Urban Guru your inspired guide to urban living

If you’re alive and if you’ve ever taken a moment to think about the big questions, then you’ll probably admit that life is a little bit crazy.
After years of pondering this and other important questions, i’ve had one or two fairly cheesy but profound realisations:

Each and everyone of us has to activate a feeling of love within us and in every moment in life we are given new and different opportunities to love.

To love the people in our lives, including ourselves, to love the beings in our lives, to love the stuff in our lives and to love our lives.

The kind of love that I’m talking about isn’t theoretical or a general ‘isn’t everybody lovely’ fluffy feeling. What I’m referring to is a real, deep love, that is the kind of love we have for a child, or a sibling or a parent or a spouse.

Obviously all of those types of love are slightly different, but the feeling, the feeling of love is the same. I’m suggesting that we foster and nurture that feeling of love within ourselves and that we actively allow that energy to flow to the world and people around us.

Thus we transform ourselves and we transform the world.

In a place were there is love all are happy and at peace.

One of the most important theologically charged statements in the Bible, which is recited perhaps 4-5 times a day by the Observant Jews is the ‘Shema’.

the first word of the Shema - is the word Shema - and it simply means LISTEN!!!

It itself is a profoundly important and potentially life altering message from the author of the Bible - Moses - God etc..

The primary theological step we are compelled by the Shema is to learn how to listen.

(Loosely paraphrasing the Previous Lubavitcher Rebbe:) ‘Listening means having room in oneself for another, for Other, internal; mental, emotional and spiritual space for the existence of another being and another opinion, even one that is completely different to your own.’

The ‘Ethics of our Fathers’ teaches us ‘who is wise those that learn from everyone’.

Then they go on to say that anyone you learn from you must treat them with the same respect that you would the Divine Presence!

The point is, each and every human being has something to say about theology, and Jews, by virtue of their ontologically divine nature (according to the Alter Rebbe - every Jew is a part of God [although God doesn’t have parts]) have something to say about Jewish theology no matter their religious affiliation, level of intellectual honesty or otherwise.

Kabbalah is the mystical tradition found within Judaism, it is said to be as old as civilization itself, it is the myth of a science as old as time, an understanding of life that pre-dates the Bible by some 3000 years.

It is a mystical understanding of the nature of the world and the nature of Self, that helps you to successfully navigate your way through life and the world.

In truth Kabbalah is a whole bunch of ideas that a wide group of people over thousands of years have thought about and contributed to, some were a little wacky and others were pure dam genius!

And although some things may sound strange at first, the more you hear them, and begin to understand them, the easier they are to comprehend and the more they appear ‘pure genius’.

It is said that Kabbalah contains the existential secrets of the universe!

The first Kabbalistic ‘book’ is said to have been taught to Adam in the Garden of Eden by God, sworn to secrecy and quietly passed from Master to pupil from one generation to the next, where the ancient academies learnt these Kabbalistic teachings.

These teaching were eventually passed on to Abraham and then Moses, from Moses to the Men of the Great assembly and from teacher to student in the Talmudic era, up to and including Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, who, tradition has it, taught and wrote the ‘Zohar’, as you’ll learn, one of the most important of Kabbalistic works.

Then to Abraham Abulafia, the influential 13th century mystic (who believed that the study of Kabbalah could induce states of personal redemption) and later to Rabbi Yitzchak Luria expounded the Zohar’s deepest meanings.

Then it passed to Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov the founder of Hassidism and to many his disciples. It has remained the secret knowledge of the initiated, that is, until now.

Kabbalah is Judaism’s secret science, and it is the most important, relevant and interesting Jewish stuff you’ll have come across in ages.

The nature of these ideas means that, you might need to go away and think about them for a while, before they really sink into your head.

Why is Kabbalah Dangerous?

Kabbalah is a philosophy of the nature of Humanity, God and the Cosmos. It is a science of the art of living. It is a path though life, a knowing and enchanting dance between the spiritual and physical. It shows you how to live in complete balance, to live successfully and fully. It can empower you to be at peace with yourself, and to magically transform the world around you. It is a way of seeing and understanding the world that, compels you to find meaning in every moment of everyday.

All the great Jewish thinkers have studied Kabbalah and its teachings have influenced every part of Judaism, yet it has for the most part remained the secret knowledge of the initiated, that is, until now.

The reason why it the Kabbalah has been passed from master to pupil from generation to generation and why there are so few genuine books on Kabbalah is quite simple but extremely profound, and it’s all about effective communication.

When you talk to someone face to face, there is an opportunity for real communication, to can see if the other person is really understanding what you are getting at, and you can adjust your language, tone and hand movements accordingly to help them understand. However, a book is not a dialogue, it is a monologue, it’s me talking at you and not with you, and there is no opportunity for hand movements and gestures, how are you supposed to ‘get’ what it is I’m talking about if you can’t see my hand movements and I can see your bemused face?

The real danger with a book is that, not only will the reader misunderstand and misinterpret what the author meant, but also worse still the book gains some ‘holy’ or ‘sacred’ status and everything in it becomes the open to a more literal interpretation. Or ever worse becomes the rhetoric and dogma of a new ‘religion’, which actually goes against the original intent of the author, which is to help them become more free and happy and discover their own inner teacher, and not enslave them to someone else’s ideas, words and mystical poetry.

There is however, good reason why its teachings have been so closely guarded, over the passed 6000 years. The Sages warn that if the Kabbalah falls into the wrong hands, it could cause madness, destruction and evil.

If the truth be known, even to this day the true secrets of Kabbalah have been shielded from the less initiated, the deeper and more dangerous Kabbalah, remains a mystery to most, and an unspoken subject of the secret Masters of Kabbalah.

Kabbalah in a sense like Rocket Science or Nuclear Physics it is very powerful – but only if put into practice. Likewise without the right type of safety precautions or ideological or ethical maturity it can be very dangerous, not just for the person involved but (believe it or not) for the entire cosmos.

With the ideas contained in this website you have the ability to open a door not only in your mind but they have the power to rip open an alternate gateway within the very fabric of reality itself.

However, this is only if you actually put the knowledge you learn here into practice, otherwise it might just end up being another bookmarked website or rss feed, but unless you take these ideas seriously - you’ll still be living the same relatively superficial and spiritually unrealised life you were before you read this infomation, which would be a big shame, since this might be your last incarnation!?

But it is also ‘dangerous’ on an other level – if you’re scared of being truly happy, of living a profoundly meaningful life, of living your dreams, of taking responsibility for your actions, if you are scared of the divine potential you innately possess – to be yourself and to radically and permanently positively effect the whole world – then this book is dangerous – dangerous because it works – dangerous because it puts the entire responsibility of your life and the future of the world squarely in your own hands - right now!

Separating the World from God is Suicide !

The Ethics of the Fathers teaches that ‘If you are learning and meditating on God and you stop to look at a beautiful tree or a beautiful field you forfeit your life.’ That to me has always seemed a little harsh coming from the bastions of morality. Thankfully however, the great Kabbalist Rabbi Yaakov Yosef of Polnoye explains this teaching slightly differently, he says:

‘If one is learning and meditating on God and one stops – that is, one makes a distinction and does not continue to learn – when one looks at a beautiful tree, or field then you forfeit your life. If you do not see the divine within the world you subsequently make a separation between the holy and mundain then the separation you have made, separates you from the source of all life.’ “

I am a pissed off peaceful person, I don’t think that I can have a more honest reaction or approach to the nature of being human and particularly being Jewish in this day. I have a pure soul, I was a baby, and am still in many way, naive and confused about what exactly this experience, that everyone seemed to have so comfortable eased them selves into, called life, I found so utterly alien.

I still look at my hand, move my fingers and really wonder, what the hell, how can I do that? And what a weird trip to be in the world, to be alive, my underlying voice, is one of wonder, acceptance and confusion. I am always willing to say I’m wrong, to listen, to hear. I realise that I alone can never have all the answers, that truth, whatever that is, is something that is a collective reality. ‘An accurate description of what is.’ I feel in someway passive to this experience, it’s almost as if I’m just along for the ride, looking as a child, in a perpetual state of not knowing. Whatever it is I do know is just a small piece of the whole, and probably corrupted and misinterpreted by my own personal perception and crippling life experiences, that must undeniably filter and colour my view of what is.

Where have I been? in my search for my self, in search of some sense, trying to make sense, of this world, make sense of my life and experience of what is.

From early on I was attracted to ideas that tried to make sense of the whole thing, being Jewish, I liked to explore Judaism’s more mystical teachings, and my pure an holy soul, with honest and truthful yearning, lusted after a life that made sense, a life full of meaning, a life that had answers.

And for a moment or two I did find peace, or something similar to peace, being so preoccupied with doing what God wants, that I didn’t have a moment to think about anything, that I momentarily lost, that special twinkle in my eye, that wonder why. I lost myself in the undercover of God’s world, killing myself to be, this pure and pious Jew, to rebecome, a myth of a soul transcendent, embodied.

I dissolved myself in the rich velvet, of smothering, intoxicating Jewish mysticism. Unable to breathe, for dusty books, of messianic longing, entangled in my souls desire for a global utopia, to become the servant of Moshiach Consciousness. To mend this broken world, shattered shards of God’s divine light, redeemed and whole.

But as I learnt and internalised as best I could, the teaching of the Messiah Himself, The New Torah, my body and mind lifted themselves up from where they thought they had been. From this new place I could see much further, had begun to taste the future. He had glimpsed me a taste of truly forbidden fruits, of ideas so tempting, so utterly dangerous that the very fabric of everything I even thought I may have known, seemed to unravel itself at the seams.

He taught me things that I dared not utter, things and signs that blinded me, with its dark light. A whirlpool of maddening darkness, so utterly dark that it shimmered and shone.

Madness, everyone thinks I must be mad, to call the Rebbe a heretic, because the Rebbe is a righteous man, a Ztadik, and I just a mad, sad and stupid idiot – who, by my own admission, doesn’t know anything.

So my Rebbe is a smiling, Cheshire cat, Buddha-like Jewish heretic, he is my Rebbe, not anyone else’s, but mine. They say the Rebbe is a mirror and you see who you really are, call the Rebbe whatever you want, he is you.
But nonetheless, he showed me things that I, on my own could have never seen or even imagined.

It has been a long journey, so far close to fifteen years of trying to make sense of what the Rebbe said, what he meant, and how and who I am supposed to be and do with it.

I’m not intolerant, just slightly impatient, some things are so clear to me that I get frustrated when otherwise intelligent people show an absolute stupidity towards things.

Obviously every lunatic fanatic thinks that they are right, they are correct, that what they believe is so simple and so utterly obvious, and I’m probably no different.

They say that the Torah of Moses is Hevel (Breath/Nothing/Vanity) compared to the Torah of Moshiach. This I know from personal experience is true.

So much more to say, some other time…

We are sleeping giants,

Formed from dust by the great sky,

Our souls are more powerful than angels,

Our bodies shine brighter than the sun,

Our dreams now our destiny!

Classic Cartesian views of reality have fallen away from my sight, effervescent, oscillating glittering fireworks of divine energy pulsating so fast that, it appears to be joined up,

each gap in the in-between of coming into existence from the source of nothingness, seems to be longer than the next, where the possibility of falling through the silence between frames seems all the more possible.

who brings every minuscule of existence into being in complex shapes and constructs? into existence every moment. we do. the very essence of being co-directing my own ‘reality’ every moment from the absolute blank nothingness of pre-existent reality (gOD),

I choose to remember, to perceive, to be the person’ality that i seem to be, moments are disjointed, the force which brings into being, literally ‘creates’ existence, my existence, is my true self, not me, but me, us, you, I, my me, your you.

Our culturally conditioned worldview is merely a shell, a shallow wrapping, which simplifies, sterilises, contaminates the eyes that see. I have chosen to come into existence, to flesh myself, to become body, to embody, to flesh out my dreams, our dream, to explore, and discover who I am.

I am the great unknown. the thick darkness that separates you from me, me from me. The great unknown that will always remain so utterly hidden that we never become aware of it’s existence, it is the unknown that fills the in-betweens, each dot of energy, from between this point and that, the silence between notes.

It is the thickness of unknowing that keeps us apart, that keeps us happy in our bliss, our everydayness, in the lightness of being.

spiritual - means beyond time and space - and what we normally see as physical, isn’t actually physical it is in fact beyond time and space, by virtue of its (multiple) quantum oscillating core. It comes in and out of existence 10×26 per second.

Blessings are metered by OUR ability to receive, not the Universes ability to give. It’s almost like, the Universe would like to give us everything but it is us that says no.

In some sense, as a friend suggested, sometimes it’s our ‘personality’ which gets in the way of blessings. And that sometimes we need to let go of our selves, put our sense of ‘Self’ to one side to simply allow God’s blessings into our lives.

Some say that we have to make a “vessel” a way and a path, for the Universe to bless us. But I believe, more important than the creation of a mere ‘vessel’ or conduit of divine blessing, we ourselves, must become spiritually able and willing to receive blessing into our hearts and into our lives.

The questions we are forced to ask are; are we open enough, receptive enough, willing enough to allow the divine to give us everything and more? Are we ready to accept bliss into our every moment of our lives?!!!?

Say to yourself; “I’m sorry for having previously been a barrier to receiving blessings, I forgive you for the past, I now allow you to accept all blessings into your heart with joy and love. I allow the source of all blessings to flow through me, so that peace is my very being and the abundance of blessing my inheritance!”

Escape from the city, and from the humdrum and stresses of everyday life…

Sometimes we all need to escape from the din of city living, step outside of our everyday selves and reassess the way we live, to help us gain new and different perspective on our lives.

Our Weekend ‘Shabbaton’ Urban Guru Retreat is the perfect time and place to do this as it’s entirely dedicated to your personal spiritual growth and development. It is an ideal chance to breathe and focus on becoming more relaxed, spiritualy centred and balanced. It is an opportunity to reassess your life, discover your souls path, and a chance to focus on cultivating your own happiness, inner joy and peace of mind. So when you do return to your life you can begin to live it on a higher plane, were you can be more focussed, calm, and alive.

Urban Guru Retreats, usually take place over a weekend (or Shabbaton) Friday - Sunday, in a converted farm near Buxton in the Peak Park UK. They are very laid back and relaxing, the weekend is a mixture of lectures and workshops, focusing on wide variety of themes.

This included workshops in various forms of Kabbalistic meditation, from the early Merkvah school - to modern day forms of Hassidic consciousness expanding techniques.

The themes of the lectures vary - and they can focus on that weeks Torah reading - although not always so. We try to keep some semblance of a traditional Shabath from Friday to Saturday night although we are not dogmatic about it.

As participants are asked to refrain from using there mobile phones throughout their time at the retreat etc…There are group activities and ‘prayer’ workshops, as well as one on one learning and mentoring.

All the activities are completely voluntary… if someone doesn’t wish to participate and even just spend the entire weekend in their room that’s fine - if that is what they need to do.

The food is Kosher* and Vegetarian and were possible locally produced and/or organic. It is generally for small groups with a maximum of 12 people.

In truth each of us are already truly enlightened. Call it buddha, moshiach, God or whatever you like. Only when you or I completely surrender to our divine nature do we begin to live a life that fulfills all of our potential.

what does that even mean?

I’ve got an idea about what I mean, what place that this stuff comes from.

We all have ideas and beliefs about ourselvles and who we think we really are. Most people have bought into the theory of evolution and just think that they are little furry monkeys on a tinny spinning planet in some distant backwater of the milky way.

But that is just an idea, which trys to make sense of this world we live in, to give us some wider perspective on the human condition.

But what i’m suggesting is that by limmiting ourselves to a purely mechanistic, darwinian worldview, we limit our potential for growth , for developemnt and for discovering the Unknown within us, everyone and the entire world.

What’s the point of discovering the Unknown within us? Call it buddha, moshiach, God or whatever you like.

- to help you decome a better, happier and more inspired, responsive, gentle, caring, awesome furry monkies of course.

Life can sometimes present us with lots of different challenges, they are of course, all there to help us grow and become deeper and better people because of them.

But I believe that it is our resistance to, what is, to the unfolding of life, the universe and everything, to the day-to-day stuff that happens in our life, it is that friction which ultimately wears us down.

I don’t mean always being an easy pushover on every occasion, because indeed, sometimes Life wants us to rise to the challenge, speak up, act and react, out of pure righteous indignation.

But often it is the less important elements of life that we get caught up with, the daily stresses that gently grinds us down until we fall to pieces.

It is these daily recurrent events, stresses, feelings and thoughts that I’m suggesting we stop and let go of.

I believe, not based on too much fuzzy new-age science, but from watching myself, that it is our resistance to life, the everyday resistance, our feelings of dislike, being upset about whatever it may be that actually ages us, both emotionally and physically.

So if and when you notice yourself becoming tense, or feeling even the slightest bit cross, let it go! Stop resisting, just relax, and allow whatever is, to be.

What does that mean?

It means that when you notice yourself resisting life, before you even make yourself ill, stressed or upset, just let it go.

Learn to recognise that your default mode is one of tranquillity and warm quiet inner stillness and peace.

Everything that moves your attention away from that sense of calm is a distraction; it is a form of mild idolatry.

Your task then is to focus your attention on that river of peace that runs through your veins.

One of the first and most important steps on the path to personal enlightenment or as I like to say creating a personal utopia, is becoming free of emotional blockages.

The reason why I’d suggest that this is the most important of journeys is that, in order to experience any idea, any profound and life altering notion or concept your heart must be open to feeling and experiencing whatever idea as being real.

Your mind and heart are like two wings of a bird, each of them needs to be functioning well and working together in order to help you fly upwards, towards those illustrious spiritual heights.

So getting to it, this I what you need to do:

Because we’ve all been hurt one way or other over the years, write a list of people that you may have unfinished emotional business with.

Then think about each of them and write them a letter, telling them exactly what happened from your perspective and exactly how you feel. It may not be a lovely letter but it has to be honest.

Of course you’re not meant to send the letter, but rather take each one put it in an envelope and in your minds eye imagine yourself putting the address on it, sticking a stamp on and putting it in the post.

I would recommend that you shred the actual letter and put the shredding in the recycling, as you do so say to yourself, I’m letting this go, I’m allowing the Universe to take care of this business, I’m moving on with my life, My heart is freer. Do this for each letter until you have no more unresolved emotional business to deal with. Obviously this could take a while.

Once you’ve done that, think about each person you’ve written your letter to and forgive them, even pray for them, ask that they be granted peace. Obviously this could take a while (especially if you’ve not really done the letter writing stuff all that convincingly).

Let people know what you feel! Once you’ve done all that emotional healing, you might find that you feel much more alive, more able to express yourself. You might even find that you don’t let the same situations happen again, you’ll deal with them before they become things that you might one day regret.
So, do express your feelings, tell people what you feel, be in touch with your feelings, and allow yourself to be more of an emotional person.

Whatever happens you’ll become a richer and more whole person, even if it does get you into some short-term trouble, with people that can’t deal with emotions.

Remember, to be kind to yourself and others, life is a lesson in love and compassion, for yourself, the people in your life and the entire world.

There’s a telling Italian saying: “When the wine goes in, the secrets come out!’ and another one that goes something like: “You can’t have a full bottle of wine AND a drunk wife!” But I’m not sure which one is more accurate?

A relatively modern school of mysticism (a subtle reference to the Urban Guru and mates) believe that being slightly inebriated is actually a vehicle for self-discovery and enlightenment. Of course, when you see the entire world, as an ongoing form of Group Therapy, everything, even being paralytic once in a while, is part of the ‘healing’ process.

The amazing thing is about being off-your-face is that it’s not an intellectual exercise, it is an experiential experience!

You’ve got an excuse to let go and be yourself completely, without guilt or any form of societal repression, judgement or shame. Getting drunk reveals who you really are underneath the cosy façade of ‘normality’. But because we often aren’t really in touch with our inner selves or with our true feelings, stuff comes out that we choose to blank out and would rather forget.

But if we go beyond that juvenile form of emotional therapy and embraces the deeper lesson that this ancient liquid intelligence is teaching us, we will soon learn that; 1. Being drunk is ultimately a state of mind. 2. Us being ourselves fully and completely is actually a good thing. 3. Many of societies inhibitions and cultural norms are inventions of deeply unhappy people. 4. You do actually love everyone. 5. You’ve just not realised how sexy and beautiful almost everyone is!

“I’m praying for rain in California, So the grapes can grow and they can make more wine!”

Get in touch with your inner-drunk and tell everyone you love them!