From: Stan Tenen Subject: Jewish Mysticism Several years ago, I had personal contact with David Devor (T. Kun), the author of 'Project Mind'; and also, separately, I had contact with persons important in Berg's operation. David Devor is certainly intelligent and well intended, but, in my opinion, his philosophy and his understanding of kabbalah are naive. However, if you like (or believe in) technological solutions to social problems (even messianism), then his book is legitimate grist for your mill. He is insightful on several subjects. It is just that his utopian expectations of technology are simply not credible. I think David Devor may be reachable via email. Berg and the Kabbalah Research Centers are another case entirely. This is big business. Berg represents that he is an observant Orthodox Jew, but several Orthodox groups oppose him and/or what he is doing. Persons who need to know about how this business is conducted and what it espouses should contact me via email. As a person whose livelihood has been dependent on the availability of legitimate kabbalistic materials and teachers, I have spent considerable effort checking out the subject of Jewish mysticism and how it is presented and represented. In my opinion, very little real research is being done by anyone anywhere. But let me be clear what I mean by 'real' research. There is, after all, much kabbalistic research that is being done. But it is nearly entirely scholarly research involved in translation of texts and historical, philosophical or religious perspective. This research is blossoming. Berg's success with undereducated young people, for example, attests to the recent increased interest in this subject. But there is another sort of research that stands on the shoulders of this scholarly research and asks the next question. Given what these translations and teachings seem to be claiming, what do they actually mean? Is there rational meaning, is there spiritual meaning, is there philosophical meaning in these teachings beyond simple rote recitation and citation? Did the authors literally or only metaphorically believe what they wrote? Do these kabbalistic and seemingly mystical teachings have real meaning in the world today? Could they constitute the record of a real science of consciousness, and what, if it exists, might it include and what might it teach? One incentive for the research that I am doing is to try to answer these questions. Since I am not a scholar of Jewish mysticism I must depend on scholars for the basic facts. This is why I have more or less surveyed the field for the past 20-years. If anyone knows of any serious, intellectually honest, and spiritually and academically qualified individuals or groups who are doing (what I am calling 'real') research in Jewish mysticism, I too would like to know about them. Persons curious about the findings of the Meru Foundation should email me their surface mail address so that we can send an introductory packet and a sampler videotape. This work needs considerable upgrading from its current somewhat popularized context to fully academically acceptable presentation. It is definitely a work in progress and, certainly until formally peer reviewed, it must be considered to be highly speculative. (We do have professional evaluations that support our findings.) But this is an attempt at real research and our findings are startling. Our findings indicate that there is a valid and valuable science of consciousness preserved in kabbalistic texts (and in Torah and Talmud); that it is rational and understandable in modern terms, and that it is also spiritually sound from a Judeo-Christian-Islamic perspective. Stan Tenen Director of Research, Meru Foundation