The Vanishing Path

Overview

Rational objective physical solutions to our global problems are necessary, they cannot be sufficient. Spiritual transformation is the crucial ingredient for human survival and flourishing, as long as we survive, while there is still time. There can only be a will to Be, and an inspiring human future while human beings are still inspired. Krassen points to the clear pivot point: time. No longer can there be an aspiration to a future we project from the standpoint of the dualistic world-that-is-going, but rather the time has come embrace a hope that is embedded in a fuller, grander, and more profound understanding of what time and being actually already are. All of time is always here, in existence as we can live it. By contemplating the mystical rhythms of the Hebrew calendar, Krassen challenges us to go beyond optimism and pessimism. Both are dead ends, built on a concept of time that is outmoded. The Vanishing Path before us can still be contemplated if only we reflect on the nature of reality through an enlightened lens that makes time count so we can still Be.

Author Biography

Rabbi Miles Krassen, PhD, is a teacher, author, and scholar in the fields of comparative mysticism and the World's Wisdom Traditions, and musician. He completed his doctorate in Religious Studies at the University of Pennsylvania and received rabbinic ordination from the P'nai Or Fellowship. Currently located in Albuquerque, NM, he serves as Rabbi of Planetary Judaism, an organization for disseminating progressive mystical Jewish teachings based on the spiritual insights of early Hasidism and Kabbalah. Krassen has taught at Smith College and at Oberlin, where he served as Associate Professor of Religion and Director of Jewish Studies, as well as at Naropa University.