ARTICLE ON MARC GAFNI SETS THE RECORD STRAIGHT
An article recently appeared in The Catalyst Magazine of Salt Lake City. Catalyst is an award-winning publication that has been published as a monthly spirituality magazine for twenty-five years and is considered a leader in its field. This is the first publication that Marc Gafni has spoken to since he began his two-year retreat in May 2006.
The journalists worked for several months reviewing massive amounts of material that has not been released to the public. Marc Gafni agreed to participate with the article, after many hours of conversation with the authors about these issues, on the basis that it was not be an “attack” article, and that no one would be shamed.
All too often it becomes impossible for people to climb down from their ’small self’ egoic trees, because escalating cycles of ‘us and them’ rhetoric kick in the ego’s desperate drive for survival. The spaciousness and emptiness required for reconciliation, healing, and wholeness is filled with the flailing of ego and malice, usually disguised in the sonorous tones of self-righteousness.
The article’s intention is to set the record straight by telling the simple truth about Marc Gafni in a way that opens doors for evolution and growth, and in a way which allows everyone to move on with their lives in the best, most productive, and beautiful of ways.
The article, while incomplete and imperfect, as is the nature of any article, for the first time since Marc went into silence in May 2006, sets the public record straight. The article provides a more accurate account of the events in Marc’s life, placing them in a larger and deeper context.
CLICK HERE to see the Catalyst Letters to the Editor about the Trial by Internet article.
Welcome to marcgafni.com
The purpose of this website is to share the teachings of Marc Gafni. Marc Gafni has been a beloved and sometimes controversial spiritual teacher on the cutting edge for many years.
He has inspired many, comforted the afflicted, and afflicted the comfortable. He reflects back to people their most gorgeous selves, shares teachings of love, pricks egos, and calls others, by his very being, to truth and integrity. For some Marc is a teacher, for others a spiritual friend, for still others a spiritual artist, and for still others a revolutionary catalyst of social change and evolution.
In the words of one leading American spiritual teacher and second wave feminist, “Marc Gafni combines radical brilliance with a willingness to be vulnerable, and radical kindness with an ability to probe deeply into texts―liberating the light and challenging the shadows of the human heart.”
In his self-description, published several years ago in both his Hebrew and English books, Marc Gafni writes, “I, like every person, am a flawed yet ever evolving human being. I seek purification and healing, even as I delight in realization. I am a passionate lover of God, of people, of wisdom, and of all being. I am called to realize and help others to realize our potential for being the most gorgeous and unique manifestations of the divine, which is our true nature.” At this stage in his evolution, Marc Gafni seeks to merge the artistic sharing of wisdom with direct social action.
The purpose of all of Marc Gafni’s creative endeavors and teachings is two-fold:
- To help individuals live better lives
- To contribute to the spiritual and ethical evolution of reality as we know it
‘Better’ might mean more ethical, open, healthy and loving. ‘Better’ might mean more enlightened, compassionate, or forgiving. ‘Better’” might mean more authentic or audacious.
Marc Gafni’s teaching is filled with love of people, love of God, and love of all of creation. It is also scholarly, hip, serious, deep, funny, profound, sometimes startlingly original, and always invested with the intent to transmit not only insight but also, and especially, an open heart.
Marc Gafni’s life of teaching is perhaps best captured in the following words:
-
I wish that I could show you
When you are lonely or in darkness
The astonishing light
Of your own being
- Hafiz
Please click here to receive an introduction through ecstatic words and song to our site. The words of Marc Gafni were recorded by Amir, a wonderful musician who often played with Marc Gafni at Friday night Kabbalat Shabbot chanting services in Tel Aviv. Amir did the arrangements, and we are told the music is now playing in clubs in Israel and abroad. The words were recorded spontaneously by Marc Gafni in between meetings one day at his home, which was also the Bayit Chadash Tel Aviv Center. They were recorded in March of 2006.
