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I admire your compassionate perspective,
Basil.
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, September 23, 2004 2:34
PM
Subject: Re: [Zen] Zen in The Middle
East?
> 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.
Noble Eightfold Path: Right View,
Right Intention, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Effort, Right
Mindfulness, Right Concentration, Right Livelihood
Noble Eightfold Path: Right View, Right Intention, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, Right Concentration, Right Livelihood
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