When Adam received his soul, the pristine world retained a stronger 'memory' of the holy source from which it emerged. This compelled people of all emerging cultures to pursue their journey of spiritual discovery. After the flood and the physical re-population of the world, the most righteous people like Noah, Malchitzedek and Abraham continued their journey, delving toward the center of the mystical source that had left its magical imprint in the world that surrounded them. It is from this common root that today's cultures are still found to be sharing spiritual and mystical rituals as well as a single language source.
Ishmael (Abraham's son and the source of Islamic lineage) and his Egyptian mother Hagar (Pharaohs daughter in servitude to the house of Abraham to learn monotheistic mysticsm), were eventually banished from Abraham's increasingly spiritual home. They traveled back to Egypt where Ishmael established a family of 12 sons. Isaac (Abraham's son with Sarah) remained committed to a deep state of holiness and purity. He remained in the area which later became Israel where his wife Rebecca bore the twin sons of 'future nations', Jacob (representing Israel) and Esau (representing Rome - and all Christian nations). Esau was first and the Bible recounts that Jacob was born grasping Esau's heel, this is important in context of Torah's later prophecies for the development of humanity.
When Abraham died his grandchildren, Jacob and Esau, were 15 years old. Like Ishmael, Esau was more comfortable living and playing in the field while Jacob devoted his time to study and prayer in the continuation of Abraham and Isaacs deeply spiritual, doctrine. At 63, when Jacob received Isaac's blessing, he finally prepared himself for marriage, the ritual unification of the male and female soul. It was 50 years before Jacobs death when, at the Yabbok river, on his way to the site where Jerusalem is today, that he encountered Esau and fought the angel of death, prevailing over it and receiving its blessing, together with the name Israel that was bestowed on him. In the last 17 years of his 147 year life Jacob followed Joseph (his son) into Egypt with his 11 other sons and their families. After their long awaited reconciliation with Joseph, who by that time had become the most powerful man in Egypt next to Pharaoh, the sons of Israel (Jacob) became enormously influential in Egyptian culture and society, especially in the North. Within a few generations they had grown from 70 people to many thousands of influential descendants of Jacob all of whom enjoyed a privileged, aristocratic status in the Egypt.
The mystical construct of their monotheistic belief was substantially different from any other in Egypt and it fascinated the highly spiritual Egyptian intellectual class, including the priests. It is quite apparent from the detailed stories of Joseph that the Egyptian high priests and aristocracy, including Pharaoh, searched for and found a deeper meaning in their actions through Josephs mystical explanations. Pharaoh was consumed by Joseph's abilities of interpretation, foresight and prophecy. During Joseph's reign he opened the way for the rapid spread and integration of Abrahamic mysticism into Egyptian religious culture. The 90 years of Joseph's life in Egypt marked a peak of Israel's tribal growth and influence. Then, because of his death and that of the Pharaoh ruling at that time, Israel's demise was exacerbated by a hostile objenctionable aristocracy over the next 120 years, ultimately leading to their exodus from Egypt. The total exile period was 430 years (since Abraham's first arrival in Egypt), but this shorter 210 year period is arguably the most pivotal point in the history of all civilization. During their lives Jacob and Joseph were celebrated by Egyptians and upon their deaths, they were embalmed, receiving formal and extensive burials sponsored and endorsed by Pharaoh, the nation of Egypt and their allies.
After Israel's exodus from Egypt and at the end of Egypt's Middle Kingdom (a period of great turbulence in the Pharaonic lineage), the New Kingdom was formed, but things were never quite the same because, as the spiritual center of the world, Egyptian culture had been greatly diminished by the seismic shift of Israel's departure leaving behind a massive vacuum that could not be filled with anything as sophisticated, detailed or perfected as the deep mystical construct and logic of ancient Judaism. Israel's departure left Egypt in chaos, grappling with a return to its flawed past, eventually it led to the complete demise as the worlds primary spiritual authority 1000 years later at the end of the New Kingdom.
Following Israel's exile, at the crossing of the Sea and at Mt. Sinai, they (more than 3 million people) were simultaneously subjected to the most intense enlightenment any single mass population group has ever experienced. After 40 years in the desert, committed to a life of purity, the 12 tribes of Israel separated and settled in the land promised to Abraham. There was a hiatus of several hundred years as they built their new cities and integrated into or fought off some of the existing communities. Apart from each other for the first time in their approximate 300 year history since becoming a nation under Jacob, only their holy teachings and common faith, strengthened by G-d's revelation at the crossing of the sea and their receipt of Torah at Mt. Sinai, kept Israel's tribes bonded together as a common people with a common religious identity.
After several hundred years Israel's tribes gathered in two distinct groups represented by the Kingdom of Judah (including the priesthood) in the South and Israel more generally represented in the North. Their variation in religious practices and the influence of other cultures caused them to drift from their absolute common root, but each remained fundamentally connected to the Torah, to its mystical Kabbalah, and key prayers and meditations. Their principle and common belief in G-d, His commandments and their societal commitment to the laws of Torah, kept them from over zealously competing with each other and provided the magnetism that progressively drew them closer to ultimately become the Iron Age United Kingdom of Israel.
Around 800 BCE, King David fought for possession of the strategically placed Jebusite city and he purchased land that eventually led to the establishment of Jerusalem as a city and religious site. This was centered at Mt. Moriah the mountain, which contains the rock of creation, the foundation stone around which the entire world was formed, where Abraham offered Isaac to G-d and where Jacob pledged to build a house for G-d. David's son King Solomon built the first permanent Israelite Temple to house the Holy of Holies, the Ark of the Covenant holding the stones of the 10 Commandments that were transported through the dessert from Mt. Sinai. Jerusalem progressively became the undisputed mystical and spiritual center of the world, the place where people of all nations came to repent their sins and give sacrifice to G-d for their individual and collective redemption.
Following approximately 300[2] years of the first temple period, mainstream Israelites began to drift away from the purity of their post exile commitments including their direct and daily connection with G-d through the temple. During this time increasingly large groups from other cultures integrated and converted to Judaism. 150 years later, the Jews (including the priesthood) under the Kingdom of Judah, keepers of the land in the south, where the temple was based, were attacked by the Babylonians. The first temple was destroyed and all of Judah and Israel placed into a permanent state of exile, banished from the Holy Land to Babylon (Iran). This marks the beginning of Israel's long diaspora when the Jewish masses continued their migration to other countries and integrated more broadly into other cultures. Then Imperial Greece, under Alexander the Great, conquered Jerusalem and after 70 years of exile, the Holy Priests, with permission from the Babylonian King, cautiously began returning to Jerusalem. The rebuilding of the temple commenced immediately and later in Jerusalem, under Roman rule, massive construction of the second temple continued, and was ultimately completed making it arguably the most important religious site in history.
After 400 hundred years of the second temple period, toward the end of the first century of the Common Era (CE), Jews in Jerusalem, their temple and the increasingly recalcitrant priesthood were destroyed. This occurred because fragmented groups of increasingly powerful secular Jews, including many recent converts, spurred Imperial Rome's politicians to directly oppose Israel's religious core who remained entrenched and unwavering in their commitment to G-d over any national interests. Amongst the Jewish opposition, Yehoshua (Hebrew),Yeshua (Aramaic) or (Jesus), a particularly rebellious spiritual and mystical leader who, from amongst the many false Mesiah's at the time, was tried and crucified for his attempts to stop Roman corruption of temple priesthood and practices. Rome attacked and the Jews were placed into a deep and longlasting exile one more time. This time all Jews in Jerusalem were viciously persecuted and no Jew permitted to live within the cities walls. During this period Israel was scattered in the diaspora, North, through modern day Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq, Greece, Italy, France and Spain and South through Egypt, Libya and Morocco. Those Jews who remained committed to the core of their spiritual belief adopted the prescribed practices of the Great Council of Elders who after the destruction of the first Temple documented the entire body of Oral Torah handed down through the millennia. However, non-Jews who had previously benefited by bringing sacrifices at the Temple were left in a directionless spiritual void to fend for themselves.
By the end of the 4th century (CE), following Emperor Constantine's official adoption of Christianity (313CE) and the founding of the Byzantine Empire, the Land of Israel had become a predominantly Christian country. Churches were built on once Jewish holy sites in Jerusalem, Bethlehem and the Galilee. Around 600 years after this, Arab rulers, followed by the Turks of the Ottoman Empire attacked and took control of Jerusalem in the period before the beginning of Islam (around 800 CE). Successive attempts were made to destroy all that Jerusalem represented, its buildings, monuments, artifacts and articles of substance in order to remove any remnant of Israel's hated Jewish religious culture for fear that it may rise to undermine its opponents one last time. Then, following an appeal by Pope Urban II to reclaim the holy land, the Crusaders of Europe were sent. Initially successful in 1187 (CE) they were eventually overthrown by the Arab's under Saladin. The Arab communities who occupied Jerusalem at that time were particularly vigilant, building over and raising to the ground the remnants of anything that Rome had failed to destroy at the begining of the millennia prior.
At the time of the destruction of the second temple by the Romans (after the time of Jesus), it became evident to the most learned Rabbis that Kabbalah, its rituals, meditation and its teachings were to be strictly practiced underground in order to retain correct standards of its delicately constructed laws and avoid further persecution by those that opposed it. The Holiest Sages and Rabbis continued to move into the north, ( the old Kingdom of Israel) to Tiberias and Zefad where they continued to study and reveal the most mystical aspects of the Torah. Zefad is the site where Jacob studied for 14 years in the school of Malchitzedek. The practices of the Rabbi's began to change to meet the demands of the more modern pragmatic era and teachings of the Kabbalah (representing the scapegoat) became feared by Jewish mainstream communities for the tyranny that the Jews had experienced. Mysticism was buried, allowed only in the deepest underground groups, for almost 1000 years, until around 1100 CE,when the Zohar (the teachings of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and his pupils recovered from around 100 CE) was first published and open study resumed in certain European cities, but only amongst the most learned holy scholars. As these teachings began to re-emerge for the first time, Jews in exile were persecuted in Spain and throughout Europe. The spread of Catholicism caused serious spiritual, religious and cultural conflict and many newly established derivatives of Christianity and Islam had difficulty reconciling intellectually with their root teachings in Jewish mysticism, so they were forced to 'shape' the views of its teachers and commentators. It was not until approximately 1600-1700 CE when the Chassidic Jews in Russia and Eastern Europe re-established the study of Kabbalah and its' more practical application through the teachings of the Chassidic Masters (first taught by the ba'al Shem Tov) known as Chassidus. Progressively, although not without serious contention from their fellow Jews, certain Rabbi's (led by The Alter Rebbe - founder of modern Chabad) felt that the time had arrived to reveal more and more of the wisdom of Kabbalah through Chassidus.
Around the end of the First World War Russian and Eastern European Jews began to immigrate west toward the major cities of Europe. Following the pogroms in Russia under Stalin, wave after wave of immigrants joined their fellow Jews in Poland, Germany, France and Hungary causing significant social upheavel. Through their practice and study of Torah they remained motivated to struggle and survive despite very difficult conditions imposed on them. Speaking Hebrew and Yiddish, they were the outcasts of society almost everywhere they went, therefore secular Judaism became the 'easier' alternative causing assimilation to spread rapidly into the heart of European Jewish culture and society. This new wave of assimilated 'Jewishness' mixed in with the remnant of ancient Jewish righteousness and mysticsm, once again, became the wekest link, the focus of resentment, stirring up the darkest forces manifest in Hitler and his alien nation principals.
Hitler distorted the views of the role of Judas in the death of Christ, sourced in the comparatively independent and contained writings of the New Testament, which planted the seeds for anti-Semitism and established the ideal conditions for a headonistic disaster. Like a head-on collision of two oncoming trains, it was Hitler's train of steel that crushed and destroyed the train of Jews imigrating into Europe. Through this, the souls of the 6 million Jews, who perished by Hilters evil hand, were elevated to return to the higher worlds to empower the forces of good and G-d's heavenly tribunal was called to weigh scales, judging the nation of Israel and the world. A direct result of these events, 3 years after the end of World War II, was the establishment of the State of Israel. Finally the major nations of the world formally and officially recognized the national right of Jews to the land of Israel as a permanent home for the descendants of Jacob, the keepers of the Jewish faith.
Despite the re-establishment of the modern State of Israel, there remains a fundamental opposition to the Jewish mystical core that protects, shields and benefits all descendants of Israel. This is the same opposition that followed Abraham, Jacob and Joseph into Egypt, the one that caused Egypts resentment, the one that the Babylonians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Arabs, the Spanish and the Germans followed in order to crush and control Israel's spiritual ideal. This opposition, manifest in ongoing anti-Semitism, (see Iran's latest attempt to deny the holocaust) is so strong that only a comprehensive knowledge, understanding, possesion and identification with Torah and its' inner meanings by the nations of the world will finaly render opposition to the ideal neutral. This is the vision of the Ba'al Shem Tov who, in a deep meditation was told 'when the well springs (his teachings) burst forth and reach the furthest extremities' then the 'shells' (concealers of truth) will cease to exist and the Messiah will be seen in the world.
[1] http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Facts+About+Israel/History/Facts+About+Israel-+History.htm
[2] http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Facts+About+Israel/History/HISTORY-+Foreign+Domination.htm
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Friday, December 08, 2006
Sensitivity and Attachment
Our physical interface to the spiritual realm, from the lowest universe - Asiyah, through the holiest and highest - Azilut, is secured against the dimensional backdrop that gave birth to these universal realms. These are dimensions of such depth, such 'smallness', such infinitesimal nothingness, such purity that their incomprehensibly sensitive qualities manifest in every aspect of any and every possible physical form. In this sense, dimensional finite energies are integrated with the spiritual 'Life Force' energies of thInfiniteie Being (Ain Sof) manifesting in Azilut (our universal realm) and flowing through everything. In a physical sense, at a sub-atomic and atomic scale this is significant because it gives rise to the notion of energy inter-dependencies on a grand unified scale. At a sub-atomic scale this dependency is emphasized because G-d's spiritual forces exert significant influence over the physical structures and sub-structures of each atom in each physical particle, inside every physical object.
If this is the case then, how come we do not feel the presence of this phenomena? Are we oblivious? It is scientifically acknowledged that the predominantly unknown particles, like Neutrino's and other sub-atomic energy forces that take on wave or wave-like forms, pass through our physical bodies every second of every day at the rate of trillions of sub-atomic components per second. So small are these sub-structures and forms that we are unable to detect their presence yet we know they exist. They make up the dark matter and other unknown components of the universe, the jelly mass in which the galaxies, nebula, black holes, stars, planets and people float. We are born into this universal sub atomic jelly, we live in it and it is essential to the forces that sustain life.
So, let's look back at what we have learned: The Infinite Being - The Force of All Forces establishes His will, through which He applies His energy in the form of Eternal Light, which after a shattering of these initial, intensely spiritual energies gives rise to the first finite dimension. His force is applied in 4 major universal realms channeled into 10 cascading 'vessels' of pure spiritual energy of which 7 are the lower vessels, containing remnants of the His original 'light'. The energies of light (good) and darkness (evil) are captured in each of the vessels, which converge. Their intersection becomes the mixing pot in which pre sub-atomic forces are born. The intersection at the peak of the decent (the convergence point) itself is an almost infinite point. At the precise intersection (convergence of all vessels and all realms) the battle of light and dark cannot be resolved by returning to the infinite form because to do so would go beyond G-d's permitted boundary, therefore the only outcome is by reversal, birth and inflatifinitethe fintie force. His beaming spiritual light, drawn to the intersecting singularity of the vessels, releases with enormous force, all that is contained within them giving rise to the creation of the physical world of Asiyah, the lowest spiritual realm, the new home of our physical universe, which expands massively. The dimensions of the most outer spiritual realms remain closest to the forces of G-d. They are the most extremely sensitive dimensions and are instantly responsive to everything He wills.
The extremity of the spiritual dimension of Azilut makes an almost direct connection to The Ain Sof (The Infinite Being), but no connection is actually made. Nevertheless, Atzilut is in such close spiritual proximity that His affect on the extremity of the finite realm of Azilut is instantaneous. It is in Azilut that G-d's spiritual will is transferemanatinge emenating forces of spiritual light that form the basis for His Angels to come into existence. Each next dimensional realm, in turn, transcends each of the other dimensions that fall below Azilut[1]. As discussed earlier, these are the other universal realms; Beriyah (Creation - Something from nothing), Yetzirah (Formation - Something from something) and finally Asiyah (Action - Completion). Connecting and weaving their way through each of these universal realms are the same finite dimensions that originated in Azilut. Although each realm is finite, they and all that they contain remain bounded by the infinite dimension from which they originate and ultimately the root of everything is, The Essence of G-d.
The constrictions that gave rise to each of these universal realms and their cascading vessels, which enabled the light of the Ein Sof to be restricted, shaped the forms of the dimensional structures of the predecessors to space and time before the Big Bang. Consider these dimensions as fractal-like forms, strings, tubes and shapes that connect, weave, and establish the basis for the foundation and primitive structure of space before the emergence of our universal events. However, at the point of the intersection, in the moment of the creation of the singularity, they give rise to the sub-atomic world of our universe in which we now live.
Since these dimensions are the essential foundation of the finite they constitute the building blocks of everything that can ever be physically possible. They contain within them the information that connects every particle of every atom everywhere. At the lowest levels of the sub-atomic dimension, these sub-fractional components are extremely sensitive to force of any type. At a scale relative to the sub-atomic (smaller than anything science has evidence ofenoughbrave enought to theorize), it is the forces of G-d, connected by His Light through His 4 universal realms and their vessels that guide and influence structure in our universe.
Imagine the trillions of sub-atomic particles passing through every cell of your body every second. Imagine, these interact with and impact the atomic behavior of all molecules in your body, which in turn are interconnected and responsive to this External force maintaining its perfect influence over all structure. Under these circumstances, your body and your brain are being affected by this Force and in return the atoms of your body have the capacity to influence this force. This is a two way[2] street, a communication mechanism that connects every atom in your body to the forces of G-d. Every thought and every action has an impact on this External Force and vice versa. With this interpretation, it becomes easier to comprehend the ways in which G-d communicates with us and affects us, for He is able to determine the oscillation of every possible atomic substructure.
It is the inner spiritual workings of your electric pumping heart and your mind and the oscillation of your atoms (in your body) that determine how you ultimately synchronize with His already oscillating Forces. You are directly connected to His Force. His oscillations are directed to everyone and everything and the aggregate of our personal and human oscillations in turn are felt by Him acting as a barometer of our spiritual state and that of the human race. So how do we connect with G-d? How do we respond to Him? How do we tune our spiritual sense to harmonize with Him? How should we live our lives? What mental state should we aspire to? Should we become motivated to think more seriously about Him?
To comprehend this in real terms one must accept that the energies of your body, mind and soul are susceptible to the influence of the forces that surround you, including the input that your brain receives from the brains of other people. Here are a few examples that will set you thinking about this in the right way. If you've ever been in a busy airport catching a flight where the process of moving through lines is necessary, but mundane, your thoughts will in all likelihood sway from the focus of your simple objective - to get on the plane. You will be distracted by events surrounding you, people, stores, food, bathrooms and general activities. The mind noise that emanates from all of the people present, who each have different secondary objectives (gates and times) to consider, is too much for you to bring into order so you tend to drift around in thoughts that are interrupted by the collective minds of those people passing around you. Compare this to a visit to a major sporting event where the entire stadium is focused on the play in the game. Everyone's energy is directed toward a specific focal point and very few distractive thoughts take your attention away from the action in the center. From this example you can see that you are also affected by surrounding (His external indirect) forces that influence you.
Consider your inner voice, the voice that is repetitively heard by you and by no-one else. This is the place in your mind where you 'talk to yourself' confiding in your thoughts, strategizing, analyzing, summing up and determining what your free will course of action should be. It's the place where you silently judge those around you, the place from where you compartmentalize information to establish your personal perception of reality, your kingdom, the one that provides you with foundation from which you can function as a stable person in this world. Internally your thoughts manifest as words (you think in words), somehow they come into mind, sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly and they cause reactions, similar thoughts to converge and opposites to repel causing new results that in turn spur other inner voice words, eventually settling with some form of acceptance. Then it starts again. Why do you 'speak' to yourself? Surely we have no need for letters and words especially when they are not expressed in speech itself, but this is not the case. Language, letters and words appear to be the essential elements of our inner voice. So where do these word combinations come from and how do they just form in our brains? Consider the mystical nature of letters and their relative Kabbalistic energy forms, then consider that these energies flow according to the attributes (Sefirot) discussed in Kabbalah. From this we can begin to comprehend that letters are not just some physical manifestation of language, but that they derive from a higher energy source which is universally connected and which affects each of our abilities to function in the world we live and the space that surrounds us.
Most people will find it difficult to tune into or recognize the specific inputs they are receiving. Unexplained events, people you think of who call you, forgotten people that re-connect with you, strangers that talk to you, what are they really saying or doing, is there a hidden higher purpose behind each thought, each action, each event you experience that you may not be interpreting correctly? The more conscious you are, the more you will perceive your higher purpose so that you can apply your free will to this perception, of direct or indirect input, in order to benefit you and those around you.
To many this will just seem like noise, a loud unending hiss, the pain of distraction, or worse, no recognition at all. These are the thoughts and interruptions that prevent you from getting to interpret the pure thoughts that ought to be occupying your conscious mind. These are the levels of thought that would propel all of us to become better people. Blanking out, or reducing the noise or learning to identify with the source of pure thought is a skill that can only be learned with practice, patience and time. It begins by recognizing the negative forces that impede your correct comprehension of thought. Light and dark forces of G-d exist in the ether that surrounds you and the ether within you, your choice is to question the origin of every thought by applying your 'free will' to perceive these spiritual and physical energies. This process has been spoken of and studied since the soul of Adam was 'blown' into him almost 6000 thousands of years ago.
The Chassidic Masters of Jewish teachings, meditations and prayers are some of the deepest thinkers on the mystical subject of 'Thought Energy'. Many of these people lived during difficult times in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries having drawn deeply on their ancient learning heritage. However, it was during this time they clearly defined the teachings that have subsequently helped many millions of people to successfully contain their unholy thoughts and convert them to the highest levels of holiness, elevating darkness into light. It is this ability to recognize and conquer evil thoughts, promoted by angels, people and events of the other side that will ultimately bring the light of redemption to the world and only by our sensitivity to these energies are we able to recognize their existence and respond to them in the appropriate manner. If we fail to recognize this we will simply continue along humanities journey toward the great abyss. However, we can change, we can spend more time devoted to these energies and we can make the penultimate difference to the path for the future of humanity.
[1] Etz Chayim, Shaar 47, ch. 12, et al. 4. Tikkunei Zohar, Introduction II (beginning Patach Eliyahu). http://www.chabad.org/dailystudy/tanya.asp?NavCal=Heb&Lang=&tDate=9/19/2004
[2] Inner Space Pg 34 Divine Providence
If this is the case then, how come we do not feel the presence of this phenomena? Are we oblivious? It is scientifically acknowledged that the predominantly unknown particles, like Neutrino's and other sub-atomic energy forces that take on wave or wave-like forms, pass through our physical bodies every second of every day at the rate of trillions of sub-atomic components per second. So small are these sub-structures and forms that we are unable to detect their presence yet we know they exist. They make up the dark matter and other unknown components of the universe, the jelly mass in which the galaxies, nebula, black holes, stars, planets and people float. We are born into this universal sub atomic jelly, we live in it and it is essential to the forces that sustain life.
So, let's look back at what we have learned: The Infinite Being - The Force of All Forces establishes His will, through which He applies His energy in the form of Eternal Light, which after a shattering of these initial, intensely spiritual energies gives rise to the first finite dimension. His force is applied in 4 major universal realms channeled into 10 cascading 'vessels' of pure spiritual energy of which 7 are the lower vessels, containing remnants of the His original 'light'. The energies of light (good) and darkness (evil) are captured in each of the vessels, which converge. Their intersection becomes the mixing pot in which pre sub-atomic forces are born. The intersection at the peak of the decent (the convergence point) itself is an almost infinite point. At the precise intersection (convergence of all vessels and all realms) the battle of light and dark cannot be resolved by returning to the infinite form because to do so would go beyond G-d's permitted boundary, therefore the only outcome is by reversal, birth and inflatifinitethe fintie force. His beaming spiritual light, drawn to the intersecting singularity of the vessels, releases with enormous force, all that is contained within them giving rise to the creation of the physical world of Asiyah, the lowest spiritual realm, the new home of our physical universe, which expands massively. The dimensions of the most outer spiritual realms remain closest to the forces of G-d. They are the most extremely sensitive dimensions and are instantly responsive to everything He wills.
The extremity of the spiritual dimension of Azilut makes an almost direct connection to The Ain Sof (The Infinite Being), but no connection is actually made. Nevertheless, Atzilut is in such close spiritual proximity that His affect on the extremity of the finite realm of Azilut is instantaneous. It is in Azilut that G-d's spiritual will is transferemanatinge emenating forces of spiritual light that form the basis for His Angels to come into existence. Each next dimensional realm, in turn, transcends each of the other dimensions that fall below Azilut[1]. As discussed earlier, these are the other universal realms; Beriyah (Creation - Something from nothing), Yetzirah (Formation - Something from something) and finally Asiyah (Action - Completion). Connecting and weaving their way through each of these universal realms are the same finite dimensions that originated in Azilut. Although each realm is finite, they and all that they contain remain bounded by the infinite dimension from which they originate and ultimately the root of everything is, The Essence of G-d.
The constrictions that gave rise to each of these universal realms and their cascading vessels, which enabled the light of the Ein Sof to be restricted, shaped the forms of the dimensional structures of the predecessors to space and time before the Big Bang. Consider these dimensions as fractal-like forms, strings, tubes and shapes that connect, weave, and establish the basis for the foundation and primitive structure of space before the emergence of our universal events. However, at the point of the intersection, in the moment of the creation of the singularity, they give rise to the sub-atomic world of our universe in which we now live.
Since these dimensions are the essential foundation of the finite they constitute the building blocks of everything that can ever be physically possible. They contain within them the information that connects every particle of every atom everywhere. At the lowest levels of the sub-atomic dimension, these sub-fractional components are extremely sensitive to force of any type. At a scale relative to the sub-atomic (smaller than anything science has evidence ofenoughbrave enought to theorize), it is the forces of G-d, connected by His Light through His 4 universal realms and their vessels that guide and influence structure in our universe.
Imagine the trillions of sub-atomic particles passing through every cell of your body every second. Imagine, these interact with and impact the atomic behavior of all molecules in your body, which in turn are interconnected and responsive to this External force maintaining its perfect influence over all structure. Under these circumstances, your body and your brain are being affected by this Force and in return the atoms of your body have the capacity to influence this force. This is a two way[2] street, a communication mechanism that connects every atom in your body to the forces of G-d. Every thought and every action has an impact on this External Force and vice versa. With this interpretation, it becomes easier to comprehend the ways in which G-d communicates with us and affects us, for He is able to determine the oscillation of every possible atomic substructure.
It is the inner spiritual workings of your electric pumping heart and your mind and the oscillation of your atoms (in your body) that determine how you ultimately synchronize with His already oscillating Forces. You are directly connected to His Force. His oscillations are directed to everyone and everything and the aggregate of our personal and human oscillations in turn are felt by Him acting as a barometer of our spiritual state and that of the human race. So how do we connect with G-d? How do we respond to Him? How do we tune our spiritual sense to harmonize with Him? How should we live our lives? What mental state should we aspire to? Should we become motivated to think more seriously about Him?
To comprehend this in real terms one must accept that the energies of your body, mind and soul are susceptible to the influence of the forces that surround you, including the input that your brain receives from the brains of other people. Here are a few examples that will set you thinking about this in the right way. If you've ever been in a busy airport catching a flight where the process of moving through lines is necessary, but mundane, your thoughts will in all likelihood sway from the focus of your simple objective - to get on the plane. You will be distracted by events surrounding you, people, stores, food, bathrooms and general activities. The mind noise that emanates from all of the people present, who each have different secondary objectives (gates and times) to consider, is too much for you to bring into order so you tend to drift around in thoughts that are interrupted by the collective minds of those people passing around you. Compare this to a visit to a major sporting event where the entire stadium is focused on the play in the game. Everyone's energy is directed toward a specific focal point and very few distractive thoughts take your attention away from the action in the center. From this example you can see that you are also affected by surrounding (His external indirect) forces that influence you.
Consider your inner voice, the voice that is repetitively heard by you and by no-one else. This is the place in your mind where you 'talk to yourself' confiding in your thoughts, strategizing, analyzing, summing up and determining what your free will course of action should be. It's the place where you silently judge those around you, the place from where you compartmentalize information to establish your personal perception of reality, your kingdom, the one that provides you with foundation from which you can function as a stable person in this world. Internally your thoughts manifest as words (you think in words), somehow they come into mind, sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly and they cause reactions, similar thoughts to converge and opposites to repel causing new results that in turn spur other inner voice words, eventually settling with some form of acceptance. Then it starts again. Why do you 'speak' to yourself? Surely we have no need for letters and words especially when they are not expressed in speech itself, but this is not the case. Language, letters and words appear to be the essential elements of our inner voice. So where do these word combinations come from and how do they just form in our brains? Consider the mystical nature of letters and their relative Kabbalistic energy forms, then consider that these energies flow according to the attributes (Sefirot) discussed in Kabbalah. From this we can begin to comprehend that letters are not just some physical manifestation of language, but that they derive from a higher energy source which is universally connected and which affects each of our abilities to function in the world we live and the space that surrounds us.
Most people will find it difficult to tune into or recognize the specific inputs they are receiving. Unexplained events, people you think of who call you, forgotten people that re-connect with you, strangers that talk to you, what are they really saying or doing, is there a hidden higher purpose behind each thought, each action, each event you experience that you may not be interpreting correctly? The more conscious you are, the more you will perceive your higher purpose so that you can apply your free will to this perception, of direct or indirect input, in order to benefit you and those around you.
To many this will just seem like noise, a loud unending hiss, the pain of distraction, or worse, no recognition at all. These are the thoughts and interruptions that prevent you from getting to interpret the pure thoughts that ought to be occupying your conscious mind. These are the levels of thought that would propel all of us to become better people. Blanking out, or reducing the noise or learning to identify with the source of pure thought is a skill that can only be learned with practice, patience and time. It begins by recognizing the negative forces that impede your correct comprehension of thought. Light and dark forces of G-d exist in the ether that surrounds you and the ether within you, your choice is to question the origin of every thought by applying your 'free will' to perceive these spiritual and physical energies. This process has been spoken of and studied since the soul of Adam was 'blown' into him almost 6000 thousands of years ago.
The Chassidic Masters of Jewish teachings, meditations and prayers are some of the deepest thinkers on the mystical subject of 'Thought Energy'. Many of these people lived during difficult times in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries having drawn deeply on their ancient learning heritage. However, it was during this time they clearly defined the teachings that have subsequently helped many millions of people to successfully contain their unholy thoughts and convert them to the highest levels of holiness, elevating darkness into light. It is this ability to recognize and conquer evil thoughts, promoted by angels, people and events of the other side that will ultimately bring the light of redemption to the world and only by our sensitivity to these energies are we able to recognize their existence and respond to them in the appropriate manner. If we fail to recognize this we will simply continue along humanities journey toward the great abyss. However, we can change, we can spend more time devoted to these energies and we can make the penultimate difference to the path for the future of humanity.
[1] Etz Chayim, Shaar 47, ch. 12, et al. 4. Tikkunei Zohar, Introduction II (beginning Patach Eliyahu). http://www.chabad.org/dailystudy/tanya.asp?NavCal=Heb&Lang=&tDate=9/19/2004
[2] Inner Space Pg 34 Divine Providence
Friday, December 01, 2006
The Origin
Highly reccomended reading by Isaac Mozeson - LINK
At the moment of conception, the soul of a father and mother are united to prepare the embryo, as a vessel, to accept its greatest gift; the soul.
At the precise moment of the male and female union, the conscious and subconscious (emulating the perfect unification of physical and spiritual worlds at the moment of creation) converge, causing the brain of the father to release the sperm (seed) that travels to meet the unfertilized egg in the womb of the mother. Chemicals released in the father's brain trigger immediate and rapidly firing nerve signals that travel down the spinal chord[1] to the genitals, bringing the state of the male body to a euphoric high. The divine point of potential holiness when the father is 'open' and elevated to become a vessel to draw down, from amongst the holiest souls of the side of good or evil forming, by his state of mind and directed through the living sperm, that originate in his brain, the spiritual vessel that will ultimately enable the child to receive its holy soul (N'shamah)[2].
A few seconds later, sperm and egg unite to determine, from a pool of more than 10 billion microscopic proteins that individuallyally activate and select, the connector sequences that define the DNA in the uniting chromosome of the nuclei of that sperm and egg cell. Each protein is individually triggered to establish the foundation for the final genetic blueprint of the child to be. If contemplated correctly this critical moment holds the key to bringing much holiness[3] into our world, but its ritual importance and our appreciation of its depth has been usurped by the rush to satisfy the desires of our distracted lives.
Figure; The enormously complex DNA or RNA genetic chromosome code of a cells nucleus is defined by 22 paired sequences represented by any 3 of 4 letter (codon) combination, plus one additional codon to determine sex. For example, the RNA sequence UUUAAACCC represents a protein sequence three amino acids long. From a pool of more than 10 billion proteins a determination event must construct a specific 22 pair chromosome sequence in order to properly define the function of a plant or animal cell and the future of the organism to which it belongs.
Kabbalah emphasizes that a man who carries out his conscious desire to release semen, outside of the act of the holy union of man and woman, is essentially reducing his potential because he relinquishes to physical desire that can only be subdued by elevating his thoughts, strengthening his mind and reaching for a higher state in which physical desire is ultimately nullified. The purposeless release of sperm is considered sinful because it interferes with the spirits and angels of the higher worlds each time they are summoned through a false call for the potential preparation of an earthly soul.
Most people believe they possess a soul and that their sense of the spiritual comes from it, but few people are aware of its origin or ways to improve their relationship to it. So where does your soul come from and how does it work?
Before Creation the Great Ain Sof in His eternal state, in His ultimate enduring manifestation, in His world beyond, is One and is therefore the origin of all souls. After creation of the perfected heavens and earth, G-d creates Adam and 'blows' his soul into him[4]. The name 'Adam' reveals that the soul is to be found circulating through the blood. The heart being the bloods central organ known as The King of the Soul[5]. The Hebrew name 'dam', (דם = 44) meaning blood, reflects the 22 male and 22 female (autosomes) chromosomes and '(a) + (dam)' [(א or 1)+ (דםor 44) = 45] demonstrates that by the 1 additional specific sex chromosome the sex of a cell is defined by separating from 44 chromosomes the correct pairing of 22 in each of the male and the female.
At first Adam's soul was the complete manifestation of G-d's male and female spiritual attributes, then G-d split from Adam's left side a new physical being into which He 'blows' the soul of Eve. Eve's soul, cleaved from the left side, set the stage for the future of humanity with the embodiment of the left, being the dominant feature of the female soul and the right being the dominant feature of the male soul.
Our souls originate in the higher heavens (worlds). Souls from the highest worlds are those of the holiest beings (complete tzadikim or righteous people who are not capable of evil thoughts[6]). A Souls purpose is made complete when it is elevated to its highest state through the actions of the bodies that possess it or that possessed it previously. A soul can be elevated or relegated by the actions[7] of a person during their life. However, not all souls are destined to return to the earthly dimension because the goal and purpose of our time on earth, through 'free choice' afforded to us in the physcal world, is to guide our soul to its ultimate destination, its origin in the cleft of the rock[8] in G-d's highest heaven. Only the holiest of souls make it to the highest point because G-d's conditions of return to Him are high. This is why all religions based around principles of Torah strive for the arrival of the Messiah, the time when all of our souls will finally be redeemed by G-d and elevated to their highest status in His heavens.
Without parents realizing it, the name they give to their child is the name of the child's soul, received by divine inspiration. Therefore your name is in fact the divine name of your soul and the mystical qualities hidden deep in your name are those which represent all that you are. Simply by analyzing your name (at its root language) almost everything can be deduced about you, because all names originate from a small nomenclature root set, which can be resolved back to the profile attributes of the soul, its name association in the Torah. Some Rabbi's possess a heightened awareness of the Torah and its meaning and are able to deduce, through your name, much of your past and future soulful state. Their sensitivity to this is accurate in the extreme and their impact on people who share the desire of this soulful sensitivity is remarkable and often immediate. When this and similar knowledge of a souls characteristic is accessed by those (of the other side) who apply their lower ego (in Hebrew 'Ani'[9]), particularly those who are intent on using it for wrongful purpose, it can often be pinpointed to the emergence of cults and wayward practices.
Your name is therefore a reflection of the soul that you possess. Your soul contains all of the attributes of your soul state that have come before your attachment to it. Its dominant attributes are indelibly etched into it. When you receive it at birth, you may be able to perceive it, but your correct perception of it dissipates with age when most minds become pre-occupied with other aspects of material life. Therefore, it is difficult to perceive your soul correctly during your life because interference of material culture and selective inability to overcome desire distort perception . Materiality is a distraction from soul culture which would require substantial elevation in order for the majority of us to correctly perceive all of our soul attributes.
One of the external methods used to understand the construct of your soul, according to the original practices of ancient Kabbalistic wisdom, is through astrology, which identifies your Zodiac influence by analysis of your name to reveal your star sign. Unlike the modified astrology inspired through Christian influence Jewish astrology is derived by using your name. Adding the numerical value of letters of your name (or Hebrew name root) with those of your mothers name and dividing by 12 determines the 'remainder'. The remainder is then applied to identify your one of 12 star signs. This is based upon the 12 Elemental letters in the Hebrew Alphabet, the 12 tribes of Israel, the 12 primary permutations of G-d's explicit[10] name and the 12 angular divisions of the sky.
Using the same logic and dividing by 7, to factor the 7 primary planets (reflecting 7 days of the week), the 7 attributes of the lower soul (Sefirot) and the 7 pillars (7 Double letters of the Hebrew Alphabet) from which those attributes extend to the upper soul, one is able to determine the major planetary influences. A further important determination is the 28 'camps' of the Divine Presence, corresponding to the one of the 28 days of the lunar month[11] on which you were born. This parallels the 28 times mentioned in Ecclesiastes, which relates back to the 7 double letters of the Hebrew alphabet and each sign is determined according to the extended sacred 42[12] Letter Name of G-d. Using a detailed process of Kabbalistic meditation based upon the 42 Letter Name of G-d, knowledge of the influence of these cycles is gained in specific detail. The 28 Camps are the key to defining the impact of Zodiac cycles on your soul and the qualities associated with each day as follows;
1. A time to be born (seed)
2. A time to die (desolation)
3. A time to plant (seed)
4. A time to uproot (desolation)
5. A time to kill (death)
6. A time to heal (life)
7. A time to wreck (death)
8. A time to build (life)
9. A time to throw stones (poverty)
10. A time to hoard stones (wealth)
11. A time to loose (poverty)
12. A time to seek (wealth)
13. A time to embrace (grace)
14. A time to shun (ugliness)
15. A time to safeguard (grace)
16. A time to discard (ugliness)
17. A time to be still (Wisdom)
18. A time to speak (Foolishness)
19. A time to sew (Wisdom)
20. A time to tear (Foolishness)
21. A time of War (Hate)
22. A time of peace (peace)
23. A time of hate (War)
24. A time of love (Peace)
25. A time of mourning (Subjugation)
26. A time of dancing (Dominance)
27. A time to weep (Subjugation)
28. A time to laugh (Dominance)
These most ancient of practices of Kabbalah, spanning back thousands of years and many like them, are the pre cursor to modern western astrology, tarot, palmistry and other similar systems, which over the millennia have been interpreted in different ways to reveal information related to life cycles. Most Kabbalistic methods directly relate to the soul and your name as a relationship to it.
Notably, at creation the 7 planets (Torah states there are 7 planets) are said to have been created in the sky one hour apart from each other based on their distance from earth. Each planet is therefore dominant based upon a 7 hour cycle that begins with their creation on the fourth day and extends through the day. On this basis the dominant planet in the first hour of each day has the most significant influence on the rest of the day and therefore becomes the source[13] for the day's name, which is the origin of the English (Roman) names of each day of the week.
We take for granted, in our everyday lives, the origin of much of the knowledge and adopted western practices, which were established through Torah culture and from the teachings that have emanated and been expounded from it over the millennia.
Considering the world of the sub atomic, in which we are all rooted, it is quite logical that the greater energies which influence it and the lesser energies from which our physical bodies originate are sufficient to alter reality itself. If our lives were sensitized to these phenomenon perhaps we would all seek a greater degree of knowledge from our root heritage in order to find a path that would more frequently recognize the preciousness of these life energies in the context of G-d the Highest Power.
[1] Bahir - Aryeh Kaplan Pg 56 - 155
[2] http://www.chabad.org/dailystudy/tanya.asp?tDate=11/27/2006
[3] Inner Space Pg 166
[4] Genesis 2:7
[5] Sefer Yetzirah - Kaplan Pg 240
[6] Lessons in Tanya - Pg 147
[7] Derech Chayim - The Way of Life. Pt1 ShÂ’ar HaTeshuva Chapter 1
[8] Zohar - Mishpatim 97a The old sage - Saba : Parshah: Ki Tisa Verses: Shemot 30:11-34:35
[9] Inner Space - Aryeh Kaplan Pg 50
[10] Zohar III Mishpatim 96a
[11] Sefer Yetzirah - Aryeh Kaplan 5:10 Pg 221
[12] Sefer Yetzirah Areyeh Kaplan Pg224 - Table 53
[13] Sefer Yetzirah - Aryeh Kaplan Pg178 Table 33
At the moment of conception, the soul of a father and mother are united to prepare the embryo, as a vessel, to accept its greatest gift; the soul.
At the precise moment of the male and female union, the conscious and subconscious (emulating the perfect unification of physical and spiritual worlds at the moment of creation) converge, causing the brain of the father to release the sperm (seed) that travels to meet the unfertilized egg in the womb of the mother. Chemicals released in the father's brain trigger immediate and rapidly firing nerve signals that travel down the spinal chord[1] to the genitals, bringing the state of the male body to a euphoric high. The divine point of potential holiness when the father is 'open' and elevated to become a vessel to draw down, from amongst the holiest souls of the side of good or evil forming, by his state of mind and directed through the living sperm, that originate in his brain, the spiritual vessel that will ultimately enable the child to receive its holy soul (N'shamah)[2].
A few seconds later, sperm and egg unite to determine, from a pool of more than 10 billion microscopic proteins that individuallyally activate and select, the connector sequences that define the DNA in the uniting chromosome of the nuclei of that sperm and egg cell. Each protein is individually triggered to establish the foundation for the final genetic blueprint of the child to be. If contemplated correctly this critical moment holds the key to bringing much holiness[3] into our world, but its ritual importance and our appreciation of its depth has been usurped by the rush to satisfy the desires of our distracted lives.
Figure; The enormously complex DNA or RNA genetic chromosome code of a cells nucleus is defined by 22 paired sequences represented by any 3 of 4 letter (codon) combination, plus one additional codon to determine sex. For example, the RNA sequence UUUAAACCC represents a protein sequence three amino acids long. From a pool of more than 10 billion proteins a determination event must construct a specific 22 pair chromosome sequence in order to properly define the function of a plant or animal cell and the future of the organism to which it belongs.
Kabbalah emphasizes that a man who carries out his conscious desire to release semen, outside of the act of the holy union of man and woman, is essentially reducing his potential because he relinquishes to physical desire that can only be subdued by elevating his thoughts, strengthening his mind and reaching for a higher state in which physical desire is ultimately nullified. The purposeless release of sperm is considered sinful because it interferes with the spirits and angels of the higher worlds each time they are summoned through a false call for the potential preparation of an earthly soul.
Most people believe they possess a soul and that their sense of the spiritual comes from it, but few people are aware of its origin or ways to improve their relationship to it. So where does your soul come from and how does it work?
Before Creation the Great Ain Sof in His eternal state, in His ultimate enduring manifestation, in His world beyond, is One and is therefore the origin of all souls. After creation of the perfected heavens and earth, G-d creates Adam and 'blows' his soul into him[4]. The name 'Adam' reveals that the soul is to be found circulating through the blood. The heart being the bloods central organ known as The King of the Soul[5]. The Hebrew name 'dam', (דם = 44) meaning blood, reflects the 22 male and 22 female (autosomes) chromosomes and '(a) + (dam)' [(א or 1)+ (דםor 44) = 45] demonstrates that by the 1 additional specific sex chromosome the sex of a cell is defined by separating from 44 chromosomes the correct pairing of 22 in each of the male and the female.
At first Adam's soul was the complete manifestation of G-d's male and female spiritual attributes, then G-d split from Adam's left side a new physical being into which He 'blows' the soul of Eve. Eve's soul, cleaved from the left side, set the stage for the future of humanity with the embodiment of the left, being the dominant feature of the female soul and the right being the dominant feature of the male soul.
Our souls originate in the higher heavens (worlds). Souls from the highest worlds are those of the holiest beings (complete tzadikim or righteous people who are not capable of evil thoughts[6]). A Souls purpose is made complete when it is elevated to its highest state through the actions of the bodies that possess it or that possessed it previously. A soul can be elevated or relegated by the actions[7] of a person during their life. However, not all souls are destined to return to the earthly dimension because the goal and purpose of our time on earth, through 'free choice' afforded to us in the physcal world, is to guide our soul to its ultimate destination, its origin in the cleft of the rock[8] in G-d's highest heaven. Only the holiest of souls make it to the highest point because G-d's conditions of return to Him are high. This is why all religions based around principles of Torah strive for the arrival of the Messiah, the time when all of our souls will finally be redeemed by G-d and elevated to their highest status in His heavens.
Without parents realizing it, the name they give to their child is the name of the child's soul, received by divine inspiration. Therefore your name is in fact the divine name of your soul and the mystical qualities hidden deep in your name are those which represent all that you are. Simply by analyzing your name (at its root language) almost everything can be deduced about you, because all names originate from a small nomenclature root set, which can be resolved back to the profile attributes of the soul, its name association in the Torah. Some Rabbi's possess a heightened awareness of the Torah and its meaning and are able to deduce, through your name, much of your past and future soulful state. Their sensitivity to this is accurate in the extreme and their impact on people who share the desire of this soulful sensitivity is remarkable and often immediate. When this and similar knowledge of a souls characteristic is accessed by those (of the other side) who apply their lower ego (in Hebrew 'Ani'[9]), particularly those who are intent on using it for wrongful purpose, it can often be pinpointed to the emergence of cults and wayward practices.
Your name is therefore a reflection of the soul that you possess. Your soul contains all of the attributes of your soul state that have come before your attachment to it. Its dominant attributes are indelibly etched into it. When you receive it at birth, you may be able to perceive it, but your correct perception of it dissipates with age when most minds become pre-occupied with other aspects of material life. Therefore, it is difficult to perceive your soul correctly during your life because interference of material culture and selective inability to overcome desire distort perception . Materiality is a distraction from soul culture which would require substantial elevation in order for the majority of us to correctly perceive all of our soul attributes.
One of the external methods used to understand the construct of your soul, according to the original practices of ancient Kabbalistic wisdom, is through astrology, which identifies your Zodiac influence by analysis of your name to reveal your star sign. Unlike the modified astrology inspired through Christian influence Jewish astrology is derived by using your name. Adding the numerical value of letters of your name (or Hebrew name root) with those of your mothers name and dividing by 12 determines the 'remainder'. The remainder is then applied to identify your one of 12 star signs. This is based upon the 12 Elemental letters in the Hebrew Alphabet, the 12 tribes of Israel, the 12 primary permutations of G-d's explicit[10] name and the 12 angular divisions of the sky.
Using the same logic and dividing by 7, to factor the 7 primary planets (reflecting 7 days of the week), the 7 attributes of the lower soul (Sefirot) and the 7 pillars (7 Double letters of the Hebrew Alphabet) from which those attributes extend to the upper soul, one is able to determine the major planetary influences. A further important determination is the 28 'camps' of the Divine Presence, corresponding to the one of the 28 days of the lunar month[11] on which you were born. This parallels the 28 times mentioned in Ecclesiastes, which relates back to the 7 double letters of the Hebrew alphabet and each sign is determined according to the extended sacred 42[12] Letter Name of G-d. Using a detailed process of Kabbalistic meditation based upon the 42 Letter Name of G-d, knowledge of the influence of these cycles is gained in specific detail. The 28 Camps are the key to defining the impact of Zodiac cycles on your soul and the qualities associated with each day as follows;
1. A time to be born (seed)
2. A time to die (desolation)
3. A time to plant (seed)
4. A time to uproot (desolation)
5. A time to kill (death)
6. A time to heal (life)
7. A time to wreck (death)
8. A time to build (life)
9. A time to throw stones (poverty)
10. A time to hoard stones (wealth)
11. A time to loose (poverty)
12. A time to seek (wealth)
13. A time to embrace (grace)
14. A time to shun (ugliness)
15. A time to safeguard (grace)
16. A time to discard (ugliness)
17. A time to be still (Wisdom)
18. A time to speak (Foolishness)
19. A time to sew (Wisdom)
20. A time to tear (Foolishness)
21. A time of War (Hate)
22. A time of peace (peace)
23. A time of hate (War)
24. A time of love (Peace)
25. A time of mourning (Subjugation)
26. A time of dancing (Dominance)
27. A time to weep (Subjugation)
28. A time to laugh (Dominance)
These most ancient of practices of Kabbalah, spanning back thousands of years and many like them, are the pre cursor to modern western astrology, tarot, palmistry and other similar systems, which over the millennia have been interpreted in different ways to reveal information related to life cycles. Most Kabbalistic methods directly relate to the soul and your name as a relationship to it.
Notably, at creation the 7 planets (Torah states there are 7 planets) are said to have been created in the sky one hour apart from each other based on their distance from earth. Each planet is therefore dominant based upon a 7 hour cycle that begins with their creation on the fourth day and extends through the day. On this basis the dominant planet in the first hour of each day has the most significant influence on the rest of the day and therefore becomes the source[13] for the day's name, which is the origin of the English (Roman) names of each day of the week.
We take for granted, in our everyday lives, the origin of much of the knowledge and adopted western practices, which were established through Torah culture and from the teachings that have emanated and been expounded from it over the millennia.
Considering the world of the sub atomic, in which we are all rooted, it is quite logical that the greater energies which influence it and the lesser energies from which our physical bodies originate are sufficient to alter reality itself. If our lives were sensitized to these phenomenon perhaps we would all seek a greater degree of knowledge from our root heritage in order to find a path that would more frequently recognize the preciousness of these life energies in the context of G-d the Highest Power.
[1] Bahir - Aryeh Kaplan Pg 56 - 155
[2] http://www.chabad.org/dailystudy/tanya.asp?tDate=11/27/2006
[3] Inner Space Pg 166
[4] Genesis 2:7
[5] Sefer Yetzirah - Kaplan Pg 240
[6] Lessons in Tanya - Pg 147
[7] Derech Chayim - The Way of Life. Pt1 ShÂ’ar HaTeshuva Chapter 1
[8] Zohar - Mishpatim 97a The old sage - Saba : Parshah: Ki Tisa Verses: Shemot 30:11-34:35
[9] Inner Space - Aryeh Kaplan Pg 50
[10] Zohar III Mishpatim 96a
[11] Sefer Yetzirah - Aryeh Kaplan 5:10 Pg 221
[12] Sefer Yetzirah Areyeh Kaplan Pg224 - Table 53
[13] Sefer Yetzirah - Aryeh Kaplan Pg178 Table 33
Friday, November 24, 2006
Patterns in Creation
 |
| 1) Hebrew letter followed by its 2) order in the 22 letters (ordinal number) 3) its numerical value and 4) its transliterated name. |
G-d used the energies attributed to each Hebrew letter to create the spiritual attributes of Heaven and the physical attributes of Earth. Those energies, reflected in each letter, are the source of Hebrew, which became the shared source for interpreted languages in use around the world today.
To discover more, we will focus only on the first 7 words of the Torah, which reveal more than simply meets the eye.
Creation occurred over a period of 6 days. Kabbalah segments[1] the first day as being energies from the side of the right followed on the second day by energies of the left. Both days occurred when creations process was not sufficiently complete to establish the foundation for life, but on the third day the energies of the left were drawn toward the right[2] in order to establish the center; balance and foundation. It was on this day that the earth was revealed above the water. Up to this point only 3 of the 4 elements necessary for human life were exposed, they were water, fire and air[3]. On the third day earth’s surface was exposed, above the water, dry land appeared and G-d created the perfected environment for an abundance of plant life to thrive. The third day is the letter gimel ג equals 3; the creation of the center, foundation, balance and stability from chaos, the concept of a triangle emerges from this point.
The root word for gimel - גמל (more on this number follows) = 3 + 30 + 40 = 73 or by its ordinal value = 3rd letter + 13th letter + 12th letter = 28, projecting the foundation onto the 28 letters in this first verse of creation; the completion of stability on the third day.
The total value for each of the 7 words of the first verse of Genesis = 2701.
The total of the first letter of each of the 7 words, is 2+2+1+1+5+6+5 = 22, equivalent to the total number of letters in the Hebrew alphabet all of which fall between the letters את (Aleph - the 1st letter and Taf - the 22nd letter) found in the 4th word, the mid point of these first 7 words.
The first word has 6 letters. Mathematically six is the first Perfect Number. A Perfect Number is one that is equal to the sum of all its positive whole numbers that can exactly divide into it, up to but excluding itself, in this case 1+2+3.
Within the first word we find the date on which creation was completed in the 7th month of the Hebrew calendar. The month is known as Tishrei (תשרי), the 7th day of Creation is the first Sabbath, the day on which G-d rested and bestowed His blessings, the day of Adam’s birth, the day the nation of Israel was conceived, the day Sarah (Abrahams wife) died and the day the Torah was received by the Jewish people at Mount Sinai. The 1st of Tishrei is written, א בתשרי (Alef B’ Tishrei), it is a reorganization of the exact letters found in the first word of the Torah (B’reishit) בראשית.
In the first verse, the letter aleph א appears in each word except the fifth word (the heavens). It is found in six letter positions, 3rd+9th+10th+15th+23rd+26th = 86 = א 'ל 'ה 'י 'ם (Elokim) the name of G-d stated 32 times in the first verse of Genesis[4].
All known Perfect Numbers are even and triangular. Six is the 3rd triangular number illustrated bellow by virtue of its 3 rows of number bricks of 6 numbers with 3 numbers at its base.
There are a total of 28 letters in this first verse - 28 is the 2nd Perfect Number and the 7th triangular number.
There are several geometries associated with the number 2701 - the numerical expression of Genesis 1:1 (2701 is obtained by adding together all values of each letter) - thus:
- The 37 x 73 rectangle = 2701 number bricks
- The 37 x 73 trapezium = 2701 number bricks
2701 is also the 73rd triangular number. It has 73 individual number bricks along its base. 37 is the whole number mid-brick of its base (36 + 1 (the tan brick at the base line) + 36 = 73).
Observe the geometrical compatibility in that the 37th triangle (tan), when inverted fits perfectly within the 73rd triangle leaving 3 equal blue triangles each with 666 number bricks (the 36th triangle) and the tan triangle of 703 tan number bricks (the 37th triangle).
Note the boundaries of each of these smaller blue triangles each comprise exactly 216 (blue bricks on their perimeter, which can be expressed as 6 x 6 x 6 = 216 and may be rearranged into a stack to create the unique 6 x 6 x 6 cube depicted below:
Note: The 6x6x6 cube is the only cube known to have a superficial area (bricks on the outside face) that is numerically equal to its volume (total bricks in the stack).
The numbers 73 and 37 are related geometrically in two distinct ways as hexagrams and hexagons see below.
73 as Hexagram. . ..73 as Hexagram
37 as Hexagon (insert). . .37 as Hexagram (insert)
Consider the following:
The value of the [6th word] 407 + [7th word] 296 (each a multiple of 37) = 703 the 37th triangle or the rectangle of 37 x 19. We know 37 is the whole number midpoint of the 73rd triangle likewise, 19 is the whole number midpoint of the 37th triangle. Here we find a geometrical relationship of a kind similar to that shared by 37 and 73, thus:
19 and 37 as Hexagon(insert)... 19 as Hexagon (insert) with
with 73 as Hexagram... 37 (insert) and 73 as Hexagram
Finally the value 703 can be expressed as a symmetrical hexagon within the 'star of stars' expression of Genesis 1:1:
The 73 'stars' in this figure each represent 37as a hexagram. The inner hexagon of 19 (tan) thus represents 703 (i.e. the sum of words 6 and 7), and the hexagonal ring of 18 (colored purple) represents 666.
Whatever you make of this unique set of numbers, it is clear that the numerical relationship of the letters in the first verse and in every verse of the Torah cannot be the result of tampering or by the pre-conceived notions of Moses or any other ancient author that scholars of the secular world may attribute its genius to. Finally, illustrating, by geometry, the penetration of Torah wisdom in our autonomous existence, the four triangular diagrams below represent ancient symbols of the alchemists, which continue to be used today. They represent each of the 4 elements that must exist to create and sustain life. As you ponder these shapes mentally align the base of the Fire triangle on the midline of Earth, then do the same with Water and Air, finally converge the merged shapes into one to reveal the Star of David.
At the mystical center, the 4th and middle word (in the 7 words of the first verse of Genesis) is 'et' את equals 400 + 1 = 401. These are the first and the last letters of the Hebrew alphabet. In a sense they stand alone in that the first verse can be read – “In the beginning G-d created[5] - ‘et’ – the heavens ‘v-et’ the earth”. In other words G-d first created ‘et’ and with ‘et’ came the heavens then with ‘v-et’ came the earth. This is a further insight to the thinking and meaning behind the mystical letters of Hebrew. Applying the same consideration to the 6th word ‘v-et’ ואת equals 400 + 1 + 6 = 407, the picture of G-d’s actions are clearly demonstrated because He formed the Heavens then connected them with ו - ‘v’(vav) = 6 to form the earth. The total of ‘et’ + ‘v-et’ or את ואת equals 808[6].
Removing the middle ‘et’ (fourth word) then subtracting the value of the first 3 words “In the beginning G-d created” from the value of the last 3 words “the heavens and the earth”, then 1202-1098 = 104. When divided by the 4 (elements) 104 / 4 = 26 = the number of G-d’s explicit name (The Tetragramaton - Y-H-V-H) י'ה'ו'ה, reflecting the elements that G-d created from the את ‘et’, by His mystical speech (energies), all of which are contained in the deeper significance of each of the Hebrew letters and from which the finite heavens and the earth were created.
Further analysis of the letter aleph א = (spelled)אלפ equals 80 + 30 + 1 = 111 and by its ordinal value 1st letter + 12th letter + 17th letter = 30 we are reminded that 3 (gimel – the third day, representing the left, the right and the center) x 37 (midpoint of the 73rd triangle) = 111. Analyzing the letter tav ת equals תו equals = 6+400 = 406 = 28th triangular number and by its ordinal value, 22nd letter + 6th letter = 28 reflecting on the 28 letters in the first verse of Genesis. Each ‘1’ of the aleph (1,1,1) refers to the 3 lower universal realms; the origin of all that is physical and spiritual in our world. By the application of the 3 unique letters in G-d’s name י'ה'ו (each a revealed dimension of time and space[7]) with the fourth letter ה being the digit that signifies higher and lower worlds, then 3 dimensional space in the higher and lower worlds reveals 6 dimensions[8] in all; 111 x 6 = 666 or the 36th triangle. It is primarily the numbers 36 and 37 in their triangular and squared forms that underpin the wisdom, strength and kindness revealed in creation through the words of the first verse of Genesis.
This gains further support when one analyzes the construct of the letter[9] (alef) א, representing the air that enables the synthesis[10] of fire and water to produce the 4th element, matter or earth. We can see that the letter alef is made up of a Yud י at the top (right) a Vav ו in the middle and a Yud י at the bottom (left) signifying the synthesis of the fire of heaven and the lower waters enabling the formation of earth and depicting creation.
It is well known in Kabbalah that the letters of the Tetragramaton, G-d’s explicit four letter name, represents all the dimensions through which energies flow in the physical world and the directions energies flow between the vessels (attributes) of the spiritual world. In the spiritual world, fire represents the radiation of energy the constant stream of thought that emerges by our desire to understand, water represents wisdom and our ability to absorb from spiritual energy and air is the medium through which these energies are transmitted. These energy flows and their respective attributes are represented in each letter in every word, which we use in every day life to express our thoughts by bringing those thoughts down from the higher spiritual worlds of our minds and souls into the physical world through the speaking actions of our mouth.
During creation “G-d said” and it came to be. It is possible that all wave energies, including light, emanate from a base sound wave principle and that that conversion from sound to light becomes possible at extreme and very particular frequencies. The principle sounds talked about in Kabbalah are the 10 Utterances which manifest in creation to derive physical objects by the spiritual Will of G-d. Here we are introduced to the importance of sound, the particular patterns that sound reflects and the use of letters and names that crystallize their particular sound energy. Edenics is a study that proposes the origin of all speech from the letters of Torah, which most people consider to be Hebrew. However, Modern Hebrew is a derivative of Torah Hebrew as are all other languages.
Edenics, the language of the Garden of Eden is rarely used other than for reading of Torah in synagogues and schools around the world, but hidden in its letters and words are the roots of the creative energy forces that G-d used to bring our world into existence, through sound. In every name of every object of our physical realm are the echoes of these Edenic sounds, these creative forces, G-d’s force that sustains existence and the finite from nullification by the infinite.
It only takes one of a myriad of examples to demonstrate how the morphing sounds of names or words, in various languages over the millennia, have caused the origin of Edenic words to be lost, but with careful work they can be recovered. The name for, ‘WORD’ in Edencis is DaVaR[11] (דור); by removing vowels D(ד)V(ו)R(ר) and applying known linguistic morphing it is revealed that DVR of Edenics eventually became VoRD (German / Yiddish) and finally WoRD (English).
Perhaps Hebrew’s recovery as the only language in history to come back from its 'dead' status to one that is now in daily active use, is a small sign that the world is finally ready to recognize THE language of its spiritual and physical origins.
[1] http://www.truekabbalah.com/SHY/Chapter31.pdf
[2] Inner Space Pg 62 para 5
[3] The Hebrew Letters Pg 61– Rabbi Yitchak Ginsburgh
[4] Sefer Yetzirah – Aryeh Kaplan Ch 1 Pg 7
[5] The Bahir – Aryeh Kaplan Pg 12 Pt 32
[6] Zohar 1 [15b]
[7] Sefer Yetzirah – Aryeh Kaplan Pg 81,82,83
[8] http://www.inner.org/string/string1.htm
[9] The Hebrew Letters – Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh – Pg 24
[10] Sefer Yetzirah – Aryeh Kaplan Pg 139
[11] The Origin of Speeches – Isaac E. Mozeson – Lightcather Books www.edencis.org
Friday, November 10, 2006
Convergence
In the terminology of Kabbalah our universe exists in the spiritual realm of Asiyah[1], the lowest of G-d’s four universal realms that separate and protect man from being annihilated by the most intense spiritual light of G-d in its highest manifestation of The Ain Sof. In Hebrew G-d’s state of “Ain” – “nothing from nothing” is diametrically distinguished from the human ego state of “Ani” – something from nothing[2]. G-d’s essence exists outside of all the realms and all the universes that we can ever know. So how does G-d exist everywhere? How does He manifest Himself in the science of our world in the physical universe we call home?
Consider the following: G-d willed the infinite to accommodate and contain the finite, by transcending it to a point well beyond our scientifically restricted imaginations. This event, gave rise to a central infinitesimal singularity, teetering on the realm of the desire to return to its infinite state. However, only the infinite is absolute, everything else is finite requiring an external force to maintain its state at all times, bounded in some way. Everything finite is rooted in the infinite by the tendency of its energy to return to an un-bounded pre-infinite state, but it is not infinite because, in the absence of G-d’s external force, it never possessed the capacity to become infinite. Therefore, when anything finite is influenced by a finite external force that enables it to approach the point of infinity, progressing to enter the realm of the infinite will cause an event that will revert to its finite form.
Recent theories that appear to be gaining general support in the scientific community propose dimensional shapes and strings that connect sub atomic world substructures forming multiple new dimensions. These new dimensions do not necessarily conform to the laws of physics as commonly defined, so new laws are being sought to retrospectively fit within our current logical construct to make sense of these revelations. The sub atomic components and the dimensional strings that join them are beginning to resolve one of the biggest modern scientific mysteries, the puzzle of all matter, including dark energy and dark matter, the pieces that would solve the problems of the missing mass of our universal equation.
The enormously detailed teachings of Kabbalah: to receive, pre-defines the construct of many modern scientific conceptions. Most remarkably these teachings date back to the earliest books of the Torah and prior, to the time of Abraham and Adam[3]. To appreciate the Kabbalah in context of our secular scientific and materialistic perspectives, one must look back to the ancient literary works that reveal the identity of 3 lower universal realms each of which progressively shield our physical universe from the impact of G-d’s Infinite Heavenly Light emanating from His upper world realm and that which is beyond. The light of the Ain Sof is reduced in its intensity at each regressive realm. Ten cascading spiritual vessels know as the Ten Sefirot (see Sefirot link in right hand margin), each containing proportions of G-d’s Spiritual Light, each a carrier penetrating the length, breadth and depth of each realm and the universe in which we live, carrying the essence of His spirituality into the soul and spirit of man and all life. Our direct spiritual descendency from G-d, through each of 3 lower universal realms and the 7 lower Sefirot, permanently connect us through each spiritual layer and each of the cascading vessels ultimately ascending to the Ain Sof (The Infinite Being).
In the highest universal realm of Azilut (Emanation) the spiritual energy of all Sefirot originate, continuously pulsating, they run and return to receive nurture and replenishment from their higher source.
Consider the following: G-d willed the infinite to accommodate and contain the finite, by transcending it to a point well beyond our scientifically restricted imaginations. This event, gave rise to a central infinitesimal singularity, teetering on the realm of the desire to return to its infinite state. However, only the infinite is absolute, everything else is finite requiring an external force to maintain its state at all times, bounded in some way. Everything finite is rooted in the infinite by the tendency of its energy to return to an un-bounded pre-infinite state, but it is not infinite because, in the absence of G-d’s external force, it never possessed the capacity to become infinite. Therefore, when anything finite is influenced by a finite external force that enables it to approach the point of infinity, progressing to enter the realm of the infinite will cause an event that will revert to its finite form.
Recent theories that appear to be gaining general support in the scientific community propose dimensional shapes and strings that connect sub atomic world substructures forming multiple new dimensions. These new dimensions do not necessarily conform to the laws of physics as commonly defined, so new laws are being sought to retrospectively fit within our current logical construct to make sense of these revelations. The sub atomic components and the dimensional strings that join them are beginning to resolve one of the biggest modern scientific mysteries, the puzzle of all matter, including dark energy and dark matter, the pieces that would solve the problems of the missing mass of our universal equation.
The enormously detailed teachings of Kabbalah: to receive, pre-defines the construct of many modern scientific conceptions. Most remarkably these teachings date back to the earliest books of the Torah and prior, to the time of Abraham and Adam[3]. To appreciate the Kabbalah in context of our secular scientific and materialistic perspectives, one must look back to the ancient literary works that reveal the identity of 3 lower universal realms each of which progressively shield our physical universe from the impact of G-d’s Infinite Heavenly Light emanating from His upper world realm and that which is beyond. The light of the Ain Sof is reduced in its intensity at each regressive realm. Ten cascading spiritual vessels know as the Ten Sefirot (see Sefirot link in right hand margin), each containing proportions of G-d’s Spiritual Light, each a carrier penetrating the length, breadth and depth of each realm and the universe in which we live, carrying the essence of His spirituality into the soul and spirit of man and all life. Our direct spiritual descendency from G-d, through each of 3 lower universal realms and the 7 lower Sefirot, permanently connect us through each spiritual layer and each of the cascading vessels ultimately ascending to the Ain Sof (The Infinite Being).
In the highest universal realm of Azilut (Emanation) the spiritual energy of all Sefirot originate, continuously pulsating, they run and return to receive nurture and replenishment from their higher source.
Figure 1 -A Kabbalistic artwork depicting the realm of The Ain Sof (אין סוף) outside and removed from the concentric rings of the Seffirot and universal realms before the shattering of the vessels.
Keter, the 10th Sefirot, is associated with the spiritual realm known as Adam Kadmon. This corresponds to the skull (the most outer layer of the vessel / attribute) of Keter[4] where the final details were complete, contained and the first universal constriction originated. Keter is said to be closest to G-d and therefore represents good. Below it the vessels of the Chokmah, the 9th and Binah, the 8th Sefirot originate in their spiritual manifestation. Thereafter, seven Sefirot originate in the next lower universal realm of Beriyah (Creation – Something from nothing[5]) where they were originally contained as individual Sefirot (vessels) until the penetrating energy of the Ain Sof became too great to retain causing the vessels to shatter, then to be rectified by finally regressing to their state of re-bounded containment in the lower spiritual realm of Yetzirah (Formation – Something from something[6]). By this the infinitesimally small connection to the Ain Sof was finally prepared and made ready for our universal realm of Asiyah (Action - Completion[7]). At the time that the vessels shattered there occurred a further division and separation in the highest world of Azilut this sealed our inability to have a direct and absolute spiritual and physical connection to The Ain Sof (The Life Force) instead His manifestations of reduced light retain their direct connection to us and them to Him. The journey of G-d’s physical presence through the universal realms and the Sefirot closely resembles the progression of many scientific theories that are just beginning to crystallize.
Figure - Geometry of the 231[8] gates. This illustrates the pulsating energy heart of creation derived by a combination of the array of all 22 Hebrew Letters, on the outer points of the circle, representing the pure energy form of each Hebrew letter as it is potentially connected to all of the other Hebrew Letters. The 231 Gates is referred to in ancient Kabbalistic meditations and is thought to be the spiritual foundation for all creative forces.
At the sub atomic levels of our physical universe scientists theorize that string dimensions connect the inner realms of atoms with other atomic realms forming long interconnected dimensional chains theoretically enabling communication to occur between the inner sub atomic spaces of particles. This is the cutting edge of science, yet Kabbalah wrote of these concepts more than 2000 year ago. So just what are these particles communicating? What are they coordinating? What do they enable? How was Kabbalah able to articulate these ideas at such an early stage?
When we think of G-d, we often look to the skies, thinking He is everywhere bigger than everything, but we seldom think of G-d as also being everywhere smaller than anything. Perhaps if we did we would realize that there is no real distance between ourselves and G-d in a physical sense, that distance is a perception of our own minds, because G-d in the physical and G-d in the spiritual dimension exists in parallel inside and outside of every atomic molecule of our bodies.[9] We have come to realize that dimensional strings chain everything by permeating the very essence of all that we know and all that we don’t yet know. Their connectivity stretches well beyond our bounded physical universe into the realm of new dimensions that we can only conceive in computer simulations. These structures and strings make up the mass of space, the jelly in which we live. Operating in their dimension, they vibrate, agitate, reverberate, contort and conform to the energies that influence them and influence everything connected through them. Like the 10 Sefirot and the 22 paths being present in everything spiritual and physical, these newly discovered dimensions penetrate all, connecting to the source of our Life Force in the infinite realm where everything, through them, ultimately responds to the oscillating energies of The Great Ain Sof[10]. It has become known to scientists engaged in String and Superstring Theory that either 6, 10 or 26 dimensions are required to support the theories. You will discover the importance of each of these numbers to the teachings of Kabbalah as you continue reading.
The Ain Sof, existing in the infinite realm, impacts on every atom in our universe and beyond. Oscillations that emanate by the Will of G-d invite our response, affect our lives shaping man and nature. In G-d’s ultimate state of ’nothingness’ His state is undisturbed. This is the perfected state, the state to which we all aspire in life and hope that in death we will experience in even the smallest way. The Ain Sof’s slightest reverberation is enough to cause massive ramification to the way all sub atomic and atomic particles behave. Our connections to G-d are therefore sourced in His dimension, and by our connection to it, it becomes the overall driving force for man on earth. We are truly G-d’s children tethered by umbilical cords of the sub atomic dimension that reach the boundaries of the infinite world of the Ain Sof.
With this two-way[11], parallel understanding of the physical and the spiritual we begin to appreciate the transcendence of our soulful essence as distinguished from our physical form. We see that we are connected to and can ultimately synchronize with and return to a dimension closer to G-d. During our time on earth those of us whose physical actions and energies are aligned to those of our higher spiritual purpose will cause our souls to be elevated reaching closer to G-d, connecting with Him and drawing toward His ultimate manifestation. Our personal purity and holiness satisfies Him!
We are approaching the 7th millennium, when it is prophesized that we will begin to understand G-d at a level that allows those of us who are open to receive, to reconcile the knowledge we have gained with the path that G-d set for all of us some 5800 years ago, only this time we will all recognize that the worlds of science and the world of G-d are inseparable. When our energies align to become synchronized and the aggregate chaos of our lives begins to subside He will be drawn toward us at an increasing rate shining His Supernal Light so that we may reach the perfected earth state that will lead to events described in the Torah as the coming of the Messiah. A time when we realize that science, technology and spirituality are inextricably linked and where mainstream populations of the world begin to discover truth in the purpose of their lives at faster and faster rates.
Next time you think of G-d, think small, think very small, think within your physical being to your inner spiritual sanctum, perhaps that will help you to connect and when you do you will be one more in number to synchronize your being with G-d’s infinite energy. As this happens G-d begins to reap the benefits of His plan, pleasing Himself through the actions of man, actions that must lead to a better world, a world in which we must first defeat of all that is evil!
[1] Inner Space – Aryeh Kaplan Pg 27
http://www.inner.org/worlds/olamasiy.htm
[2] Inner Space – Pg 49-51
[3] Zohar Beresith 55b (Soncino 176)
[4] http://www.inner.org/worlds/adam.htm
[5] Inner Space – Aryeh Kaplan Pg 25
[6] Ibid Pg 26
[7] Ibid Pg 27
[8] Sefer Yetzirah – Aryeh Kaplan Ch2:4
[9] Iggeret HaKodesh, beginning of Epistle 20 Pg 354 Lessons in Tanya
[10] Inner Space – The Universes Ch3 Divine Providence Pg35
[11] Lessons in Tanya – Epistle 20 – Pg 400- 8 Tishrei
Keter, the 10th Sefirot, is associated with the spiritual realm known as Adam Kadmon. This corresponds to the skull (the most outer layer of the vessel / attribute) of Keter[4] where the final details were complete, contained and the first universal constriction originated. Keter is said to be closest to G-d and therefore represents good. Below it the vessels of the Chokmah, the 9th and Binah, the 8th Sefirot originate in their spiritual manifestation. Thereafter, seven Sefirot originate in the next lower universal realm of Beriyah (Creation – Something from nothing[5]) where they were originally contained as individual Sefirot (vessels) until the penetrating energy of the Ain Sof became too great to retain causing the vessels to shatter, then to be rectified by finally regressing to their state of re-bounded containment in the lower spiritual realm of Yetzirah (Formation – Something from something[6]). By this the infinitesimally small connection to the Ain Sof was finally prepared and made ready for our universal realm of Asiyah (Action - Completion[7]). At the time that the vessels shattered there occurred a further division and separation in the highest world of Azilut this sealed our inability to have a direct and absolute spiritual and physical connection to The Ain Sof (The Life Force) instead His manifestations of reduced light retain their direct connection to us and them to Him. The journey of G-d’s physical presence through the universal realms and the Sefirot closely resembles the progression of many scientific theories that are just beginning to crystallize.
Figure - Geometry of the 231[8] gates. This illustrates the pulsating energy heart of creation derived by a combination of the array of all 22 Hebrew Letters, on the outer points of the circle, representing the pure energy form of each Hebrew letter as it is potentially connected to all of the other Hebrew Letters. The 231 Gates is referred to in ancient Kabbalistic meditations and is thought to be the spiritual foundation for all creative forces.
At the sub atomic levels of our physical universe scientists theorize that string dimensions connect the inner realms of atoms with other atomic realms forming long interconnected dimensional chains theoretically enabling communication to occur between the inner sub atomic spaces of particles. This is the cutting edge of science, yet Kabbalah wrote of these concepts more than 2000 year ago. So just what are these particles communicating? What are they coordinating? What do they enable? How was Kabbalah able to articulate these ideas at such an early stage?
When we think of G-d, we often look to the skies, thinking He is everywhere bigger than everything, but we seldom think of G-d as also being everywhere smaller than anything. Perhaps if we did we would realize that there is no real distance between ourselves and G-d in a physical sense, that distance is a perception of our own minds, because G-d in the physical and G-d in the spiritual dimension exists in parallel inside and outside of every atomic molecule of our bodies.[9] We have come to realize that dimensional strings chain everything by permeating the very essence of all that we know and all that we don’t yet know. Their connectivity stretches well beyond our bounded physical universe into the realm of new dimensions that we can only conceive in computer simulations. These structures and strings make up the mass of space, the jelly in which we live. Operating in their dimension, they vibrate, agitate, reverberate, contort and conform to the energies that influence them and influence everything connected through them. Like the 10 Sefirot and the 22 paths being present in everything spiritual and physical, these newly discovered dimensions penetrate all, connecting to the source of our Life Force in the infinite realm where everything, through them, ultimately responds to the oscillating energies of The Great Ain Sof[10]. It has become known to scientists engaged in String and Superstring Theory that either 6, 10 or 26 dimensions are required to support the theories. You will discover the importance of each of these numbers to the teachings of Kabbalah as you continue reading.
The Ain Sof, existing in the infinite realm, impacts on every atom in our universe and beyond. Oscillations that emanate by the Will of G-d invite our response, affect our lives shaping man and nature. In G-d’s ultimate state of ’nothingness’ His state is undisturbed. This is the perfected state, the state to which we all aspire in life and hope that in death we will experience in even the smallest way. The Ain Sof’s slightest reverberation is enough to cause massive ramification to the way all sub atomic and atomic particles behave. Our connections to G-d are therefore sourced in His dimension, and by our connection to it, it becomes the overall driving force for man on earth. We are truly G-d’s children tethered by umbilical cords of the sub atomic dimension that reach the boundaries of the infinite world of the Ain Sof.
With this two-way[11], parallel understanding of the physical and the spiritual we begin to appreciate the transcendence of our soulful essence as distinguished from our physical form. We see that we are connected to and can ultimately synchronize with and return to a dimension closer to G-d. During our time on earth those of us whose physical actions and energies are aligned to those of our higher spiritual purpose will cause our souls to be elevated reaching closer to G-d, connecting with Him and drawing toward His ultimate manifestation. Our personal purity and holiness satisfies Him!
We are approaching the 7th millennium, when it is prophesized that we will begin to understand G-d at a level that allows those of us who are open to receive, to reconcile the knowledge we have gained with the path that G-d set for all of us some 5800 years ago, only this time we will all recognize that the worlds of science and the world of G-d are inseparable. When our energies align to become synchronized and the aggregate chaos of our lives begins to subside He will be drawn toward us at an increasing rate shining His Supernal Light so that we may reach the perfected earth state that will lead to events described in the Torah as the coming of the Messiah. A time when we realize that science, technology and spirituality are inextricably linked and where mainstream populations of the world begin to discover truth in the purpose of their lives at faster and faster rates.
Next time you think of G-d, think small, think very small, think within your physical being to your inner spiritual sanctum, perhaps that will help you to connect and when you do you will be one more in number to synchronize your being with G-d’s infinite energy. As this happens G-d begins to reap the benefits of His plan, pleasing Himself through the actions of man, actions that must lead to a better world, a world in which we must first defeat of all that is evil!
[1] Inner Space – Aryeh Kaplan Pg 27
http://www.inner.org/worlds/olamasiy.htm
[2] Inner Space – Pg 49-51
[3] Zohar Beresith 55b (Soncino 176)
[4] http://www.inner.org/worlds/adam.htm
[5] Inner Space – Aryeh Kaplan Pg 25
[6] Ibid Pg 26
[7] Ibid Pg 27
[8] Sefer Yetzirah – Aryeh Kaplan Ch2:4
[9] Iggeret HaKodesh, beginning of Epistle 20 Pg 354 Lessons in Tanya
[10] Inner Space – The Universes Ch3 Divine Providence Pg35
[11] Lessons in Tanya – Epistle 20 – Pg 400- 8 Tishrei
Monday, November 06, 2006
Think small to connect your conscious mind!
The following piece envisages conditions that lead to the moment we call the big bang a moment beyond the grasp of science. It is the convergence of science and Kabbalah that completes a picture bounded by physical and mystical logic.
Contemplate a ubiquitous state of comfortably warm light, evenly and perfectly distributed through space. Imagine the light extends in all directions from you, never stopping, always running ahead of your imagination infinitely. In this space, nothing else exists, no buildings, no trees, no earth, no planets, no stars, no objects, and no darkness, only light, perfectly even light. It permeates all directions and all dimensions, wherever you go, up down, right left, in, out, smaller, bigger, the light remains perfectly even from all points of view. Now imagine you are traveling through this light, absent of body, you are infused within the light, your consciousness is not distinguishable from it. You can think about the light forever, it will never come to an end for it is the eternal light of ‘The Ain Sof’, The Infinite Being.
Imagine the source of this light emanates from an even greater spiritual dimension by which all light and all space, is bound. A dimension that includes the Infinite Will of The Ain Sof infused within the infinite white light, just like you are, but always distinctly and spiritually separated from it[1]. Now The Ain Sof Wills the infinite white light be bound constricting and removing His Light from a region within it, forming a perfect finite dark vacuum like sphere. Imagine the sphere to be bigger than anything you can finitely conceive, substantially bigger than our universe, but not restricted to the same physical form. Imagine the massive scale of its formless dark spherical boundary, weaving and converging, toying with the light at its constricted edge. You can inspect the boundary, but no matter how hard you try or how small you scale your imagination, the intricately woven finite edge at the boundary continues to present itself in its infinite form, keeping the infinite warm light separate from the finite darkness of the sphere.
From the absolute center of the dark finite sphere a thin Ray of the unimaginably intense light is drawn. Sourced from somewhere beyond the infinite light,[2] it is immediately absorbed into the void, reflecting as a gentle dull, diffused haze. From points along the length of the Ray, gradient concentric atmospheres within the constricted space emanate. Now, beyond the sub atomic, you scale to view the diffused haze being channeled and reflected in these miniscule dimensions. Here, these new dimensions are a myriad of interconnecting tubes, like shapes that connect to each other in chaotic patterns, permeating the entire finite sphere to produce this beautiful diffused haze. The intensity becomes extreme, so much so that this single realm of finite light shatters into three lower realms each of lesser light intensity.
Figure - A 2D fractal image representing the ubiquitous sub atomic dimension at the edge of an object separating the finite from the infinite. Fractals are formed according to the mathematical theories of nature and are reflected in all shapes. Each of us may be closer than we think to the infinite realm by virtue of fractal theory.
Imagine at the exact center of the lowest of four major finite sub realms (spheres)including the outermost light, 6 smaller constrictions establish 6 new and independent spheres, which transform to conjunct, each producing a different absorption and gradient reflection within the white light. These 6 spherical bubbles of G-d’s spiritual light are bound containing varying degrees of the lights intensity.
Envisage these 6 [A11] separate bubbles converge at the central spiritual zone, marked as the end point of the Ray, to form the superset of the bubbles, bounded by the four major finite concentric spheres and all bounded by the infinite dimension of the Will of the Ain Sof. In this super spiritual region, G-d’s Ray of intense light, penetrates and reflects through the four concentric higher realms where the spiritual bubbles form new included smaller bubbles that are contained within bubbles, progressively filtering the intensity of the Ray of light. With each successive regression the dimension of the spiritual space converges on a finite spiritual singularity. At the precise center, in the final spiritual moment of constriction, the boundaries of spiritual emptiness are formed by His energy, immediately before the emergence of a physical singularity[3], where dark pre-sub atomic space, now devoid of almost all trace of spiritual light, progresses toward an absolute point of spiritual convergence.
At the exact focal point of G-d’s Ray of beaming higher world intervention, a big bang event releases unimaginable amounts of energy from the spiritual chambers at the intersection. In a time approximating 10^-43 through 10^-4, an incredibly small increment of physical space time, the growth of this fiery liquid sub atomic particle soup expands at a massive scale under massive force, well beyond the concepts of our present day knowledge, made possible only by the Spiritual Will, Design and Perfect Intervention of G-d.
As it is stated in the Midrash (an ancient and abstract interpretation of Torah),7 “By means of ten things was the world created: by wisdom, by understanding and by knowledge,...
…as it is written,8 ‘G‑d founded the earth with wisdom; He established the heavens with understanding; with His knowledge the depths of the abyss were burst open,’...“;
Bound and contained in the dimensions that surround and permeate the rapidly expanding pre atomic space of our physical universe, super small tubes connect to the outer spiritual dimensions of the spiritual realms from where the physical emerged. Dark space is fired by the powerful merging and splitting of the pre-atomic rapidly giving rise to basic sub atomic forces calculated to create the first basic sub atomic components that merge, collide, split and explode and gather to form atoms that aggressively collide and split fueling this newly forming rapidly growing space. With the passing of earth time, calculated to be some 13 billion years later and the cooling of our universe, energized atomic particles aggregate to form large active galactic stellar objects, cooling further to create planets and other material forms. At the center of this action, earth is formed, submerged below a primordial mass, in the vast spherical expanding darkness that we commonly call space.
Our physical universe continues to float in a soup of spiritual space!
At the fuzzy interconnecting boundary of infinite white light and the first sphere where spiritual dimensions first came into existence, The Ain Sof gently infuses His light surrounding it and infinitely penetrating it. At the more defined boundary between the last dull concentric sphere and the expanding space of our physical universe, only the subatomic dimensions remain connected through sub atomic tubular dimensional strings, like hairs, that enter our space at its edge.
“In the beginning G-d created the heavens and the earth” – Genesis - Bereishit 1:1 (The first 7 words of the Bible / Torah)
Three forces command the energy epicenter of the nucleus of each atom. These forces, known as a Quark are bound by dimensional strings, which form the basis of modern string theory. The space of these sub atomic string dimensions, when compared to the whole of the atom in which they are contained, is said to be on a scale as one atom is to the entire solar system[4]. At this scale one begins to conceive of the little that we actually know about the dimension of this super small, super sensitive world and even less about its connection with the infinite. In the convergence of science[5] and religion we glimpse the sensitivity of the super small and the ways in which the elements of G-d’s worlds logically influence all that we know and all that we don’t know. In man made scientific terms the big bang is the designated beginning of all we can know of the physical. Before that moment, when our atomic logic is pushed into the realm of the unknown, we can only perceive, follow and question that which we are taught.
[1] Zohar 4 164b “Who coverest thyself with light…”
[2] The Bahir – Aryeh Kaplan pg 102 Pt 25
[3] http://www.superstringtheory.com/cosmo/bang0.html
[4] Stephen Hawkings Universe – The Cosmos Explained - Pg 234
[5] http://www.superstringtheory.com/index.html
Scientific American - September 2004
A Brief History of Time – Stephen Hawking
B’OR HaTorah – Vol 15
[A11]This is an enormously complex area of Kabbalah and needs to be carefully considered in respect of Asiyah, the other Sefirot and the Seder Hishtalshelut
Contemplate a ubiquitous state of comfortably warm light, evenly and perfectly distributed through space. Imagine the light extends in all directions from you, never stopping, always running ahead of your imagination infinitely. In this space, nothing else exists, no buildings, no trees, no earth, no planets, no stars, no objects, and no darkness, only light, perfectly even light. It permeates all directions and all dimensions, wherever you go, up down, right left, in, out, smaller, bigger, the light remains perfectly even from all points of view. Now imagine you are traveling through this light, absent of body, you are infused within the light, your consciousness is not distinguishable from it. You can think about the light forever, it will never come to an end for it is the eternal light of ‘The Ain Sof’, The Infinite Being.
Imagine the source of this light emanates from an even greater spiritual dimension by which all light and all space, is bound. A dimension that includes the Infinite Will of The Ain Sof infused within the infinite white light, just like you are, but always distinctly and spiritually separated from it[1]. Now The Ain Sof Wills the infinite white light be bound constricting and removing His Light from a region within it, forming a perfect finite dark vacuum like sphere. Imagine the sphere to be bigger than anything you can finitely conceive, substantially bigger than our universe, but not restricted to the same physical form. Imagine the massive scale of its formless dark spherical boundary, weaving and converging, toying with the light at its constricted edge. You can inspect the boundary, but no matter how hard you try or how small you scale your imagination, the intricately woven finite edge at the boundary continues to present itself in its infinite form, keeping the infinite warm light separate from the finite darkness of the sphere.
From the absolute center of the dark finite sphere a thin Ray of the unimaginably intense light is drawn. Sourced from somewhere beyond the infinite light,[2] it is immediately absorbed into the void, reflecting as a gentle dull, diffused haze. From points along the length of the Ray, gradient concentric atmospheres within the constricted space emanate. Now, beyond the sub atomic, you scale to view the diffused haze being channeled and reflected in these miniscule dimensions. Here, these new dimensions are a myriad of interconnecting tubes, like shapes that connect to each other in chaotic patterns, permeating the entire finite sphere to produce this beautiful diffused haze. The intensity becomes extreme, so much so that this single realm of finite light shatters into three lower realms each of lesser light intensity.
Imagine at the exact center of the lowest of four major finite sub realms (spheres)including the outermost light, 6 smaller constrictions establish 6 new and independent spheres, which transform to conjunct, each producing a different absorption and gradient reflection within the white light. These 6 spherical bubbles of G-d’s spiritual light are bound containing varying degrees of the lights intensity.
Envisage these 6 [A11] separate bubbles converge at the central spiritual zone, marked as the end point of the Ray, to form the superset of the bubbles, bounded by the four major finite concentric spheres and all bounded by the infinite dimension of the Will of the Ain Sof. In this super spiritual region, G-d’s Ray of intense light, penetrates and reflects through the four concentric higher realms where the spiritual bubbles form new included smaller bubbles that are contained within bubbles, progressively filtering the intensity of the Ray of light. With each successive regression the dimension of the spiritual space converges on a finite spiritual singularity. At the precise center, in the final spiritual moment of constriction, the boundaries of spiritual emptiness are formed by His energy, immediately before the emergence of a physical singularity[3], where dark pre-sub atomic space, now devoid of almost all trace of spiritual light, progresses toward an absolute point of spiritual convergence.
At the exact focal point of G-d’s Ray of beaming higher world intervention, a big bang event releases unimaginable amounts of energy from the spiritual chambers at the intersection. In a time approximating 10^-43 through 10^-4, an incredibly small increment of physical space time, the growth of this fiery liquid sub atomic particle soup expands at a massive scale under massive force, well beyond the concepts of our present day knowledge, made possible only by the Spiritual Will, Design and Perfect Intervention of G-d.
As it is stated in the Midrash (an ancient and abstract interpretation of Torah),7 “By means of ten things was the world created: by wisdom, by understanding and by knowledge,...
…as it is written,8 ‘G‑d founded the earth with wisdom; He established the heavens with understanding; with His knowledge the depths of the abyss were burst open,’...“;
Bound and contained in the dimensions that surround and permeate the rapidly expanding pre atomic space of our physical universe, super small tubes connect to the outer spiritual dimensions of the spiritual realms from where the physical emerged. Dark space is fired by the powerful merging and splitting of the pre-atomic rapidly giving rise to basic sub atomic forces calculated to create the first basic sub atomic components that merge, collide, split and explode and gather to form atoms that aggressively collide and split fueling this newly forming rapidly growing space. With the passing of earth time, calculated to be some 13 billion years later and the cooling of our universe, energized atomic particles aggregate to form large active galactic stellar objects, cooling further to create planets and other material forms. At the center of this action, earth is formed, submerged below a primordial mass, in the vast spherical expanding darkness that we commonly call space.
Our physical universe continues to float in a soup of spiritual space!
At the fuzzy interconnecting boundary of infinite white light and the first sphere where spiritual dimensions first came into existence, The Ain Sof gently infuses His light surrounding it and infinitely penetrating it. At the more defined boundary between the last dull concentric sphere and the expanding space of our physical universe, only the subatomic dimensions remain connected through sub atomic tubular dimensional strings, like hairs, that enter our space at its edge.
“In the beginning G-d created the heavens and the earth” – Genesis - Bereishit 1:1 (The first 7 words of the Bible / Torah)
Three forces command the energy epicenter of the nucleus of each atom. These forces, known as a Quark are bound by dimensional strings, which form the basis of modern string theory. The space of these sub atomic string dimensions, when compared to the whole of the atom in which they are contained, is said to be on a scale as one atom is to the entire solar system[4]. At this scale one begins to conceive of the little that we actually know about the dimension of this super small, super sensitive world and even less about its connection with the infinite. In the convergence of science[5] and religion we glimpse the sensitivity of the super small and the ways in which the elements of G-d’s worlds logically influence all that we know and all that we don’t know. In man made scientific terms the big bang is the designated beginning of all we can know of the physical. Before that moment, when our atomic logic is pushed into the realm of the unknown, we can only perceive, follow and question that which we are taught.
[1] Zohar 4 164b “Who coverest thyself with light…”
[2] The Bahir – Aryeh Kaplan pg 102 Pt 25
[3] http://www.superstringtheory.com/cosmo/bang0.html
[4] Stephen Hawkings Universe – The Cosmos Explained - Pg 234
[5] http://www.superstringtheory.com/index.html
Scientific American - September 2004
A Brief History of Time – Stephen Hawking
B’OR HaTorah – Vol 15
[A11]This is an enormously complex area of Kabbalah and needs to be carefully considered in respect of Asiyah, the other Sefirot and the Seder Hishtalshelut