> There is no mystical Christianity that I have ever heard of, > especially not in any reputable Church. You can find marginal sects in > any religion. The study of enlightenment is definitely not something > that Christians are ever taught. Salvation comes directly from > accepting Jesus as your personal Saviour. Why then would a Christian > need enlightenment too?
The ancient Gnostic church, the Desert Fathers Anders mentioned, and monks belonging to the Third Order of St. Francis and the Order of St. John of the Cross are all Christian sources of such study. The last two are Catholic. The reputability or popularity of a belief is by no means a measure of its worth or value. These people felt that an awakening or enlightenment is the ultimate connection with the Lord, seeing the world as he does, experiencing reality outside of his creation. The Gnostic church was somewhat popular, actually, until the solidification and influence of authority of the Catholic Church appeared. Gnostics actually gave credibility to the idea of reincarnation. As Jesus never explicitly referred to a heaven, hell, or after-life (he spoke of the "kingdom of God", which by some people was taken to be a metaphor for enlightenment), there's no reason by dying is a prerequisite of faith in God. It's important to understand that referring to all of these people as Christians is like referring to the some 46 recognized faiths in India as Hindu. Talking about their beliefs under such a label quickly degrades into stereotyping. > The study of Kabballah is viewed along the same lines as the Pyschic > Hotline by any reputable Jewish Temple. Look in your phone book and > call every temple and I guarantee you that not a single one wants > anything to do with Kabballah. Kabballah is Judaism for drug-addicts, > idle-rich, the mentally disturbed, and people like Madonna, who use it > in order to justify her lifestyle. If you want to study Kabballah, you > need to find yourself a Rasputin-like character who will put you into > trances and tell you what you want to hear for the right price. It has > nothing to do with meditation, it is a lot closer to being the Occult. I see your compassion is strong today. The Kaballah/Cabalah/Qaballa is, literally, Jewish mysticism. The same way there are scams on TV and the internet involving meditation and astral projection, there are scams on TV involving the Kaballah, mainly because of supposed ties to tarot cards, which were already popular. Kaballah is not a belief, it is not a sect, it is merely an area of study applying Hebrew principles to metaphysical topics. As with the paragraph above, you are in no place to cast petty judgement on what they believe. The Crusades, the Holocaust, the invasion of Tibet, the Spanish Inquisition, etc., were led by people that thought they could cast that judgement. They were just a little more willing to kill because of it. > You stated that the Muslim religion has some large sect that is > dedicated to meditation and enlightenment? Do you know the name and > address of that Muslim sect? You could do the world a great service > by e-mailing that information to the Muslims. The Sufis are Muslim mystics. Again, how dare you suppose you can treat people like that, blindly cast your own judgement on them, reduce a great many compassionate, respectful people into stereotypes based off of what YOU think about them. You have the Eightfold Path down there. What happened to your right view, speech, action, and mindfulness??? I apoligize for having come close to being uselessly judgemental towards you. It just seems that in the middle of your writing, you completely disregard the fact that the things you speak about with such insult and disrespect are PEOPLE, most of which would give a stranger on the street more courtesy than you just did. I am done talking about this. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> $9.95 domain names from Yahoo!. Register anything. http://us.click.yahoo.com/J8kdrA/y20IAA/yQLSAA/S27xlB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Noble Eightfold Path: Right View, Right Intention, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, Right Concentration, Right Livelihood Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZenForum/ <*> 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/
