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Here's The Secret Meditation Principle Within Jewish Cultivation That Everyone is Missing. It's the Same Method as With Every Other Religion ... No-thought, Emptiness or "ayin" (and you thought some schools were special)

For awhile I've been meaning to write an article on Jewish cultivation, but many people don't like long articles. Therefore I'm just going to clip a few quotes from Jewish texts to prove to you that it's the same path of cultivation no matter what the spiritual tradition.

In short, the point is that even Jewish cultivation adheres to the same principles as Islam, Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism and Christianity, as I point out in all my books, in cultivating freedom from discriminatory thought to realize the Tao.

What's the common principle?

Emptiness meditation, which Judaism calls "ayin," and which Jewish scholars sometimes translate as "nothingness" since they don't know better. They don't know better because they have no cultivation gong-fu and have not achieved anything on the path.

Don't criticize the intellectuals, common people and academics about this because they simply don't know better or knowing, HAVE to make it appear that their religion or path is truly unique, special and different. So they have to translate things differently in order that ordinary people don't wisen up and realize the path is non-denominational.

Sorry, but no religion has a monopoly on God or spiritual realization. Spiritual progress is non-denominational and the end objective is the same, independent of religion. The spiritual practices people follow are common, shared practices just as are the stages of spiritual ascension. The same holds for gong-fu experiences of the path everyone experiences as they make spiritual progress. Christian, Islamic, Buddhist, Taoist, Hindu, Jewish, whatever, everyone experiences the same stages of gong-fu. Nearly everyone goes through the same experiences, with a little bit of difference depending on the individual's circumstances (age, sex, practices used, etc.), if they cultivate to the same stage of realization.

If someone says otherwise they just don't know what they are talking about. It means their knopwledge isn't large enough. They lack not just learning but experience and the broad perspective. The only know their own little world and want to think only they have the truth and are correct.

I'm going to tell you over and over again that the spiritual path of cessation-witnessing is the same the world over, but the dogma you wrap around it is different according to the nation, culture, its history, political situation, religion, enemies, etc. The stages of the path and basic methods and principles of the spiritual path are fundamentally non-denominational.

The website has several articles on Christian cultivation showing this, which surprises many people (I always get people opting out of the newsletter when they read those articles because they just cannot handle it), and now the following quotes should help you see that Judaism also says the same thing. Everyone who cultivates far enough discovers the same non-denominational principles.

Namely, to get the Tao, realize your true self, attain enlightenment, become one with God and so forth -- it all comes down to freeing the mind from attachment to thoughts and cultivating the freedom from discriminative thoughts that Buddhism calls "emptiness" or "voidness." That's when you can access what's called "prajna" spiritual wisdom, or direct knowing of the Supreme Nature.

Taoism, Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Confucianism, Zen, etc. all say the same thing. GENUINE spiritual traditions ALL say the same thing. You can use that quote to read between the lines and now know who's genuine and who's not!

Be careful, don't tell others what you just learned because they won't be able to handle it!

The following quotes, taken from my STAGES course, address the kabbalah and other Jewish spiritual practices on the topic of emptiness meditation:

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Buddhism has the famous phrase that absolute reality is neither existence nor non-existence, neither real nor not-real. Judaism has the famous phrase "neither yesh (something or creation) nor ayin (nothing or emptiness)."

The Babad school of Hasidism says, "This is the foundation of the entire Torah: that yesh (the apparent somethingness of the world) be annihilated into ayin (emptiness)." ( The Problem of Pure Consciousness, Robert K.C. Forman, (Oxford University Press, New York, 1990), pp. 133.).

Hasidic Judaism says that the path of spiritual practice is to cultivate to reach the state of non-ego, for it explains,

"The essence of the worship of God and of all the mizvot is to attain the state of humility, namely, --- to understand that all one's physical and mental powers and one's essential being are dependent on the divine elements within. One is simply a channel for the divine attributes. One attains such humility through the awe of God's vastness, through realizing that "there is no place empty of Him" (Tiqqunei Zohar 57), Then one comes to the state of ayin [emptiness], which is the state of humility. --- One has no independent self and is contained, as it were, in the Creator, blessed be He. --- This is the meaning of the verse (Exod. 3:6): "Moses hid his face, for he was in awe. ---" Through his experience of awe, Moses attained the hiding of his face, that is, he perceived no independent self. Everything was part of divinity." (Mevasser Zedek, Issachar Ber of Zlotshov, (Berditchev, USSR, 1817), p. 9a-b.)

Another Hasidic text says, "Arriving at the gate of Ayin [emptiness], you forget your existence altogether." (The Essential Kabbalah: The Heart of Jewish Mysticism, Daniel Matt, (Castle Books, Edison: New Jersey, 1997), p. 141.)

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Dov Baer, the Maggid (Preacher) of Mezritch of Hassidism explained, "[spiritual] transformation is possible only though --- ayin [emptiness]." (The Problem of Pure Consciousness, Robert K.C. Forman, (Oxford University Press, New York, 1990), pp. 145.)

Judaism also recognizes the importance of the "annihilation of thought" in spiritual practice to attain mental emptiness, although the goal is framed in terms of dissolving the ego in ayin or "nothingness," which is the Jewish term for emptiness:

"One must think of oneself as ayin and forget oneself totally. --- Then one can transcend time, rising to the world of thought, where all is equal: life and death, ocean and dry land. --- Such is not the case when one is attached to the material nature of this world. --- If one thinks of oneself as something (yesh) --- then God cannot clothe Himself in him, for He is infinite, and no vessel can contain him, unless one thinks of oneself as ayin. " (Maggid Devarav le-Ya'agov, Dov Baer, ed. Rivka Schatz Uffenheimer, (Magnes Press, Jerusalem: Israel, 1976), p. 186.)

In the cultivation practice of contemplating the Kabbalah, Azriel of Gerona and his older contemporary, Ezra of Gerona, recognized the highest sefirah of the Kabbalah as "the annihilation of thought" (afisat ha-mahashavah). The Kabbalah was the major means of leading the Jewish practitioner to samadhi through the contemplation of the sefirot:

"The sefirot are stages of contemplative ascent; each one serves as an object and focus of mystical search. In tracing the reality of each sefirah, the mystic uncovers layers of being within herself and throughout the cosmos. This is the knowledge that the kabbalist strives for, supernal wisdom. However, there is a higher level, a deeper realm, beyond this step-by-step approach. At the ultimate stage, the kabbalist no longer differentiates one thing from another. Conceptual thought, with all its distinctions and connections, dissolves. " (The Essential Kabbalah: The Heart of Jewish Mysticism, Daniel Matt, (Castle Books, Edison: New Jersey, 1997), p. 180.)

Hasidism recognizes the importance of cultivating samadhi, for it explains the existence of thoughts and emptiness (or discriminative cessation) as follows, "When one attains the level of gazing at ayin, one's intellect is annihilated. ---Afterwards, when one returns to the intellect, it is filled with emanation." (Maggid Devarav le-Ya'agov, Dov Baer, ed. Rivka Schatz Uffenheimer, (Magnes Press, Jerusalem: Israel, 1976), p. 224.)

This is the real and genuine path of Judaic practice, which is the practice of contemplation to pass beyond the discursive thought of Torah study, whose only purpose is to lead one to that state. But unfortunately the majority of those studying Torah have lost sight of that, which is why Judaism has lost its line of samadhi masters. But now you know the truth that's always buried beneath dogma -- the methods of the spiritual path are the Same, the stages of the path are the Same, the gong-fu phenomena are the Same, the principles are the Same, and no one religion is superior to another but common people always think so.

Common people lack wisdom and their minds aren't big enough, so they cling to religion rather than spiritual practice and principles. They fight and argue because they are simply born into a certain religion, worldview and country due to good or bad karma and take it to be THE STANDARD. It's just karma.

Those who struggle to practice the spiritual path, through meditation, and struggle to learn what's true beneath the dogma are a different sort of person entirely. YOU are that type of person, and I salute you for your efforts.

If you want to learn more about how the spiritual path has changed over the ages as various religions and spiritual streams wisened up, pick up a copy from the website of The World's Best and Worst Spiritual Paths and Practices, or How to Measure and Deepen Your Spiritual Realization. Best and Worst is better for this task.