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:
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I wish that I could show you
When you are lonely or in darkness
The astonishing light
Of your own being
– Hafiz
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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.
There are several kinds of teaching on the site:
- Old Teachings: Audio, Video and Writings
- New Teachings: Audio, Video and Writings
- New Course Offerings and Daily Podcasts
- Dialogues with other Spiritual Teachers and Friends
- Music, Stories and Chants
Most of the teachings are “in process”―ideas and teachings that are evolving in Marc Gafni’s heart, mind, and consciousness. Thus, many teachings have yet to be posted in the Articles section, which is still incomplete.
In May 2006, Marc Gafni withdrew from public teaching and went into a long period of mourning, introspection, purification, and liberation. Complaints of sexual harassment reported in the Israeli press at that time were categorically not true; Marc Gafni never sexually harassed or abused anyone. Every one of these sexual relationships was unique, mutual, obviously consensual, based on affection, love, and the mutual play of pleasure and Eros. Nonetheless, Marc Gafni took full responsibility for participating in creating conditions which, in part, allowed these events to unfold the way they did. (For more on this conversation, and to hear Marc Gafni’s sharing in this regard, see statements and articles in Controversy, Pain of Eros, and Sex Ethics and Power and Spiritually Incorrect .
This website is under construction. There are still many mistakes that need to be corrected and kinks that need to be worked out. This website will be updated continually with additional written, audio or video teachings. For new and old study courses, see Books, Products & Course Offerings under the marcgafni.com store tab. For almost two hundred teachings, which are our gift to you in love, see the free audio and video sections. Audio and video material in the store is of a more complete nature, containing complete lecture series. For Music, Chanting and Prayer see the Books, Products & Course Offerings section.
Our intention is for the website to be sustainable for many years. In order to accomplish this, we will charge fees for some of the courses. These fees will cover but a fraction of the cost of the site, the staff, and the time invested in the preparation and delivery of the teachings, which we are grateful to be able to share with you. If you would like to make a one-time donation to support Marc Gafni’s ongoing teaching, you can do so by clicking the “donate” button below. This will be enormously appreciated and will allow us to continue sharing with you Marc Gafni’s teachings.
