Part Seven: A Course Correction: 2025

Go to Part One

Greetings and Welcome to MyStory!

Here is the Live Broadcast recorded on Rumble:

As described previously...

In 1969, I promised the God of my understanding that I would devote my life to seeking Him and that I would accept whatever He revealed to me to the best of my ability. I asked the Beloved to show me the true religion or path most pleasing to Him. I have tried walking the winding Path He laid before me since 1969. During all these years, I have looked for ever more understanding and direct experiences with the Beloved of my Soul. This has resulted in many initiations and conversions into major and minor religious conceptions, denominations, and sects. While walking this Path, I also have accepted a few ordinations, including two of the three Rabbinic semakhot known as Yoreh-Yoreh and Yadin Yadin, three Christian ordinations (Baptist, Calvary Chapel, and independent), Gaudiya Vaishnava and Yoga Society Upanayana (Brahman initiations), and others from various traditions. I have found positives and negatives in them all. Human religions, like human beings, are all fallible. I have never used religion to make money or seek fame.

My experiences have concluded, to my satisfaction at least, that ALL religions are human responses to One Divine Truth that no one fully understands or comprehends. Or, as Gandhiji said, "All faiths constitute a revelation of Truth, but all are imperfect and subject to error." Since the 1970s, I kept seeking and hoping to discover the true religion or path, despite the ancient truism that, 'If that which you seek you find not within, you will never find it without.' I have now accepted the answer to my question, although it's not the answer I expected or hoped for when I began:

Throughout my quest for Truth (for example, when Three Angels Visited Harrel Grove), I have understood the foolishness of claiming one knows God fully or has the authority to declare one's understandings to be the only reflection of Truth to the exclusion of others. This tendency among religious practitioners has always made me assume such claimants have never achieved true spirituality or realization. Few religious people I have met seem to understand this critical lesson. Some do. As I wrote in my 1979 poem, God's Garden:

Some folks say they know the truth
They claim they've got it all down
But I say that such people
Are little more than clowns

For God is far greater
Than anything, we conceive
And so we're only partly right
No matter what we believe

Like Paul, we gaze in the mirror
And behold our own reflection
I guess we won't really know the Truth
'Till we attain perfection

The only thing I know for sure
Is that God is Love
My only hope of salvation
Is to trust that Love above

Yah vishva deva
Ki vatika
Hai sair karne
Ke liye

[translation: This universe is God's Garden
And it's meant for roaming in]

If this is not true, then I see no reason for hope given the failings of all religions and human beings. However, I am convinced this small poem reveals the Truth. One God is the God of Love and Compassion, as well as the God of Justice (which is conducted through the Law of Karma, we reap what we sow). His Torah, His Dharma, is perfect.

Let us jump forward 42 years to circa 2011. By 2011, I had done deep dives into every major religion on earth and innumerable sects, denominations, cults, and movements. However, one religion remained in my quest. While I had studied Judaism from the sidelines, especially while examining the Bible, Christianity, Islam, and various forms of mysticism, which often use kabbalah and Jewish symbology, and while I had studied the Mirkabbalah system in good depth with a Jewish mystic who told me that my soul or neshama was definitely Jewish, I had not taken a deep dive into Judaism as a religion as I had with the others. There were a few reasons for this. Mainly, Judaism intimidated me. My quest for truth had taken me all around the edges of Judaism, but because, in part, of a lifelong recurring dream of being a Sonderkommando killed in the Shoah (or Holocaust), which also began in 1969, I avoided the study of Judaism. I recount that dream HERE if interested.

So, in 2011, I began my deep dive into Judaism. In 2012, Ahuva and I began conversion classes, and in 2013, we went to Israel in celebration of our conversions. After our conversion, which was done through a beit din of both Reform and Jewish Renewal rabbis, I discovered that my birth father was a closeted Jew. Biblically, therefore, I am a born Jew, but according to Rabbinic Halacha, which sometimes changes biblical Law, I still needed to convert since my birth mother was a Gentile (a devout Baptist Christian, may her memory be for a blessing).

As I studied, practiced, and learned Judaism 'from the inside,' I began sharing what I was learning with others, as I always had with the other religious systems. I'm a natural-born teacher, and as most teachers will tell you, teaching is an effective way to learn. Under the John of AllFaith pen name, I've been sharing my religious understandings online since 1997.

As I shared about Judaism, people began calling me "Rabbi" despite my frequent correction that I was not a rabbi. The idea of becoming a rabbi never even occurred to me in those days. Like most people who respect Judaism, I considered the rabbis to be true spiritual masters whose erudite knowledge was well beyond anything I might hope to achieve. My long-time friends will remember these discussions and how and why I became a rabbi.

As I continued my Jewish studies and began attending synagogues, I quickly realized that the non-Orthodox Jewish sects were not for me. So, I began studying Orthodox Judaism in general and the Chassidim in particular. I had been aware of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov for years and felt a sincere and growing attraction to his Chasidic interpretations.

Around 2015, friends began telling me about a certain internet Breslov rabbi, and I began attending his online classes and services. He told me that while he would accept my non-Orthodox conversion, saying he knew in his spirit my neshama was Jewish, most Orthodox would not, and so he insisted I re-convert Orthodox through him. Which I did.

My then-rabbi insisted I earn my ordinations, and so under his direction, I did, becoming a Rabbi Yoreh-Yoreh and Yadin Yadin. I had no interest in the third ordination, which has to do with the halachic slaughtering of animals. Being a 'Rabbi Yoreh Yoreh' and 'Rabbi Yadin Yadin,' authorized me to conduct Rabbinic religious services, interpret the Torah, and make Halachic rulings. I received these ordinations on the 13th of Av, 5779, or August 14, 2019. Much sorrow and disillusionment about the Rabbinate have resulted from this, and these need not be addressed here. But as is said, no good ever goes unpunished.

After much sadness and baseless rejections, with friends, I founded Beit Emunah, and we held our first gathering on Simchat Torah 2020, which was the 22nd of Tishrei 5781 (October 10, 2020). Beit Emunah received its Title 14 status under the non-profit laws of my state and its 501(c)(3) under the Internal Revenue Code shortly thereafter.

This brings me to the current moment, December 23, 2024, as I pen these words. I have learned a lot about Rabbinic Judaism and myself over the past several years. Some of it is wonderful, but much of it is not; much is reminiscent of why the Second Temple was destroyed in 70 CE. History is repeating. I hope I would not have been a party to these sins then, and I do not wish to be so now.

When I began this quest in 1969, I didn't expect to find so much division and hatred among those claiming to believe in God. I am not speaking only of Judaism here. In almost every religion, this cancerous tendril of self and other-directed hate is present and active. They say, "God is love, but He hates you." They say, "God is the Parent of us all, but He plans to torture you in hellfire for eternity because you do not believe as I do." They say, "You claim to serve God, but we reject your claim because our sages are not your sages, and even if they are, your understandings differ from ours, so be gone, infidel! You are not welcome here!" Such hatred and condemnation are present among all religions. This is not the Way of God. Thank God innumerable sincere people are still to be found among all religious traditions. I seek communion with such people, but I have been more mistreated by the Rabbinate than by any other clergy I have ever dealt with. I’ve had enough.

It is not my intention with this announcement to point fingers at any of my former teachers. I am deeply indebted to them all. God knows I have sometimes failed to walk the Path properly! But I sincerely continue to try, and despite Rabbinic pressure, I have always welcomed all people under our tent. I cannot defend the frequent Rabbinic defamation shown to other Jews and non-Jews, nor the wholesale refusal of so many of the Rabbinate to do their jobs as the ‘Nation of Priests,’ nor the common Rabbinic approval of child slaughter through abortion. Rabbis are commanded by Scripture to shepherd all who come to them and to stand unapologetically for the sanctity of human life. Yet so many pompously refuse. Too many reject and condemn sincere seekers, both Jews and non-Jews alike. This is not the Way of God.

Aside from how I and so many thousands of others are treated and cast aside by so many of them, I cannot defend the Rabbinic anti-Torah Talmudic teachings that undermine and intend to replace the Written Torah of Moshe Rabbeinu with their often contradictory Rabbinic Oral Torah. Rabbis are expected to uphold these "teachings of men" above the teachings of God recorded in the Torah of Moshe. I cannot do this. Either the Torah is God's revealed Word, or it's not.

And besides, I don't stay where I am not welcome, and it is abundantly clear that I am not welcome by the Rabbinate. Besides, I cannot support significant parts of their anti-biblical dogmas. For these reasons, I can no longer, in good conscience, continue to embrace the tarnished title of 'rabbi.' Our Beit Emunah clergy is henceforth known as 'elders' and 'teachers'. Our congregation is henceforward a non-sectarian House of Faith ("Beit Emunah") for all people in One God.

As I read it, the Torah, like most other Scriptures, is clear that there is only one God. One God is Compassionate towards all who seek Truth. One God casts none aside and calls us all to humble service to the Divine and to one another. All humans are called to serve, not to be masters. To be lovers and not haters. I must, therefore, seek to please One God, not religious ideologies and hierarchies based back in the Dark Ages. If this makes me a heretic in the eyes of some, so be it.

The first-century Jew Yeshua of Nazareth taught that a tree is known by its fruit. Good trees produce good fruit. The earth is overflowing with rotten fruit today, as the prophets foretold. Thank God there is still much good fruit to be found among all the trees in God's Garden. Good fruit is good fruit, regardless of where it grows. As the Rg Veda says, "The lotus often grows in the mire."

So, the time has come for the rebirth of John of AllFaith and the setting aside of Rabbi Shlomo Nachman ben Ya'akov. As of the public release of this document and its accompanying video, which will be attached to this page once published, I lay aside (not 'relinquish' nor 'nullify') my Rabbinic ordinations (as I did not relinquish or nullify those I earned in the other traditions), and declare Beit Emunah to be an organization devoted to promoting faith in One God for all people of positive intention regardless of religious or other sectarian paradigms. AllFaith.com and Beit Emunah are ministries aimed at knowing and loving One God and sharing Divine Love, without sectarian allegiances and alliances, with everyone who chooses to listen. Our inspiration comes from all teachers of Light throughout the ages and among us today.

Which is the true religion? None of them.

All religions and spiritualities are human constructs that mix the positives and negatives of human nature, desire, and experience. They all intersperse myth, prejudice, and fiction with the granted Divine Revelations. Given human nature, this is unavoidable, as we are imperfect creatures. One God has spoken to humanity many times, but we have imperfect hearing and impure intentions. Most people have never been ready to receive the One Truth, whatever it might be, regardless of how it was presented.

Which is the True Path? Now, that's a different question entirely!

The True Path is the one Creator grants the individual Seeker. No two Paths are the same because no two people are the same. The Path back Home to God depends on where one currently is. For instance, if one is in Daytona Beach, the fastest route to Atlanta is I-75 North, but not so if one is in Missoula, Montana. One God embraces us where we are and offers to lead us Home from our current situation. This seems like a logical understanding.

Likewise, every religious system describes Truth and the Way to God according to its own limited cultural, political, and socio-economic paradigms. To tell someone in Missoula, Montana, to travel on I-75 simply will not get them to Atlanta. However, one day, we will all realize the Transcendent Truth that the Map Home was within our consciousness the whole time. You already know the Way Home to One God. As the Hebrew prophet Jeremiah foretells, "And [then] they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, 'You should know the LORD.' For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know Me already" (Jeremiah 31:34). I believe this is a good analogy for our current situation. There are sincere people in every spiritual system, and there are sincere people within each religion, ready and more than happy to point out the flaws in every other system. Such folks seldom see the flaws within their own.

This coming event may be conceived as the Revelation of the Sons of God, as the Sounding of the Song of Redemption, as the Inscribing of God Consciousness into ours, as the Second Coming, as the end of Kali Yuga and the beginning of Satya Yuga, or in so many other ways, but how we describe it is irrelevant. In practically every scripture and tradition, One God's promise is that one glorious day the World Teacher will come and reveal the Truth of One God to us all. That blessed day will come once humanity is ready to receive it. Thus far, the majority clearly are not, and so the diverse prophecies of the various religions continue to unfold toward a planetary catastrophe the likes of which we have never seen or conceived. In the aftermath of that conflagration, 'every knee will bend' to the Truth of One God, and then everyone will be blessed and realize the Truth and stop condemning each other. The Christian Apostle Paul explains it this way: For now, I see as through a hazy mirror, but then, I will know face to face. For now, I know in part, but then I will know even as I am known (I Corinthians 13:12). I want to see clearly. How about you? Ready to clean the haze from that 'mirror'? THAT is what we are trying to do now at Beit Emunah.

The visions I had in 1969 and subsequently inspired the course of my life. I studied the 'maps' of those who sought the Way before me, hoping to find help along my way Home. As I progressed on my quest, One God nudged me along with visions, dreams, counsel, and so on. As the more spiritually inclined among you will understand, trying to describe such inward nudging to others is difficult because they are internal and transcend the normal boundaries of what most people consider reality. Words cannot describe such experiences fully. Nonetheless, the attempt is sometimes necessary to communicate why one does and believes as one does. I owe an explanation to all of you. Some may be shocked by what I reveal today. But understand the meaning of:

The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.

Just as 'the Wind blows where it pleases,' so too, the Path of God. Sometimes, One God's Spirit is like a gentle breeze; sometimes, it blows like a hurricane. In all cases, resisting the Wind of the Spirit is a mistake that leads one ever deeper into folly and material Illusionment. I have tried to follow the Wind of God's Spirit throughout this life. People may say many things against me. After this announcement, I can only imagine the coming condemnation and pious "I told you sos." Some accusations against me are likely correct. I'm not perfect and have never claimed to be. But one thing I can honestly say, I am not a hypocrite. And yet, I was beginning to feel like one. Not because of what I was saying or doing but because of the assumptions people were making based on not understanding my words and intentions. Now I am free to speak and to be John of AllFaith once again! You are invited to walk this Path to One God with me.

I discuss various aspects of my life-quest HERE if you are interested.

Peace, Shalom, and Om Shanti to us all,
~ John of AllFaith

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* By John of AllFaith, © 1997 - Present. This page updated December 25, 2023
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