> "Al Smith" address.com> wrote in message
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> news:IMg8k.125$7%%6.117@edtnps82...
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>>> "Al Smith" address.com> wrote in message
>>>news:ju88k.4$1o6.3@edtnps83...

>>>>> I hope I didn't waste my time on someone
>>>>> who is in the dark; I thought you might be able to perceive it, or I
>>>>> wouldn't have bothered; it's late, and I'm tired.

>

>>>> Hmm, how shall I respond to this comment? By pointing out that nobody
>>>> held a gun to your head and ordered you to post? It takes energy for me
>>>> to post, just as it does for you to post. Or by saying that you are
>>>> reacting with irritation simply because I don't fall down and fawn at
>>>> your feet ... the same reaction as that of r, and Adam, in their
>>>> rebellion. The wonderful thing about Gnostics is that we seek the truth.
>>>> If the truth leads me to your ideas, I will embrace them. If it does
>>>> not, I will reject them.

>

>>>> -Al-

>

>>> Using Yud Kay Vav Kay is a chilul Hashem, a desecration of Hashem's name.

>

>> Could be worse. I could have used the true name. But then all the walls
>> would have fallen down.

>

>>> You say: If the truth leads me to your ideas, I will embrace them.

>

>>> Here is a little warning, the yetzer hara, the evil inclination is loud
>>> and demanding.  The Yetzer Tov the good inclination only suggests.  You
>>> have shown that you are open and free game to the yetzer hara, the soton.
>>> If you are lead to something because it tickles your fancy, you are in
>>> big trouble.

>

>> That sort of judgmental about somebody you don't even know. I'm following
>> Scriptures, and the Ecclesiastical Scriptures, and the Apocrypha, and the
>> books that don't even rate with biblical types as sacred, but should, such
>> as the Hermetic books and the Gnostic gospels, wherever they lead in an
>> effort to understand spiritual truth.

>

>> I care nothing at all for the authority of the Church. The Ante-Nicene
>> fathers are interesting to read, and contain a great deal of useful
>> wisdom, but I don't assume they know any more than I do about what is true
>> and what is false. The same with those who wrote the Gospels. They were
>> men, and they belonged to the early Christian Church, and they had various
>> doctrinal axes to grind when they crafted the Gospels. I don't regard them
>> as having been any closer to spiritual truth than I am.

>

>> This is the only way to arrive at truth -- to follow it anywhere and
>> everywhere it appears, and not to be discouraged or misled by the
>> assertions of other men. I have no awe of any authority under the sun/son.
>> There is not a man alive, or a man who ever lived, about whom I would say,
>> "He is so much wiser than me, I will disregard my own intuitions of truth
>> and simply accept what he tells me." No. Not for any man. Not for Jesus
>> himself.

>

>> The truth is higher than the Church fathers, higher than the Torah
>> commentators such as the RamBam and Rashi, higher than the Gospels, higher
>> than Jesus. The truth is the only thing I worship. And that is why I refer
>> to myself as a Gnostic.

>

>>> If you have the Torah to back up your decision, you are blessed.  It
>>> takes years and eternities to fully comprehend Torah

>
> It takes eternity, Al
>
> You ought to get 'Strive for Truth'  Rav Dessler.  I wouldn't usually
> suggest a book that isn't pure Torah, but Michtav Me'Elyahu will open your
> eyes to the fact that you've been deluding yourself.  It opens my eyes every
> morning when I study it how I still delude myself.
> You can get it at Feldheim, they have a big sale going onhttp://www.feldheim.com/cgi-bin/category.cgi
>
> It is a way to look at your life more clearly.
>
> R
>
>
>

>> I've been studying the Kabbalah for around 30 years. I have a complete set
>> of Rashi's Commentaries on the Pentateuch on the bookshelf behind me. I've
>> read the Bible, Old and New, extensively. I've picked my way through the
>> Hebrew bible with the help of Gesenius's Hebrew Chaldee Lexicon. And I
>> don't claim to know anything. I'm still learning new things every day.
>> That's why I post here, to learn. Not to be told what to believe, but to
>> encounter new ideas and be challenged on my old ideas.

>
> I have spent years in Ramchal, Derech Hashem, or Path of the Just.  You
> should see my desk, it is space ship Mary Talmud on the left Torah on the
> left and the right.  I am flanked, and its a mitzvah.
>
> Here is where I have spent my life for the last 5 1/2 years:
>
> . Divrei Hayamim I and II, Rashi Bereishis (the following Rashi's are all on
> my desk and used daily), Rashi Shemos, Rashi Vayikra, Rashi Bamidbar, Rashi
> Devarim, Baal Ha Turim Bereishis, Ramban Bereishis I and II, Yehoshua, Ezra,
> Nehemiah, Samuel I and II in one volume, Ruth, Kol Dodi Megillah, Koheles,
> Mishlei, Tehillim I and II, Iyov, Yechezkel, Yirmiyahu ( Me'am Loez),
> Yishyahu (Me'am Loez), Daniel, Trei Asor, Yonah, Shir Ha Shirim, I&II Kings
> Pirkei Avos Rav Chaim Volozhon, Derech Hashem Ramchal..Aryeh Kaplan, Sefer
> Yezirah, Moreh Nevuchim (Partial), Talmuds: Avodah Zarah I, Taanis, Berachos
> I, Sanhedrin III, Chovos HaLevavos - R' Bachya Mesilas Yesharim - Ramchal
> Michtav Me'Eliyahu - R' Dessler
>
> I think I am missing some.
>
> Although Kabbalah has filtered through, I do not attempt to study it deeply
> because I have too much more Torah to learn, and I don't have a teacher.  I
> know that a person can impact the spiritual world in a negative way, and I
> don't want to be the one who does Baruch Hashem.
>
> I also use the Caldee, but my Hebrew is improving and I use it less often.
>
> I read every portion in Hebrew and English out loud.  I never study without
> verbalizing each word and letter.
>
>
>

>> If my studies have taught me anything useful, it is to be skeptical of
>> authority, all forms of authority. I don't believe it is necessary to put
>> your brain on hold in order to approach God. Blind faith is a tragedy.
>> When I see it, I feel embarrassed for the person who displays it.

>

>> -Al-