A Cure for Messianic Madness

[Ian David]

A Cure for Messianic Madness
By David Friedman
http://www.kosmic-kabbalah.com/pages/teachings_kabbalah_art_a_cure.htm

As we ease into the 21st Century, many people are worried about Messianic Madness. There are plenty of nuts out there, convinced of the immanent arrival of a Messiah who will swoop out of the sky on a white donkey and miraculously save us and transform the world into Paradise. And there are plenty of fundamentalist religious fanatics out there, too, preparing for the terror and mayhem predicted by various apocalyptic prophecies and end-of-days beliefs.

This is certainly something to be concerned about, especially here in Israel. Jerusalem is a spiritual magnet which draws droves of messianic maniacs to its holy sites. Throughout Jewish history many innocent people have been harmed by the hysteria, confusion and disillusionment caused by false Messiahs and warped belief-systems. It's easy to understand why people are attracted to visions of Paradise, to belief-systems which teach that the world will be a more perfect place in 'the end of days' - 'when the Messiah comes'. It's good to be optimistic, to hope and pray for the 'story of the world' to have a happy ending, and to seek visions of a bright Future for our planet.

But messianic visions and prophecies usually contain apocalyptic horrors - Armageddon, Gog and Magog - World War III, Death and Destruction on a global scale - before the 'remaining few' attain salvation and eternal bliss. Thus the danger of messianic-vision-seekers becoming schizophrenic or bipolar - hopeful and starry-eyes from the Light which will shine in the End of Days, but fearful of the Darkness, Destruction and Death which necessarily precedes Messiah's arrival.

Here's my prescription for avoiding this malady. If Messiah means a bright Future for us individually and collectively, isn't this ultimately what all vision-seekers want? But does this bright Future have to come about only according to the script and scenario prophesied in the messianic visions of my favorite religion or belief-system? If we reached the bright Future in a way I didn't expect or anticipate, would I be able to realize that I am living right now in the bright Present and accept and appreciate this fact?

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Now that Jews have returned to the land of Israel, it is unfortunate that we are again dividing ourselves into two 'kingdoms', one religious and one secular (or one nationalistic and one universalistic). Hopefully, we will learn to embody both complementary halves of the Spirit of Messiah and see that our spiritual aspirations need a strong material foundation, and that our material pursuits need the depth and meaning that are provided by a spiritual life, so that the two Messiahs can be brought together as one again. With the right kind of perspective and world-view, we can begin to cure ourselves of the schizophrenic split that has caused such division among the Jewish people for so long, so that all forms of messianic madness will eventual be healed.

More:
http://www.kosmic-kabbalah.com/pages/teachings_kabbalah_art_a_cure.htm