Eckhart Tolle and Zen, Part 1

May 13, 2015
[This is an excerpt from my book "Beyond the Power of Now: A Guide to, and Beyond, Eckhart Tolle's Teachings.]

Eckhart Tolle describes how listening to a thought breaks your identification with it and is “the beginning of the end of involuntary and compulsive thinking.” If only it were that easy! I spent years in the company of Buddhist practitioners of mindfulness, and not a single one, to my knowledge, managed to permanently put an end to involuntary and compulsive thinking. Short of Buddhahood, or Nirvana, even the most advanced spiritual practitioners struggle with the same involuntary and compulsive thought patterns as everyone else. Read a couple of books about the Buddha’s life. Until the moment he entered Nirvana, he was still beset with vexing thoughts.

Yes, listening to a thought temporarily breaks your identification with it, but thoughts continue to arise, one after another, and the moment-to-moment practice of listening to or watching them becomes quite arduous. Such watching or listening is a willful act, and because efforts are always spasmodic, so are the results.… Read the full article

The “Sound” is not the “Ground”

May 10, 2015

[Some of my readers have asked me my opinion of Surat Shabd Yoga This two-star Amazon review of Kirpal Singh's "Naam or Word" summarizes my opinion. Following the review is a short piece from my Facebook group, Electrical-Hermetic Christianity, that considers Surat Shabd within the context of Kashmir Shaivism.]

Naam or Word" is, in a word, disappointing. I'd read Kirpal Singh's "The Crown of Life" a number of years ago and wasn't impressed by Surat Shabd yoga or Singh's description of other yoga paths; but because a friend of mine raved about "Naam or Word," I bought it. The book reinforced what I already knew: Surat Shabd yoga is not on par with the top mystical teachings that I've studied and teach. For example, Tibetan Dzogchen and Mahamudra, Hindu Advaita Vedanta and Kashmir Shaivism, and Adi Da's Daism are superior Dharmas, and most of the teachings that I've read in these traditions are are better written than "Naam or Word."

Surat Shabd's claim that meditation on the sound current (the "Word") is the highest yoga path is untenable. In fact, in Hindu Kashmir Shaivism's thirty-six "tattva" (constituent principle) hierarchical schema of Reality, Shabd, the Word, is not even close to the top of the tattva emanational hierarchy.… Read the full article

The Kabbalah, Part 3

May 4, 2015

[In this Part of my series of Kabbalah articles, I will begin to consider the 10 (or 11 with the inclusion of Da’at) Sephirot, their genesis within the Four World schema, and their functions as Divine vessels and archetypal energies. In Part 4, I will continue this consideration.]

According to conventional Kabbalah, the 10 Sephirot shine in each of the four emanated Worlds – Atziluth, Beri’ah, Yetzirah, and Assiah. While this may be true, I contend that the Four Worlds pertain to the universe, whereas the Sephirot apply only to our solar system. Moreover, I maintain that the traditional keyword descriptions of each Sephirah (Keter/Divine Crown), Da’at/Knowledge, Hokhmah/Wisdom, Binah/Understanding, Chesed/Mercy, Gevurah/Strength, Tif’eret/Beauty Hod/Glory, Netzah/Victory, Yesod/ Foundation, Malkhut/Kingship) are anthropomorphic and therefore delimit these emanations to humans. Furthermore, I consider these traditional keyword descriptions grossly reductive, not at all representative of what each Sephirah is truly about.… Read the full article

The Kabbalah, Part 2

April 20, 2015

In this article, Part 2 of my informal Kabbalah/Qabalah series, I will begin to consider the cosmological-theosophical Kabbalah/Qabalah. I will begin with the Four Worlds (Atziluth, Ber’iah, Yetzirah, Assiah), which, if Adam Kadmon is included, become Five. Directly below my consideration is the Wikipedia.org description of the Four Worlds. I’m not going to elaborate on this description (which I posted for base reference and contrast); rather, I’m going to present my own unique (Kashmir Shaivism/Vedanta-influenced) vision of the Four (or Five) Worlds. In Part 3, I will consider the 10 sephirot.

The Four (or Five) Worlds spring forth from Ain Soph Aur, which is tantamount to Hindu Siva-Shakti. “Ain” means No-thing, not Nothingness. In other words, God is not a created "thing" or object; He is the uncreated “Thing” Itself -- the Absolute -- limitless Conscious Light. The universe was not created ex nihilo, because something cannot come from nothing; rather it derives from God’s “Substance," Conscious Light.… Read the full article

The Kabbalah, Part 1

April 14, 2015
In this informal series, I’m going to consider the Kabbalah/Qabalah from different angles. In this Part, I’ll focus on the mystical Kabbalah, meaning the Kabbalah associated with receiving the Supernal Influx, the “Rauch Ha-Kodesh,” or Holy Spirit.

The word Kabbalah means “to receive,” or more completely, “to face, or relate to, and receive.” The epitome of mysticism is to commune with (or relate to) and receive the Holy Spirit until one’s soul permanently unites... with it. Hence the mystical Kabbalah represents pure, or true, mysticism.


Unfortunately, Jewish mysticism does not provide explicit instructions on how to directly, immediately connect to, channel, and unite with the Holy Spirit. Anyone interested in how to do so should consult my books and/or articles (available at integralspiritualmeditation.com).

From my perspective, the practice of the mystical Kabbalah of Judaism is the same practice as the Christian mystical Eucharist, Tibetan Dzogchen (the “Great Perfection”), and Hindu Kashmir Shaivism’s Sambhavopaya (or “Divine Means”), and Adi Da’s Daism (or “radical understanding” and Divine Communion).… Read the full article

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