You are one fantastic teacher and I am so thankful for the gift of being receptive you your teaching. My favorite succinct definition of mysticism is: the word united with its reality. From our standpoint mysticism is our response to the gift and act of God gift of himself. I see very clearly that people of your movement are moving in the direction we need to be moving to help create a better world. I plan on being on board.
Never stop teaching this message of love and unity. The world needs it so much. I thank you so much for this channel. I am a Christian, but I am so hurt by so many of those people calling themselves Christian that are spewing hate these days. Love, peace and unity!
Your manifesto for this paradigm shift from Religion 1.0 to Religion 2.0 (mins 13-19) is so wonderful, Zevi. I feel like this sociological dimension of we and them and inclusivity or divisiveness gets to the real locus of goodness and spirituality, underneath all traditions. You speak to that spiritual human core. You REDEEM our traditions
I am a Hermetic mystic living the theurgic life and I found your description of mysticism to be one that I strive for in my own practice. Thank you for helping to give practitioners like me the words to describe what it is we do. If I'm pressed for time though, I just tell people I'm a crazy holy man and just leave it at that. 🤣
A remarkable achievement feeling so much firgun for you dear Zevi and the Mystic Manifesto 2.0. You give a clear overview of the mystical teachings of all ages whilst taking a break from correctly assembling an IKEA Mydal pine bunk bed frame having accurately followed the supplied guide instructions. The latter has turned many a would be mystic into an ikeaclast... There is a saying: The virtues of the righteous [the young chabad students] are the sins of the saints [the Lubavitcher Rebbe]...There can be no bazaar with souls...
Just came home from our mutual friend's celebration...and checked your channel, Zevi! I am enthralled!!!! ....I can hardly grasp and follow the extension of your scholarship...but perked at more than one " echo of truth", wherever the source came from....and I am full of hope that your objective to create unity amongst human souls will be exponentially growing through your precious gift of yourself in your critical work at this junction of history..... It sounds like many kinds and styles and types and creeds of people will resonate with some or all of the riches you colorfully offer for an audience you obviously honor, respect and hold great expectations from.... You invite and challenge us into looking into ever wider, deeper circles and sources for finding pertinent information, in contrast to what social media has been robbing/ dumbing us of... ...and your open heart illuminates and crowns above the intellectual load , which could be rigid and cold ... but obviously, the mysticysm you do NOT just talk about is a warm and living legacy that YOU must be practicing.... Looking forward to the education I am about to receive here that I sense is going to ironically be shuttering my previous 6 decades of thirst, search and quest.... Finally the flow of a great expanse is coming for seeing the Creator, the world, its population and its history as a unit.... With blessings beyond measure into the Biblical promises for the future ... time
Thank you so much for sharing this inspiring class! It "happens" to be the BeSHT's birthday when you've shared this, you are continuing his mission in ushering in an era of messianic consciousness.
I've been away from your channel for a while, but it's wonderful to return. Your beautiful vision is a wonderful place to be. I hope a great many people hear the message you're sharing. I truly believe that this message has the potential to heal the world if enough people accept it.
I might be a person ho does not comment on TH-cam that much, but I want to say that your work is amazing and very important to me! Thank you for all the knowledge you share with us and all the experiences you talk about. You are the best! :)
Thank you so much for this great manifesto! It has touched my heart and i think, that we need this monistic spirit on earth more than ever, in these times of conflict and seperation.
Hold on, but Yeshua wasn’t political leader on a Donkey, but spiritual- and that’s why he wasn’t accepted by The Pharisees. Same way the Kabbalistic teacher’s had massive problems with Talmudic leaders few hundreds years ago in Europe. Kabbalah is basically Jewish attempt to find Logos, which they have missed with the coming of Christ- well, at least some did since the first Christians were Jewish.
Wow, I know so little but get so much from your podcasts. You explain things so beautiful. and it really was beautiful to hear personally for me, where Ive felt weighed down havent been interested or rather caught up in the game lifes throwing my way. know I appreciate all your wisdom that you share. Thank you so much.
Thank you Dana. I’m so glad you appreciated the message. We all get caught up in life games from time to time and need a gentle nudge to get back to the real and beautiful, to liberate ourselves. Glad to be on this journey with you :)
Thank you sir!!!! For the perfect description of what a mystic is. After a mystical experience, it is really hard to put into words what you discover. But you did it exceptionally well. Thanks again.
Thank you, this resonated very much. Particularly in the section of “our role” and your answer to the question about masculine & feminine. The quotes from Salman Rushdie are much appreciated as well 🙏🏻✨✨
Half truths are full lies. Yeshua wasn’t political leader on a Donkey, but spiritual- and that’s why he wasn’t accepted by The Pharisees. Same way the Kabbalistic teacher’s had massive problems with Talmudic leaders few hundreds years ago in Europe. Kabbalah is basically Jewish attempt to find Logos, which they have missed with the coming of Christ- well, at least some did since the first Christians were Jewish.
For me, mysticism is pattern, from a Holy centre, that radiates out to all. The simplicity of pattern that offers ordering to chaos. It's really reassuring that you can offer positive perceptions of Christianity, as I am not entirely convinced of the Christian perception. I understand Jerusalem to be theatre, a temple for upliftment and inspiration. Being part of the organic whole is my understanding of everlasting life. Your joy expresses your understanding. The Divine in us. We separate ourselves because we are still animals, part of the feminine creation. Sin keeps us yearning, because once we have known G-D's peace, we will always long to stay connected. Yet we are in bodies with desires and minds with crude thoughts. Thank you for the inspired presentation. So good to see you enjoying yourself.
As someone who has had life-changing mystical experiences, I think you've put this wonderfully and beautifully, and as a psychologist of compassion, I couldn't agree more with your vision and its links to a pre-civilised time when humankind was evolving that form of altruism which crosses boundaries yet was thrown backwards by the controlling and holding nature of agricultural societies. Ironically, and tragically, it appears that the 'Fall' (i.e. our discovery of husbandry and agriculture leading to the hierarchies of civilisation) may indeed have been a compassionate act in itself, which did not perceive the harm it would later cause (i.e. providing a collective source of food so that tribes would not starve) and it's interesting to see this reflected in other mythologies like the binding of Prometheus and Pandora's Box. Having come so far down the road of civilisation, and building our existence around it, I think a great deal of resistance to the ideals of mysticism (and hence compassion) come from a fear that manifests itself as a grand cognitive dissonance. That is to say, when one accepts that we are all one and whole, as well as being vessels of that one consciousness, we are faced with the horror of what we as a species have done, and are doing, to that which is truly Divine. As such, one must choose between running this gauntlet of existential 'guilt' and/or despair, or accepting ignorance in order to justify what humanity has done, and is still doing to itself, and the world. Given our evolved negativity bias and having a threat system which is online as default, it is easy to see why most choose the latter path when faced with the mystic's manifesto. The irony is, when one runs this gauntlet through to its end, one reaches the experiential knowledge of that oneness (rather than just the intellectual) and, as such, understands that they and the rest of humanity are forgiven because all these 'sins' where only done out of fear, and now there is no reason to fear any longer when unity is accepted joyfully. The tragedy of the human mind, and our evolution of consciousness, is that, in unifying so many areas of the brain as a survival strategy, it inevitably lends itself to building barriers and walls between and around itself, others, ideas and concepts. However, the beauty of the human mind is that this unity created by consciousness also allows one to comprehend reality and transcend its individual components when these barriers and walls are stripped away. From here the universe can comprehend its own consciousness and know, and see itself in us and others; something we call love ^_^
18:25 But sick as it is, the world still retains-everywhere and always- characteristics of its primordial health, and shows the working of forces of its new health, its convalescence. Because alongside the struggle for existence there is cooperation in order to live, and alongside the mineral petrification, there is the succulent and breathing cover of the plant kingdom. The world can therefore be lauded and wept for at the same time. -Valentin Tomberg (Meditations On The Tarot)
My dear Zevi, there is no better video than this!!! You have explained the truth so beautifuly that i cannot express it with words. CONGRATULATIONS!!! 4 Branches of metaphysics shows us same conclusion -all is one consciousness. Quantum mechanics, NDE, psychodelics, parapsycholohy, astral travels, all esoterics of religions, philosophy of Schopenhauer, Hegel, Stoics etc. - All unite in conclusion - One Consciousness! Greetings from Serbia. You did great job for all of humanity. Thay just have to realize this, do the math, 2+2=4...than stops all the nonsense ,wars etc...
You may want to check the accuracy of the Einstein quote for multiple translation inconsistencies. The website "Thy Mind, O Human" has an article called, "Einstein’s Misquote on the Illusion of Feeling Separate from the Whole" by Byron Howard delves into this matter. I don't know how accurate his examination of the original German text is or his interpretations but there are subtle and key important differences it appears. Thank you and Shalom!
We are integral parts of the Reality we are attempting to understand. Individual consciousness has separates us from it. Dissolving the individual consciousness and adopting the universal consciousness resolves the problem and removes any need for further mental or spiritual handwringing.
You're most welcome. I appreciate that you appreciate the definition I put together. I can copy it here for you from another related script: Some of the earliest historical meanings of mysticism signified an initiatory process which led to a ritual transformation of consciousness, consisting of some sort of a unification with or direct experience of the mystery of being. Throughout history Mysticism came to connote a heightened or hidden meaning of a text, myth, ritual, or reality itself, gained through esoteric interpretative strategies or non-rational, immediate, or intuitive modes of cognition. Most scholars today, when speaking of mysticism, particularly the former of aforementioned ones, speak of Mysticism as the direct apprehension, presence, awareness, encounter, communion, participation, union, or identity with (what is perceived to be) the sacred, ultimate reality or God, An experience (be it visionary, ecstatic, contemplative, or unitive) which often, but not always, involves feelings of a dissolution of boundaries, the loss of the sense of self, and the sensation of dying or becoming undone - followed often by feelings of rebirth, timeless, ecstasy, immortality, bliss or serenity. Along with that which leads up to this experiences or state of mind, being or consciousness and that which flows from it. The practices, disciplines and techniques which prepare for and aim to bring one there, the theories, beliefs and doctrines, employed to make sense of, describe, make sense of or express it (be it in the form of poetry, mythology, theology, philosophical or symbolism) and the ethic, states of mind and ways of life which flows from it. And here are the main sources I'm working with: Annette Wilke, "Mysticism" in The Brill Dictionary of Religion, 2006, p. 1279. Jeffrey Kripal, “Mysticism” in The Blackwell Companion to the Study of Religion, 2017, by Robert Segal (ed.) Bernard McGinn, The Foundations of Mysticism, Vol. I of The Presence of God: A History of Western Christian Mysticism, The Nature of Mysticism: A Heuristic Sketch, Xv- Xx Peter Moore, “Mysticism [Further Considerations],” in Encyclopedia of Religion, 2nd ed., vol. 9, ed. Lindsay Jones (Detroit: Macmillan Reference, 2005), 6355-7.
23rd to like! Thanks for the illuminating discussion! I recall from your last video on perennialism that you saw the initiatory experience of mystical death and rebirth as the commonality found in each depth tradition. I am intrigued by what you think is the connection between uniting the spiritual masculine and feminine with a mystical death and rebirth. Much love! Experiences of oneness with an infinity did not move me to say I was one with G-d since G-d is an Absolute Infinity. Dying and coming back did not move me to say I was one with G-d since G-d is an Absolute Infinity. Experiences of unity with an unutterable and ineffable divine principle did not move me to say I was one with G-d since G-d is an Absolute Infinity. Reality is a self-expression of that Absolute Infinity. But art is not the artist, all things being equal. And while our reality is an infinity, a countable infinity can be transversed by successive addition. Absolute Infinity, as Spinoza correctly says, has no limits. Having experienced that consciousness is looking out through me the same as it looks out through others did not move me to say that I was one with G-d since G-d is Absolute Infinity. I can claim to be one with the self-expression of Absolute Infinity, the expression of the self-worth of Absolute Reality. Metaphysical [or set] inclusion is not identity. Arguably, it is not even a concept of composition. Only a part-whole relationship provides an intelligible conception of composition. And the Absolute Infinity is not a whole with parts, since it cannot be transversed by successive addition. So we might achieve mystical states of unity, I see no possibility where that state of unity is with the Absolute Infinity. It can be unity with the self-expression of Absolute Reality. But to call the self-expression or the expression of Absolute Reality's self-worth itself Absolute Reality is an error. An understandable error, given how difficult and abstract the concept of the Absolute Reality/Infinity is compared to limited Infinities. Almost all mystical traditions use a conception of uniting with a limited infinity [as in containing its negation in Sufism, Hermeticism, Neo-Platonism, Luria and Cordovero] as opposed to the Absolute Infinity. But the analogy of how an absolute monarch's word is greater than the person [as in the feminine can give back to the masculine more than it received] is misguided. There can be no comparison between truths of a limited infinity and the nature of the Absolute Infinity, all things being equal. It took a long time in human history for us to have the mathematical proof that not all infinities are equal. But it is time for the mystics to adapt and perhaps realize that the metaphysical story they tell themselves is not inextricable from their practices and experiences. What if unity is not with G-d but inspired by an all-encompassing love as the expression of divine self-worth? As the loving self-expression of Absolute Reality, being loved as G-d loves and expresses that Absolute Reality, why should we hate our finitude or our embodied lives in a finite world? I do not like the hate for our nature of limitation found in the core of many of these mystical traditions, as if our very nature impeded unity with the Absolute. We are the manifestation of the self-worth of Absolute Reality. To hate our nature as limited and finite is to hate the very nature of divine self-expression. And to call what is not Absolute Infinity G-d is dangerous and likely a spiritual illness of the highest order. But the mystics tell me that G-d calls the expression of divine self-worth G-d. That the reflection is the thing itself since what it is reflecting is Absolute Infinity and what G-d says is always true. Yet these same mystics agree with the serpent in the Garden that said that G-d was lying, that 'you will surely not die.' I do have to agree that if the reflection is itself a reflection of Absolute Infinity, not just the expression of Absolute Reality's self-worth, I will have to accept modal collapse. But accepting modal collapse is an extreme step. One person's modus ponens is another's modus tollens. If the reason a mystic thinks that they are not blaspheming is that they accept modal collapse, I think they are making two grievous errors. But I could be wrong. But to show me otherwise, how can one argue that modal collapse is not self-serving and self-delusional efforts to justify what would otherwise be blasphemy? Regardless, we have left behind Luria and Cordovera et al. with the notion that the Absolute contains its negation. So what is the debate about really? I have had the experience that I do not belong to this world but that has not moved me to say that some part of me is one essence with the Absolute Infinity. I could have been born an atheist after all.
Hey Zevi this was an amazing manifest toward the idea of mystic thought. I would just be curious of one thing and its something thats always kept me away from religious tradition i cant seem to reconcile commandment and written laws with my own pantheism and id be very curious to hear from someone of hasidic tradition. To me theres one id say currently rather infamous levitical law going against what i perceive as the seeking of unity. And in such laws i find trouble ans would really love to know another take on them.
Hey dear friend. Glad to be of service. I think Hasidism provides a radical reframing of the commandments, firstly by not seeing them as commandments at all, (which would be predicated on a false dichotomy of commanded-commander), but rather as opportunities (or channels) to connect. Happy to talk about specific mitzvot if you’re struggling with something. Here for you, Zevi
@@SeekersofUnity Thank you very much for that thoughtful reply, it kind of opened up new pathways of thinking that previously i hadnt thought of all that much.
just started this video, so haven't gotten to presenters definition of mysticism. but i see mysticism as a form of monism which is also a form of polytheism which rests on a form of monism. in the upanishads all the gods are one consciousness in different forms. in mystical judaism the 10 sefirot come from one. in platonics everything emanates from the one. in christianity the three are one. in shamanism there are pretty much infinite spirits often emanating from one spirit realm. the one can be described as consciousness, therefore it could be idealism. but to me mysticism means mystery. to call it consciousness is to define it. it is understandable that people have problems defining mysticism as its beyond definition. it could therefore seem like a confused waste. this is why people who are interested in mysticism call it learned ignorance. it is it is confused, paradoxical, but so is reality. so while this pure form of mysticism will never be academically popular, and though thinking about something that has no answer seems like a waste of time, it isn't. it changes ones life, and actually having a mystical experience changes one's life. and in reality it is the most popular idea on the planet earth, billions of people worship at least once a week, many of them several times a day, and they are doing so to the mystery.
Mysticism does not need to be monistic. Mysticism is an umbrella term that describes similar practices. Mysticism is not paradoxical and neither is reality as you claim. Mysticism does not equal worship either. One can be a mystic and still not worship. I would argue worshiping false idols is antimysticism. You still have much to learn.
@@javiersoto5223 cool thanks for teaching me great sage. mysticism is monism that is also dualism, that is also pantheism, that is also polytheism, that is also nothing. in terms of learning, yeah im sure i do. though i dont think i will ever reach a single, conclusive, universal answer more precisely than everything is everything, and everything is nothing, which is a nonsensical answer by human cognition. i think i could reach personal existential answers that potentially also work for others. in terms of paradox, well i mean you could debate kierkegaard about that i guess, maybe teach him a thing or two. In terms of my own experiences, I really couldn’t describe it in a TH-cam comments board. And it would be reliant on my structuring of it after the fact. Therefore it would be influenced by my ego, culture, other life experiences, and normal conscious mind to interpret it, but at the time didn’t necessarily have that structure. and even at the time my ideas of what were happening were at least partially dictated by my own personal being or experience. the most i could say is it had to do with heightened sense awareness, seeing/hearing/feeling energy, seeing/hearing/feeling patterns, seeing/hearing/feeling oneness, and providence or determinism or fate (these words aren't precisely accurate, but its the best i can do).
Hey Zevi, I’m new to the channel but love what you’re doing. I would love to know where you found the idea that you credit Dostoevsky with at 31:45. Could you please share? Thank you :)
Hi Adrian. Welcome to the channel. Good to have you here. I actually don’t remember where i got that from. It might need a fact check. Thanks for saying hi :)
I've been following your channel for a while and i really like your approach and what I perceive as a sincere effort toward spiritual unity, and therefore human unity. In the light of this, i would like to ask you a question that i hope you will not perceive as a provocation, because is a sincere question to a person that i see as sincere. How do you harmonise your seek for unity and what appears to be a peaceful and respectful attitude, with the fact that you live on a occupied land and in a colonial entity that practice apartheid and unimaginable violence toward elders, women and children? I would really appreciate to get an answer from you. Peace!
Hi brother Musa. I’m really glad you’ve joined us for this rocky ride and i really appreciate the heartfelt and thoughtful question. I thought about it all day yesterday, from when you asked. I wanted to reply today but came down with something overnight which totally wiped me out and I didn’t have the energy to respond and speak in a way that did justice to your question. I’m still quick nauseous and can’t be looking at a screen for so long but let me just say that my heart is with you and with every human and creature created in the image of God, manifestations of the divine while deserve only utmost love, respect, dignity and kindness. I very deeply believe this to be the case and am working to manifest that ethos in my own life. It’s not easy. Particularly with those closest to oneself ironically. On that note, i and we as a community are working towards bring healing and love where it’s needed most, in our own backyard. We’re not working hard enough and your genuine heartfelt question encourages me to work harder. We/i am working both on a one on one basic and towards a public audience in the hopes of changing hearts, so that we no longer so the ‘other’ as enemy, but as a sweet, kind and loving divine human. The work is slow and hard and not always obvious or accepted, but if we believe it’s true, we must. I have lost faith in any political solutions to the problems that face us. I think the only answer lies is changing hearts, one by one, on a grassroots, peer to peer level. To learn about one another. To make friends across ‘enemy lines.’ To listen to the story of the ‘other’ with deep sympathy and openness. And it’s not all kumbaya. We must be brave call out wrongdoing and injustice when we see it, despite which ‘side’ perpetrates it. Because there is no sides, there are only humans. No innocent human should have to suffered violence just because they happened to be born on one side of a man made border. It is inexcusable. There’s a lot more to say, and we’re working on content thru the channel to try change the narrative and people’s hearts, slowly. But for now this is all my strength for today. With deep love and appreciation, Zevi, a Seeker of Unity
@@SeekersofUnity thanks Zevi for the beautiful reply, for taking your time and being so honest and sincere. All the best for your noble effort. Salam/shalom!
No! It is only a part of it. The mystical experience is not what is truly important. What matters is the knowledge it yields about the nature of the self and reality. However, not everyone understands it correctly and therefore, many people falsely misinterpret their experiences, which leads them astray to falsehood. The mystical experience reveals that the ego, or sense of self, is a product of the brain, which has many important and fundamental implications regarding the nature of consciousness, identity, and reality itself. Too deep to get into on a comment section. The mystical experience is the first step of a long journey which ends at a deep understanding of reality, emotional fulfilment, and moral perfection.
As Emperor of Ethiopia Haile Selassie 1 knew and explained mysticism is at the heart of all human religions and cultures. Open Panentheism is the essence. That is all that Iyesus Kristos Emmanuel was trying to teach us.
Mind if I drop a book tip? I recently heard of a book called 'The Varieties Of Spiritual Experience' by David Yaden. It's a kind of follow-up or addendum to William James' book, and it strikes me as relevant to a lot of the topics you talk about. Yaden was recently interviewed by Robert Wright on his channel, Nonzero.
First from the videos I watched regarding you speaking of Maimonides book "The guide for the perplexed" you seem to have a kind of systematic approach from the more outer ring of philosophy to Kabbalah which is the esoteric aspect of Judaism. Regarding mysticism I remember OSHO speaking of the scientist, poet and mystic where the scientist would have a more objective rational understanding of the Universe, the poet would approach more from a heart centered attitude toward reality and the mystic is rooted in Being (perhaps depending on the scale that would go from a scientist like Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton, Heisenberg, Richard Feynman to Adi Shankara and Gautama The Buddha and alike in poetry from Kahlil Gibran to Steve Taylor, Basho, Hakuin, Muhammad, Rumi) to Moses, Jesus, Baal Shem Tov, George Ivanovitch Gurdjieff, Eckhart Tolle. A book written by Fritz Peters, a boy that was raised by George Ivanovitch Gurdjieff, is called "My journey with a mystic". I remember Rabbi YY Jacobson talk of the Hanukkah candles where he compared the wick with mystical fire and the oil with ritual. Without the oil the wick would run out very quickly and without the wick there would no joy of celebration (that one came now, don't remember the exact words but the gist), so both go together. Regarding religion as such I believe that unity in diversity is what is aimed. Each religion with its own path toward Unity Consciousness. When the Perfect Master is available he embodies Unity and there is no obstruction between people from various religions talking with the Perfect Master and enjoying Unity. However once a religion is established mature practitioners Rabbis, Lamas, Priests, Gurus do not encourage changing paths and are aware and speak up where they notice signs of syncretism, heresy, Hellenization (as it is spoken of in Judaism), panteism, ideologization, ecumenism. Regarding technology it has its uses however I remember I heard spiritual teachers say that technology as such is neutral and depends how it's used and I had that belief myself even though I have worked in IT. It is not such ... A bishop from Romania, Macarie taught that everything depends on the intention with which it was built. While most of current technology (99%, except a model of quantum computing that speaks of a conscious observer) is based on a rationalistic understanding of the Universe and the technology is basically an extension of the conditioned human mind. Regarding TH-cam as such it is defective by design (that's a term that was coined by the Free Software Foundation to oppose DRM) because it doesn't take into account privacy (i.e. you can't send private messages to people who post content). Also I know from various spiritual teachers (Tenzin Khedrup Jigme Namgyal, Deepak Chopra, Eckhart Tolle, Shunmyo Masuno, Mallika Chopra) that quality interaction and Dharma transmission requires in person interaction. Technology operates with binding people's attention 24/7 by means of e-mail addresses which are thought based and bypass emotional connection which all people need for communication. Also I remember a beautiful saying by a priest in Romania, Father Justin Parvu, where he said that the teacher enters into the stall by the gate (which in Buddhism is a way to refer to either action, speech or thought) and the adversary jumps the fence and sheep do not know him. OSHO said that to know one's type or which type is predominant: thought based, feeling oriented or action oriented, is a prerequisite for spiritual work because he said that Krishna said in the Gita that it is better to fail in one's own type than to be successful in another's type. The feeling type, he says, decides first. Then reasoning follows, then he rationalizes. In the feeling type the syllogism of logic is just the reverse: conclusion comes first then the process. With the reasoning type, the conclusion is never first. First the process, then he concludes in the end. To determine the type one has to watch for 21 days and see what is the first response in any given situation and where is the opposite where he can move easily. The active type can relax very easily. If one can go in non-thinking, no-thought very easily than he belongs the thinking type. If one can go into non-feeling very easily than he belongs to the feeling type. For the knowing type everything begins with knowing, then feelings follow and then action. For the action type action comes first, then feeling and then thinking. For the knowing type OSHO said that Buddha and Nietzsche belong to the thinking type: Buddha belongs rightly and Nietzsche belongs wrongly. For the feeling type OSHO said that Meera belongs to the right kind and DeSade became sexually perverted. For the action type OSHO said that Gandhi and Hitler belong to the third type. If action goes right then a Gandhi is there if it goes wrong then a Hitler.
I wonder your opinion on the kab U or Kabbalah info people under the direction on Rav Michael laitman? I watched their content for years and it's nice but always surface level stuff and they are always asking for you to join and pay for the right Kabbalah books, the ones by laitman himself. Any thoughts?
I’d be super interested to hear what someone from a non-theistic tradition like Buddhism thinks about mysticism, especially compared to how theistic traditions like Judaism or Christianity approach it. Like if all mystic traditions are ultimately pointing to the same capital-R Reality, how might one reconcile the theistic take that the ultimate reality is the Divine and the Buddhist take that there is no ultimate reality at all? Also, if there are any Buddhists reading this thinking “Ugh that’s not what Buddhism says!” I apologize!
(I am no expert, just have a passing interest of late) All things are relative (sunyata: void, empty of true independent existence) because of dependent origination and lacking true reality, except for Nirvana which is the ultimate reality. Mystical experience is very important because the extent that words and logic can guide someone ends eventually because they are themselves dependently originated and empty of reality. A tool to get you close, but ultimately comes up short. I've found almost all online sources and wikipedia entries to be filled with a lot of words but not much help. In fact it scares me a little that people (myself as well!) might rely on these understandings and come away with the wrong impressions. The Conception of Buddhist Nirvana by Stcherbatsky seems to stand up despite it being an older book on the subject (he is quite critical of many western interpretations and translations of the time).
To be a mystic is to want to be like God. We cannot become one with that which is already unified and therefore, to define mysticism as becoming one with God is incorrect. What we are really doing is emulating God's nature into our individual nature, and by doing so, we become a higher embodiment of divinity. This is true mysticism.
Yeshua wasn’t political leader on a Donkey, but spiritual- and that’s why he wasn’t accepted by The Pharisees. Same way the Kabbalistic teacher’s had massive problems with Talmudic leaders few hundreds years ago in Europe. Kabbalah is basically Jewish attempt to find Logos, which they have missed with the coming of Christ- well, at least some did since the first Christians were Jewish.
I haven't watched the video yet but the first thought that came to mind when I read the title was "hmm, I wonder if this religion includes a blockchain?"
Wow, so many positive comments. unfortunately I'm not going to be one of them. The most important days of a persons life are the day they were conceived, the day they conceive their descendants and the day they die. As Darwin put it to survive and reproduce. That is the reality of life. That is the mystery of life. The idea that mysticism is unifying based on a variety of practices, including dropping acid. Really, unifying? Are you out of your mind? Practices are what created this mess of religions we have to begin with. And Dropping acid, it kills, yes I lived through the seventies and I remember. The reason that mystics believe it is unifying is because they want to believe in the oneness and wholeness of the source. The source is the spiritual reflection sheol, hades in the early sense of the word. What ruins mysticism are the practices, whether it be chanting in some cloister, drinking ergot of rye with extract of poppy seed, hoveling oneself on the side of a mountain saying the Jesus prayer until comatose while fighting demons. This stuff is nothing to be proud of, this is stuff to be ashamed of. What truely is the difference between the occult and the sefir Zohar? Mysticism is not about grand unification theory, its about you, whats divine within you. Its not about how LSD or ergot makes you feel divine. Its not about unifying oneself with the cosmos, its not about glorifying the mysteries of Yahweh, Jesus, Isaiah, Daniel (someone elses mind trip), Dyonisis, Hermes, or Mithrais. Its not about realizing Dharma, or nominalizing death, finding heaven or seeing the throne of some reinvinted mesopotamian sky god. These are delusions. There is a saying that too much of a good thing is too much of a good thing. The problem with mysticism is that people want to try harder after their first experience and they go overboard. The reason we follow High christology in christianity and are all but clueless about Jesus and his disciples is for one reason, people liked the visions of Paul and John the Presbyter more than they liked the disciples and the Nazarene. Visions are easy to like, they are like movies, but they are not real. Why is their a division between Christianity and Judaism. Primarily because of exoteric mystical practices. Why did people abandon the unifying God El Elyon (the god of sojourners and wanderers) and start following Yahweh . . . .Stories about a mountain mystic named Moses, Second Isaiah, Ezekial, Daniel. That which is not mystical is just plain fantasy. These words are not wasted on christians, these very text are a goldmine for christian apologetics. How much of the gospel of John, the cornerstone of christianity was borrowed from the Bacchae . . .ever heard of the signs gospel. The mystery religion of Dionysus involved eating and drinking ecstatic drugs and running around naked in the woods like animals. The water to wine story that begins the mission of Jesus comes from that mystery cult. We cannot make mysticism better until we are honest enough to address the practices problem and confess that there is a reasonable limit to everything. Exotericism, mysticism and the like. Esotericism mysticism in its purest form does not need magick, props, sephiroth, special alphabets, starvation, sexual tantra, LSD, DMT, opium, ecstasy, pictures of saints, jesus, chants, mountains, deserts, holy stone walls, temples, mosque, hovels, etc. These 'things' are meant to focus the mind on its impurities, and through this focus the mind brings forth imaginary divinities which reinforce ones preexisting delusions, making then more delusional. 2 corinthian 12 follows Ezekial, follows mesopotamian ideas about the domain of their sky gods and his cherished leaders (Asshur and Marduk later, Enlil, Enki and Inanna earlier). This modern notion of emptyness and wholeness is part of the mystical landscape, but within the landscape are, when the mystic is fortunate, the divinity from within that becomes the divinity that is required. Anymore that that is just delusion. Esotericism is a standard that the practicioner should strive for, avoiding the outward projection of ecstatic notions, but instead a long term effort to practice with 'a feathers touch', to examine what what invisions and to filter from that some inner meaning of divinity.
I really like your videos normally but i think it's not cool to use that picture of Jesus marked 'rebel" having listened but failing to identify any part of your discussion about him related to mysticism on this video?? In fact it was a waste of an opportunity to talk about Christian mysticism...what I had hoped to hear more about... based on the picture chosen for this video.
Zevi rant video are the best, now is my turn. Forgive me I am a simple man and find religious language outdated and woo woo repulsive and vulgar. Yes, it is an organism that you have been worshipping as God for millennia. The organism is just and extension of the environment but on this level is where all the real meat and potatoes are found. Why do we separate from the organism? We build walls but why? We are just cavemen taking our first steps and that is how we have evolved, it is a survival mechanism, the more diverse this thing becomes the better chances it will survive. It has only one commandment "Life wants to live", all the other man-made commandments follow from this one. As Spinoza said self-preservation is the highest virtue. If we walked around in a constant state of theosis we would not survive long in nature. Now in civilized society theosis has a use and we have evolved to be social civilized animals. The mystical experience is a psychological phenomenon, a biological self-help mechanism. All religions are based on it, and at their core they are nothing more than ancient forms of self-help that we have established our societies on.
Personal identity is not a delusion: it's an illusion. The difference is a crack that lets the light get in; delusion is error pure and simple; illusion informs us about mechanisms of perception, about us.
I was thinking the same thing. Knowing who they are, what they hate and what they avoid clarifies the fact that everything they say are tools of destruction. Read Aristotele, God must be outside or else metaphysics cannot make sense. ✝️
You made me an atheist. Then I learnt how much you hurt my people. Then I learnt how much you hate and void Christ. Then I became a Christian and learnt to hate evil. It all clicked.
Compassion? You use evangelists to funnel their money into Israel but I have never seen you helping Christians. Funny how compassion work in reality right?
You are one fantastic teacher and I am so thankful for the gift of being receptive you your teaching. My favorite succinct definition of mysticism is: the word united with its reality. From our standpoint mysticism is our response to the gift and act of God gift of himself. I see very clearly that people of your movement are moving in the direction we need to be moving to help create a better world. I plan on being on board.
Thank you Walter and welcome. Good to have you along us.
Never stop teaching this message of love and unity. The world needs it so much. I thank you so much for this channel. I am a Christian, but I am so hurt by so many of those people calling themselves Christian that are spewing hate these days. Love, peace and unity!
Thank you my friend. Your love and support means a lot to me. We will continue to preach love.
Your manifesto for this paradigm shift from Religion 1.0 to Religion 2.0 (mins 13-19) is so wonderful, Zevi. I feel like this sociological dimension of we and them and inclusivity or divisiveness gets to the real locus of goodness and spirituality, underneath all traditions. You speak to that spiritual human core. You REDEEM our traditions
I am your ally! Everything you say resonates in a deep place in my mind and soul. THANK YOU for your work, and for sharing your thoughts!
Welcome Aaron. Good to have you here with us.
I am a Hermetic mystic living the theurgic life and I found your description of mysticism to be one that I strive for in my own practice. Thank you for helping to give practitioners like me the words to describe what it is we do. If I'm pressed for time though, I just tell people I'm a crazy holy man and just leave it at that. 🤣
You’re so welcome my friend. I’m so glad i could be of assistance. With love.
The great work of All continues to expand and flourish like a lotus in muck thank you for your commitment to the universes great work
Glad to be in with you 😘
This is Intelligent Infinity Love-Light being and sharing. Way to play, Zevi.
☺️
A remarkable achievement feeling so much firgun for you dear Zevi and the Mystic Manifesto 2.0. You give a clear overview of the mystical teachings of all ages whilst taking a break from correctly assembling an IKEA Mydal pine bunk bed frame having accurately followed the supplied guide instructions. The latter has turned many a would be mystic into an ikeaclast... There is a saying: The virtues of the righteous [the young chabad students] are the sins of the saints [the Lubavitcher Rebbe]...There can be no bazaar with souls...
Loved this :)
Just came home from our mutual friend's celebration...and checked your channel, Zevi!
I am enthralled!!!!
....I can hardly grasp and follow the extension of your scholarship...but perked at more than one " echo of truth", wherever
the source came from....and I am full of hope that your objective to create unity amongst human souls will be exponentially growing through your precious gift of yourself in your critical work at this junction of history.....
It sounds like many kinds and styles and types and creeds of people will resonate with some or all of the riches you colorfully offer
for an audience you obviously honor, respect and hold great expectations from....
You invite and challenge us into looking into ever wider, deeper circles and sources for finding pertinent information, in contrast to what social media has been robbing/ dumbing us of...
...and your open heart illuminates and crowns above the intellectual load , which could be rigid and cold ... but obviously, the mysticysm you do NOT just talk about is a warm and living legacy that YOU must be practicing....
Looking forward to the education I am about to receive here that I sense is going to ironically be shuttering my previous 6 decades of thirst, search and quest....
Finally the flow of a great expanse is coming for seeing the Creator, the world, its population and its history as a unit....
With blessings beyond measure into the Biblical promises for the future ...
time
You see Religion 2.0 just as I do. It’s great to hear this message and truth is starting to get out❤ Wonderful Job 👏
Thank you MonaLisa. Thank you for being a part of it.
Thank you so much for sharing this inspiring class!
It "happens" to be the BeSHT's birthday when you've shared this, you are continuing his mission in ushering in an era of messianic consciousness.
That’s some auspicious timing. Thank you Leo. We can only try. With love, Zevi
I've been away from your channel for a while, but it's wonderful to return. Your beautiful vision is a wonderful place to be.
I hope a great many people hear the message you're sharing. I truly believe that this message has the potential to heal the world if enough people accept it.
Thank you Mark. It’s good to be in it with you :)
I might be a person ho does not comment on TH-cam that much, but I want to say that your work is amazing and very important to me! Thank you for all the knowledge you share with us and all the experiences you talk about. You are the best! :)
Thank you my friend. That really means a lot to me. Thank you for taking to time to share that with me.
Thank you so much for this great manifesto! It has touched my heart and i think, that we need this monistic spirit on earth more than ever, in these times of conflict and seperation.
With you on that Philipp. Thank you so being here with us.
What we do not have is a separate self. What we do have is an interrelated self.
Thankyou Zevi. You always give me hope. Always a release from my loneliness coming here. Keep up the great work
Thank you Joshua. Good to have you here with us ☺️
Such an important creator! Thank you!
Thank you Gabe 🙏🏼
Thanks
Thank you brother 🙏🏼🥰
Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful thank you
You’re so very welcome my friend. Thanks for being here with us, it makes all the difference.
Beautiful as always Zevi, thank you for sharing 🙏🏽
You’re most welcome friend. Thank you for being here with us 🙏🏼
Hold on, but Yeshua wasn’t political leader on a Donkey, but spiritual- and that’s why he wasn’t accepted by The Pharisees. Same way the Kabbalistic teacher’s had massive problems with Talmudic leaders few hundreds years ago in Europe. Kabbalah is basically Jewish attempt to find Logos, which they have missed with the coming of Christ- well, at least some did since the first Christians were Jewish.
Wow, I know so little but get so much from your podcasts. You explain things so beautiful. and it really was beautiful to hear personally for me, where Ive felt weighed down havent been interested or rather caught up in the game lifes throwing my way. know I appreciate all your wisdom that you share. Thank you so much.
Thank you Dana. I’m so glad you appreciated the message. We all get caught up in life games from time to time and need a gentle nudge to get back to the real and beautiful, to liberate ourselves. Glad to be on this journey with you :)
Verry verry nice ! Congratulations !!!
Thank you Mihai 🙏🏼
I'm behind, but this is beautiful
Thank you Yosef. Never too late ;)
Thank you sir!!!! For the perfect description of what a mystic is. After a mystical experience, it is really hard to put into words what you discover. But you did it exceptionally well. Thanks again.
You’re so very welcome. Thanks for being here with us.
So enlightening to hear about this from Judaism when my experience has been mediated by Christian mystics and Buddhism
You’re welcome welcome. Thank you Diana for joining us.
Thank you, this resonated very much. Particularly in the section of “our role” and your answer to the question about masculine & feminine. The quotes from Salman Rushdie are much appreciated as well 🙏🏻✨✨
I’m so glad it resonated. Thank you friend for joining us 🙏🏼
Someday I wish to have you on my chanel and keep a conversation with you and learn more from you, you're simply amazing
Thank you brother. It would be a pleasure. Anytime.
Good spirited, your introduction to the podcast was spot on Zevi, peace.
Thanks William. Good to have you here :)
Thank you, Zevi. That was an excellent sermon... err, I mean, lecture.
Haha. Thanks Hal. We can’t hide 😉
Half truths are full lies.
Yeshua wasn’t political leader on a Donkey, but spiritual- and that’s why he wasn’t accepted by The Pharisees. Same way the Kabbalistic teacher’s had massive problems with Talmudic leaders few hundreds years ago in Europe. Kabbalah is basically Jewish attempt to find Logos, which they have missed with the coming of Christ- well, at least some did since the first Christians were Jewish.
That’s what at least I understand.
For me, mysticism is pattern, from a Holy centre, that radiates out to all. The simplicity of pattern that offers ordering to chaos. It's really reassuring that you can offer positive perceptions of Christianity, as I am not entirely convinced of the Christian perception. I understand Jerusalem to be theatre, a temple for upliftment and inspiration. Being part of the organic whole is my understanding of everlasting life. Your joy expresses your understanding. The Divine in us. We separate ourselves because we are still animals, part of the feminine creation. Sin keeps us yearning, because once we have known G-D's peace, we will always long to stay connected. Yet we are in bodies with desires and minds with crude thoughts. Thank you for the inspired presentation. So good to see you enjoying yourself.
You’re most welcome my friend. Thanks for being with us :)
Another great episode.
Thank you brother. Thank you for being here with us 🙏🏼
That was beautiful, man…
You’re most welcome Sergei
Great talk!!
Thank you Travis. I’m glad you enjoyed it.
As someone who has had life-changing mystical experiences, I think you've put this wonderfully and beautifully, and as a psychologist of compassion, I couldn't agree more with your vision and its links to a pre-civilised time when humankind was evolving that form of altruism which crosses boundaries yet was thrown backwards by the controlling and holding nature of agricultural societies. Ironically, and tragically, it appears that the 'Fall' (i.e. our discovery of husbandry and agriculture leading to the hierarchies of civilisation) may indeed have been a compassionate act in itself, which did not perceive the harm it would later cause (i.e. providing a collective source of food so that tribes would not starve) and it's interesting to see this reflected in other mythologies like the binding of Prometheus and Pandora's Box.
Having come so far down the road of civilisation, and building our existence around it, I think a great deal of resistance to the ideals of mysticism (and hence compassion) come from a fear that manifests itself as a grand cognitive dissonance. That is to say, when one accepts that we are all one and whole, as well as being vessels of that one consciousness, we are faced with the horror of what we as a species have done, and are doing, to that which is truly Divine. As such, one must choose between running this gauntlet of existential 'guilt' and/or despair, or accepting ignorance in order to justify what humanity has done, and is still doing to itself, and the world. Given our evolved negativity bias and having a threat system which is online as default, it is easy to see why most choose the latter path when faced with the mystic's manifesto. The irony is, when one runs this gauntlet through to its end, one reaches the experiential knowledge of that oneness (rather than just the intellectual) and, as such, understands that they and the rest of humanity are forgiven because all these 'sins' where only done out of fear, and now there is no reason to fear any longer when unity is accepted joyfully.
The tragedy of the human mind, and our evolution of consciousness, is that, in unifying so many areas of the brain as a survival strategy, it inevitably lends itself to building barriers and walls between and around itself, others, ideas and concepts. However, the beauty of the human mind is that this unity created by consciousness also allows one to comprehend reality and transcend its individual components when these barriers and walls are stripped away. From here the universe can comprehend its own consciousness and know, and see itself in us and others; something we call love ^_^
Psychologist of compassion? How do you expect others to take mysticism serious using terms like that?
Thank you friend for being here with us 🙏🏼
18:25 But sick as it is, the world still retains-everywhere and always-
characteristics of its primordial health, and shows the working of forces of its
new health, its convalescence. Because alongside the struggle for existence
there is cooperation in order to live, and alongside the mineral petrification,
there is the succulent and breathing cover of the plant kingdom. The world
can therefore be lauded and wept for at the same time. -Valentin Tomberg (Meditations On The Tarot)
Beautiful
❤️
My dear Zevi, there is no better video than this!!! You have explained the truth so beautifuly that i cannot express it with words. CONGRATULATIONS!!!
4 Branches of metaphysics shows us same conclusion -all is one consciousness. Quantum mechanics, NDE, psychodelics, parapsycholohy, astral travels, all esoterics of religions, philosophy of Schopenhauer, Hegel, Stoics etc. - All unite in conclusion - One Consciousness!
Greetings from Serbia. You did great job for all of humanity. Thay just have to realize this, do the math, 2+2=4...than stops all the nonsense ,wars etc...
❤️
Great!
Thank you Zevi.
You’re most welcome Cindy. Thanks for being with us.
You may want to check the accuracy of the Einstein quote for multiple translation inconsistencies. The website "Thy Mind, O Human" has an article called, "Einstein’s Misquote on the Illusion of Feeling Separate from the Whole" by Byron Howard delves into this matter. I don't know how accurate his examination of the original German text is or his interpretations but there are subtle and key important differences it appears. Thank you and Shalom!
We are integral parts of the Reality we are attempting to understand. Individual consciousness has separates us from it. Dissolving the individual consciousness and adopting the universal consciousness resolves the problem and removes any need for further mental or spiritual handwringing.
That’s a great definition of Mysticism (9:40). Can I find that written anywhere? Thank you for your great work ;)
You're most welcome. I appreciate that you appreciate the definition I put together. I can copy it here for you from another related script:
Some of the earliest historical meanings of mysticism signified an initiatory process which led to a ritual transformation of consciousness, consisting of some sort of a unification with or direct experience of the mystery of being.
Throughout history Mysticism came to connote a heightened or hidden meaning of a text, myth, ritual, or reality itself, gained through esoteric interpretative strategies or non-rational, immediate, or intuitive modes of cognition.
Most scholars today, when speaking of mysticism, particularly the former of aforementioned ones, speak of Mysticism as the direct apprehension, presence, awareness, encounter, communion, participation, union, or identity with (what is perceived to be) the sacred, ultimate reality or God,
An experience (be it visionary, ecstatic, contemplative, or unitive) which often, but not always, involves feelings of a dissolution of boundaries, the loss of the sense of self, and the sensation of dying or becoming undone - followed often by feelings of rebirth, timeless, ecstasy, immortality, bliss or serenity.
Along with that which leads up to this experiences or state of mind, being or consciousness and that which flows from it. The practices, disciplines and techniques which prepare for and aim to bring one there, the theories, beliefs and doctrines, employed to make sense of, describe, make sense of or express it (be it in the form of poetry, mythology, theology, philosophical or symbolism) and the ethic, states of mind and ways of life which flows from it.
And here are the main sources I'm working with:
Annette Wilke, "Mysticism" in The Brill Dictionary of Religion, 2006, p. 1279.
Jeffrey Kripal, “Mysticism” in The Blackwell Companion to the Study of Religion, 2017, by Robert Segal (ed.)
Bernard McGinn, The Foundations of Mysticism, Vol. I of The Presence of God: A History of Western Christian Mysticism, The Nature of Mysticism: A Heuristic Sketch, Xv- Xx
Peter Moore, “Mysticism [Further Considerations],” in Encyclopedia of Religion, 2nd ed., vol. 9, ed. Lindsay Jones (Detroit: Macmillan Reference, 2005), 6355-7.
23rd to like! Thanks for the illuminating discussion! I recall from your last video on perennialism that you saw the initiatory experience of mystical death and rebirth as the commonality found in each depth tradition. I am intrigued by what you think is the connection between uniting the spiritual masculine and feminine with a mystical death and rebirth. Much love!
Experiences of oneness with an infinity did not move me to say I was one with G-d since G-d is an Absolute Infinity. Dying and coming back did not move me to say I was one with G-d since G-d is an Absolute Infinity. Experiences of unity with an unutterable and ineffable divine principle did not move me to say I was one with G-d since G-d is an Absolute Infinity. Reality is a self-expression of that Absolute Infinity. But art is not the artist, all things being equal. And while our reality is an infinity, a countable infinity can be transversed by successive addition. Absolute Infinity, as Spinoza correctly says, has no limits. Having experienced that consciousness is looking out through me the same as it looks out through others did not move me to say that I was one with G-d since G-d is Absolute Infinity. I can claim to be one with the self-expression of Absolute Infinity, the expression of the self-worth of Absolute Reality. Metaphysical [or set] inclusion is not identity. Arguably, it is not even a concept of composition. Only a part-whole relationship provides an intelligible conception of composition. And the Absolute Infinity is not a whole with parts, since it cannot be transversed by successive addition. So we might achieve mystical states of unity, I see no possibility where that state of unity is with the Absolute Infinity. It can be unity with the self-expression of Absolute Reality. But to call the self-expression or the expression of Absolute Reality's self-worth itself Absolute Reality is an error. An understandable error, given how difficult and abstract the concept of the Absolute Reality/Infinity is compared to limited Infinities. Almost all mystical traditions use a conception of uniting with a limited infinity [as in containing its negation in Sufism, Hermeticism, Neo-Platonism, Luria and Cordovero] as opposed to the Absolute Infinity. But the analogy of how an absolute monarch's word is greater than the person [as in the feminine can give back to the masculine more than it received] is misguided. There can be no comparison between truths of a limited infinity and the nature of the Absolute Infinity, all things being equal.
It took a long time in human history for us to have the mathematical proof that not all infinities are equal. But it is time for the mystics to adapt and perhaps realize that the metaphysical story they tell themselves is not inextricable from their practices and experiences. What if unity is not with G-d but inspired by an all-encompassing love as the expression of divine self-worth? As the loving self-expression of Absolute Reality, being loved as G-d loves and expresses that Absolute Reality, why should we hate our finitude or our embodied lives in a finite world? I do not like the hate for our nature of limitation found in the core of many of these mystical traditions, as if our very nature impeded unity with the Absolute. We are the manifestation of the self-worth of Absolute Reality. To hate our nature as limited and finite is to hate the very nature of divine self-expression. And to call what is not Absolute Infinity G-d is dangerous and likely a spiritual illness of the highest order. But the mystics tell me that G-d calls the expression of divine self-worth G-d. That the reflection is the thing itself since what it is reflecting is Absolute Infinity and what G-d says is always true. Yet these same mystics agree with the serpent in the Garden that said that G-d was lying, that 'you will surely not die.' I do have to agree that if the reflection is itself a reflection of Absolute Infinity, not just the expression of Absolute Reality's self-worth, I will have to accept modal collapse. But accepting modal collapse is an extreme step. One person's modus ponens is another's modus tollens. If the reason a mystic thinks that they are not blaspheming is that they accept modal collapse, I think they are making two grievous errors. But I could be wrong. But to show me otherwise, how can one argue that modal collapse is not self-serving and self-delusional efforts to justify what would otherwise be blasphemy? Regardless, we have left behind Luria and Cordovera et al. with the notion that the Absolute contains its negation. So what is the debate about really? I have had the experience that I do not belong to this world but that has not moved me to say that some part of me is one essence with the Absolute Infinity. I could have been born an atheist after all.
Thank you brother. Good to have you here :)
Hey Zevi this was an amazing manifest toward the idea of mystic thought. I would just be curious of one thing and its something thats always kept me away from religious tradition i cant seem to reconcile commandment and written laws with my own pantheism and id be very curious to hear from someone of hasidic tradition.
To me theres one id say currently rather infamous levitical law going against what i perceive as the seeking of unity.
And in such laws i find trouble ans would really love to know another take on them.
Hey dear friend. Glad to be of service. I think Hasidism provides a radical reframing of the commandments, firstly by not seeing them as commandments at all, (which would be predicated on a false dichotomy of commanded-commander), but rather as opportunities (or channels) to connect. Happy to talk about specific mitzvot if you’re struggling with something. Here for you, Zevi
@@SeekersofUnity Thank you very much for that thoughtful reply, it kind of opened up new pathways of thinking that previously i hadnt thought of all that much.
Excellent work, ahi.
Thank you Pedro 🙏🏼
just started this video, so haven't gotten to presenters definition of mysticism. but i see mysticism as a form of monism which is also a form of polytheism which rests on a form of monism. in the upanishads all the gods are one consciousness in different forms. in mystical judaism the 10 sefirot come from one. in platonics everything emanates from the one. in christianity the three are one. in shamanism there are pretty much infinite spirits often emanating from one spirit realm. the one can be described as consciousness, therefore it could be idealism. but to me mysticism means mystery. to call it consciousness is to define it. it is understandable that people have problems defining mysticism as its beyond definition. it could therefore seem like a confused waste. this is why people who are interested in mysticism call it learned ignorance. it is it is confused, paradoxical, but so is reality. so while this pure form of mysticism will never be academically popular, and though thinking about something that has no answer seems like a waste of time, it isn't. it changes ones life, and actually having a mystical experience changes one's life. and in reality it is the most popular idea on the planet earth, billions of people worship at least once a week, many of them several times a day, and they are doing so to the mystery.
Mysticism does not need to be monistic. Mysticism is an umbrella term that describes similar practices.
Mysticism is not paradoxical and neither is reality as you claim.
Mysticism does not equal worship either. One can be a mystic and still not worship. I would argue worshiping false idols is antimysticism.
You still have much to learn.
@@javiersoto5223 cool thanks for teaching me great sage. mysticism is monism that is also dualism, that is also pantheism, that is also polytheism, that is also nothing. in terms of learning, yeah im sure i do. though i dont think i will ever reach a single, conclusive, universal answer more precisely than everything is everything, and everything is nothing, which is a nonsensical answer by human cognition.
i think i could reach personal existential answers that potentially also work for others.
in terms of paradox, well i mean you could debate kierkegaard about that i guess, maybe teach him a thing or two.
In terms of my own experiences, I really couldn’t describe it in a TH-cam comments board. And it would be reliant on my structuring of it after the fact. Therefore it would be influenced by my ego, culture, other life experiences, and normal conscious mind to interpret it, but at the time didn’t necessarily have that structure. and even at the time my ideas of what were happening were at least partially dictated by my own personal being or experience. the most i could say is it had to do with heightened sense awareness, seeing/hearing/feeling energy, seeing/hearing/feeling patterns, seeing/hearing/feeling oneness, and providence or determinism or fate (these words aren't precisely accurate, but its the best i can do).
Hey Zevi, I’m new to the channel but love what you’re doing. I would love to know where you found the idea that you credit Dostoevsky with at 31:45. Could you please share? Thank you :)
Hi Adrian. Welcome to the channel. Good to have you here. I actually don’t remember where i got that from. It might need a fact check. Thanks for saying hi :)
Love the Einstein quote! I have that same quote on the about page of my blog lol.
He nails it spot on.
“the sense of a separate self is only a shadow cast by grammar.” Wittgenstein
I've been following your channel for a while and i really like your approach and what I perceive as a sincere effort toward spiritual unity, and therefore human unity.
In the light of this, i would like to ask you a question that i hope you will not perceive as a provocation, because is a sincere question to a person that i see as sincere.
How do you harmonise your seek for unity and what appears to be a peaceful and respectful attitude, with the fact that you live on a occupied land and in a colonial entity that practice apartheid and unimaginable violence toward elders, women and children?
I would really appreciate to get an answer from you. Peace!
Hi brother Musa. I’m really glad you’ve joined us for this rocky ride and i really appreciate the heartfelt and thoughtful question. I thought about it all day yesterday, from when you asked. I wanted to reply today but came down with something overnight which totally wiped me out and I didn’t have the energy to respond and speak in a way that did justice to your question. I’m still quick nauseous and can’t be looking at a screen for so long but let me just say that my heart is with you and with every human and creature created in the image of God, manifestations of the divine while deserve only utmost love, respect, dignity and kindness. I very deeply believe this to be the case and am working to manifest that ethos in my own life. It’s not easy. Particularly with those closest to oneself ironically. On that note, i and we as a community are working towards bring healing and love where it’s needed most, in our own backyard. We’re not working hard enough and your genuine heartfelt question encourages me to work harder. We/i am working both on a one on one basic and towards a public audience in the hopes of changing hearts, so that we no longer so the ‘other’ as enemy, but as a sweet, kind and loving divine human. The work is slow and hard and not always obvious or accepted, but if we believe it’s true, we must.
I have lost faith in any political solutions to the problems that face us. I think the only answer lies is changing hearts, one by one, on a grassroots, peer to peer level. To learn about one another. To make friends across ‘enemy lines.’ To listen to the story of the ‘other’ with deep sympathy and openness. And it’s not all kumbaya. We must be brave call out wrongdoing and injustice when we see it, despite which ‘side’ perpetrates it. Because there is no sides, there are only humans. No innocent human should have to suffered violence just because they happened to be born on one side of a man made border. It is inexcusable.
There’s a lot more to say, and we’re working on content thru the channel to try change the narrative and people’s hearts, slowly. But for now this is all my strength for today.
With deep love and appreciation,
Zevi, a Seeker of Unity
@@SeekersofUnity thanks Zevi for the beautiful reply, for taking your time and being so honest and sincere. All the best for your noble effort. Salam/shalom!
Is mysticism just the experiential moment when the concept of “you” and “I” become “us” and the ideas of “us” and “them” becomes “we”?
No! It is only a part of it.
The mystical experience is not what is truly important. What matters is the knowledge it yields about the nature of the self and reality. However, not everyone understands it correctly and therefore, many people falsely misinterpret their experiences, which leads them astray to falsehood.
The mystical experience reveals that the ego, or sense of self, is a product of the brain, which has many important and fundamental implications regarding the nature of consciousness, identity, and reality itself. Too deep to get into on a comment section.
The mystical experience is the first step of a long journey which ends at a deep understanding of reality, emotional fulfilment, and moral perfection.
As Emperor of Ethiopia Haile Selassie 1 knew and explained mysticism is at the heart of all human religions and cultures.
Open Panentheism is the essence.
That is all that Iyesus Kristos Emmanuel was trying to teach us.
Mind if I drop a book tip? I recently heard of a book called 'The Varieties Of Spiritual Experience' by David Yaden. It's a kind of follow-up or addendum to William James' book, and it strikes me as relevant to a lot of the topics you talk about. Yaden was recently interviewed by Robert Wright on his channel, Nonzero.
Thanks for the rec Zos ;)
First from the videos I watched regarding you speaking of Maimonides book "The guide for the perplexed" you seem to have a kind of systematic approach from the more outer ring of philosophy to Kabbalah which is the esoteric aspect of Judaism.
Regarding mysticism I remember OSHO speaking of the scientist, poet and mystic where the scientist would have a more objective rational understanding of the Universe, the poet would approach more from a heart centered attitude toward reality and the mystic is rooted in Being (perhaps depending on the scale that would go from a scientist like Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton, Heisenberg, Richard Feynman to Adi Shankara and Gautama The Buddha and alike in poetry from Kahlil Gibran to Steve Taylor, Basho, Hakuin, Muhammad, Rumi) to Moses, Jesus, Baal Shem Tov, George Ivanovitch Gurdjieff, Eckhart Tolle.
A book written by Fritz Peters, a boy that was raised by George Ivanovitch Gurdjieff, is called "My journey with a mystic".
I remember Rabbi YY Jacobson talk of the Hanukkah candles where he compared the wick with mystical fire and the oil with ritual. Without the oil the wick would run out very quickly and without the wick there would no joy of celebration (that one came now, don't remember the exact words but the gist), so both go together.
Regarding religion as such I believe that unity in diversity is what is aimed. Each religion with its own path toward Unity Consciousness. When the Perfect Master is available he embodies Unity and there is no obstruction between people from various religions talking with the Perfect Master and enjoying Unity. However once a religion is established mature practitioners Rabbis, Lamas, Priests, Gurus do not encourage changing paths and are aware and speak up where they notice signs of syncretism, heresy, Hellenization (as it is spoken of in Judaism), panteism, ideologization, ecumenism.
Regarding technology it has its uses however I remember I heard spiritual teachers say that technology as such is neutral and depends how it's used and I had that belief myself even though I have worked in IT. It is not such ... A bishop from Romania, Macarie taught that everything depends on the intention with which it was built. While most of current technology (99%, except a model of quantum computing that speaks of a conscious observer) is based on a rationalistic understanding of the Universe and the technology is basically an extension of the conditioned human mind. Regarding TH-cam as such it is defective by design (that's a term that was coined by the Free Software Foundation to oppose DRM) because it doesn't take into account privacy (i.e. you can't send private messages to people who post content). Also I know from various spiritual teachers (Tenzin Khedrup Jigme Namgyal, Deepak Chopra, Eckhart Tolle, Shunmyo Masuno, Mallika Chopra) that quality interaction and Dharma transmission requires in person interaction. Technology operates with binding people's attention 24/7 by means of e-mail addresses which are thought based and bypass emotional connection which all people need for communication.
Also I remember a beautiful saying by a priest in Romania, Father Justin Parvu, where he said that the teacher enters into the stall by the gate (which in Buddhism is a way to refer to either action, speech or thought) and the adversary jumps the fence and sheep do not know him.
OSHO said that to know one's type or which type is predominant: thought based, feeling oriented or action oriented, is a prerequisite for spiritual work because he said that Krishna said in the Gita that it is better to fail in one's own type than to be successful in another's type.
The feeling type, he says, decides first. Then reasoning follows, then he rationalizes. In the feeling type the syllogism of logic is just the reverse: conclusion comes first then the process. With the reasoning type, the conclusion is never first. First the process, then he concludes in the end. To determine the type one has to watch for 21 days and see what is the first response in any given situation and where is the opposite where he can move easily. The active type can relax very easily. If one can go in non-thinking, no-thought very easily than he belongs the thinking type. If one can go into non-feeling very easily than he belongs to the feeling type. For the knowing type everything begins with knowing, then feelings follow and then action. For the action type action comes first, then feeling and then thinking.
For the knowing type OSHO said that Buddha and Nietzsche belong to the thinking type: Buddha belongs rightly and Nietzsche belongs wrongly.
For the feeling type OSHO said that Meera belongs to the right kind and DeSade became sexually perverted.
For the action type OSHO said that Gandhi and Hitler belong to the third type. If action goes right then a Gandhi is there if it goes wrong then a Hitler.
Thank you so much for this detailed and thoughtful comment. Good to have you with us 🙏🏼
@@SeekersofUnity Welcome! Shalom
Don't call me a mystic. I'm a "Creative Wellness Advocate". lol love your vids guy :)
Hahaha. Love this. Thank you for being with us Mel. It’s sweet with you around.
I wonder your opinion on the kab U or Kabbalah info people under the direction on Rav Michael laitman? I watched their content for years and it's nice but always surface level stuff and they are always asking for you to join and pay for the right Kabbalah books, the ones by laitman himself. Any thoughts?
I don’t know them or their content well enough to comment but I’d rightly be suspicious of anyone trying to sell you something that way.
Where can I join these classes?
He refers to his videos as classes.
I try post a link to them when i can. But i don’t always have that option if it’s for a private community event 🤷🏻♂️
I’d be super interested to hear what someone from a non-theistic tradition like Buddhism thinks about mysticism, especially compared to how theistic traditions like Judaism or Christianity approach it. Like if all mystic traditions are ultimately pointing to the same capital-R Reality, how might one reconcile the theistic take that the ultimate reality is the Divine and the Buddhist take that there is no ultimate reality at all? Also, if there are any Buddhists reading this thinking “Ugh that’s not what Buddhism says!” I apologize!
(I am no expert, just have a passing interest of late) All things are relative (sunyata: void, empty of true independent existence) because of dependent origination and lacking true reality, except for Nirvana which is the ultimate reality. Mystical experience is very important because the extent that words and logic can guide someone ends eventually because they are themselves dependently originated and empty of reality. A tool to get you close, but ultimately comes up short. I've found almost all online sources and wikipedia entries to be filled with a lot of words but not much help. In fact it scares me a little that people (myself as well!) might rely on these understandings and come away with the wrong impressions. The Conception of Buddhist Nirvana by Stcherbatsky seems to stand up despite it being an older book on the subject (he is quite critical of many western interpretations and translations of the time).
To be a mystic is to want to be like God. We cannot become one with that which is already unified and therefore, to define mysticism as becoming one with God is incorrect.
What we are really doing is emulating God's nature into our individual nature, and by doing so, we become a higher embodiment of divinity. This is true mysticism.
And was it his destined part
Only one moment in his life
To be close to your heart?
(Turgenev)
Will you have opportunity to have a conversation with the Samaritan community?
We sure hope to. They’re on our bucket list 😉
Yeshua wasn’t political leader on a Donkey, but spiritual- and that’s why he wasn’t accepted by The Pharisees. Same way the Kabbalistic teacher’s had massive problems with Talmudic leaders few hundreds years ago in Europe. Kabbalah is basically Jewish attempt to find Logos, which they have missed with the coming of Christ- well, at least some did since the first Christians were Jewish.
Such a Spinoziste! ; )
What a compliment ;)
I haven't watched the video yet but the first thought that came to mind when I read the title was "hmm, I wonder if this religion includes a blockchain?"
Not yet ;)
@@SeekersofUnity maybe in version 3.0 there will be AI and blockchain
Wow, so many positive comments. unfortunately I'm not going to be one of them.
The most important days of a persons life are the day they were conceived, the day they conceive their descendants and the day they die. As Darwin put it to survive and reproduce. That is the reality of life. That is the mystery of life.
The idea that mysticism is unifying based on a variety of practices, including dropping acid. Really, unifying? Are you out of your mind? Practices are what created this mess of religions we have to begin with. And Dropping acid, it kills, yes I lived through the seventies and I remember. The reason that mystics believe it is unifying is because they want to believe in the oneness and wholeness of the source. The source is the spiritual reflection sheol, hades in the early sense of the word.
What ruins mysticism are the practices, whether it be chanting in some cloister, drinking ergot of rye with extract of poppy seed, hoveling oneself on the side of a mountain saying the Jesus prayer until comatose while fighting demons. This stuff is nothing to be proud of, this is stuff to be ashamed of. What truely is the difference between the occult and the sefir Zohar?
Mysticism is not about grand unification theory, its about you, whats divine within you. Its not about how LSD or ergot makes you feel divine. Its not about unifying oneself with the cosmos, its not about glorifying the mysteries of Yahweh, Jesus, Isaiah, Daniel (someone elses mind trip), Dyonisis, Hermes, or Mithrais. Its not about realizing Dharma, or nominalizing death, finding heaven or seeing the throne of some reinvinted mesopotamian sky god. These are delusions.
There is a saying that too much of a good thing is too much of a good thing. The problem with mysticism is that people want to try harder after their first experience and they go overboard. The reason we follow High christology in christianity and are all but clueless about Jesus and his disciples is for one reason, people liked the visions of Paul and John the Presbyter more than they liked the disciples and the Nazarene. Visions are easy to like, they are like movies, but they are not real.
Why is their a division between Christianity and Judaism. Primarily because of exoteric mystical practices. Why did people abandon the unifying God El Elyon (the god of sojourners and wanderers) and start following Yahweh . . . .Stories about a mountain mystic named Moses, Second Isaiah, Ezekial, Daniel. That which is not mystical is just plain fantasy. These words are not wasted on christians, these very text are a goldmine for christian apologetics. How much of the gospel of John, the cornerstone of christianity was borrowed from the Bacchae . . .ever heard of the signs gospel. The mystery religion of Dionysus involved eating and drinking ecstatic drugs and running around naked in the woods like animals. The water to wine story that begins the mission of Jesus comes from that mystery cult.
We cannot make mysticism better until we are honest enough to address the practices problem and confess that there is a reasonable limit to everything. Exotericism, mysticism and the like.
Esotericism mysticism in its purest form does not need magick, props, sephiroth, special alphabets, starvation, sexual tantra, LSD, DMT, opium, ecstasy, pictures of saints, jesus, chants, mountains, deserts, holy stone walls, temples, mosque, hovels, etc. These 'things' are meant to focus the mind on its impurities, and through this focus the mind brings forth imaginary divinities which reinforce ones preexisting delusions, making then more delusional. 2 corinthian 12 follows Ezekial, follows mesopotamian ideas about the domain of their sky gods and his cherished leaders (Asshur and Marduk later, Enlil, Enki and Inanna earlier).
This modern notion of emptyness and wholeness is part of the mystical landscape, but within the landscape are, when the mystic is fortunate, the divinity from within that becomes the divinity that is required. Anymore that that is just delusion. Esotericism is a standard that the practicioner should strive for, avoiding the outward projection of ecstatic notions, but instead a long term effort to practice with 'a feathers touch', to examine what what invisions and to filter from that some inner meaning of divinity.
Thank you for the thoughtful feedback. Much love.
I really like your videos normally but i think it's not cool to use that picture of Jesus marked 'rebel" having listened but failing to identify any part of your discussion about him related to mysticism on this video?? In fact it was a waste of an opportunity to talk about Christian mysticism...what I had hoped to hear more about... based on the picture chosen for this video.
Zevi rant video are the best, now is my turn. Forgive me I am a simple man and find religious language outdated and woo woo repulsive and vulgar. Yes, it is an organism that you have been worshipping as God for millennia. The organism is just and extension of the environment but on this level is where all the real meat and potatoes are found. Why do we separate from the organism? We build walls but why? We are just cavemen taking our first steps and that is how we have evolved, it is a survival mechanism, the more diverse this thing becomes the better chances it will survive. It has only one commandment "Life wants to live", all the other man-made commandments follow from this one. As Spinoza said self-preservation is the highest virtue. If we walked around in a constant state of theosis we would not survive long in nature. Now in civilized society theosis has a use and we have evolved to be social civilized animals. The mystical experience is a psychological phenomenon, a biological self-help mechanism. All religions are based on it, and at their core they are nothing more than ancient forms of self-help that we have established our societies on.
Personal identity is not a delusion: it's an illusion. The difference is a crack that lets the light get in; delusion is error pure and simple; illusion informs us about mechanisms of perception, about us.
I fail to see how it is different from the good old new age.
What We Can Learn from the East
By Beatrice Bruteau
44:59 Re: Masculine and Feminine: th-cam.com/video/w5kd6gM0xHU/w-d-xo.html
Jésus parlait araméen
Eric Edelmann
Vilayat Inayat Khat speaks of differences and Unity: th-cam.com/video/5Cc6TlujDtc/w-d-xo.html
Can an ortodox jew put a picture of jesus?
I was thinking the same thing. Knowing who they are, what they hate and what they avoid clarifies the fact that everything they say are tools of destruction. Read Aristotele, God must be outside or else metaphysics cannot make sense. ✝️
Lost Christianity
by Jacob Needleman
You made me an atheist. Then I learnt how much you hurt my people. Then I learnt how much you hate and void Christ. Then I became a Christian and learnt to hate evil. It all clicked.
Oh yeah yeah yeah, we’re all one? Tell that to Palestines.
Compassion? You use evangelists to funnel their money into Israel but I have never seen you helping Christians. Funny how compassion work in reality right?
Henri Le Saux
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abhishiktananda