KABBALAH
by Avram Yehoshua
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Kabbalah is an attempt on the part of some Jewish men and women, to seek
the God of Israel through mystical and Gnostic means. For many centuries
it was well outside normative Judaism, although today it has permeated
into Orthodox Judaism and also claims many 'secular' Jewish (and Gentile)
adherents. Kabbalah is a counterfeit of Satan. The main reason for this is
that man is seen as having to restore the fallen world by his efforts
which will bring about the coming of Messiah. Also, the 'way' to God is
accomplished through rigorous fasting and spiritual disciplines that are
outside the realm of the Bible. This is common to most false religions
that seek union with the Divine. (In this article, all italics have
been added by me for emphasis.)
David Stern writes that the Hasidim and the Kabbalists, impatient for
Messiah and redemption, force His Hand by '...years of ruthless
mortification of their flesh. In each case, of course, they were
prevented, by death, by Satan, or by some sin which they committed'1
of compelling Messiah to come:
'In one of these legends...the 14th century Rabbi Joseph Della Reina ('of
the Queen') attempts, with the help of the Prophet Elijah, to destroy
Satan (disguised as a black dog), using God's secret names. But he
doesn't follow Elijah's instructions to the letter and thus fails in his
task. Later he goes astray, having illicit sexual relations with none
other than the Queen of France (hence his name), and ultimately commits
suicide.'2
We have serious biblical problems with the rabbi 'using God's secret
names to destroy Satan' and the meeting with Elijah to help him do
so. This, aside from the fact that he committed suicide. Trying to force
God's Hand or to destroy Satan is pride masquerading in religious
clothing.
One must ask, 'If Kabbalah were really of Yahveh, the God of Israel, than
why didn't the rabbi know or come to find out about Yeshua, the Redeemer
of Israel?' And why hasn't anyone within Kabbalah proclaimed in the last
2,000 years, that Yeshua is the Messiah, if they actually make contact
with the God of Israel?
Another rabbi of fame and stature within Hasidic and Kabbalistic circles
is Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav (1772-1811). The following story is
attributed to him:
'...Satan, disguised as a merchant, prevents a rabbi's son from meeting
with a great tzaddik (holy man). In the end the son dies. The rabbi again
encounters the merchant, who tells him, 'Now I have dispatched your son...
had he and the tzaddik met and joined forces, the Messiah would have
come.'
Kabbalah is a mixture of demonic activity, pagan philosophy, gnosticism
and the Hebrew Bible. Kabbalah is,
'The mystical religious stream in Judaism... In all periods it was
influenced by foreign spiritual currents, such as gnosticism and
neoplatonism3...'4
'A distinction was usually made between theoretical and practical Kabbalah;
the latter consisted of the use of Divine or Holy Names, the permutation
and combination of Hebrew letters, magical formulae (amulets), etc.
for healing the sick and other practical purposes and also for
eschatological and genuinely mystical ends (hastening the advent of the
messiah, inducing states of mystical or ecstatic experience, etc.).5
The use of Divine names 'to get to God' is not the Way of Yahveh. The
fruit of this is seen in that magic and amulets are used.
This is sin as it goes against Yahveh's Word in His Torah (Deut. 18:10,
14). These Jewish mystics opened a spiritual door, but not one you want to
go through. Notice too the eclectic
6 and over-arching
nature of it ('In all periods it was influenced by foreign
spiritual currents...'). What could Kabbalah have picked up from pagan
mysticism and philosophy (about Creation, etc.), outside of Israel and the
Word of Yahveh?
Gnosticism 7
is a 'secret knowing' designed to entice those into a
'mystery religion' where the doing of certain religious things
(asceticism, 'spiritual disciplines, etc.), is 'the way to contact the
god' or 'the way to appease the god for sin and guilt' and or 'the way to
eternal life.' Kabbalah holds out the same incentive. Kabbalah is nothing
more than gnosticism with a Jewish twist to it.
Notice too, if they were really 'in touch' with Yahveh, there would be no
need to 'hasten the advent of Messiah', as they would declare that Yeshua
came and will come again. So who is it that they are 'in touch'
with?
'Jewish religion is in principle opposed to magic because the ultimate
source of everything is the absolutely free and sovereign will of God
which can never be coerced. The only proper attitude is therefore
prayer...'8
Sorcery and magic are prohibited by the Bible (Exod. 22:17) but the
Talmud, while proscribing the practice as heathenish, admits its efficacy.
Members of the Sanhedrin were supposed to have had a thorough knowledge of
magic and sorcery, and legends are told of rabbis using 'white' magic.
Healing by magic is condemned only when specifically pagan or idolatrous.
The magic of names (Divine names, Tetragrammaton, names of angels,
permutations and combinations of Hebrew letters or scriptural quotations),
whether in amulets or spoken formulas, flourished at all times
but particularly under the influence of Kabbalah... Some scholars believe
that the tephillin and mezuzah originated as amulets.'9
The amulet is an object 'worn as a charm against evil, consisting
usually of sacred letters or symbols: names of angels or demons are often
written in geometric patters, etc. Such charms were common in the ancient
Middle East... In the Talmudic and gaonic periods, amulets were widely
worn and their use was recognized, though not specifically approved, by
rabbis. With the development of the later Kabbalah and its insistence on
the efficacy of combinations of letters of the Divine names, the vogue of
amulets became universal, and their preparation was regarded as a rabbinic
function.'10
'The first signs of Jewish mysticism can be fond in the 1st century while
the study of the Dead Sea Scrolls may date knowledge on the subject even
earlier.'11
'Jewish mysticism' was picked up in Babylon. It was Babylonian paganism
(the basis for gnosticism), that some Jewish men living in Babylon adopted
and adapted to the Hebrew Bible (using the Bible for its Names and
numbers, etc.), giving Babylonian gnosticism its 'Jewish clothes.' Some of
these 'clothes' came because of the need of the Jewish People:
'The religious syncretism (the mingling and fusion of various oriental
religions, mythologies, semi-philosophical notions, etc.) of the period,
as well as the messianic speculations encouraged by the national and
political disasters in Palestine (sic) fostered a special kind of interest
in the Bible which stressed its eschatological and mystical tendencies.'12
Note well the different religious and secular things that make up Kabbalah.
This cannot be of the God of Israel who desires purity and wholeness and
whose Word is Truth. Part of the enticement of Kabbalah is the goal of
being in the Presence of God. This is a godly desire. But the way they
'get there' is not, devising and using 'secret names' of God, etc.
'Closed circles from among the pupils of Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakai (1st-2nd
century), concerned themselves with the mysteries of Creation and the
nature of the Divine Throne or 'Chariot... These gnosticising types of
study were termed Pardes.'13
'Later writings depict seven celestial palaces or worlds populated by
angels praising and serving the deity; in the last or seventh palace, the
throne of Divine glory rises. Prepared by a rigorous mystical discipline,
and sanctified though fasting and religious ecstasy, the adepts or, as
they were called 'viewers of the Merkavah' (Divine chariot), experienced
the ascent of their soul though worlds and heavens, and amid lurking
dangers, from palace to palace, until they reached the point where they
beheld the radiance of the Divine presence and the divine throne. To the
soul which achieves this vision are revealed the secrets of
creation, the ways of the angels, and the date of Redemption and of
the advent of the Messiah.'14
The Lord tells us in His Word that there are mysteries that we should not
concern ourselves with. Even the traditional Rabbis caution us to not get
too involved with four things: the ancient past and the distant future;
the things above and the things below. Why not? Because we can only go
around and around in circles with them. On the other hand, we have been
given what to do by Yahveh and He tells us not to be concerned with the
'mysteries' or 'secrets' of Creation, His Name, etc:
'The secret things belong to Yahveh our God, but the things
revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe
all the words of this Law.' (Deut. 29:29)
It is the Word of God that we are to pursue and meditate on and not to get
entangled with the 'spiritual' things of darkness that masquerade as
Light. As 2nd Cor. 11:14 says, 'No wonder, for even Satan disguises
himself as an angel of Light.' We have our 'contact' with the Holy One
through His Son's Sacrificial Blood and His Holy Spirit. But in Kabbalah,
there is a schematic, philosophical system of ten levels, known as
sephirot, that one must climb in order to achieve this revelation.
The goal for the Kabbalists of Gerona (Spain in the 13th century) was 'to
achieve communion wth God through concentration in prayer and the
mediation of the sephirot.'15
The meditation of the sepher yetzirah uses the 'creative force of the
letters of the Hebrew alphabet and propounds the doctrine of ten sephirot
though which the world came into being.'16
'The climax of Spanish kabbalism was the appearance of the Zohar,17
connected with Moses de Leon (d. 1305). All later kabbalistic systems
derived from the Zohar, which teaches the self-manifestation or revelation
of God through the Divine sephirot which He emanated. En-soph, the
transcendent God, remains forever beyond the grasp of the human mind which
can only comprehend the sephirot.'18
'After death, the human soul is judged and allotted to paradise, hell or
transmigration in human or animal form in order to make restitution
and be cleansed. The Zohar traces all Kabbalah to the Pentateuch,
interpreting every word or letter mystically.'19
Transmigration is not found in the Word of God but in many false religions
of the world whose philosophy states that if you don't make it the first
time around, you get to try it again. It's also known as reincarnation.
'Man must restore the damage' (of fallen Creation), 'by releasing the holy
sparks from defilement (Tikkun). The complete restoration will lead to
redemption and the advent of the Messiah. Tikkun is accomplished by
observance of the commandments, study of the Torah and mystic mediation.20
The idea that Man can and must 'restore the damage' of sin is totally
foreign to the Word of God. Only God can redeem Man from his fallen and
sinful state and He has done this in Messiah Yeshua. Anyone who thinks
that they can help God do this, or do it for God is deceived.
Alfred Edersheim writes, '...neither Eastern mystical Judaism, nor the
philosophy of Philo, could admit of any direct contact between God and
creation. The Kabbalah solved the difficulty by their Sephiroth, or
emanations from God, through which this contact was ultimately brought
about, and of which the En-soph, or crown, was the spring'21
(or first of the ten emanations that man could 'climb' like a ladder to
actually 'get to God.')
This is totally foreign to the Scriptures. Yahveh has made it possible for
both Jew and Gentile 'to make contact' with Him here on earth, and be
received into His Glory on the Day of Judgment, not by any 'works'
(fasting, etc.), of man, but by His Grace, Mercy and Love.
Kabbalism was able to meld into main line Orthodox Judaism through
Hasidism. At first, in the 18th and 19th centuries, the Orthodox
vehemently rejected the Hasidic teaching that anyone could know God
(verses the Orthodox tenet that only the learned Rabbis could interpret
the Word and give advice and know God.
'...kabbalism was absorbed into the doctrine of Hasidism which popularized
the mystic teachings...'
22
As Hasidism grew, it began to meld with the Orthodox, adopting some of
their ways and giving the Orthodox much of its teachings and symbols.
Kabbalah means, 'to hand down'23
or 'that which has been received'24
from the verb 'kibel'. There is no doubt as to its 'ancientness' and that
it has 'come down' to us. There is also no question that Kabbalah is an
'alternative' form of religion. As such, it runs totally contrary to the
Word of God, both written and Alive. It is just another of many satanic
'voices' calling for the souls of Jewish men and women. It also has become
aceptable within some Messianic Jewish congregations. More subtle than all
the beasts of the field is the Serpent.
'Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the
Blood of Yeshua, by a new and living way, which He has consecrated for us,
through the Veil, that is to say, His flesh and having a High Priest over
the House of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of
faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies
washed with pure Water. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith
without wavering; (for He is faithful that promised), and let us consider
one another to provoke unto love and to good works: (Hebrews 10:19-24)
END NOTES
- Dr. David H. Stern, Jewish New Covenant Commentary
(Clarksville, MD: Jewish New Covenant Publications, 1992), p. 766.
- Ibid. Taken from The Messiah Texts by Raphael
Patai, p. 68-73.
- J. M. Sinclair, General Consultant, Diana Treffry,
Editorial Director, Collins English Dictionary, Fourth Edition
(Glasgow, Scotland: HarperCollins Publishers, 1998), p. 1042.
Neoplatonism: 'a philosophical system which was first developed in the
3rd century AD as a synthesis of Platonic, Pythagorean and Aristotelian
elements, and which, although originally opposed to Christianity, later
incorporated it. It dominated European thought until the 13th century
and re-emerged during the Renaissance.
- Geoffrey Wigoder, Editor in Chief, The New Standard
Jewish Encyclopedia, 7th Edition (New York-Oxford: Facts on File,
1990), p. 535.
- Ibid.
- Collins English Dictionary, p. 490. Eclectic:
'selecting what seems best from various styles, doctrines, ideas,
methods, etc.'
- Ibid. p. 656. Gnosticism: '...characterized by a belief
in gnosis, through which the spiritual element in man could be released
from its bondage in matter..' gnosis: ''supposedly revealed knowledge of
various spiritual truths, especially that said to have been posses by
ancient Gnostics..'
- The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia, p. 619.
Listed under 'magic'.
- Ibid.
- The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia, p. 48.
Listed under 'amulets'.
- The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia, p. 535.
- The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia, p. 535.
- Ibid.
- Ibid.
- Ibid. p. 536.
- Ibid.
- The Zohar is to the kabbalist what the Bible is to a
follower of Yeshua.
- The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia, p. 536.
- Ibid. p. 537.
- Ibid.
- Alfred Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus The
Messiah (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2000), p. 31.
- The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia, p. 537.
- The Life and Times of Jesus The Messiah, p. 31.
- Ibid. p. 71.
|
What is the basic definition
and concept of Yoga or "Torah Yoga"?
Yoga: Exercises in physical, mental or spiritual
conditioning based on Eastern metaphysical assumptions designed to aid the
practitioner in enlightenment or self-realization.
Yoga goals sometimes include altered states of consciousness or uniting
the practitioner with the impersonal pantheistic God (a
doctrine identifying the Deity with the universe and its phenomena as well
as a belief in and worship of all gods).
The major types of Yoga include but are not limited to: Karma Yoga
(spiritual union through correct conduct), Bhakti Yoga (spiritual
union through devotion to a Guru), Juana Yoga (spiritual union
through hidden knowledge), Raja Yoga (spiritual union through
mental control), Hatha Yoga (spiritual union through body
control/meditation), Kundalini Yoga (spiritual union through
focusing inner energy) Tantra Yoga (spiritual union through sexual
practices), and laya or mantra (the Yoga of sound).
Although the emphasis may vary, the basic goal in all Yoga is the same:
union with ultimate reality, however defined. In Hinduism this would
be union of the individual self (atman) with the supreme self (paramatman),
itself one with Brahman, the highest impersonal Hindu God; in Buddhism
it would be union with Nirvana. In addition, Yoga philosophy is
based on the concept of reincarnation and is drawn from the Upanishads and
other Hindu scriptures.
Torah Yoga: A movement nurtured by
Bloomfield as well
as many others, tragically including Jewish Rabbis, who proclaim that they
find deeper understanding of Judaism through the movements of Yoga.
Bloomfield has immersed herself
in Jewish studies, ultimately moving to Jerusalem in 1984, and one day, as
she proclaims something inside of her just clicked. It was then that
she realized the wisdom of Jewish studies seemed to emerge in her practice
of Yoga.
Hence, the result was "Torah Yoga". To Bloomfield Yoga
was a supplemental way of understanding Judaism.
Bloomfield uses the example of 'Jews leaving Egypt,' one of the most
central teachings in the Torah, as an example of her adaptation to Torah
Yoga. In Hebrew, the word 'Egypt' has multiple meanings, including
constriction and openness. Therefore, on a spiritual level, then,
'Egypt' contains the possibility of living in a painful place and an open
place. In Yoga, the body is a field of contracted places or open
places. As such, by doing Yoga, we are 'doing Egypt.'
Bloomfield believes that something is happening in the world today where
people are wanting a healing of the mind, spirit and body. To that end,
Bloomfield has taught Torah yoga in the United States and Europe,
sometimes in Orthodox settings. Bloomfield and Rabbi Klotz
are now teaching classes at the new Torah Yoga Institute at Elat Chayyim,
a Jewish spiritual retreat center in the Catskill Mountains. The
center has offered yoga for 10 years, but the institute represents a
concerted effort to attract people, teach them and train the teachers,
says executive director Arthur Kurzweil.
"Wisdom is wisdom. Truth is truth. No tradition has a monopoly on it,"
Kurzweil says. "Many spiritual traditions are grounded in the same truth
but just have different forms of it."
So what are the dangers and
problems associated with what many would consider and innocent exercise of
the mind, spirit and body?
The public perception of Yoga as a safe, spiritually
neutral practice is false. It is difficult, if not impossible, to
separate Yoga practice from Yoga theory. The one who engages in Yoga
practices for health purposes may also find himself/herself converted to
an occult way of life.
AUTHORITATIVE YOGA LITERATURE IS
REPLETE WITH WARNINGS OF SERIOUS PHYSICAL CONSEQUENCES, MENTAL
DERANGEMENT, OR HARMFUL SPIRITUAL EFFECTS.
Around the world promoters of Yoga
make such claims as, "Yoga and Christianity are founded upon a similar
base of wisdom", and attempts are being made to merge yogic concepts and
modern medicine.
To promoters and practitioners the
chief value of Yoga is in the prevention of illness, whereas Torah Yoga
adds a deeper and more meaningful understanding of Judaism. As such,
the
Yoga faithful, Torah Yoga and others, believe that chronic diseases such
as asthma, backache, arthritis, bronchitis, high blood pressure, obesity,
sinusitis, nervous disorders, constipation, dysmenorrhea, dyspepsia, and
others are specially amenable to Yoga treatment.
The deceptive lure of therapeutic Yoga is
to maintain healthy minds and healthy bodies, but its practices are being
increasingly used to produce cures or alleviations of disease. Yoga
works on the premise that most illness is caused by wrong posture, wrong
diet and wrong mental attitudes, which imbalances are under the control of
the student (patient) himself.
Yoga is a philosophy embracing every aspect of
human life, spiritual, emotional, mental and physical. It did not
set out to be a therapy, but is being used as such today. It is a
system of self-improvement, or "conscious evolution."
People use what they consider to be
non-harmful Yoga for a wide variety of purposes
such as to reduce nervous tension by learning to relax, to slim and to
become more agile mentally and physically. However, without
awareness Yoga eventually leads them to meditation, thence to
modifications of personal and social behavior. Students
attending regular classes seem to become more relaxed, more supple and
clearer headed, and usually begin to question the purpose of life in a way
they have not before. This holistic approach leads them to what they
believe is better health, and the improvement or eradication of
psychosomatic ailments.
Regardless of the school or spiritual tradition, Yoga
practice tends to alter a person’s consciousness in an occult direction.
Even when Yoga is practiced
innocently, it can eventually produce dramatic occult transformation.
"Personality changes can be brought about in Hatha Yoga by changing the
body so that it influences the mind." Just consider the experience of
Christina Grof, who, prior to her experience with Yoga, was an average
housewife with normal plans for her life. She took up Yoga entirely
without suspicion as a practice that would help her physically during her
pregnancy.
What Christian Grof got was far more than she had
bargained for. She found herself transformed from a "conservative
suburban housewife" into a New Age leader by means of Hatha Yoga.
All she had to do was "join a Hatha Yoga class for exercise" and the
logical progression ensued:
"During the birth of
my first child, for which I had prepared with the Lamaze method of
breathing (very much like yogic pranayama), this enormous spiritual
force was released in me. Of course, I didn’t understand it and was
given morphine to stop it as soon as the baby was born.... Then the same
thing happened when my second child was born. This all led to more
and more experiences. I threw myself into yoga, although still not
acknowledging it as a spiritual tool. My meeting with Swami
Muktananda really blew the lid off everything. He served as a
catalyst to awaken what I had been resisting, which was kundalini (the
universal life force)."
She became a disciple of the
Hindu guru Muktananda and then a leader in the New Age Movement with a
specific mission: to assist people who were having "spiritual emergencies"
from their occult practices and help them to "properly interpret" and
successfully integrate these "divine" experiences into their lives.
Thus, an innocently practiced Yoga-for-exercise
routine led to numerous psychic experiences that had the cumulative impact
of forever changing Grof's life.
Initially as the standard
kundalini Yoga symptoms emerged in her life, the prognosis was not
good. Grof herself was in the midst of a spiritual emergency and
increasingly convinced of her own insanity. "I was convinced I
was headed for a life of psychopathology. I was afraid I was going
crazy." Nevertheless, counseling through occult philosophy
put matters in their "proper" perspective. Her marriage ended,
"which it was destined to do anyway." And the late popular
mythologist Joseph Campbell helped her recognize, "The schizophrenic is
drowning in the same waters in which the mystic is swimming with delight."
He also referred her to LSD and consciousness researcher Stan Grof for
more counseling.
The rest is history. The
couple were eventually married and today coordinate some 50 SEN (Spiritual
Emergency Network) regional information centers around the globe.
They also publish a significant amount of literature in the field of
occult metaphysics. Their reinterpretation of the pathological
phenomena induced by occult practice—as a positive transforming
spirituality (a spiritual "emergence")—not only helps undergird and
legitimize the occult, but it also effectively inhibits discernment of the
true issues involved.
Consider just one more example of the
potential consequences of Innocent Yoga practice.
A woman named Carole used Yoga for
medical and health reasons. She was
very sick and doctors were unable to find the cause of her illness.
When she went to a physician-nutritionist recommended by a friend, she
found some literature in his office about the Himalayan Institute, of
which the doctor was a staff member. The institute was founded by
Indian Swami Rama, one of the most scientifically studied of the gurus,
beginning with famous biofeedback researcher and spiritist Dr. Elmer
Green. Carole decided to attend the institute, where she began
lessons in Hatha Yoga. Eventually, she was initiated and received
her mantra (word of occult power) from Swami Rama. As he laid his
hands upon her head, the typical transfer of "occult energy" began (termed
shaktipat diksha). Carole was in heaven:
"Currents of
electrical energy began to permeate my head and went down into my body....
It was as if a spell had come over me, the bliss that I felt was as if I
had been touched by God. The power that had come from his hand, and simply
being in his presence, drew me to him irresistibly."
The night after receiving her mantra, Carole was
visited by a spirit being who claimed to be the spirit of Swami Rama
himself. Although no one had ever mentioned the spirit world in her
church (they did not believe in such things), Carole felt that this was
the means of directly communicating with God. She experienced
wonderful powerful forces and energies, while thoughts entered her mind
with a magnetic-like force:
"Electrical currents
were pulsating around my body and then moved into my hand, the currents
were shaking my hand and strong, almost entrancing thoughts were impressed
into my mind, 'Meditate, meditate. I want to speak with you.'
It was a miracle. I was communicating with the spirit world. I
had found God. Sitting in the darkness of my living room I began to
repeat my mantra. A presence seemed to fill the room. I began
to see visions of being one with the universe and the magnetic thoughts
were now leaving and I was hearing a voice, which identified itself as
Swami Rama, saying he was communicating with me through astral travel.
Within one week, after meditating many hours each day and still in
constant communication with this spirit, forces began to come upon me and
gave me powers to do yoga postures; I was floating through them, the
forces giving me added breath even… postures that before would be very
painful to do."
However, after two weeks of daily Yoga
meditation, Carole became engulfed in a nightmare of utter dread and
terror. Voices that once claimed they were angelic turned
threatening, even demonic. She was brutally assaulted, both
physically and spiritually by spirits. During meditation, in the
midst of being violently shaken, she could sense that the same energy
received at initiation, energy which was now felt to be personal,
was attempting to remove her life-essence from her physical body—in her
words, "to literally pull the life from my shell of a body." She
sensed an overwhelming and implacable hatred directed toward her from this
"energy," as if "monstrosities of another world were trying to take my
very soul from me, inflicting pain beyond endurance, ripping and tearing
into the very depths of my being."
The intermittent suffocation and torment
seemed interminable; her fears increased as she realized there was no one
to help her. Finally, the attack subsided. But it was merely
the first of many.
It seems that nothing could stop the assaults.
Her agonized pleas to the spirits were ignored; her husband was powerless.
Her father wanted her to see a psychiatrist; others also doubted her
sanity. In desperation, her mother contacted psychic friends from a
local church of the Unity School of Christianity. They laid hands on
Carole and commanded that "the divinity within" deliver her, but to no
avail.
Dr. C. Norman Shealy, M.D., Ph.D., now entered
the picture. He is a noted neurosurgeon, a former professor at
Harvard University, past president of the American Holistic Medical
Association, and the author of Occult Medicine Can Save Your
Life. Dr. Shealy also works in conjunction with psychics and
spiritists such as Caroline Myss. When Dr. Shealy was unable to help, he
referred Carole to Dr. Robert Leichtman, M.D., a spiritist who is coauthor
of several dozen books received by revelation from the spirits.
Leichtman admitted that Carole’s situation was
not uncommon among followers of Eastern gurus. He even told her some
have died as a result of similar psychic attacks. But he, too, was unable
to help. His instructions, such as visualizing herself in the white
"Christ light" of protection, were useless. By this time, Carole was
near the end.
"I had to endure the torture, unable to free myself.
To those around me I was insane. No one believed me and no one could
free me. The hopelessness I felt was unbearable. No one
believed me except the psychics... and they could do nothing.
I was defenseless against
these never-ending attacks... hundreds of presences filling my room, which
itself would be filled with thick, ice cold air, my body drenched with
perspiration as my whole being fought against them.
After spending several
weeks at my parents’ we decided perhaps I could try returning home. But
that night the spirits started to exert their full power.
First, against my skull. I felt as if they were trying to crack it
open, like the air was being cut off to my brain. Incredible
pressure was exerted upon my back and chest, pulling with a wrench-like
grip. It felt like they were trying to pull my shoulder from its
socket, pressing on my eyes trying to blind me, pushing on my throat
trying to choke me. Filled with fear and exhaustion, on the brink of
death I screamed to my husband, 'I’m dying; I can’t take it anymore.
Get me to the hospital.'
I was taken to the hospital
where I laid like a scared dog cowering on a cart. I could hardly
speak but at least the spirits were gone—temporarily.... The doctor
on duty recommended a psychiatrist who saw me the next morning. He
told me I was covering up some deep problems with this 'talk of evil
spirits.' 'There is no such thing as the devil,' he said coldly."
Carole admitted herself to the hospital, but once
more no one could help. The attacks finally subsided and she was
released. Upon returning home, the attacks began again. More
unimaginable torment. Although she was terrified of dying, death was
now her desire. Wishing to take her life but too fearful of dying,
she readmitted herself to the hospital. Once again, she was placed
in locked ward. She felt that here she would die, alone and in
torment
But today, Carole is alive and well. Even her
psychiatrist is amazed at the miraculous transformation. She is now
in perfect health, both mentally and physically.
How did Carole get free? No one had been
able to help her. Today, Carole attributes both her health and her
life to a living Jesus Christ who delivered her from a desperate plight.
Reflecting back on her predicament, she is awed that such terrible
destruction could be purchased at the price of a simple, supposedly
harmless form of Yoga meditation.
Events like these reveal that there is more to
Yoga than meets the eye. Whether Yoga can trigger some unknown
psychospiritual, physiological response, or whether changes are produced
spiritistically, or both, few can deny Yoga is a powerful spiritual
discipline that has been used for millennia to secure occult, pagan goals.
Virtually all standard Yoga texts
acknowledge that Yoga practice develops psychic powers and other occult
abilities.
All this is why the Yoga scholar and
Sanskrit authority Rammurti Mishra can interpret Yoga theory as laying the
foundation for occultism. "In conclusion, it may be said that behind
every psychic investigation, behind mysticism, occultism, etc., knowingly
or unknowingly, the Yoga system is present." In his article "Kundalini
and the Occult," occult authority John White observes that the essence of
occultism is the attempt to gain "higher" knowledge and power or control
of the forces of nature, especially the "life energy" (prana) which
underlies the basis of true magic and psychic phenomena. "In its
highest form, occult science merges indistinguishably with true
mysticism.... [M]ysticism and genuine occultism are closely allied.... The
heart of genuine occult practices appear to be synonymous with aspects of
the [yogic] kundalini concept…." Yoga authority Sir John Woodroffe
(Arthur Avalon), author of a standard text on kundalini Yoga, The
Serpent Power, agrees, and he supplies many additional reasons why
Yoga and occult magic go hand in hand. Until his death, perhaps the
leading authority on shamanism and comparative religion was Mircea Eliade.
Note his observations of the similarities between yoga and witchcraft:
"All features associated with European witches are claimed also by
Indo-Tibetan yogis and magicians." Along with a range of occult
powers common to both, some yogis:
"... boast that they
break all the religious taboos and social rules: that they practice human
sacrifice, cannibalism, and all manner of orgies, including incestuous
intercourse, and that they eat excrement, nauseating animals, and devour
human corpses. In other words, they proudly claim all the crimes and
horrible ceremonies cited ad nauseam in the Western European witch
trials."
Because Yoga is an occult system,
the physical, mental, and spiritual dangers that accompany occult
practices are also found in Yoga. Thus, even standard Yoga books
warn of the serious dangers arising from supposedly "wrong" Yoga practice.
But we think such hazards are conceded because Yoga is an occult
practice, not because its techniques are allegedly done incorrectly.
We will conclude by referring all readers to the above
Word of God
and simply close by saying to those who would brave the practice Kabbalah
or Torah
Yoga
DANGER! DANGER! DANGER!
If you are bound and trapped
in the abyss of Yoga please
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