those who are called tzaddikim
They're not people who claim to know kabalah...
How deep was Rebbe Menachem M Schneerson's knowledge of Kabbalah?
I don't know. The Rebbe taught and wrote about Chasiddus, not Kabalah.
have read bits of the Zohar, Baal Shem Tov, Rashi, Rav DovBer Pinson, Rebbe Menachem M Schneerson
Zohar is kabalah. Baal Shem Tov is Chassidus. Rashi is orthodox Judaism... not at all kabalistic. DovBer Pinson? I think I may have watched a video by him. Maybe he mentioned kabalah? I don't remember. The Rebbe, I have never read anything by him where he even mentions kabalah.
Not being a student, I rely on expositions such as this one
The Origins of Kabbalah along with quotes from the Zohar, Baal Shem Tov and others. No Jewish source I've read has said anything about a Greek origin. I believe them.
That's true. There isn't a greek origin to autthentic jewish mysticism. It's the occult-qabalah with a "q" bastardized version which comes from the greek.
I have no clue if this book is good or not. But I'm about half way through a book by Daniel Matt called the Essential Kabalah and it's 50% trash.
Quite a bit of what I've read can be found in Eastern sources as well
There's a zohar on that.... it explains exactly what you're talking about.
I'll see if I can find an english translation for you to read online. The bottom line is... it's not really jewish mysticism and it leads one astray, per Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai. If I recall. I need to check. If you respect the Zohar, then, the Zohar says to stay away from those eastern traditions.
If there is a person claiming to know kabalah, the "kabalah centre"? Michael Berg, maybe? That makes claims that kabalah is some how in harmony with eastern traditions... then, they do NOT know the zohar. Or... they know it, but, they're ignoring it, or hiding it.
HaShem is concealed from our minds but revealed in our hearts." - Zohar and Kabir said something similar.
Bring the actual quotes if you want to discuss them. I do not recall anything like that in the Zohar.
Rashi and Meher Baba (in different words)
Rashi is not a kabalist. And tthe quote you brought is about tzedakah. Yes charity is a universal value.
“There are four types of men in this world: 1. The man who knows, and knows that he knows; he is wise, so consult him. 2. The man who knows, but doesn't know that he knows; help him not forget what he knows. 3. The man who knows not, and knows that he knows not; teach him. 4. Finally, there is the man who knows not but pretends that he knows; he is a fool, so avoid him.” Solomon Ibn Gabirol and Confucius
We'd need to look at both quotes. Just name dropping doesn't say much.
Who's that?
"All souls must undergo transmigration and the souls of men revolve like a stone which is thrown from a sling, so many turns before the final release...Only those who have not completed their perfection must suffer the wheel of rebirth by being reborn into another human body." The Zohar, Buddhism and Meher Baba
I think you're missing an important point about the sling. We'd need to look at the whole quote to be sure, but, when this idea is taught its nothing like buddhism, and I expect nothing like meher baba as well.
Again, we need to read tthe whole quotes, not just cherry picked snippets.
A coda: I see that a sincere student who finds a real tzaddik is as much on the right path as someone who has a real murshid, guru and so forth. There are many paths to Truth.
A tzaddik is not a kabalist. You don't really know what kabalah is, do you?
