#kabballah

"How can, then, the spiritual practices, prescribed by Sants, which are extremely delicate and subtle, be felt enjoyable without the concentration of mind and spirit? Just as the food comes in contact with the tongue at the time of eating, yet its taste cannot be enjoyed if the attention is elsewhere, so if the mind and spirit of the practitioner did reach up to the Form or partially come in contact with the current of Shabd, no joy and bliss can be experienced in Dhyan and Bhajan, if the attention is directed elsewhere, i. e., engaged in worldly thoughts. It is, therefore, very important that the attention is kept under control at the time of devotional practices. In other words, joy would be experienced only, if the attention is focused on Form and Shabd, otherwise one would achieve nothing at the end of his devotional practice and would feel unhappy."

"If, at the time of Abhyas [meditation practice], a Parmarthi [spiritual devotee] turns his attention upwards internally and tries to fix it on the Form or Shabd or any particular region, as prescribed by Sants, the currents of mind, spirit and sight would, unfailingly, flow upwards and as long as no other thought causes a disturbance, i.e., no contrary current is set in motion, the direction of that current would remain upwards and some joy and bliss would surely be experienced, in consequence of this abstraction and withdrawal of the spirit current, because the higher region is one of greater joy and bliss, than the plane on which the Spirit is normally located in the wakeful condition."

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I once explained my ideas about spirituality to someone with an analogy of climbing a mountain.  Divinity isn’t at the top of the mountain:  it IS the mountain.  Understanding is at the top.  The roads to the top are numerous, and some of them intertwine, branch off of one another, lead off a cliff (Lookin at you Charlie Manson), etc.  Few of them are solitary roads.  And most paths are easier to follow when you have company.  

  Right now, i live isolated from other witches and like-minded occultists.  The interwebs is pretty much all I have in the way of community.  I found a forum on tumblr I thought would be really welcoming, but you have to have moderator approval to become a member.  To do this, you have to submit the answers to a list of questions about yourself.  

Now, I was raised Wiccan and my grew up learning ceremonial magick, but my family heritage is Catholic/Episcopalean.  So, i’m currently studying the roots of wiccan/ european magickal traditions - including Kabbalah and the new and old testaments.  So i put, “amateur kabbalist” on my list of things i’m into.  I am not Jewish by heritage and haven’t converted to anything (yet?), nor am i by any means an expert.  I’m just a spiritual seeker trying to learn.

This moderator who is Jewish contacts me about my intro.  (Moderator=pronouns?) grills me about my heritage, and when she finds out that I am not an officially converted jewish person, Xtells me that the” literacy required even superficially is only available to Jews”.  (Moderator) goes on to say that hermeticists and OTA people are all false and have appropriated Cabala, and that no one is allowed to study Kabbalah if they are not officially Jewish.  Other paths are not valid because, quote, “that path is not based in truth” and it “requires a spiritual maturity to fully accept G_d”.

The logical extension of this reasoning equates to:

 Christianity, Wicca and all forms of witchcraft based on ceremonial magick, OTA and the knights templar, Hoodoo, Voodoo, The 12 step program,and modern psychology, and every religious or spiritual group or individual who has been influenced by kabbalistic teachings but is not officially Jewish is culturally appropriative, not based in truth,and is not spiritually mature.  This is supposed to be a forum for WITCHES!!!!   

Now let me say this for myself:

Kabbalah IS based in Judaic tradition.  It is the interpretation of the old testament.  If I am not Jewish , I guess I can see how calling myself a cabalist may be offensive to a Jewish person, since they invented it after all.  I will never call myself a cabalist again, if this is the case. While i’m currently studying the tree of life, I don’t celebrate Jewish holidays or make any pretenses about being a full-fledged kabbalist, anyway. . I suffer from my own brands .of oligarchical Otherness, and the idea that I would hurt someone else by appropriation is incredibly painful. To be accused of violating my own ethics makes me stop in my tracks.   

   This system of magic, however, is also a living part of Christian mystic heritage as well as the foundation of all Western occult practices. It never occured to me anyone would have a problem with this because the histories of Christianity, Euro-Paganism, Judaism, etc are so closely intertwined and connected.  I’m sorry, but to say I am wrong  for studyingsomething as foundational to Western culture as  kabbalah and hermetic philosophy is folly.  Also requiring someone to commit to an orthodox religion BEFORE they understand what it’s about is ludicrous.  

Also it begs the question - Am i supposed to forbid myself from growing spiritually with something that rings true to my soul because i refuse to bind myself to only one religious tradition? 

This moderator then said, as “a test of ethics”:,  you will either say that Kabballah is only Jewish, admitting your beliefs are stolen and false, or you will be barred from the forum (a community of witches whose ceremonies are mostly all derived from Hermetic Philosophy)  This person wasn’t asking me to think seriously about labels and appropriation.  This person was commanding me to declare my beliefs false, and their own beliefs morally superior. This is the opposite of enlightenment.  Insulting and belittling a person’s spiritual experience because you think you are doing it the “right”, socially sanctified way, and lording access to a communal space to a person because they don’t believe what you believe is bigotry.  

D + 12