--- In [email protected], mike brown <uerusuboyo@...> wrote:
>
> ED,
>
> Aaagh! I posted part 2 first. This is part 1 and describes the jhanas
> beautifully. Please read and give me your impressions.
>
> Mike
>
> Hi Mike. As you may have gathered, I have an academic interest in these
> matters. It may interest you to know that what scholars call "gnosticism" was
> originally a Jewish phenomenon before it became associated with the Jesus
> Myth. The earliest form was called MerKaBa, or "Ascent of the Ka(spirit)". It
> involved cultivating trance states that were associated with the 7 visible
> planets. There was also an erotic metaphor associated with it that was
> similar to Tantrism. In Judaism this Gnosis was associated with Seth, the 3rd
> son of Adam. When it evolved into it's Christian form it became associated
> with Jesus, who in my opinion was just a fictional character in a Middle
> Eastern form of Tantrism. The Gnostic elements in Judaism eventually evolved
> into what we now call Kabbalah. St. Paul mentions ascending to "the 3rd
> Heaven", which probably meant a Jhana state.
Steve
------------------------------------
Current Book Discussion: any Zen book that you recently have read or are
reading! Talk about it today!Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Zen_Forum/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Zen_Forum/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
[email protected]
[email protected]
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[email protected]
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
