Proposed Word-for-WordAdult Education Classto be Presented at
Kol Shofar Congregation
Tanakh, Empiricism and the Marin Headlands
Bringing the Truth in the Hills Down into the Town
Dennis H. Klein
Mill Valley, California
Today I will be lobbing proverbialTanakh and Empiricism cannon balls at the side of the Marin Headlandswith hope that the glare of their explosionsmight provide illumination great enough for you to look at all your current beliefs in a new light. The first step in getting there is to pass through the following three lands:Tanakh, Empiricism and theMarin Headlands.Abraham is then introduced as the poster child metaphor for how combining Tanakh, Empiricism and the Natural worldcan take you past anxiety and judgment to just 'being' ... being in the world, like Abraham, applauded by all, despised by none.
TANAKHis composed of all the books of the Old Testament from Torah toSamuel, Kings and Prophets, Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Chronicles and the rest. When I was a young person, I gave no thought to the harmimposed byJewsand G!d in these storiesagainst our adversaries like Pharaoh's drowned soldiers, all but oneresident of Jericho andevery Midianite cut down after G!d stopped the sun to protract the slaughter. Why should I. Growing up Jewish American in the '40s and '50s,the biggest news story in my young life was 6 million Jewsnewly annihilated, making the Jews the world-widerecord-breakingbiggest victims of ALL TIME, ever, by far. Back then,rightfully so,all non-Jews were universallysuspectedby Jews as possible despicable enemies. Under such circumstances, negative sentiments were in lock step with Tanakh(‘Oh, the goyim! The goyim!''). Time passes.The evening news, once too terrifyingis now gettingtoo boring. Could it beduring the relative tranquility of the last 60 years Tanakhhas enabled the Jewish people and (being the world's de facto code-of-conduct) everyone else to aspire to a statepast perhaps whatTanakh intended.HearTanakh's message long enough of the oneness-of-the-whole-world and how-everything-is-connected-to-everything-else and you look up one day and‘Thou shall not hold a grudge' [Leviticus 19:18]seemsso plausible thatwe only see our enemies, with exceptions, as sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters. Far from despicable demons, they are just other carbon based conscious beings like us caught in the cross fire between forces out to destroy all the Jews and our insistence on not letting that happen.As a result, words like these, with all due respect, arguably, have become an embarrassment ...
'Hear, O our God; we are despised: turn their reproach upontheir own head' [Nehemiah 19:18]
Instead, more and more people seem to be finding their way to this room amply described in Tanakh. Just look. It's everywhere.
'We are all in this together.'
EMPIRICISM. Be assured British EmpiricismisJudaism compliant. And why not? It mirrors Judaism. All its main guys, Locke, Hume, Smith and Bentham, trained to be Protestant clergy. They had to know Tanakhto graduate. AND, as you will see, Spinoza's footprints are all over it.If you are not sure what Empiricism is, four words tellthis story, the rest is commentary.
Cause and Effect
Pain and Pleasure
A worm wiggling across some hot ground changesdirection and comes to rest on some cool ground. That is all that is going on in this room, other than the worm'scomprehension of pain and pleasure being a bitless complicated than ours.
A little more about Empiricism. David Hume, Scottish 1711 -1776, isthe go toEnlightenment operative in replacing the monarchy and church with cause and effect enabling free will to seek pleasure and avoid pain. His ideas fomented the American Revolution and have kept it going. Hume built on John Locke with ample accreditation. Born in the same year, Locke built on Spinoza. While a political exile in New Amsterdam, Locke lived nearby and did go on record about reading all Spinoza's writings as they left the press. Most of the big stuff like 'it's all one thing', 'universal reciprocity', 'separation of church and state' were 'lifted' by Locke from Spinoza. So blame it on Baruch for getting the whole world to accepttheJewish Shemaas the basis for moderngovernments and economies. For me, 'The Ethics', Spinoza's masterpiece,IS theShema with commentary.
THE MARIN HEADLANDS. You might be thinking, 'So you are a student ofTanakh and Empiricism. And? ...'The third ingredient isrunning the Marin Headlands since '72- - Cascade Canyon, Panoramic, Four Corners, Muir Woods and Mt Tam, all right out my door. The workout keeps me fit but the meditation keeps me coming back. Unlike my Transcendental Meditation trainingin the 70s, there is no mantra. Instead, uponencountering a certain combination of slope declination, moisture content, vegetationtypes, visibility, temperature and surface conditions, I am able to attaindownhill speeds that requiremore sensory processingthan is humanly possible ... whereupon, I enter a meditative state and remain there until the hill is no longer steep enough to demand the necessary sensory overload. Or I fall. I fall less now. A good fall always starts the same. Suddenly, no part of your body is touching the ground and you arelooking at the sky,unable to figure outwhy. Your next thought is, 'Boy this is really going to hurt'. And it does. But, in over 40 years it is yet to take over a week for the pain to end from a broken rib, finger, hand or wrenched leg. Why do I do this?RESEARCH!and an attempt at prayer.
Sample photos of Marin Headlands Meadows and Redwood Forests
INTENSION.So enough about theWHAT - -Tanakh, Empiricism and the Natural World. What about theWHY. Some time way back in the last century, the singularbeauty of the Marin Headlandsbrought me to an immutable belief thatIF THISONE PLACE CAN BE THIS DROP DEAD GORGEOUS then the rest of the world has got to be at leastOkay. Combine the running with a near lifetime ofTanakh and Empiricism and two conclusions emerge ...
One, Though there are ample words scattered about Tanakh about gratuitous violence, insidious taboos, double dealings, deceptions, betrayals, and even the anathema of free will, CONTRADICTIONS!, all the rest of Tanakh's 635,000 words speak only of the eternal necessity for free will to win out over constraint.
Two, The whole thing, all space, all time, is G!d, making G!d existence, or at least that. Being “of existence” makes us "of G!d", not all that impossible a job since being of G!d comes with the free will of G!d, enabling us to make at least our patch of existence like G!d.
As mentioned,Tanakh, warts and all, or perhaps due to its wartsmaking us think and QUESTION, has brought us beyond expectations, AND NOW we stand on the shoulders of where we ARE with Tanakh ever moving us deeper intouncharted waters between this moment and a higher perfection not found in its pages but caused by its pages.
As forall us 60+somethings, a lot of this good newshappened onour watch. I say we give each other a pat on the back, since we could not be here unless a whole bunch of us put the interests of others ahead of ourselves for the good of all,despite our self-absorption, ego, vanity, self indulgence, narcissism, self-centeredness, self-worship, self importance, you pick. Tanakh is full of 'though shall not's' and feeling bad for not measuring up. This is aboutfeeling good when youDO measure up.
ROLE MODEL.Abeis chosen by process of elimination. Isaac and Jacob have way too much baggage - - tricking your brother out of his birthright, tricking your first born out of his blessing, flimflamming your father-in-law, slaughter of the just circumcised. Moses is about liberation from bondage to get to free will, not about free will. And though King David isof strong body and character, ... get caught ordering the murder your mistress' husbandJUST ONCE!!
Now Abe.He never messes up. I knowthat some of you acquainted with Genesesare quick to blurt ... But what about theSarai and Pharaoh and Sarah and Abimelech stories?No problem. They ARE NOT TRUE!THEY DON'T COUNT. See the APPENDIXfor the actual account of what DID happen. For me,Abraham is eternallycenter stage, the main characterin astream of stories aboutjust being ...being in the world, pursuing pleasure, avoiding pain by takingALL you need in a way thatbenefits some at the expense of none.The following is a sampling of Abe's style and behavior.
General Abe Story. War is waging in Canaan - - battles, slaughter, mayhem. Then, the top warlord extends his power by kidnapping Lot. Abe mobilizes 318 male servants born into his household. They route the enemy. When time comes to split up the booty, Abe's men take only what is needed to cover expenses. Abe insists on taking nothing, since getting Lot back was all he signed up for ...
That I am to not take a thread even to a shoe eyelet ... lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abe rich.
Insisting that Lot's return is all Abe will take, Abe increases the booty shared by all others, has to be the first account in the written word of enlightened self interested empiricist person [Smith] taking care of himself first in a manner that expands market so that the increased collective strength of the community assures larger success later. In this case, Abe's actions …
-Increased local buying power for his stock.
-Customer loyalty from grateful beneficiaries.
-Branding as a fair, wise and generous person.
Abe and Lot Split Up Story. Being among the first to occupy the Judean Hills, pristine since before time, Abe and Lot were witnesses of an intensely beautiful existence. They preferred the hills over the easily plowed coastal plains, swapping convenience for the greatest possible beauty right out their tent flaps with the greatest effect where nature looked like the first day on earth. That’s why they were herders, not farmers. That’s why they kept splitting into two groups, Abraham and Lot, Esau and Jacob, every time they saw the hills looking less than pristine, diminishing the nature's eternal message that the entire world is a wonderful place despite how much culturalmakes a mess of things.
Sarah and Hagar. Being a squabble between two powerful women, Abe had the good sense to totally delegate power to Sarah to decide Hagar's and Ishmael's fate. Going forward, Abe is revered as both the unblemished first patriarch of the Jews and Ahab People.
Burying Sarah Story. Abe is the guy when he wanted to buy land to bury his wife, none would take his money because ..
The children of Heth answered Abraham, ... thou art a mighty prince among us.
Just his 'style' was a blessing to the spirit and well being of the locals who saw his presence as payment enough. WHAT did Abe do to deserve the locals considering his presence a blessing? It's arguable their esteem for Abe mirrors Abe’s esteem for them. Abe achieves this NOT by constantly reminding himself to be nice,but byholding up as his first filter'We're all in this together'from which universalmutual respecteffortlessly flows.
So why is Abraham so interesting?His conduct. What's so special about that? Based on Tanakh's words and records of theregion'sdominant Mesopotamia culture, Abe appears to mixthe critical thinkinghe learned in Ur**with the experiential truthsderived through his engagement with the pristine Judean Hills, as natural and as gorgeous then as the GGNRA is now. Hetoo concludes G!d is existence (perhaps more, but at least that) andhimself, being of existence,being'ofG!d' and being of G!d, having the free will of G!d that enabledAbe to make existence so much like G!d, at least his patch of it, the whole world is still talking about it.
**NOTE:Hammurabi Code [1900 BC]. Top-down Empiricism for optimizing Ur's canal system.
Terah [2100 BC]. Bottom-up Empiricism for fostering universal free will for optimizing the world.
CLOSING REMARKS.Truth cannot bediscerned in a town - too many distorted contradictory shrill messages competing for attention. Now nature. That's different. Nature has but one voice; un-warped primal worldbefore culture, the real world as the world actually is, grace and all. Contradiction? Of what? There is only one version. Go there. It could be as close as that never-modified stream way at the bottom of the hill. Get alone. Get where you see no sign of anything man made. Hang out. Go out again (as John Muir said,'going out is going in') and start noticing that you not only witness nature, but that nature witnesses you. Come back and find that nature is on your side. Discover you have a new friend that eternally wants you to win. Start to notice that the flip side of nature's beauty is truth. The greater the beauty the greater your understanding that nature is truth. Running puts this training on steroids, like an explorer out to discover that razor thin line between how fast you can run down this mountain and the fall. As for uphill running, it is all about coercion, exertion, perfection, redemption. Every step and breadth a prayer, learning how to love the pant.
Starting off with no EXPECTATIONS what would happen OUT THERE, it has taken me over forty years of visiting the Headlands to get this far. Perhaps you might cover the same ground a lot faster (not necessarily in the same sequence) by knowing at the outset what to EXPECT will be “experientially” revealed to you.
-While witnessing the natural world, start noticing that natural world witnesses you.
-The natural world is on your side, it wants you to win
-The flip side of nature's beauty is truth
-The greater the beauty the greater your understanding that nature is truth.
An easy take-away of engaging the natural world can be a surge of intense joy from suddenly understanding nature at a level you did not know exists. Now take the truth in the hills down into the town, empowered to be more "of G!d", putting the interest of others ahead our own for the good of the whole for no other reason than getting that good feeling AGAIN. You know the one - - the
one that comes rushing in due to an ...
increased belief in yourself, vis-à-vis ...
increased belief in G!d, atheists and all.
APPENDIX
WHY THE SARAI AND PHARAOH/ABIMELECHSTORIESARE COMPLETE FABRICATIONS
The first mention of Abe is when Terah, his father (b. 2235 BC) leaves Ur for Canaan with Abe and Saria and Abe’s nephew, Lot. The first words spoken by Abeare to his wife Sarai subsequent to going west to Canaan when a drought causes them to go to Egypt for food,
I know that thou art a fair woman the Egyptians they shall say, This is his wife: and they will kill me, ...
I pray thee, thou art my sister ...I shall live because of thee.
It goes on to explain how Pharaoh did take her in, finds out the deception and, blurts
What is this that thou hast done unto me?
Apparently, as damage control, Pharaoh gives them great treasure IF they just get out of Dodge, FAST.
As mentioned, all of the above is aTOTAL FABRICATION by the head 'GUYS' in charge of finalizing Genesis around 200 AD. This story is TOO BIG a CONTRADICTION to be true. After all, Abe is the guy when he wanted to buy land to bury his wife, none would take his money because he was thought of a as prince among them. How could Abraham be such a stand-up guy in every way AND AT THE SAME TIME willingly to side step a hypothetical threat to his life in exchange for a very real destruction of his wife's honor. One way to get things right is justtell you what really happened.
At the time of The Sarai and Pharaoh Story, 4,000 years ago, according to a lifetime ofexhaustive academic research by Diane Pagels and others, Mesopotamian women as much as men aspired to be highly spiritual people with some women emerging as 'high priestesses'. They were accompanied by their husbands, acting as brother to protect, but not to detract too much from the priestess' allure. According to ancient Mesopotamian records, people of the temple, like Terah's family, were oft thought of as half human and half divine. Terah's family may have been so prominent that they were the subject of this ancient Mesopotamian text written about the time they departed Ur.
”The Gods have abandoned us like migrating birds. Smoke lies on our cities like a shroud.”
Compelling stuff that Sarai was not an ordinary girl. Just fantasize a bit, think the following as true. Terah was half-divine. That made Abe, with no named mother, thought to be up to 3/4th, and Sarai, with no named mother or father, up to 100% divine. On the other hand, just think of Sarai as an ordinary girl with a mom and dad. According to the customs of the region at that time, Sarai, as Abe's thought-to-be-mortal wife, would have been covered head to foot, her charms completely hidden from the Pharaoh. However, since Sarai was no ordinary girl, she entered Egypt with attendants and great fanfare, dressed befitting a high priestess thought by many to be semi-to-completely divine. In exchange for Sarai bestowing wisdom, enlightenment, prophesy and even blessings on Pharaoh and his court, she was rewarded with great treasure. So rather than like desperados, Abraham, Sarai, Lot and their families leave (not flee) Egypt with both their coffers and their reputations far more full than when they arrived. Ditto the Sarah and Abimelech story. Instead of Abe being the great pimp, he is the great facilitator of Sarah's power.