Meditation and the Bible

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Meditation and the Bible
Aryeh Kaplan | 1978-06-01 00:00:00 | Red Wheel / Weiser | 192 | Meditations
A highly radical interpretation of the Bible demonstrating the methods of meditation used by the Prophets to attain their unique states of consciousness. First English translation from ancient unpublished manuscripts, with commentary.
Reviews
If you have an interest in the Profits of the Old Testament and the way the prayed, meditated and had visions. You will find this book quite insightfull. Aryeh Kaplans way of writing is easy to understand, and full of long forgotton knowledge. With all the sources he used to write this book listed after each chapter. Every page will leave you waiting for the next! I found this book to be very interesting and it answered many questions I had on both medatation and the bible. I highly recommend this book to everyone and esspecially those looking for a deeper spiritual understanding of GOD.
Reviews
After pastoring for 20 years and being very familiar with the prophetic ministry outlined in the New Testament, most writers from the Christian venue look at Old Testament prophets as exeptional men and women who were one of a kind. They almost seem like the prophetic ministry was only obtainable by a select few. This book, fortunately not written by modern Christian theologians, but written by Rabbi Kaplin looks at the prophets and how they obtained their ministry by breaking down the Hebrew scripture and points us toward the prophetic life and the meditation of the prophetic school. I would highly recommend this book to both my Jewish and Christian brother's and sisters, because it sheds new light on a topic that many hunger to understand.
Reviews
The late Aryeh Kaplan was a Rabbi, scholar, and Kabbalist. In addition to his valuable and readable commentaries on Sefer Yetzirah and Sefer Bahir, he wrote three books on meditation. The other two are: "Meditation and Kabbalah" and "Jewish Meditation." From a practical perspective, "Jewish Meditation" is far and away the best, however, reading the other two provides one with a more inclusive, theoretical background and context within which to practice. This volume is quite valuable and a contribution to both meditation per se and to Bible study. I'd put it in the middle of the 3 in value, if forced to choose. It's rare to find an author who is both scholar and practitioner, so Kaplan's books on meditation and on Kabbalah are particularly valuable and accessible to the reader. Of course, they are not introductory books--of which there are innumerable versions in bookstores. It helps to have a solid background in the basics before tackling Kaplan's texts. But it isn't essential." Kaplan's texts are appropriate to both the serious student and the serious practitioner of meditation and of Kabbalah.
Reviews
The lore is that Rabbi Kaplan, the author, died at the tender age of forty-six because G-d felt Kaplan had exposed enough of His secrets and decided it was time to recall this particular soldier. This book does nothing to undermine that hypothesis. Rabbi Kaplan, arguably the most prolific, cogent, and accessible of writers on Jewish esoterica and mysticism, explores how the Torah's Prophets used meditation as a tool to foster their prescience. The book also serves as an incisive gloss on aspects of the Torah, explicating the esoteric meaning underlying various elements of it. The section on Psalm 119 alone is worth the price of the book. Kaplan's objective in all of his works is to get at the heart of Judaism, to use the form to understand the substance. Meditation and The Bible is an important part of his oeuvre. Irrespective of one's religion, this book instils the sense that the reader is being let in on secrets of The Bible previously unknown to all except true Initiates, whoever they might be. Add it to your Kaplan collection. If you don't have a collection of his other books, this should inspire you to start one.
Reviews
This book is full of gems and exposition on some hard to explain versus of the Bible. While most people read the prophets with confusion, Mr. Kaplan sheds some light on some common ground between them with his understanding of Hebraic idioms and command of the language finding links where otherwise there were none. His knowledge of extrabiblical sources is invaluable to understanding the concept and practice of meditation within the Bible. For the complexity inherently contained in this subject, Mr. Kaplan writes in a manner that is easy to follow and understand, yet doesn't leave the reader incomplete. This book is a necessary compliment to his work "Jewish Meditation" and a primer to "Meditation and Kabbalah."

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