flatland. Such fears are overstated and unfounded.

Perhaps another principle, Simultaneity, should be considered. Maybe Abraham didn’t teach the Indian Rishis, and maybe the Indian Rishis didn’t teach Abraham. After all, everyone is connected with the backing of the patchwork quilt. Isn’t it possible that the same revelation could be experienced simultaneously at the same time in more than one place or even at different times and places independently of one another? I haven’t even mentioned Taoism, which appears to have developed totally independent of either Judaism or Vedism. This principle of “simultaneity” has been exhibited from time to time in modern science. Two groups of researchers working totally independent of one another in different parts of the world come up with the same basic breakthrough, often right around the same time. It is quite wondrous.

I believe there was a reason I was born Jewish. I believe that there is some validity to the notion that the Jewish people, as many other distinctly defined people, have a mission particular to it, and it obviously relates to being spiritual teachers. I believe it is worthwhile and important for Jewish people to explore the reason and meaning to their Jewish birth. I am deeply sorrowed and saddened when I encounter people of Jewish birth who have assimilated or have come close to assimilation without enquiring into such matters. I am curious about and encouraged to encounter people who have converted to Judaism or are in the process of converting. I believe that there is something deep and profound to the Jewish soul, but I also believe there is an even deeper layer of my soul that is beyond any such distinction or quality.

I earnestly hope and pray that more people will wake up and consider such a viewpoint, and abandon these horrible notions of superiority that are grounded in some distorted primitive instinct whereby they have to feel that they’re more special than anyone else in order to feel important. Just like a patchwork quilt, in order for an orchestra to be an orchestra, it must have a variety of instruments in order to play the music that the Composer intended. Are we going to fight over who is the Conductor, who is the Concertmaster? Does someone always have to play second fiddle? Can we interchange some of these roles sometimes? Can there be more than one Conductor, more than one Concertmaster? Can we recognize and acknowledge the value that each instrument contributes to the whole that is the orchestra? Aren’t there symphonies, concertos and other pieces of music composed in which different instruments are featured? This is my viewpoint that I know is shared by others, and that I hope and sense is growing in its acceptance. I don’t see anything in it that is contrary to true essential core Jewish teachings. I see any of the other viewpoints discussed above as contributing to the never-ending conflict, violence, resentment and persecution that has haunted humankind since its inception. It is time to re-consider and think anew.