A Consideration of Kabbalah/Qabalah Texts, Part 3

November 21, 2017

This three-part article consists of my eighteen Amazon.com reviews of Kabbalah/Qabalah texts. The reviews are in reverse chronological order, with the latest reviews first. Part 1 was posted in August, and Part 2 was posted earlier   this month.]

Unmitigated Mystical Crapola

[“The Initiatic Path in the Arcana of Tarot and Kabbalah,” Samael Aun Weor, 1 Star]

I have devoted the past forty years of my life to studying, practicing, and teaching mystical and occult systems. I'm not only an expert in the foremost spiritual traditions--Hindu Raja Yoga, Advaita Vedanta, and Kashmir Shaivism; Theravada, Zen, and Tibetan Buddhism; Christian Hermeticism, the mystical Kabbalah, Daism, and J.Krishnamurti's teachings--I've also practiced professional astrology and have studied the I Ching and Tarot.

I have read numerous books on the Kabbalah (Kabbalah, by Moshe Idel, The Essential Kabbalah, by Daniel Matt, Meditation and Kabbalah, by Aryeh Kaplan, The Way, by Michael Berg, and Introduction to the Cabala, and the Work of the Kabbalist, by Z'ev ben Shimon Halevi, The Key to the True Kabbalah, Franz Bardon, et al.)… Read the full article

A Consideration of Kabbalah/Qabalah Texts, Part 2

November 20, 2017
This three-part article consists of my eighteen Amazon.com reviews of Kabbalah/Qabalah texts. The reviews are in reverse chronological order, with the latest reviews first. Part 1 was posted in August, and Part 3 will be posted later this month.]

Krishnamurti Meets Kabbalah

[“The Cipher of Genesis: Using the Qabalistic Code to Interpret the First Book of the Bible and the Teachings of Jesus.” Carlo Suares, 3 Stars]

In this unique text, Carlo Suares (1892-1976), utilizing Qabalistic code (meaning “gematria,” the ancient “science” of using the letters of the Hebrew alphabet as numbers to reveal hidden meanings of spiritual texts) seeks to provide the cipher, or algorithmic code, of Genesis and the teachings of Jesus – and fails miserably.

The only reason I gave this book three stars is for Suares’s great idea and bold attempt. Unfortunately, Suares is unqualified for the task. Not only does he exhibit limited understanding of the meaning of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, he also has no real understanding of spirituality. In short, he is in over his head with this text.… Read the full article

Sadhguru (Jaggi Vasudev): A True Guru?

September 28, 2017

[This is my recently posted at Amazon.com two-star review of Sadhguru's book "Inner Engineering." The title of the review is "Pop Inner Engineering."]

This book was pretty much what I expected from a big-name pop Hindu guru – lots of allegorical stories (which will impress and entertain neophytes and the ignoranti) spiced with superficial, error-ridden spiritual Dharma that the cognoscenti will turn their noses up at. The book is a smooth and copacetic read – designed to attract new enlistees to Sadguru’s Inner Engineering program -- but real spiritual “engineers,” those with a deep understanding of the “nuts and bolts” of the en-Light-enment process, will find little of value, and much to be critical of, in Sadhguru’s teachings.

The first turn-off for me was Sadhguru’s description -- or should I say ‘non-description” -- of his Awakening and Awakened state. All we get is a vague, hard-to-believe story about how “he never came down” one day after sitting on a rock, and no details about his putatively Enlightened state.

Sadhguru writes, “As Guru, I have no doctrine to teach, no philosophy to impart, no beliefs to propagate.… Read the full article

A Brief Update

September 9, 2017
My book “The Power of Now Meditation Guide” is finished, but I’m not going to prepare it for publication until I get free of the bird mites I’ve been infected with for the past two years. This is the case, because in a few weeks, I may put everything I have, except my “plastic” (ID, credit/debit cards) in storage (mothballs), including my computers. (I’ll just hit an Internet café twice a day.) I’ll stop using my car, buy new clothes, etc. If you’re interested in knowing about bird mite problems, check out birdmites.org.

If you check my other blog, integralspiritualmeditation.com, you’ll see that I've posted a couple of (raw and unedited) excerpts from the Dzogchen text I’m now working on. I expect to have this book finished and published in late 2018.… Read the full article

A Consideration of Kabbalah/Qabalah Texts, Part 1

August 11, 2017

This three-part article consists of my eighteen Amazon.com reviews of Kabbalah/Qabalah texts. The reviews are in reverse chronological order, with the latest reviews first.

Informationally Interesting, Exegetically Flawed
[“The Hermetic Kabbalah,” Colin Low, 3 Stars]

Colin A. Low, author of the “The Hermetic Kabbalah,” is a serious scholar who has devoted decades of his life to studying Kabbalah (both the Jewish and the non-Jewish, or occult and New Age, traditions). Moreover, he is an excellent writer who seamlessly and agreeably communicates his knowledge and insights. But, unfortunately, this does not translate into an impressive explication of the Kabbalah.

Don’t get me wrong: Low provides plenty of interesting and worthwhile information in this text. But this is overshadowed by his failure to grok and proficiently elaborate the Kabbalah. And this failure pertains to both the mystical-ecstatical and the theosophical-occult Kabbalahs.

Regarding the mystical-ecstatical Kabbalah, the “higher” Kabbalah, he has virtually nothing to say.… Read the full article

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