Order of St. Gabriel Study Guide - Magdalene Circle

Continuum of Union with Yonah the BaptizerThe way of entering and taking up the practice of Union withYonah the Baptizer is the way of the Continuum of Union withYonah (or Yohanan) – it is walking with Ha-Shem, learning to waitupon the Spirit of Yahweh in stillness and silence, and to movewith the Spirit of Yahweh when she moves, and to speak with theSpirit of Yahweh when she speaks; when the Spirit of Yahwehdoes not move, the navi does not move, and when the Spirit ofYahweh is silent, the navi is silent.If you wish to enter into Union with Partzuf, then you must seekto resemble the Holy Partzuf with which you seek to enter intounion – for on spiritual and psychic levels, similitude or likeness isnearness, and the fruition of drawing near us union.The very way the teachings on the practice of Union with Yonahare given in our oral tradition reflects the way of this Holy Tzaddik – a force of passionate zeal forYahweh, and a very eccentric and otherworldly person, one who lives completely in spiritual retreat(hitbodedut), immersed in the Continuum of Light Transmission for the people. On account of this he isamong the tzaddikim who are called “Holy Maggid,” as though a holy angel of God living among us,completely of Shamaim, the Heavens; these holy ones do not walk with their feet on the ground.Our is a path of Integral Self-realization in which, generally speaking, we do not enact a retreat fromthe world and worldly activities; however, in the Continuum, here and there, there are those initiatescalled by the Spirit of Yahweh to live, more or less, in spiritual retreat, tending to the Flame of theContinuum for the people – among our tzaddikim they are called “holy maggidim,” for like the angelsof God they are somewhat otherworldly in their way, and they are messengers, guides and guardiansof the Continuum, maintaining a dynamic balance in the Mystical Body of the Risen Savior. Essentially,they withhold themselves from the world and worldly things in order to take up the task of the visionbringer and wonderworker full-time, and to serve as a generator of Divine Presence and Power fromwhich companions of the Sacred Circle can draw, serving as a great conduit of the Light-presence andLight-power. It is rather like the world class athlete who does virtually nothing but practice their sport,allowing them to perform amazing feasts that cannot be done without talents honed by radical focus,self-discipline and passion; and much like such athletes, it is natural to them and is what they most loveto do – rather than any false sacrifice of religious conviction, it is their true calling and joy. These aretypically disciples of Yonah the Baptizer among us, reflecting something of the way of their HeartTzaddik who lived in spiritual retreat.That is not to say that there are not devotees of Yonah among us who draw inspiration from the BaalShem but who remain very active in mundane affairs – there certainly are; but it is to say that Yonah22