While I have great respect for Rabainu the Arizal (Isaac Luria) , still his path and teachings definitely lead into idolatry and the Sitra Achra [Dark Side] by means of the slippery slope. How many people have you seen that became more compassionate and decent people because of learning the Ari?
The trouble is not that it is liable to misuse and misrepresentation. Rather that it almost automatically falls into misuse and delusions.
The truth be told I have no idea how mysticism got to be considered a legitimate part of Torah. The fruits seems to be uniformly bad. What is wrong with just learning and keeping the Law of Moses straight and simple? [That is the written Law of Moses plus its Oral Commentary, the two Talmuds Bavli and Yerushalmi.]
The trouble is that there is a difference between Torah and mysticism. Torah is not about mystic experience. The whole inner essence of what it means to learn and keep the Torah is opposite of mystic experience. And yet the mystic approach is the default position of the religious world.
[That is either to gain mystic experience; or to believe in some religious crazy person;s ecstatic experience and revelations. That nut case's delusions then become so important they take the place of authentic Torah. They become more authoritative that the holy Torah]
I saw plenty of "kabalists" and teachers but never the slightest bit of truth or even simple human decency in any of them. With no offence intended towards the Ari himself, I think it is best to avoid.
When Bava Sali came from Morocco to visit Jerusalem [cira 1970] and accepted the people for blessing and advice he gave instructions to not let any "kabalist enter."
The trouble is today all teachers along supposedly along the lines of the Ari are deceivers and frauds and know little if anything about the holy Torah or even the Ari's system. It is all part of the New Age Movement.
The basic ideas of the kabalah are not all that original. The "sparks of holiness" idea is from the Gnostics. The "Tzitzum" is from the pre Soctratics. The ten sepherot from Ptolemy, etc. That does not invalidate it, but it certainly to me makes it a lot less interesting.
And why people appeal to its authority? That is in order to get people to worship their mini gods, religious people that they follow. The do this by pretending to some secret knowledge.
The answer to this is from the Gemara circa Sanhedrin 65. "What is the difference between him and us?" [The Gemara there brings an argument. If a person says "serve me" he obviously gets the death penalty for being a seducer to do idolatry. The question is if someone says "yes." One opinion is the person that said "yes" was just making fun of him because "What is the difference between him and us?" The other opinion is the one who said "yes" does get the death penalty. ]
The trouble is nowadays there are too many false religious leaders that have been absorbed into the intermediate zone. The kelipa that is a mixture of good and evil.
The trouble seems to be השחתת המידות destruction of good character traits when one gets involved.
The Zohar itself was accepted by sincere people. Still it is not from R.Shimon Ben Yochai as אם כל דא is a medieval expression invented by the Ibn Tibon family and it appears all the time in the Zohar.
Some suggest it was written by גילוי נשמת ר' שמעון. That does not seem much better because of the problem of דורש אל המתים. In any case the fact that sincere people were fooled does not mean it is legitimate.
The trouble is not that it is liable to misuse and misrepresentation. Rather that it almost automatically falls into misuse and delusions.
The truth be told I have no idea how mysticism got to be considered a legitimate part of Torah. The fruits seems to be uniformly bad. What is wrong with just learning and keeping the Law of Moses straight and simple? [That is the written Law of Moses plus its Oral Commentary, the two Talmuds Bavli and Yerushalmi.]
The trouble is that there is a difference between Torah and mysticism. Torah is not about mystic experience. The whole inner essence of what it means to learn and keep the Torah is opposite of mystic experience. And yet the mystic approach is the default position of the religious world.
[That is either to gain mystic experience; or to believe in some religious crazy person;s ecstatic experience and revelations. That nut case's delusions then become so important they take the place of authentic Torah. They become more authoritative that the holy Torah]
I saw plenty of "kabalists" and teachers but never the slightest bit of truth or even simple human decency in any of them. With no offence intended towards the Ari himself, I think it is best to avoid.
When Bava Sali came from Morocco to visit Jerusalem [cira 1970] and accepted the people for blessing and advice he gave instructions to not let any "kabalist enter."
The trouble is today all teachers along supposedly along the lines of the Ari are deceivers and frauds and know little if anything about the holy Torah or even the Ari's system. It is all part of the New Age Movement.
The basic ideas of the kabalah are not all that original. The "sparks of holiness" idea is from the Gnostics. The "Tzitzum" is from the pre Soctratics. The ten sepherot from Ptolemy, etc. That does not invalidate it, but it certainly to me makes it a lot less interesting.
And why people appeal to its authority? That is in order to get people to worship their mini gods, religious people that they follow. The do this by pretending to some secret knowledge.
The answer to this is from the Gemara circa Sanhedrin 65. "What is the difference between him and us?" [The Gemara there brings an argument. If a person says "serve me" he obviously gets the death penalty for being a seducer to do idolatry. The question is if someone says "yes." One opinion is the person that said "yes" was just making fun of him because "What is the difference between him and us?" The other opinion is the one who said "yes" does get the death penalty. ]
The trouble is nowadays there are too many false religious leaders that have been absorbed into the intermediate zone. The kelipa that is a mixture of good and evil.
The trouble seems to be השחתת המידות destruction of good character traits when one gets involved.
The Zohar itself was accepted by sincere people. Still it is not from R.Shimon Ben Yochai as אם כל דא is a medieval expression invented by the Ibn Tibon family and it appears all the time in the Zohar.
Some suggest it was written by גילוי נשמת ר' שמעון. That does not seem much better because of the problem of דורש אל המתים. In any case the fact that sincere people were fooled does not mean it is legitimate.
