As a principle a kind of spiritual deception is a accompanied by a material, passionate warmth ; the behavior of religious fanatics embraced by deception, has always been ecstatic, by reason of this extraordinary material, passionate warmth. This warmth, a mark of the spiritually deceived, is to be
distinguished from true attachment with God.
These people are merely reacting to the
presence of an invading spirit, [a result of the Intermediate Zone]. Thinking to find God in consoling feelings, they are seeking not God but themselves, that is, their own feelings of a spiritual "high", while they avoid the path of authentic learning and keeping Torah. To give several examples of such physical accompaniments of spiritual deception: one person trembled and made strange sounds, and identified these signs as the a sign of spiritual awakening ; another as a result of his ecstatic method of prayer felt such heat in his body that he needed no warm clothing in winter, and this heat could even be felt by others.
{I suspect that this kind of deceiving spiritual high got to be accepted as a sign of true spirituality in the religious Jewish world because of being affected by the Charismatic revival where it is considered an essential aspect of spirituality.}
Such phenomena of the experience of a spiritual high are undoubtedly provoked by an attitude of extreme spiritual expectation, maybe of remorse, or fear of hell, accompanied by a repetitive, yet inspiring singing, by the cadence of the teacher's words, and by the general ambiance and atmosphere of spiritual expectation in the crowd. This is merely a universal pseudo-religious experience. Such things can be observed happening all over the world, in quite distinct circumstances. The nature of such events, both then and now, would from all appearances seem to be identical. This is true whether we are discussing Samadhi of Hindu Yoga or the so called "fire baptism" of Protestant charismatics or the so called "stirring of the Spirit" or "rekindling of the Spirit" of the present day Catholic Charismatic theologians. Such happenings bear little or no
resemblance to the true and sanctifying presence of the God, anymore than do the almost identical manifestations among the Kundalini yogis of Hinduism, or those of cult Adi Da or Muslim cults.
Still I do not want to negate any and all manifestations of God. My basic approach is that of Kant that God is the area of the dinge an sich or as Schopenhauer puts it the "Ding an Sich." Thus I am aware of true and an authentic attachment with God.
distinguished from true attachment with God.
These people are merely reacting to the
presence of an invading spirit, [a result of the Intermediate Zone]. Thinking to find God in consoling feelings, they are seeking not God but themselves, that is, their own feelings of a spiritual "high", while they avoid the path of authentic learning and keeping Torah. To give several examples of such physical accompaniments of spiritual deception: one person trembled and made strange sounds, and identified these signs as the a sign of spiritual awakening ; another as a result of his ecstatic method of prayer felt such heat in his body that he needed no warm clothing in winter, and this heat could even be felt by others.
{I suspect that this kind of deceiving spiritual high got to be accepted as a sign of true spirituality in the religious Jewish world because of being affected by the Charismatic revival where it is considered an essential aspect of spirituality.}
Such phenomena of the experience of a spiritual high are undoubtedly provoked by an attitude of extreme spiritual expectation, maybe of remorse, or fear of hell, accompanied by a repetitive, yet inspiring singing, by the cadence of the teacher's words, and by the general ambiance and atmosphere of spiritual expectation in the crowd. This is merely a universal pseudo-religious experience. Such things can be observed happening all over the world, in quite distinct circumstances. The nature of such events, both then and now, would from all appearances seem to be identical. This is true whether we are discussing Samadhi of Hindu Yoga or the so called "fire baptism" of Protestant charismatics or the so called "stirring of the Spirit" or "rekindling of the Spirit" of the present day Catholic Charismatic theologians. Such happenings bear little or no
resemblance to the true and sanctifying presence of the God, anymore than do the almost identical manifestations among the Kundalini yogis of Hinduism, or those of cult Adi Da or Muslim cults.
Still I do not want to negate any and all manifestations of God. My basic approach is that of Kant that God is the area of the dinge an sich or as Schopenhauer puts it the "Ding an Sich." Thus I am aware of true and an authentic attachment with God.
