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Crossing the ISM Boundary

“The world is new to us every morning –

this is God’s gift: and EVERY man should believe he is reborn each day.”

–the Baal Shem Tov (primary founder of Hasidism)

“You cannot continue to victimize someone else

just because you yourself were a victim once – there has to be a limit.”

–Edward Said (Palestinian author and activist)

Hasidimism, Israelism, and Antisemitism

Disclaimer: These are quite controversial issues. I am writing from my observations and informed opinions. I am not a professional scholar or researcher in any of these fields. I ask only that you see if any of it resonates with your own thoughts and feelings.

Two of the words in the title are invented, one by me. They obviously have to do with two topics, two very thorny discussion topics: the communities of people known as Hasidic, and the nation-state of Israel. I use the term “thorny” because discussing either of them almost always involves fear of being stung by accusations of antisemitism or possibly contributing to already existing antisemitism in the larger community. My intention in writing this is to help those struggling with the issues, who have strong feelings about them, but are afraid and inhibited about communicating, especially with Jewish people. My hope is to contribute to a freer and more helpful dialogue and positive actions.

First a bit about what I mean by “isms.”

Growing up in a religious or a secular-ideological family is growing up immersed in an ism. That is, there’s a set of ideas or myths that define what is heroic or cowardly, what your relation to God or higher ideals entails, and how to answer the basic questions of life: who your people are, who or what you are, and what you are here to do. These myths or belief systems deeply saturate your consciousness affecting all thoughts, feelings and visceral inclinations on subjects that touch on the ism identity. Folks with strong ism identities tend to see the world in us/them ways, “you’re one of us, or not,” “you get it, or you don’t.” Criticism from within the group has to fall within a certain boundary of acceptability, criticism from outside the group tends to be seen as hostile and threatening. People outside the ism group tend to sense the boundary that encloses the group and individuals in it.

Anti-SemitISM

Unfortunately, this is an ism that has captured most of humanity, especially in that part of humanity that has been influenced by Christianism (a subject for another time). Over the past two millennia, generation after generation, so much hatred has poured forth, so much degrading judgement has been heaped on “the Jews,” that it’s difficult for anyone to have escaped feeling or believing that some of it is true. With so much smoke, there must be fire somewhere. So some of what is actually the dark projection of the shadow of humanity – the ego’s essential greediness and selfishness – must be the actual nature of the Jews. “Smart as they may be, they’re only out for themselves.”

Volumes of books and articles have been written by scholars about antisemitism, its roots and complex manifestations. What I’m referring to here is the subjective mindset that demonizes the essential character of Jewish people, and the actions that stem from that mindset. It has fulfilled the need for a scapegoat in many parts of the world over the centuries. This has resulted in separation, ghettoization and pogroms, culminating in the Holocaust. Until recently, the stereotypes of Jews became almost universally accepted even by the intelligentsia throughout Europe and its extensions. In the U.S., Jews were excluded from many predominantly White associations and public accommodations up until the 1950’s when I was a child. I recall going on trips to Miami and my dad telling me certain hotels didn’t allow Jews (or Colored or dogs).

While expressions of anti-Semitic ideas and discrimination against Jewish people have been largely eliminated from public view in the U.S., they are far from gone.

On a website comment discussion that had complaints about a business (that was owned by Jews), someone wrote, ”Anything Jews get into, money, publishing, movie industry, becomes crooked because they are crooked by nature.” Another said, “Time after time, nation after nation, generation after generation, they are stealers.”

In recent times, especially in the Trump era, openly racist and antisemitic language and violence have escalated, coming out of the closet of the subjective experience of individuals and routinely expressed on social media and through acts of harassment and violence. We’ve all heard the haunting chant of the White Supremacists marching in Charlottesville chanting “Jews will not replace us.”

I think it’s important to acknowledge that antisemitic tropes are like destructive memes – thoughts that spread like contagious viruses. They exist on a continuum of intensity in just about everyone, Jewish people included. As with racism, patriarchy, classism, etc., even the victims have been subjected to the conditioning. Being free of it starts with being aware of it. Anti-racist activists and teachers are often wrongly criticized for attempting to tell liberal white people that they still have internalized racism. And for educating people of color as to how their internalized racism works against themselves. Isms become invisible prisons of the mind.

The Russian spiritual teacher, Gurdjieff said, “You are in prison. If you wish to get out of prison, the first thing you must do is realize that you are in prison. If you think you are free, you can’t escape.”

All that said, it’s important to acknowledge that dramatic progress has been made, especially in the U.S. and Europe. Most Jews have fully assimilated and been accepted into all areas of society and have leadership roles throughout. Jews have positions of power and influence seemingly at odds with the fact that they are 2.4% of the adult U.S. population and .2% of the world. (Yes, 2.4 and .2 – hard to believe). What’s troubling is that in the two areas of focus in this writing, the communities of the Hasidim and Israel, there are serious concerns about how that power and influence is being abused.

HasidimISM

I am a firm supporter of the freedom of religion. Hasidism is an essentially mystical, Jewish spiritual transmission with a lineage extending back several centuries. It contains some of the most precious and deepest teachings of the Jewish religion. It was a liberating force in the Jewish world, offering Jews that were not steeped in the scholarly study of Jewish law an opportunity to experience a joyful and mystical form of spirituality with a loving embrace of the natural world.

But as with Evangelical, fundamentalist Christianity, the organized institutions that evolved to represent the teachings of the pioneers of this tradition rigidified the practices and created hierarchies of power, and we have what we have today. There is the Hasidim and several offshoots and parallel ultra-Orthodox groups all of which are part of what are known as Haredi Jews. Most outsiders refer to all Haredi people as Hasidic, so I’m using that more familiar term here. An individual in this tradition is a Hasid, the plural is Hasidim. What I’m calling Hasidimism is the adherence to the hierarchical, group-think, fundamentalist, separative ideology within much of the Haredi community that leads those members to be mistrustful and fearful of outsiders and willing to act with wanton disregard for the rights and needs of those they view as outsiders: the Goyim (non-Jews) and secular Jews. To be sure, not all Hasidim adhere to this way. As with all isms, there is a continuum along which people find themselves.

I moved to Rockland County in 2004. It’s less than an hour north of New York City. When I asked people here what the primary issues were in the area, I was told it was relations with the Hasidim: their relations with non-Jews, with people of color and with non-ultra-Orthodox Jews. The Hasidim mostly live in enclaves in one part of the County and had managed to take control of the public school board of one of the towns even though their kids did not attend those schools. The public schools were primarily Black and Brown, the Hasidic kids went to private yeshivas and it was apparent that the public schools were being slowly milked of resources diverted to the yeshivas. Complaints were routinely dismissed as coming from antisemitism.

The damage to the public schools and many other issues were making people outside the Hasidic community view them with hostility, validating the big fear generated by Hasidimism – that everyone hates them. After years of trying to foster dialogues between the Hasidim and other segments of the community, a group of progressives came together to focus attention of the problems. We first needed to address clearly that criticism of the leaders and group behavior of the Hasidic/Haredi community had nothing to do with antisemitism. A six page document was drafted with links to videos and other sources of information. Because of the intense and consistent accusations that critics of the Hasidic community were anti-Semitic, the document stated:

“We speak along with the many liberal and progressive Jews from all the non-ultra-Orthodox communities: Reform, Conservative, Orthodox, Reconstructionist and secular. We are also aware that there are many within the ultra-Orthodox religious world who genuinely oppose the direction of their leaders but are intimidated into silence.
……It seems clear that these problems would generally be addressed by the liberal and progressive community through community education, government regulation and intervention were it not for the fear of being falsely accused of antisemitism. We cannot overstate this fact: opposition to the illegal and unethical behavior of any ultra-Orthodox leaders or groups is not antisemitism. Liberal and progressive citizens and political representatives need to stand clearly in opposition to such destructive activities as is consistent with their values.”

The document went on to describe in detail a number of areas of concern. A few of the issues are summarized here:

Schools: “Despite their indifference and even contempt for public education, Ultra-Orthodox run for and are elected to the boards of public school districts. Independent monitors have found that they use their public positions to favor the interests of their own private religious schools (yeshivas). The state of New York found that the East Ramapo school district, under control of a majority ultra-Orthodox board, illegally sent millions of dollars to yeshivas. Two public schools in East Ramapo were closed and sold to yeshivas for less than their value, and an appraiser was convicted of filing false instruments in association with one of the sales.”


Education within the Yeshivas: In Rockland County and many of the Hasidic schools in NYC, little or no secular education is provided all the way through high school. This is contrary to state law and creates numerous problems for their own members and the surrounding community.


Politics: With little education in civics, history (other than the Bible), science, and the English language, the leaders of the community essentially dictate who and what to vote for in elections and the community votes as a block. Politicians most often fall in line and support policies inconsistent with the needs of the larger community.


Housing: Hasidic developers have controlled land use boards in towns and routinely violate comprehensive plans, environmental regulations, safety regulations, and build housing that discriminates against non-Haredi individuals. Public funds are used to build what is essentially segregated housing. Because of the extremely high birth rate encouraged by Hasidimism, they seek to expand to surrounding communities. Whole upstate towns have had their school boards and town councils similarly taken over.


While these issues affect those outside the Haredi community, many issues of concern adversely affect members of the community itself which ultimately creates a burden on everyone. Covering up child and domestic abuse, revoking parental rights of dissidents, promotion of prejudice and discrimination, fraud in public programs, slumlord rental ownership, cult-like submission to some of the rabbis.


It is difficult for me to list these things as I know that these behaviors are characteristic of the stereotypes that antisemites hold against Jews. Further, Hasidimism promotes the belief that they are the only true Jews. It’s for this reason and more that much of the vocal opposition to the Hasidic expansion into other communities comes from Jewish people.


To make this last point more clear, I offer an anecdotal story. I was recently in a large department store talking with a sales lady, an immigrant from Ecuador. She was telling me about how “the Jews” were abusing some of her friends, taking advantage of them because they did not have legal status, and cheating them of their money. I knew, of course, what she meant: the men with the long beards and black hats and coats. She was shocked when I told her that I was Jewish. I shared that there are differences amongst Jews as there are with all peoples. The incident reminded me of stories I’ve heard of the Palestinian children who when they speak of the men in full armor with machine guns taking their fathers and brothers away or destroying their homes, they call those men, “the Jews.” Those are the only Jews they know. Which brings me to IsraelISM.

IsraelISM

The following are facts: In much of the land often referred to as Israel/Palestine, one ethnic group (Jewish-Israelis) occupies and increasingly confiscates the land of another ethnic group (Arab-Palestinians), and through a brutal military occupation controls the movement and lives of that people. Despite these facts, here in the U.S., Jewish youth are taught that what is happening is necessary and justified and that they need to support and defend the nation-state of Israel against all critics. More than that, it is their obligation to “love” Israel and consider moving there and/or joining the military that enforces that Occupation. That is Israelism.

The term was coined by the directors, Eric Axelman and Sam Eilertsen, of the film by that name, “Israelism.” As soon as I saw the title I understood. I had seen this ism consistently in almost all Jewish people I’ve met and had to face it in myself. As a young person, I was taught to have an emotional bond with Israel and went door-to-door raising money for a fund that, as it turns out, was discriminating against Palestinian people. The documentary is calling attention to the lifelong conditioning of American Jewish youth to love and support blindly a nation-state even when that nation consistently oppresses other people. This has brought about a Jewish population (of liberals and conservatives) that, with some exceptions, continues to support Israel’s apartheid policies with sophisticated double-think that is only possible when one is immersed in a strong ism.

“When two young American Jews raised to unconditionally love Israel witness the way Israel treats Palestinians, their lives take sharp left turns. Their stories reveal a deepening generational divide over modern Jewish identity.”
From the website of the film “Israelism”

Those captivated by Hasidimism see those outside their world as threatening, especially when any form of criticism is heard. Hasidimism blinds their eyes to the abuses within their community and the abuses their community perpetrates on others. Just so, American Jews have been steeped in Israelism and blinded to what is plain to see if one only looks. Decade after decade of lies and abuse is supported with billions of dollars from the U.S. government, as well as Jewish and evangelical Christian groups (the latter with a whole different ideological rationale). This is aid, that in other circumstances, would be considered supporting terrorism.

I will not attempt here to argue or document the strong positions I’ve stated above. There are so many books and articles and films and eye-witness accounts that make it clear enough. (I am writing for those who already get this, but may not recognize the extent of the problem or that they can indeed speak out about it.) Yet, I’m heartened by the the fact, as documented in the film, a significant portion of today’s Jewish youth – and adults as well – are seeing through the false narrative, and have come to support the Palestinian cause for justice. The film documents this hopeful trend.

But isms don’t die easily. Most people I know who can see the obvious injustice in Israel/Palestine avoid talking about it, especially with Jewish friends. Most Jews who are liberal and progressive on every issue will balk at criticism of Israel, let alone advocating for an end to military aid to Israel even while those weapons are used to kill civilians, women and children. Jews who supported the boycott of South Africa, the boycotts of grapes or lettuce in support of farm-workers, feel the non-violent boycott of Israel is somehow not fair or evil.

As I write this, Israel is in a crisis over preserving the independence of the judiciary and just how far to the right its government will go. Openly racist individuals have been elected and empowered. Yes, many Israelis are demonstrating in the streets, fighting for “democracy.” But it’s democracy for Jews only. As yet, only very small groups among the protestors call attention to the continuing, in fact escalating, violence and subjugation of the Palestinian population under military rule. “Jewish supremacy” ends up being the final outgrowth of of Israelism.

Some hopeful signs

Many Hasidic/Haredi individuals are finding ways to open their minds beyond Hasidimism and still enjoy the community spirit and religious practices they value. Many have found ways to leave the fold entirely, even though this often means rejection by family, losing contact with children and trying to find their way in a world for which they have not been prepared. Organizations such as Footsteps help people deprogram from the cult aspects of Hasidimism and integrate into the modern world. Groups such as Yaffed have battled to get New York State and NYC to enforce the laws demanding that secular education be taught in the yeshivas. This is important so that members of the Hasidic community can be well informed, and question some of the aspects of Hasidimism they’ve been steeped in. It also provides young adults an opportunity to have the skills and knowledge to choose for themselves whether to stay or go. Further, I have learned that there are groups of Hasidic men and women exploring new therapies, meditation, yoga and even psychedelic ceremonies as ways to free their minds, heal trauma, and perhaps dissolve the separative and fearful conditioning of Hasidimism.

As mentioned, “Israelism,” the film, documents the stories of several young Jews who witnessed the abusive treatment of Palestinians and opened their eyes to how they’d been misled. One had even joined and served in the Israeli military. They have joined the growing movement among young Americans, especially young Jews, questioning and actively fighting against the Israelism they were raised in. Groups such as Jewish Voice for Peace, If Not Now, Just Vision, Partners for Progressive Israel, and many others are gaining traction as they consistently question the Israelism narrative.

Talking critically about Israel has been taboo for many years, especially for people in public positions such as business leaders and politicians. Politicians know that they can lose not only business relationships and friendships, but financial support and votes. In fact, massive amounts of money are poured into propaganda campaigns against elected officials who dare to speak against Israel’s actions. That is slowly changing as the understandings and feelings in the general population are changing, (quite rapidly among mainstream Democrats). People under thirty in the U.S. are now reported to be equally supportive of the Palestinians as they are of the Israelis, quite different from the older generations. Perhaps indicative of this trend is the fact that the film, “Israelism,” has won best documentary film in film festivals all over the country, and was the audience selection for best documentary at the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival.

Isms live not just in the mind, but in the heart and viscerally in our bodies. They are transmitted inter-generationally. They tend to control where and to what we pay attention, providing a lens through which everything: art, politics, even relationships are seen and judged. To emerge from of an ism is often a slow and painful process, especially when personal relationships are based in it. Accounts of White Supremacists who have been liberated from the hateful mental prison of racism and antisemitism shed light on just what it takes. The work of Daryl Davis, the African American musician who helped turn the minds of a number of KKK members is very inspiring. See more about his work here.

In the name of combating antisemitism, laws have been passed that make even advocating the non-violent boycott of Israel illegal. The accusation of antisemitism has brought condemnation, censoring and cancelling of honest discussion and activism aimed at supporting justice in Israel/Palestine. As well, for towns and cities in New York and other areas of the U.S., where people live in proximity to Hasidic enclaves, honest and direct communication needs to happen without fear that such talk is antisemitic.

From a deep perspective, I believe that both Israelism and Hasidimism have their roots in the collective, inter-generational trauma(s) wrought from antisemitism. While this does not justify them, it helps us to understand, empathize, and have constructive dialogue. My hope is that these thoughts will help to open that dialogue and be liberating in the struggle for justice.

Devotee of Justice and Consciousness Change – Joseph Tieger

When I am reminded of the bravery of those who put their lives in danger for the sake of justice, I am moved to find at least a bit more of that courage in myself and take whatever steps I can to continue that struggle for a more just and peaceful world. I recently had a conversation with my good friend, Joseph Tieger, who was among the early white participants in the civil rights struggle in the South. By activist, I don’t mean someone who attended a few civil rights marches or protests, but someone who devoted himself full-time to local and national efforts and was repeatedly threatened, beaten and imprisoned. I recorded our talk for both a podcast and YouTube and hope you can take the time to tune it in.

Joseph recently published a memoir of his activist time in the civil rights struggle from 1962 – 72, and his later attempts to find an even deeper path towards bringing about change. The book, Lately It Occurs To Me: A Memoir of the Civil Rights Movement & The Open Road (1963—1976) offers a deep and detailed look into the movement in North Carolina and beyond. It givers us a glimpse into the overt hatred and violence as well as the only somewhat more subtle actions of the political and legal establishment to stop the movement towards integration and voting rights. It’s an exciting and mind-opening read.

After his years as a civil rights activist and then attorney, Joseph watched as the movement splintered and broke apart. He went on a journey of self-discovery not unlike many of us in the 60’s ending up in California. (Full disclosure: In many respects Joseph’s journey is very parallel to my own, and when we met in the 1980’s we discovered that we were in each other’s FBI files).

It was in the Bay Area of California that I met Joseph. He was then traveling and presenting a video series with his wife Johanna called “How Then Shall We Live.” It featured Ram Dass and Stephen Levine and eventually became a PBS series offering “essential teachings for personal awakening on social action, impermanence and living life fully present.”

After that, Joseph and Johanna produced a magical ten-part series with Ram Dass and dozens of other visionary teachers and celebrities live in Oakland that involved thousands of participants in social justice and diversity training while cultivating self-awareness and an open heart. This series, “Reaching Out” also became a video series.

Interestingly, on the day I had my recorded zoom conversation with Joseph, I received an article from Tikkun Magazine that included the following passage:

“However, in a sense, the saturating effects of the sixties movements were radically incomplete. They have not reached many people, particularly many White people, in our bones. Although the movements have created, and continue to create, institutional and legal and systemic shifts, the system is quite stubborn because most people’s hearts and minds have not been deeply affected. That’s why what’s needed in the United States, and the world over, is a moral, even a spiritual, change, to rise to the level of the demands for political change. ….. It’s actually quite empowering to know that we’re responsible for what we see on the news. Instead of wringing our hands, we can rewrite the script.”
–from “My American Violence” by Robert Birdwell in Tikkun Magazine

It’s well worth asking, ‘Where did all that passionate courage of the movement in the 60’s go?’ As well as, ’Where did all that hateful resistance go?’ Obviously, there are aspects of it in the current scene all around the world. But, perhaps part of the answer is they are both within us, you and me. It’s just a matter of which part we feed.

Love and blessings,

Alan Levin

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You can get Joseph’s book at Amazon here.

The podcast of our conversation is here.

The YouTube is here.

And please check out and subscribe to the series of interesting interviews with fascinating boundary-crossers at YouTube and Buzzsprout podcast.

Spirituality, Global Change, and Psychedelics

Link to my new book: Preparation for a Sacred, Psychedelic Journey
Link to my recent talk at the Gay Buddhist Fellowship: “Psychedelics on the Spiritual Path”

“Who am I?” “What am I doing here?” These are the core questions that focus attention on the spiritual path. I would add that the following questions are also worth asking, even though one could say they are essentially included in the above: “What is all this that appears outside of me?” and “What is my relationship with all that?” The latter questions bring the focus to our relatedness and responsibility to the world in which we live.

I think that if anyone sincerely asks and meditates with these questions, they will find themselves moved to take part in shifting the direction of humanity towards creating a more just and peaceful world, one in which we live in harmony with all life on Earth. In other words, there will be a shift in consciousness such that their thoughts, feelings and motivations
to act will involve a wider and more loving embrace of themselves and everyone and everything. They will care more about creating a loving, global community.

The above thoughts come from the fact that every time I experience (or even get close to) the reality of my own true nature, and tune to the essence of all that is around me, I experience compassion and goodwill. I am moved to help bring about a better world. I don’t, and can’t, arrive at that through just thinking about these questions. It is an experience that comes through spiritual practices that take me beyond my thinking mind and that I feel in my heart and body.

For many years I have believed that it is only through the wider dissemination of experientially based spiritual teachings that we will avert human caused catastrophe and create a better world. As the Dalai Lama and others have proposed, we need a spiritual or consciousness revolution. I still believe that, and it seems to me more urgent than ever.

In this light I am heartened to see that one long suppressed, even demonized, approach to spiritual awakening is surfacing in a positive way in mainstream discourse: psychedelics. This is coming about partly through carefully-worded statements from scientific researchers at university hospitals proving the effectiveness of psychedelic therapies for people with treatment resistant depression, addictions, PTSD, and other clinical problems/disorders. But contained in these reports, somewhat hidden in plain sight, is that the most successful outcomes of these treatments come primarily when the participant has what they deem to be a “spiritual or mystical experience.”

While these relatively recent government approved research findings are being reported in mainstream media, the “underground” network of guides, who have been performing psychedelic ceremonies and rituals for groups and individuals for decades, has grown to where they can no longer be ignored. Knowledge of – and participation in – these ceremonies is  bursting into the mainstream and some forms of legalization are imminent. An aspect of this is the willingness of many participants, including very well respected thought leaders, to share their experiences past and present.

Among people I know, including numerous clients I see as a psychotherapist, many are exploring psychedelics with experienced guides with intentions for psychological healing and spiritual growth. I have witnessed very positive results, often breakthroughs that would involve years of therapy or meditation practice. Because of my own fairly extensive participation in similar ceremonial circles over the past 40-plus years, I am able to support their preparation for these experiences and their integration afterwards.

As the lid is lifted off of prohibition, it will be messy. There will likely be a great deal of misuse and abuse of these very powerful substances. People with very limited experience will set themselves up as guides for others. People will take what are potentially life-transforming sacred medicines and use them in recreational settings, and while some will have fun, others will have problems as a result. And there may be damaging consequences for some people for whom psychedelics are not appropriate. Corporations, especially the pharmaceutical industry, are already seeking to capitalize and control the “psychedelic renaissance.” The dominant culture will tend to desacralize, co-opt and make into a fad what could otherwise be a catalyst for a global shift towards a loving community seeking to protect and sustain all life.

Psychedelics have great promise and yet are not a panacea. They can help bring about experiences that speak deeply to the questions posed at the beginning of this writing. Yet, those benefits come only when the internal intentionality and the surrounding environment (the set and setting) are supportive of psychological and spiritual growth. Lasting change tends to come when the altered-state journey is seen as one part of a lifelong path of inner work, not a single event expected to solve one’s problems.

In light of all of the above, I’ve written and self-published a short book, Preparation for a Sacred Psychedelic Journey. In it I offer a series of suggestions for steps and practices that help one to prepare for a safe and fruitful experience. I draw from what I’ve learned over the last 40-plus years of my own explorations. If you or anyone you know is interested in embarking on such a journey, or is already actively working with these substances, I hope this book will be of value. I’ve kept the price as low as possible.

You may also be interested in the podcast recording of a talk I recently gave at the Gay Buddhist Fellowship on this theme: https://gaybuddhist.org/podcast/

Please feel free to pass this invitation on and write a review on Amazon if you like the book.

I offer my blessings for a world that honors the spiritual journey and moves towards harmony amongst humans and all life,


Here’s comments from several folks who’ve read the book:

“In the tradition and lineage of James Fadiman and Ralph Metzner, transpersonal psychotherapist Alan Levin has brought forth an indispensable guidebook for using psychotropic medicines as a vehicle for awakening.”
                     –Joseph Tieger – author of Lately It Occurs To Me: A Memoir of The Civil Rights Movement & The Open Road

“The entheogenic journey can help us access elemental aspects of our being and can assist us in growth. It is with proper preparation and guidance that these profound (aspects) are examined. In this book, Alan Levin shares key concepts that are necessary to get ready for the journey. A must read for those who are seeking these essential truths and deep healing.”
                        –JH

“I highly recommend Alan Levin’s Preparation for a Sacred Psychedelic Journey book to anyone who is planning on embarking on an altered state journey. Alan’s guidance is invaluable in helping to prepare for a safe and sacred experience. The book is well-organized and covers everything from setting intentions to creating a safe and supportive environment for your journey.

“Alan’s expertise and compassionate approach make this book an essential resource for anyone seeking to explore the potential benefits of psychedelics in a responsible and mindful way. His teachings are rooted in decades of personal experience and research, and he provides practical tools and techniques to help you navigate the journey with confidence and ease.….”
                      –roseheart

“Alan Levin provides a thorough, thoughtful, and clear guide for preparing oneself for embarking on an altered state journey. Levin’s guidance for intention setting, preparatory activities, and practices for navigating consciousness were very helpful and well-articulated.”
–Julia Hume

“This is a small but powerful book? My personal work with Alan Levin has changed my life in a safe and most profound way. I highly recommend it to anyone yearning for deeper love and peace.”
                  –Celeste Simone, Voice Teacher/Performance Coach/Director

Human Kindness Inside and Outside Prison

“The world changes for the better with every act of kindness,

and for the worse with every act of cruelty.” – Bo Lozoff

I’ve heard a powerful teaching attributed to the mystic/philosopher/spiritual teacher, George Gurdjieff. It goes something like this: “A person cannot get free of a prison if he doesn’t know he’s in one.” Incarcerated men and women are reminded 24/7 that they are in a prison by the bars that limit their movement. Those of us on the outside are mostly blind to the imprisonment defined by our self-limiting beliefs and narrowed vision of reality. Who then is in a better position to do the work aimed at inner freedom?

My dear friends, Bo and Sita Lozoff, created the Prison Ashram Project in 1973 to help prisoners make their time behind bars one of spiritual awakening through yoga, meditation and a wide range of wisdom teachings from the East and West – to make their prison an ashram for their spiritual awakening. They were inspired and supported by Ram Dass and their project has grown into the largest prison ministry in the U.S. reaching tens of thousands of incarcerated men and women. It is now renamed the “Human Kindness Foundation.” In addition to ongoing letter exchanges with prisoners, they have visited and held workshops in prisons all across the country while distributing free copies of books to prisoners. The Village Voice called Bo’s book, We’re All Doing Time, “one to the 10 books everyone in the world should read” and has over half a million copies in print.

Sita Lozoff is a wise and deeply spiritual person with a warm and loving heart. She happily took a supportive role to Bo’s very dynamic leadership and teaching activities until Bo’s death in 2012. She has now stepped into a greater leadership role herself as the spiritual director of HKF and I was very happy to have a recorded conversation with her which you can now see on YouTube or listen to as a podcast (links also below).

Human Kindness Foundation, like most non-profits, depends primarily on small donor contributions and I encourage you to consider making a donation if you want to support their mission. As you know, mass incarceration in the U.S. is enormously destructive and unjust. It is inflicted disproportionately on people of color, with little benefit towards rehabilitation or restoring justice. Nonetheless, while in prison, facing the injustice of the system and the often brutal reality of life there, individuals have transformed their thinking and way of being with the help of HKF. You can see more about their projects and make a donation here: https://humankindness.org/

May all beings be free.

With love and blessings,

Alan

YouTube video of conversation with Sita: https://youtu.be/NUbD05sRsOA

Podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1827447/12658257

Website of Human Kindness Foundation: https://humankindness.org/

Taoism – Being One and Being With Suffering

Interview with Ken Cohen

Ken Cohen is the author of The Way of Qigong: The Art and Science of Chinese Energy Healing and also Honoring the Medicine: The Essential Guide to Native American Healing. He is the rare individual who has entered fully into these spiritual traditions, studying and honoring the lineage, language and practices with absolute integrity. It was my honor to have another chance to interview Ken for my podcast and YouTube series having previously spoken with him for my book, Crossing the Boundary: Stories of Jewish Leaders of Other Spiritual Paths.

In our conversation we cover a lot of ground and I hope you take the time to either listen to the podcast or watch the video. We begin with discussing his identity as a Jewish man as well as his being an adopted member of the Cree people. He recalls his Jewish family history that shaped much of his life’s direction even while choosing to focus his attention on two distinctly different paths: learning the Chinese language, Taoism, Qigong and Tai Chi, and finding himself adopted and trained by Native American elders in their traditional, healing arts.

In response to a wide range of questions, he offers rich teachings from a Taoist perspective as well as his views on learning from nature. In regards to the latter, he emphasizes the importance of cultivating deep knowledge and intuitive relationships with plants for healing body and mind, much of which he learned the elders.

We explore the focus of much of my own work: how the spiritual quest, (Taoist or otherwise) relates to helping relieve suffering and to activism for peace, justice and a sustainable human relationship with the world. I find what he shared to be very powerful teachings for being with our internal process when responding to the painful state of the world. Recognizing his own troubled reactions, he describes going out into nature and praying for guidance. What he received are four guidelines. He emphasizes that this is not a substitute for active work in the world, but for preserving personal, psychological and spiritual well-being in the face of injustice. (I’ve summarized them here, but hope you listen for the full explanation of this very powerful teaching.)

1.Release the injustice you experience up to Creator. Don’t return the fire.
2. Never indulge in negative thinking. That only strengthens what feeds the abuse.
3. Don’t allow even a single shell of bitterness to form around your heart.
4. Do whatever is necessary to keep your heart fully capable of receiving and giving love.

We continue on to discuss the use of psychedelic plant medicines, the use of tea as a spiritual path and the need to focus deeply with a spiritual tradition rather than diluting or mixing them haphazardly, . Ken is quite an amazing individual and I encourage you to listen to our interview and check into his books and websites to find out more about him and his teachings.

The Way of Qigong: https://www.qigonghealing.com/
Honoring the Medicine: https://www.sacredearthcircle.com/

Our conversation can be found at

And https://www.buzzsprout.com/1827447/12089957 and

You can listen to all the Crossing the Boundary interviews here:

https://www.buzzsprout.com/1827447

and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpfneC8HTO0&list=PLBTcFhpF_7838Ckgn-8rf508QrjEqc9GAhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpfneC8HTO0&list=PLBTcFhpF_7838Ckgn-8rf508QrjEqc9GA

With love and blessings,

Alan

Subtle Activism with David Nicol

“The old will disappear. Human level consciousness by itself can no longer resolve the complexities it has created.”
–David Spangler

“We are all affecting the world every moment, whether we mean to or not. Our actions and states of mind matter, because we are so deeply interconnected with one another.”
― Ram Dass

“Subtle activism is a bridge between the inner world of spirituality and the outer world of activism (as normally conceived) that emphasizes the potential of spiritual practice to exert a subtle but crucial form of social influence.

“We have been weaving a multi-strand planetary Web of Light as energetic support and protection for humanity and the Earth as we pass through this global crisis of initiation.”
–David Nicol

How does the intention to wake up spiritually intersect with the intention to serve and make the world a better place?

I write this from 50 plus years of observations and personal experience with both spiritual communities and activist movements. I was initiated into the civil rights and anti-war movements as an angry young man in the Sixties. I withdrew into a disciplined spiritual group for the decade of the Seventies to find inner peace. Over the last forty years I’ve evolved through different approaches to integrating the two paths.*

For several decades now, spiritual teachers and communities have been shifting their emphasis from the individual journey of awakening or enlightenment to focusing on awareness of the inter-relatedness of life and the intention to reduce suffering and make the world a better place. This is, of course, not a new idea. It has been part of the wisdom teachings that come from almost all ancient, traditional religious or spiritual sources. We have been told, “Love your neighbor as yourself” and “You are here to heal and repair the earth.)”

But many of us in the last half century who became disenchanted with the religions of our families adopted a very individualistic notion of spirituality. We thought that if we sat and meditated or chanted or prayed long enough, we would become enlightened and that was the goal of life. Over time, those of us who were sincere and paying attention found that this pursuit of individual enlightenment was naive, unfulfilling, and ultimately not bringing about the beauty, goodness and truth we were seeking. It was not in alignment with the calling of their souls. Perhaps more importantly, it was not in keeping with Reality, wherein we are not essentially separate beings.

More and more spiritual teachers, even those whose primary focus is on “non-duality,” have been pointing attention to the need for those on a spiritual path to address the problems of the world. It is clear that the primary causes of human suffering (racial and economic injustice, poverty and hunger, the threat of nuclear war, the poisoning of the Earth, climate change and a host of related issues) stem from a terribly imbalanced collective human consciousness. Rather than simply sitting and meditating, a spiritual life means recognizing ones relationship and responsibility to these issues and the people and other life forms who are suffering.

The question then becomes how does one integrate or harmonize these seemingly opposite directions of attention. On the one hand there is the inward focus on acceptance, stillness, presence and being. On the other is the outward focus on resistance and confrontation with injustice and action to right what is wrong.

What I find most spiritual teachers suggesting is a process of alternating between the two. That is, take time to meditate or go inward to experience and merge with the refreshing flow of life energy from Source or Higher Consciousness, then participate in traditional actions of advocacy or protest, then come back to your meditation practice to recenter yourself. This provides a solution to the “burnout” often experienced in the frustrating work of political and social activism. It also helps avoid the tendency to react with anger and competition-based consciousness which are poisons that infect many activist movements. We develop the ability to take action with compassion, a loving heart, and a spirit of collaboration.

Additionallly, there is a very interesting alternative: subtle activism. This is the work advocated by David Nicol, (among others) applying the methods of spiritual practices to directly influence the currents of change in the world. I invite you to watch my recent conversation with David in which we explore his personal journey to understanding, practicing and teaching this approach. (Or if you prefer, you can listen to the podcast.) As he’s written, “Subtle activism is a bridge between the inner world of spirituality and the outer world of activism (as normally conceived) that emphasizes the potential of spiritual practice to exert a subtle but crucial form of social influence.” David elaborates the theory and practice of his ideas in his book, Subtle Activism – The Inner Dimensions of Social and planetary Transformation. He has founded several projects bringing together tens of thousands of people from all over the world for worldwide meditations dedicated to social change.

It does seem to me that the old ways of bringing about social change are very limited in our current environment of mass misinformation and polarization. The subtle activism approach, which draws from ancient understandings from indigenous spirituality and uses modern technology, may be a vital ingredient in the mix of what will bring about the necessary change in our collective human consciousness.

For more information on David’s work and ways to learn more about and participate in subtle activist projects, see: The Gaiafield Project – https://gaiafield.net/

Youtube link for interview with David Nicol: https://youtu.be/EEF0cws-pk4

Podcast link: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1827447/10630045

Mother Earth Speaks – Ram Dass – Subtle Activism

“I suggest, therefore, that when Mother Earth “speaks,” She is asking us to “be” more conscious about what we are doing and to use the Archetypal Energy “Harmony” as a guide for corrective actions.”
–Carroy ‘Cuf’ Ferguson

“Social engagement does not only mean taking care of hungry children in remote areas or protesting wars. It means first engaging to transform suffering right where you are, then slowly moving out from there as far as you can.”
– Sister Chan Khong, Learning True Love

“Our passage into the new era, if viable at all, is obviously extremely narrow and fraught with danger. It is as though we are undergoing a collective initiatory crisis that, like all initiations, demands that we pass a crucial test to graduate to our next level of development.”
 –David Nicol

I’m seeing a growing consensus among an – admittedly still small, but rapidly growing – number of wisdom/spiritual teachers. Put very simply, what they are saying is that spiritual growth, or awakening, is not separate from the awareness of and responsibility towards all living beings. Add to that an awareness that “living beings” includes all that is, not just human and not just what we call organic. Add also, that this responsibility involves not just outward behavior, but our attitude, thoughts, and subtle energies, which are ongoingly, inter-connected with the physical world. We are especially being drawn to recognize and appreciate in all this the life and consciousness of Mother Earth.

I recently had the honor to speak with one wisdom elder who shares this view, Dr. Carroy ‘Cuf’ Ferguson. Cuf is the first African-American to become the president of the Association for Humanistic Psychology and a full Professor and past Dean of the College of Public and Community Service at the University of Massachusetts – Boston. He is the author of many books and articles exploring human consciousness as it relates to our personal and collective experiences especially involving ecology and race relations.

Our conversation is available at my YouTube channel here: https://youtu.be/-77pPk8GSeI

Or you can listen to the podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1827447/10257708.

In it, Cuf explains his ideas about “archetypal energies” and how they relate to our personal life experience and the planetary shifts that are moving through all of us. His ideas come from a lifelong study, starting with his experiences of racism in the South, and his experiences of spontaneous expanded consciousness. I found his thoughts very deep, refreshing and inspiring. He is also a most delightful man. My own introduction to his work came from finding an article in which he wrote about engaging in a process of “tuning in” to the voice of the corona virus. My interest was piqued as I’d been posting articles about COVID that I found to be illuminating in my Medium blog, “Covid Inspirations,” ( See: https://medium.com/@covid.inspirations).

I’ve added an article of his below from 2010 which took a deep look at the roots of our challenges with climate and the environment; totally relevant to today. See “Mother Earth ‘Speaks’: Change Yourself, Change The World, Use The Archetypal Energy “Harmony” As A Guide.” You can download the pdf file of this article here and many of his writing are available through an internet search. http://www.crossingtheboundary.org/motherearthspeaks/

(I’m having trouble adding pdf files to this format, so please note you will need to click on the above link and them click on the link to “motherearthspeaks and then come back here. I promise to get better at this.)

———

Most everyone is familiar with the spiritual teacher, Ram Dass. Ram Dass contributed enormously to the shift in direction of millions towards Eastern spirituality and then towards integrating spiritual practice with social action and service. He was a pioneer in so many ways and his work is being carried on by his associates and students at Love Serve Remember which you can find at: https://www.ramdass.org/.

My good friend, Joseph Tieger, went through a huge trove of material from Ram Dass and distilled a beautiful collection of RD’s talks on this subject, “Ram Dass – Engaging in a World on Fire.” Please download the file and read when you have time. http://www.crossingtheboundary.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/ramdass.pdf

——-

As we grow and expand consciousness, individually and collectively, we are transforming our sense of ourselves and the community within which we find ourselves. We see and feel our inter-connectedness with all-that-is and are moved to do what we can to help relieve suffering and find joy and love in all our relations. May we allow the overflow of this consciousness to spread to all parts of the world, to and through the one blessed world we share, Mother Earth and all creation.

Learning from COVID

Covid InspirationsJust now·6 min read

“If I succeed in loving you, I will be able to love everyone and all species on Earth… This is the real message of love.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh

“The bullets fired by a crazed gunman only travel
a distance measured in feet;
the hatred generated by that gunman’s subtle energy field of
thought and emotion can travel around the world.
So can the energies of love.”
–David Spangler

“There’s a disturbance in the Force!”
–Obi-wan Kenobi

When I started the site on Medium, Covid Inspirations, like many other folks, I thought the pandemic would run its course fairly quickly. Wrong, at least insofar as “quickly” meant a year or so. I also thought that perhaps this visitation from the micro-organismic earth intelligence would serve to unify humanity in a collective effort to respond. Wrong again.

There were signs in the early days of the pandemic that a spirit of goodwill and cooperation was being fostered. It was noted that this was the first time in human history that people in all parts of the world were focused on dealing with the same sense of threat. Also, people were being asked to make sacrifices to keep themselves and their community safe and they were finding creative ways to do this, to help their neighbors, to make music across the streets in lockdown, to wash their hands as rituals for all of humanity. Most of the posts in Covid Inspirations had reflected this hope.

But it soon became clear that the strategies for responding to the pandemic became just another dividing and militantly polarizing issue in a humanity already at war with itself. This division about the response has compounded the stress of the physical aspects of the pandemic exponentially. Truthfully, I’ve found it hard not to contribute to the divisiveness myself in words and in my heart. It seems clear that the unifying lessons of the pandemic are not easy ones. Listen to the words of the Benedictine Sister Joan Chittister, “Land of the Free — Home of the Self-Centered.”

On the far other end of the spectrum, Robert Kennedy, Jr often references the holocaust and Nazi Germany in describing the vaccine and the mandates.

Perhaps it’s time to step back and revisit the question of what the virus itself may be telling us. David Spangler’s essay (the most read piece on Covid Inspirations), does this in reporting a message from a ‘subtle, wise entity’ that communicated with him about the pandemic. https://medium.com/@covid.inspirations/message-from-david-spangler-7ce7a700a665 . Spangler received the following suggestions from his non-physical friend:

“In this pandemic, you look upon the microbial realm as an enemy. This can only add to the imbalance. Please send love into this realm.

“There has been a cry for help from many sources in the natural world and the beings that serve it, and this virus is responding to this cry. You can build a civilization that serves your needs and aspirations while also serving the harmony and well-being of the world around you. You will need to make changes, but this is within your capacity. You need to see yourselves as citizens of a planetary, Gaian community. This virus reminds you of this.”

Dr. Carroy Ferguson, president of the Association for Humanistic Psychology does something similar. Dr. Ferguson calls attention to the ideas of quantum physicist, David Bohm, that there is an implicate order in the universe within which we can commune and communicate with other intelligent life forms. He “wondered what would happen if I opened my mind to see what would emerge from the implicate order in a dialogue with COVID-19.” The full text is here: https://www.academia.edu/68031590/An_Inner_Dialogue_and_Message_From_COVID_19_Carroy_Cuf_Ferguson_Ph_D_President_Association_for_Humanistic_Psychology_Professor_University_of_Massachusetts_Boston. Some excerpts:

“As I understand it, your Collective Consciousness as a species is seeking to become a more mature Collective Consciousness that understands its connection to All That Is consciously. It is why you are here at this time in human history, and why I am here…

”I also want you to know that just like all aspects of All That Is, I too have consciousness and purpose….

“My message is a simple, yet broad reminder message. That message is: It is time to change how you think about and act toward one another; it is time for each of you to get in touch with who you truly are as souls on the planet at individual and collective levels and to embrace your power as a creator of your reality. At individual and collective levels, it is important that you recognize and understand the true nature of your interdependence with one another as souls, your Group Soul-Linked Consciousness as a species, and your interdependence with the Soul of the planet that you inhabit. Your consciousness, like my consciousness, therefore, is very much linked to the Consciousness of All That Is and to the Consciousness of what you know as Mother Earth or Gaia….

“You know and call me a virus and you currently view me as an enemy against which you must fight. I am not your enemy, although I understand that I appear to be. As strange as it may sound to you, I am here as a collaborative teacher and learner with you at individual and collective levels. I learn and adapt just like you do….

“My mutations are my expressions of what I learn about how best to live with you, how to communicate more effectively and efficiently with you and your body consciousness so that I can do less harm and co-exist with you. Likewise, your vaccines are your expressions of what you learn about how best to live with me. Your vaccines, in other words, are the methods you have developed to learn how best to communicate more effectively and efficiently with me and my consciousness. You see, we are both engaged in a collaborative and cooperative learning process to figure out how to more effectively and efficiently communicate with one another so that we can co-exist together…

“So, why am I here? My role, my broad purpose, is to assist in the evolution of your Collective Consciousness as a species…..

“While my origin may be scientifically interesting, what is more important is that for the first time in human history, as you understand it, you are now engaged in the same global conversation. This external condition, which you call a pandemic, is a necessary context to assist you in the evolution of your Collective Consciousness as a species. Through this kind of global, external conversation, opportunities have been, are, and will continue to open up…

So does any of that resolve the questions about whether the vaccines are a good thing? Whether we should have mandates for mask wearing in public venues? Whether any particular medical intervention is worthwhile? Whether the public health measures that have been adopted have caused more suffering than the virus or saved us from a enormously greater toll of illness and death? I don’t think they answer any of these questions.

Whether or not you believe the source of these ideas is anything other than a human attempt at wise counsel is not really the point. There is no denying that humanity is in peril as a result of it’s failure to respect and live in harmony with the web of life of which we are a part, from the micro to the macro. It’s clear that this lack of an attitude of respect and empathy is in full expression in human-to-human relations, making it almost impossible to address any of our problems with a spirit of trust.

Einstein is often quoted as saying “A problem can’t be solved from the mindset that created it.” These “voices from beyond” are telling us to shift our consciousness, to expand our consciousness They tell us that only from a state of mind that loves and includes all beings will we find our direction not only with COVID, but with all the much greater challenges coming our way.

As a psycho-spiritual therapist I feel a need to add that expanding consciousness does not mean avoiding or suppressing the fear and anger that are a natural human response to behaviors that are hateful and abusive. While we need to recognize, accept and honor these feelings, we don’t need to feed them. We can learn to transmute their energy into the fuel for action with compassion in service to Mother Earth.

The very recent passing of the venerable zen master, Thich Nhat Hanh, brings to mind his explanation of the essential Buddhist teaching called “inter-dependent co-arising.” Nhat Hanh tells us that this means “that everything arises in dependence upon multiple causes and conditions; nothing exists as a singular, independent entity.” To paraphrase Rumi, “There is a field — a unified web of inter-dependent beings, co-arising — I’ll meet you there.”

Communing With the Realms of Life on Earth

This message comes with a link to a prayer/meditation that I recorded for my podcast series. The practice is one that I learned from my good friend and teacher of many years, Ralph Metzner, who joined the ancestor spirits in March of 2019. It’s a very helpful way to focus your attention before going on a journey of any kind, whether inward for healing, growth or exploring and expanding consciousness, or outward through the world. Similarly, it can be used at the end of a journey for opening to and expressing gratitude.

painting by Sam Brown, https://www.flickr.com/photos/samandkosmo/with/51538411474/

“Communing with the Realms of Life on Earth” begins with a short meditation to center, balance and open to a fuller integration of body, mind and spirit. We then invoke (or call attention to) the spirits of the different realms: place, time, the four directions, the animals, plants and fungi, minerals, ancestors and humans. We do this for the good of ourselves and all life on Earth. 

Here is a link to the podcast which I hope you enjoy and find helpful: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1827447/9799490.

Much has been said about the need for a major paradigm shift in human consciousness in order to avert or mitigate the impending catastrophic consequences of human activity over the past centuries. Some of the elements of that include shifting from an individualistic, competitive orientation towards greater cooperation, collaboration and mutual respect. Going deeper, the transformation we are opening to calls for a different quality of awareness of who we are, what our place is in this world, and how we pay attention to what is all around us.

I think I am safe in saying that anyone reading this has, like myself, been strongly conditioned with the attitude that humans are the only truly intelligent life on Earth. While a few alternative scientific studies have revealed some kinds of intelligence in animals and even plants, there is still the tendency, for most of us, to keep our attention focused primarily on humans. This may be true even if we have begun to adopt beliefs that humans are not the pinnacle of evolution or that consciousness is not a product of the human brain. Beliefs do not become our reality until we essentially embody them in the substance of our body, until we know in our heart and gut. This cultivation of a change in consciousness takes openness, intention and practice.

In the meditation/prayer “Communing With the Realms of Life on Earth” there are several suggestions that stretch the boundary of the mainstream consensus of what is real. One example is opening to the non-physical, spiritual, intelligent aspects of animals, plants and minerals. This was (is) the way indigenous people related as they sought prayerful connection with the spirit of a particular animal they were hunting or sought the benefit of a plant for medicine or spiritual awareness.

Other elements of the Communing practice is a focus on place and time as having sacred energy with which we can attune; the calling of attention to the spiritual energy of the four directions of the planet; the opening to experience the presence of ancestors who are no longer “alive” in physical bodies. Rather than believe, you are asked to simply be open to the possibility that when you direct your attention with thought, heart and senses, without prejudgment, you may experience these realities for the first time or more deeply.

I think this non-dogmatic, empirical approach and attitude is what can help us shift our consciousness and contribute to the collective transformation of humanity. We have been counseled to “be the peace we want to see in the world.” Likewise, may we be the mutually respectful, multi-dimensional beings that are vehicles of compassion and bring the harmonizing power of Spirit throughout the web-of-all-beings within which we live. I invite you to listen to this practice and I hope it is helpful to you in that realization.

https://www.buzzsprout.com/1827447/9799490