This is a brief study on a phrase used by King Solomon throughout Ecclesiastes, "vanity and vexation of spirit", that to which everything in life is compared.
Ecclesiastes 1:14 - I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.
is vanity = he-vel = vapor, breath (habal; emptiness or vanity; figuratively, something transitory and unsatisfactory; often used as an adverb -- X altogether, vain, vanity. )
and vexation = reuth = from ra'ah; a feeding upon, i.e. Grasping after -- vexation.
of spirit = ruach = breath, wind, spirit (From ruwach; wind; by resemblance breath, i.e. A sensible (or even violent) exhalation; figuratively, life, anger, unsubstantiality; by extension, a region of the sky; by resemblance spirit, but only of a rational being (including its expression and functions) -- air, anger, blast, breath, X cool, courage, mind, X quarter, X side, spirit((-ual)), tempest, X vain, ((whirl-))wind(-y). )
Friday, September 25, 2009
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Book I want to read: Revolution in Judaea by Hyam MacCoby
Revolution in Judaea
by Hyam MacCoby
It's $70 on Amazon.com USED... Guess I'll get a library card...
http://www.amazon.com/Revolution-Judaea-Hyam-MacCoby/dp/080086784X
by Hyam MacCoby
It's $70 on Amazon.com USED... Guess I'll get a library card...
http://www.amazon.com/Revolution-Judaea-Hyam-MacCoby/dp/080086784X
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Article from Essene.com - Nazarean Qabbalah
Qabbalah Page
Nazarean Qabbalah
Ancient historians tell us that the Essenes were Pythagorean in their practices. These Pythagorean practices are well known and well documented and can tell us more about the "jewishness" of the Nazarean sect than Rabbinical Judaism can. Rabbinical Judaism has, however, partially preserved one facet of the Nazarean Way which is useful to modern Nazareans - the Qabbalah, or the Secret Doctrine of Israel. Texts such as the Zohar, Bahir, Sefir Yetzirah and others, when stripped of their Pharisee pericopes and corruptions, reveal many of the ancient tenents and Qabbalistic musings of the ancient followers of Yeshua. Many of the arcane truths found in these texts are utilized in the modern Nazarean Mystery Schools. When combined with the "Qabbalistic" teachings preserved by the Pythagoreans, a complete mystical system is revealed.
The Qabbalah, although well understood by the early disciples of Yeshua, including Paul, does not now have much of a place in "Christian" exergesis of scripture. An example of a surviving remnant is the 666 prophecy in Revelations. Part of the reason for this may be in its early association with the "Jewish-Christians" who came to be despised and looked down upon by later gentile converts to Pauline Christianity. To be of any great value, the Qabbalah must be seriously studied for many years in conjunction with other spiritual disciplines, practices and sacraments long rejected by the gentile church who sought the "easy way". When the gentile church, under the influence of Paul's writings, rejected the Nazarean Way of spiritual discipline and study in favor of vicarious atonement and Roman ideas of salvation, they also rejected all the serious tools used by Nazareans for personal growth, such as the Qabbalah. Part of the process of restoring the original Gospel entails restoring the Qabbalah to its rightful place in Nazarean exergesis.
Pauline Gentile Christianity vs James' Essene Way
Many of the doctrines and ideas considered central to the Christian message are in fact alien to the earliest tenents and beliefs of Nazarean followers of the Way. They arose by virtue of Paul's writings and under the influence of non-essene and non-Nazarean promoters of Roman culture and worldviews. Although the present New Testament is a product of these non-Nazarean promoters, within its pages can still be found some references to the original Nazarean Way exemplified by James the Lord's brother. Part of this Way involves serious personal work through spiritual disciplines:
"His [James'] position on 'works counted' or 'reckoned as Righteousness' is made clear in the letter attributed to his name and the riposte it contains to the Pauline position on Abraham's faith in Romans and Galatians."
- Robert Eisman and Michael Wise, The Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered
This is in direct contrast to Pauline Christianity which stresses "faith" over personal spiritual work:
"Paul developed "Abraham's 'Righteousness', being 'sons of God' through faith, and Jesus' being 'cursed by the Law' in Galatians 3-4. 'You keep special days and months and seasons and years', which he calls 'weak and beggarly' (Galatians 4:10-11)."
- Robert Eisman and Michael Wise, The Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered
Before the fall of the Jersualem Bishopric which Yeshua established in James the Righteous, spiritual disciplines and adherance to the Nazarean Way was the accepted norm:
The Letter of James was "written in Syria possibly around 100 C.E., it indicates the continuing importance of James of Jerusalem in terms of ethics and offices. It criticizes misinterpretations of Paul's teachings."
- John Dominic Crossan, The Historical Jesus, The Life of a Mediterranean Peasant (1991)
Included in the Nazarean Way is an emphasis on soul purity and accompaning rituals, such as daily Miqvah Immersion, which help focus the mind on this repentence proceedure:
"It is worth noting that at the time of his final Pentecost visit to Jerusalem, James imposed a similar purification procedure on Paul in the Temple. Here, in the words of Acts 21:21-24, Paul was publicly to exhibit that he was 'still walking in the Way and keeping the Law'."
- Robert Eisman and Michael Wise, The Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered
It was not long before a sluggard portion of the Nazarean Way rebelled against this serious spirituality and sought excuse to water down the "Program". Paul became another in a long line of promoters of the easy way as opposed to the true Essene Way of Yeshua. The following two quotes represent conjecture by modern authors as to possible historical references to Paul's deviance:
"According to the 'Habakkuk Commentary', the 'liar did not listen to the word received by the Teacher of Righteousness from the mouth of God'. Instead, he appealed to 'the unfaithful of the New Covenant in that they have not believed in the Covenant of God and have profaned His holy name'. The text states explicitly that 'the Liar...flouted the Law in the midst of their whole congregation'. He 'led many astray' and raised 'a congregation on deceit.' He himself is said to be 'pregnant with [works] of deceit.'"
"...Despite his exculpatory self-purification, Paul continues to inspire enmity in those 'zealous for the Law' - who, a few days later , attack him in the Temple."
- Baigent and Leigh, The Dead Sea Scrolls Deception
"In 60 C.E., when incoming procurator Festus indicated that he was willing to hand Paul over to the Sanhedrin for trial, Paul declared himself a Roman citizen and demanded trial before Nero."
"That Paul was not born a Roman citizen is certain. Most likely he was granted denization papers about 48 CE by Sergius Paulus, proconsul of Cyprus, whom Paul converted to Christianity and whose name he thereafter adopted (Acts 13:6-12). Paul's prudence in concealing his Roman status for a decade was confirmed by the consequences of his enforced revelation. Jacob [James] had barely tolerated Paul to begin with. At the news that Paul had accepted citizenship from the hated occupying power, Jacob in effect excommunicated him. Envoys were sent from Jerusalem to convert all of Paul's Christian communities to Nazirite Judaism. All cooperation between the Nazirites and Paul's gentile followers ceased, and the way was open for a Christian (John Markos was a Nazirite) to write the Gospel of Mark (as it was later called), which all but repudiated Jesus' Jewishness."
- William Harwood, Mythologies Last Gods: Yahweh and Jesus
Qabbalah
Qabbalah is the esoteric tradition possessed by Nazarean and other Jewish mystics. It pertains to mysteries of creation, redemption and mystical exergesis of the written word. The Tree of Life, mentioned in Essene and Christian scriptures, is a Qabbalistic icon consisting of ten spheroids and 22 secret pathways. This Etz Chaim, or Tree of Life, represents a codified and living computer capable of contaning, analysing and revealing all the hidden aspects of humanities relationship with Deity. It is of immense value to those who become deeply initiated into the Nazarite Way.
According to tradition "...the Kabbalah was the fount of ancient wisdom that Moses passed down to elite disciples, an esoteric doctrine that only an elect can interpret."
- Gerry Rose ,"The Venetian Takeover of England and Its Creation of Freemasonry"
"To Jewish mystics, every letter in the Hebrew alphabet was a channel to the life force of God and possessed of sacred meaning. Hebrew numbers were also represented by letters so that names and words had numerical values. Finding associations of words with the same value revealed a complex series of hidden meanings beneath the text of the Torah, the book of law attributed to Moses. In fact, the entire Torah can be considered to be a single long word spelling out one of the names of God. The significance of the name of God goes back to ancient Egypt where knowing the name of a god allowed one to gain power over that god."
"The Qabalah may be defined as being the esoteric Jewish doctrine. It is called in Hebrew QBLH, Qabalah, which is derived from the root QBL, Qibel, meaning 'to receive'. This appellation refers to the custom of handing down the esoteric tradition by oral transmission, and is nearly allied to 'tradition'."
"The Qabalah was first taught by God himself to a select company of angels, who formed a theosophic school in Paradise. After the Fall the angels most graciously communicated this heavenly doctrine to the disobedient children of earth, they furnish the protoplasts with the means of returning to their pristine nobility and felicity. From Adam it passed over to Noah, and then to Abraham, the friend of God, who emigrated with it to Egypt, where the patriarch allowed a portion of this mysterious doctrine to ooze out. It was in this way that the Egyptians obtained some knowledge of it, and the other Eastern nations could introduce it into their philosophical systems. Moses, who was learned in all the wisdom of Egypt, was first initiated into the Qabalah in the land of his birth, but became most proficient in it during his wanderings in the wilderness, when he not only devoted to it the leisure hours of the whole forty years, but received lessons in it from one of the angels. By the aid of this mysterious science the law-giver was enabled to solve the difficulties which arose during his management of the Israelites, in spite of the pilgrimages, wars, and frequent miseries of the nation. He covertly laid down the principles of this secret doctrine in the first four books of the Pentateuch, but withheld them from Deuteronomy. Moses also initiated the seventy elders into the secrets of this doctrine, and they again transmitted them from hand to hand."
- McGregor Mathers, Introduction to The Kabbalah Unveiled
"In exactly the same way, when the true interpretation of the Law according to the command of God, divinely handed down to Moses, was revealed, it was called the Kabbalah, a word which is the same among the Hebrews as 'reception' among ourselves; for this reason, of course, that one man from another, by a sort of hereditary right, received that doctrine not through written records but through a regular succession of revelations....In these books principally resides, as Esdras with a clear voice justly declared, the spring of understanding, that is, the ineffable theology of the supersubstantial deity; the fountain of wisdom, that is, the exact metaphysic of the intellectual and angelic forms; and the stream of knowledge, that is, the most steadfast philosophy of natural things."
- Pico della Mirandola
"Each soul and spirit prior to its entering into this world, consists of a male and female united into one being. When it descends on this earth the two parts separate and animate two different bodies. At the time of marriage, the Holy One, blessed be He, who knows all souls and spirits, unites them again as they were before, and they again constitute one body and one soul, forming as it were the right and left of one individual."
- The Hebrew Zohar
"'And when They are conjoined together, They appear to be only one body.'
"Hence we learn that the Masculine, taken alone appeareth to be only half the body, so that all the mercies are half; and thus also is it with the Feminine.
"'But when They are joined together, the (two together) appear to form only one whole body. And it is so.'
"So also here. When the Male is joined with the Female, They both constitute one complete body, and all the Universe is in a state of happiness, because all things receive blessing from Their perfect body. And this is an Arcanum."
- The Kabbalah Unveiled
The Kabbalah "uncovers many of the infinite layers of the secrets of life, of Creation, of the soul, of the heavenly spheres.
It penetrates beyond the garments and the body of the Torah.
It is the very core and soul of Torah, the ultimate revelation of Divinity - exposing the inner meaning, effects and purpose of Torah and mitzvot.
The illumination emanating from the Kabbalah ignites the soul of man, setting it on fire in the awareness of a deeper and higher reality. Its study and insights are themselves mystical experiences.
The Kabbalah is all this - but always and exclusively within the context of Torah."
- "The Authenticity of Kabbalah"
"...The visionary nature of the Qumran corpus [Dead Sea Scrolls] is much under-estimated. Texts of this kind border of what goes in Judaism under the name of Kabbalah, and indeed it is difficult to see how there cannot have been some very direct relationship albeit an underground one."
- Robert Eisman and Michael Wise, The Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered
"Jewish mysticism began in Biblical days, long before the term Kabbalah was invented. By the first century it had become a proper subject for scholarly study. Philo Judaeus speculated on the Platonic idea of emanations as intermediaries between God and the physical world. The Roman philosopher Plotinus (205-270) traveled in the East and returned to combine Indian, Persian, Greek, and Jewish mystic theories into a systematic structure of these emanations."
- Harry Gersh, The Sacred Books of the Jews
According to Plotinus (205-270 AD), "there are stages in the soul's ladder of ascent. The first includes purification, the freezing of the soul from the body, and the practice of the cardinal virtues. In the second the soul rises above sense-perception to Nous through contemplation. A third and higher stage, already ineffable, leads to union with Nous. Finally there is the climax of the whole ascent in mystical and ecstatic union with the One."
- John Ferguson, An Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Mysticism and the Mystery Religions
"The earliest documents (~100 - ~1000 A.D.) associated with Kabbalah describe the attempts of 'Merkabah' mystics to penetrate the seven halls (Hekaloth) of creation and reach the Merkabah (throne-chariot) of God. These mystics used the familiar methods of shamanism (fasting, repetitious chanting, prayer, posture) to induce trance states in which they literally fought their way past terrible seals and guards to reach an ecstatic state in which they 'saw God'."
- Colin Low, "cabalah.cln"
Nazarean Qabbalah
Ancient historians tell us that the Essenes were Pythagorean in their practices. These Pythagorean practices are well known and well documented and can tell us more about the "jewishness" of the Nazarean sect than Rabbinical Judaism can. Rabbinical Judaism has, however, partially preserved one facet of the Nazarean Way which is useful to modern Nazareans - the Qabbalah, or the Secret Doctrine of Israel. Texts such as the Zohar, Bahir, Sefir Yetzirah and others, when stripped of their Pharisee pericopes and corruptions, reveal many of the ancient tenents and Qabbalistic musings of the ancient followers of Yeshua. Many of the arcane truths found in these texts are utilized in the modern Nazarean Mystery Schools. When combined with the "Qabbalistic" teachings preserved by the Pythagoreans, a complete mystical system is revealed.
The Qabbalah, although well understood by the early disciples of Yeshua, including Paul, does not now have much of a place in "Christian" exergesis of scripture. An example of a surviving remnant is the 666 prophecy in Revelations. Part of the reason for this may be in its early association with the "Jewish-Christians" who came to be despised and looked down upon by later gentile converts to Pauline Christianity. To be of any great value, the Qabbalah must be seriously studied for many years in conjunction with other spiritual disciplines, practices and sacraments long rejected by the gentile church who sought the "easy way". When the gentile church, under the influence of Paul's writings, rejected the Nazarean Way of spiritual discipline and study in favor of vicarious atonement and Roman ideas of salvation, they also rejected all the serious tools used by Nazareans for personal growth, such as the Qabbalah. Part of the process of restoring the original Gospel entails restoring the Qabbalah to its rightful place in Nazarean exergesis.
Pauline Gentile Christianity vs James' Essene Way
Many of the doctrines and ideas considered central to the Christian message are in fact alien to the earliest tenents and beliefs of Nazarean followers of the Way. They arose by virtue of Paul's writings and under the influence of non-essene and non-Nazarean promoters of Roman culture and worldviews. Although the present New Testament is a product of these non-Nazarean promoters, within its pages can still be found some references to the original Nazarean Way exemplified by James the Lord's brother. Part of this Way involves serious personal work through spiritual disciplines:
"His [James'] position on 'works counted' or 'reckoned as Righteousness' is made clear in the letter attributed to his name and the riposte it contains to the Pauline position on Abraham's faith in Romans and Galatians."
- Robert Eisman and Michael Wise, The Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered
This is in direct contrast to Pauline Christianity which stresses "faith" over personal spiritual work:
"Paul developed "Abraham's 'Righteousness', being 'sons of God' through faith, and Jesus' being 'cursed by the Law' in Galatians 3-4. 'You keep special days and months and seasons and years', which he calls 'weak and beggarly' (Galatians 4:10-11)."
- Robert Eisman and Michael Wise, The Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered
Before the fall of the Jersualem Bishopric which Yeshua established in James the Righteous, spiritual disciplines and adherance to the Nazarean Way was the accepted norm:
The Letter of James was "written in Syria possibly around 100 C.E., it indicates the continuing importance of James of Jerusalem in terms of ethics and offices. It criticizes misinterpretations of Paul's teachings."
- John Dominic Crossan, The Historical Jesus, The Life of a Mediterranean Peasant (1991)
Included in the Nazarean Way is an emphasis on soul purity and accompaning rituals, such as daily Miqvah Immersion, which help focus the mind on this repentence proceedure:
"It is worth noting that at the time of his final Pentecost visit to Jerusalem, James imposed a similar purification procedure on Paul in the Temple. Here, in the words of Acts 21:21-24, Paul was publicly to exhibit that he was 'still walking in the Way and keeping the Law'."
- Robert Eisman and Michael Wise, The Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered
It was not long before a sluggard portion of the Nazarean Way rebelled against this serious spirituality and sought excuse to water down the "Program". Paul became another in a long line of promoters of the easy way as opposed to the true Essene Way of Yeshua. The following two quotes represent conjecture by modern authors as to possible historical references to Paul's deviance:
"According to the 'Habakkuk Commentary', the 'liar did not listen to the word received by the Teacher of Righteousness from the mouth of God'. Instead, he appealed to 'the unfaithful of the New Covenant in that they have not believed in the Covenant of God and have profaned His holy name'. The text states explicitly that 'the Liar...flouted the Law in the midst of their whole congregation'. He 'led many astray' and raised 'a congregation on deceit.' He himself is said to be 'pregnant with [works] of deceit.'"
"...Despite his exculpatory self-purification, Paul continues to inspire enmity in those 'zealous for the Law' - who, a few days later , attack him in the Temple."
- Baigent and Leigh, The Dead Sea Scrolls Deception
"In 60 C.E., when incoming procurator Festus indicated that he was willing to hand Paul over to the Sanhedrin for trial, Paul declared himself a Roman citizen and demanded trial before Nero."
"That Paul was not born a Roman citizen is certain. Most likely he was granted denization papers about 48 CE by Sergius Paulus, proconsul of Cyprus, whom Paul converted to Christianity and whose name he thereafter adopted (Acts 13:6-12). Paul's prudence in concealing his Roman status for a decade was confirmed by the consequences of his enforced revelation. Jacob [James] had barely tolerated Paul to begin with. At the news that Paul had accepted citizenship from the hated occupying power, Jacob in effect excommunicated him. Envoys were sent from Jerusalem to convert all of Paul's Christian communities to Nazirite Judaism. All cooperation between the Nazirites and Paul's gentile followers ceased, and the way was open for a Christian (John Markos was a Nazirite) to write the Gospel of Mark (as it was later called), which all but repudiated Jesus' Jewishness."
- William Harwood, Mythologies Last Gods: Yahweh and Jesus
Qabbalah
Qabbalah is the esoteric tradition possessed by Nazarean and other Jewish mystics. It pertains to mysteries of creation, redemption and mystical exergesis of the written word. The Tree of Life, mentioned in Essene and Christian scriptures, is a Qabbalistic icon consisting of ten spheroids and 22 secret pathways. This Etz Chaim, or Tree of Life, represents a codified and living computer capable of contaning, analysing and revealing all the hidden aspects of humanities relationship with Deity. It is of immense value to those who become deeply initiated into the Nazarite Way.
According to tradition "...the Kabbalah was the fount of ancient wisdom that Moses passed down to elite disciples, an esoteric doctrine that only an elect can interpret."
- Gerry Rose ,"The Venetian Takeover of England and Its Creation of Freemasonry"
"To Jewish mystics, every letter in the Hebrew alphabet was a channel to the life force of God and possessed of sacred meaning. Hebrew numbers were also represented by letters so that names and words had numerical values. Finding associations of words with the same value revealed a complex series of hidden meanings beneath the text of the Torah, the book of law attributed to Moses. In fact, the entire Torah can be considered to be a single long word spelling out one of the names of God. The significance of the name of God goes back to ancient Egypt where knowing the name of a god allowed one to gain power over that god."
"The Qabalah may be defined as being the esoteric Jewish doctrine. It is called in Hebrew QBLH, Qabalah, which is derived from the root QBL, Qibel, meaning 'to receive'. This appellation refers to the custom of handing down the esoteric tradition by oral transmission, and is nearly allied to 'tradition'."
"The Qabalah was first taught by God himself to a select company of angels, who formed a theosophic school in Paradise. After the Fall the angels most graciously communicated this heavenly doctrine to the disobedient children of earth, they furnish the protoplasts with the means of returning to their pristine nobility and felicity. From Adam it passed over to Noah, and then to Abraham, the friend of God, who emigrated with it to Egypt, where the patriarch allowed a portion of this mysterious doctrine to ooze out. It was in this way that the Egyptians obtained some knowledge of it, and the other Eastern nations could introduce it into their philosophical systems. Moses, who was learned in all the wisdom of Egypt, was first initiated into the Qabalah in the land of his birth, but became most proficient in it during his wanderings in the wilderness, when he not only devoted to it the leisure hours of the whole forty years, but received lessons in it from one of the angels. By the aid of this mysterious science the law-giver was enabled to solve the difficulties which arose during his management of the Israelites, in spite of the pilgrimages, wars, and frequent miseries of the nation. He covertly laid down the principles of this secret doctrine in the first four books of the Pentateuch, but withheld them from Deuteronomy. Moses also initiated the seventy elders into the secrets of this doctrine, and they again transmitted them from hand to hand."
- McGregor Mathers, Introduction to The Kabbalah Unveiled
"In exactly the same way, when the true interpretation of the Law according to the command of God, divinely handed down to Moses, was revealed, it was called the Kabbalah, a word which is the same among the Hebrews as 'reception' among ourselves; for this reason, of course, that one man from another, by a sort of hereditary right, received that doctrine not through written records but through a regular succession of revelations....In these books principally resides, as Esdras with a clear voice justly declared, the spring of understanding, that is, the ineffable theology of the supersubstantial deity; the fountain of wisdom, that is, the exact metaphysic of the intellectual and angelic forms; and the stream of knowledge, that is, the most steadfast philosophy of natural things."
- Pico della Mirandola
"Each soul and spirit prior to its entering into this world, consists of a male and female united into one being. When it descends on this earth the two parts separate and animate two different bodies. At the time of marriage, the Holy One, blessed be He, who knows all souls and spirits, unites them again as they were before, and they again constitute one body and one soul, forming as it were the right and left of one individual."
- The Hebrew Zohar
"'And when They are conjoined together, They appear to be only one body.'
"Hence we learn that the Masculine, taken alone appeareth to be only half the body, so that all the mercies are half; and thus also is it with the Feminine.
"'But when They are joined together, the (two together) appear to form only one whole body. And it is so.'
"So also here. When the Male is joined with the Female, They both constitute one complete body, and all the Universe is in a state of happiness, because all things receive blessing from Their perfect body. And this is an Arcanum."
- The Kabbalah Unveiled
The Kabbalah "uncovers many of the infinite layers of the secrets of life, of Creation, of the soul, of the heavenly spheres.
It penetrates beyond the garments and the body of the Torah.
It is the very core and soul of Torah, the ultimate revelation of Divinity - exposing the inner meaning, effects and purpose of Torah and mitzvot.
The illumination emanating from the Kabbalah ignites the soul of man, setting it on fire in the awareness of a deeper and higher reality. Its study and insights are themselves mystical experiences.
The Kabbalah is all this - but always and exclusively within the context of Torah."
- "The Authenticity of Kabbalah"
"...The visionary nature of the Qumran corpus [Dead Sea Scrolls] is much under-estimated. Texts of this kind border of what goes in Judaism under the name of Kabbalah, and indeed it is difficult to see how there cannot have been some very direct relationship albeit an underground one."
- Robert Eisman and Michael Wise, The Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered
"Jewish mysticism began in Biblical days, long before the term Kabbalah was invented. By the first century it had become a proper subject for scholarly study. Philo Judaeus speculated on the Platonic idea of emanations as intermediaries between God and the physical world. The Roman philosopher Plotinus (205-270) traveled in the East and returned to combine Indian, Persian, Greek, and Jewish mystic theories into a systematic structure of these emanations."
- Harry Gersh, The Sacred Books of the Jews
According to Plotinus (205-270 AD), "there are stages in the soul's ladder of ascent. The first includes purification, the freezing of the soul from the body, and the practice of the cardinal virtues. In the second the soul rises above sense-perception to Nous through contemplation. A third and higher stage, already ineffable, leads to union with Nous. Finally there is the climax of the whole ascent in mystical and ecstatic union with the One."
- John Ferguson, An Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Mysticism and the Mystery Religions
"The earliest documents (~100 - ~1000 A.D.) associated with Kabbalah describe the attempts of 'Merkabah' mystics to penetrate the seven halls (Hekaloth) of creation and reach the Merkabah (throne-chariot) of God. These mystics used the familiar methods of shamanism (fasting, repetitious chanting, prayer, posture) to induce trance states in which they literally fought their way past terrible seals and guards to reach an ecstatic state in which they 'saw God'."
- Colin Low, "cabalah.cln"
Friday, September 11, 2009
The Deep things of God - Revelation
1 Corinthians 2:9-11 (New International Version)
9However, as it is written:
"No eye has seen,
no ear has heard,
no mind has conceived
what God has prepared for those who love him"— 10but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.
The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
1 Corinthians 2:9-11 (King James Version)
9But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. 10But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. 11For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
9However, as it is written:
"No eye has seen,
no ear has heard,
no mind has conceived
what God has prepared for those who love him"— 10but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.
The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
1 Corinthians 2:9-11 (King James Version)
9But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. 10But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. 11For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
Judgment and Mercy Intro
The study materials provided at the bottom of this entry allow anyone to review the biblical mention of Judgment and Mercy by reading NIV and KJV verses containing the words, "judge", "mercy", judgment", and the both. Following the verses there is an article expressing advanced concepts of the Kabbalistic perspective on judgment and mercy. Although you may not fully understand the concepts expressed in Kabbalah I encourage (if it peaks your interest) to review the article in full because you will absorb whatever meaning and revelation your being is open to. I would suggest first reading the bible verses provided without applying any meaning to them, but only allowing them to enter your vessel and grow there. This is because, as Hebrews 4:12 expresses, "The word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires."
Furthermore, one can do this peacefully as it is written in Proverbs 3:3-7, "Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about they neck; write them upon the table of thine heart: so shalt thou find favor and good understanding the sight of God and man. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord and depart from evil." (As a side thought, verse 7 could possibly say, to be wise in thine own eyes is not to fear the Lord, but to be with evil.)
The mention of an "eye" reminds me of something Yeshua said in Matthew 6:22-23, "Your eye is a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is good, your whole body is filled with light. But when your eye is bad, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is!" How can we know if our eye is good? Think of what Yeshua said in Mark 10:18 (also refer to Matthew 19:17), "Why do you call me good? No one is good - except God alone."
So if our eye must be "good" in order to receive Light, but none of us (even Yeshua himself!) are good, and we are told not to lean on our own understanding - whose eye do we need in order to understand!? It must be God's alone. So in order to receive God's eye we must forget what we think we know (Proverbs 3) in our "own understanding", and remember that our idea of 'goodness' is not good. We must show reverance or "fear" toward the greatness of God, knowing only He can direct our path toward goodness. What is our own understanding? Could it be our thoughts? I add 2 Corinthians 10:5, "We demolish arguments and every pretension [an allegation of doubtful value] that sets itself up agains the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ". Does anyone else see the verse telling us to demolish our thoughts? Unless of course you think your thoughts are "good". Do you? Or shall we, as Psalm 46:10 reads, "be still and know that [He is] God". He then says, "I WILL be exalted among the nations. I WILL be exalted in the earth." Did that leave any question of what you must do in order for God to be exalted? Unless you see the stillness as a physical stillness where you plant your body in one place for countless hours? Is the stillness not an inner stillness? A quietude where we demolish our thoughts that we might get understanding?
Proverbs 4:5-7, "Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth. Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her and she shall keep thee. Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting, get understanding". We must study with a willingness to forget ourselves that we may have a good eye. I hope you see.
Now... what about judgment and mercy? Find study materials here: http://forhername.blogspot.com/2009/09/study-materials-judgment-mercy.html
Furthermore, one can do this peacefully as it is written in Proverbs 3:3-7, "Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about they neck; write them upon the table of thine heart: so shalt thou find favor and good understanding the sight of God and man. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord and depart from evil." (As a side thought, verse 7 could possibly say, to be wise in thine own eyes is not to fear the Lord, but to be with evil.)
The mention of an "eye" reminds me of something Yeshua said in Matthew 6:22-23, "Your eye is a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is good, your whole body is filled with light. But when your eye is bad, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is!" How can we know if our eye is good? Think of what Yeshua said in Mark 10:18 (also refer to Matthew 19:17), "Why do you call me good? No one is good - except God alone."
So if our eye must be "good" in order to receive Light, but none of us (even Yeshua himself!) are good, and we are told not to lean on our own understanding - whose eye do we need in order to understand!? It must be God's alone. So in order to receive God's eye we must forget what we think we know (Proverbs 3) in our "own understanding", and remember that our idea of 'goodness' is not good. We must show reverance or "fear" toward the greatness of God, knowing only He can direct our path toward goodness. What is our own understanding? Could it be our thoughts? I add 2 Corinthians 10:5, "We demolish arguments and every pretension [an allegation of doubtful value] that sets itself up agains the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ". Does anyone else see the verse telling us to demolish our thoughts? Unless of course you think your thoughts are "good". Do you? Or shall we, as Psalm 46:10 reads, "be still and know that [He is] God". He then says, "I WILL be exalted among the nations. I WILL be exalted in the earth." Did that leave any question of what you must do in order for God to be exalted? Unless you see the stillness as a physical stillness where you plant your body in one place for countless hours? Is the stillness not an inner stillness? A quietude where we demolish our thoughts that we might get understanding?
Proverbs 4:5-7, "Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth. Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her and she shall keep thee. Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting, get understanding". We must study with a willingness to forget ourselves that we may have a good eye. I hope you see.
Now... what about judgment and mercy? Find study materials here: http://forhername.blogspot.com/2009/09/study-materials-judgment-mercy.html
Study Materials: Judgment & Mercy
Judgment Seat... (NIV)
1.Exodus 18:13 - The next day Moses took his seat to serve as judge for the people, and they stood around him from morning till evening.
2.Matthew 27:19 - While Pilate was sitting on the judge's seat, his wife sent him this message: "Don't have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him."
3.John 19:13 - When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge's seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha).
4.Romans 14:10 - You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God's judgment seat.
5.Revelation 20:4 - I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
6.Revelation 20:11 - [ The Dead Are Judged ] Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them.
Mercy Seat... (KJV)
1.Exodus 25:17 - And thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof.
2.Exodus 25:18 - And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat.
3.Exodus 25:19 - And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof.
4.Exodus 25:20 - And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be.
5.Exodus 25:21 - And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee.
6.Exodus 25:22 - And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.
7.Exodus 26:34 - And thou shalt put the mercy seat upon the ark of the testimony in the most holy place.
8.Exodus 30:6 - And thou shalt put it before the vail that is by the ark of the testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the testimony, where I will meet with thee.
9.Exodus 31:7 - The tabernacle of the congregation, and the ark of the testimony, and the mercy seat that is thereupon, and all the furniture of the tabernacle,
10.Exodus 35:12 - The ark, and the staves thereof, with the mercy seat, and the vail of the covering,
11.Exodus 37:6 - And he made the mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half was the length thereof, and one cubit and a half the breadth thereof.
12.Exodus 37:7 - And he made two cherubims of gold, beaten out of one piece made he them, on the two ends of the mercy seat;
13.Exodus 37:8 - One cherub on the end on this side, and another cherub on the other end on that side: out of the mercy seat made he the cherubims on the two ends thereof.
14.Exodus 37:9 - And the cherubims spread out their wings on high, and covered with their wings over the mercy seat, with their faces one to another; even to the mercy seatward were the faces of the cherubims.
15.Exodus 39:35 - The ark of the testimony, and the staves thereof, and the mercy seat,
16.Exodus 40:20 - And he took and put the testimony into the ark, and set the staves on the ark, and put the mercy seat above upon the ark:
17.Leviticus 16:2 - And the LORD said unto Moses, Speak unto Aaron thy brother, that he come not at all times into the holy place within the vail before the mercy seat, which is upon the ark; that he die not: for I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat.
18.Leviticus 16:13 - And he shall put the incense upon the fire before the LORD, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is upon the testimony, that he die not:
19.Leviticus 16:14 - And he shall take of the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy seat eastward; and before the mercy seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times.
20.Leviticus 16:15 - Then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the vail, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat:
21.Numbers 7:89 - And when Moses was gone into the tabernacle of the congregation to speak with him, then he heard the voice of one speaking unto him from off the mercy seat that was upon the ark of testimony, from between the two cherubims: and he spake unto him.
22.1 Chronicles 28:11 - Then David gave to Solomon his son the pattern of the porch, and of the houses thereof, and of the treasuries thereof, and of the upper chambers thereof, and of the inner parlours thereof, and of the place of the mercy seat,
Judgment and Mercy... (KJV)
1.Deuteronomy 7:12 - Wherefore it shall come to pass, if ye hearken to these judgments, and keep, and do them, that the LORD thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy which he sware unto thy fathers:
2.Psalm 89:14 - Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face.
3.Psalm 101:1 - I will sing of mercy and judgment: unto thee, O LORD, will I sing.
4.Isaiah 16:5 - And in mercy shall the throne be established: and he shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging, and seeking judgment, and hasting righteousness.
5.Isaiah 30:18 - And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him.
6.Hosea 12:6 - Therefore turn thou to thy God: keep mercy and judgment and wait on thy God continually.
7.Zechariah 7:9 - Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother:
8.Matthew 23:23 - Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
9.1 Corinthians 7:25 - Now concerning virgins I have no commandment of the Lord: yet I give my judgment, as one that hath obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful.
10.James 2:13 - For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.
Judgment and Mercy... (NIV)
Jude 1:23 - Rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment. Show mercy to still others, but do so with great caution, hating the sins that contaminate their lives.
Mercy, Judgment, and the Kabbalistic perspective... (Bnei Baruch)
The essence of the work is the choice, meaning “therefore choose life,” which is Dvekut (adhesion), Lishma (for Her Name). Thus, one is rewarded with Dvekut with the Life of Lives.
But when there is open Providence, there is no room for choice. For this reason, the Upper One raised Malchut, which is Midat ha Din (quality of judgment) to the Eynaim (eyes). This created a concealment, meaning it became apparent to the lower one that there is a deficiency in the Upper One, that there is no Gadlut (greatness) in the Upper One. In that state, the qualities of the Upper One are placed with the lower one; that is, they are deficient.
It follows that these Kelim (vessels) are equal to the lower one: as there is no sustenance to the lower one, there is no sustenance to the Higher qualities. This means that there is no flavor in the Torah and Mitzvot; they are lifeless.
In that state, there is room for choice, meaning the lower one must say that all this concealment that one feels is because the Upper One restricted Himself in favor of the lower one. This is called, “when Israel is in exile, Divinity is with them.” Thus, whatever flavor one tastes, one says that it is not his fault for not tasting liveliness, but that in his view there really is no life in the Upper One.
And if one becomes stronger and says that the bitter taste he finds in these nourishments is only because he does not have the proper vessels to receive the abundance, because his vessels are for reception and not for bestowal, and regrets the Upper One having to hide Himself, which allows the lower one to slander, this is considered MAN that the lower one raises. Through it, the Upper One raises its AHP, and ascent means that the Upper One can show the lower one the praise and delight in the vessels of AHP that the Upper One can disclose. Thus, with respect to the lower one, the Upper One raises the GE of the lower one, by the lower one’s seeing of the Upper One’s merit. It turns out that the lower one rises along with the AHP of the Upper One.
Thus, when the lower one sees the greatness of the Upper One, through it, the lower one itself grows. But in the beginning, the lower one is worthy of receiving only Katnut (smallness). And when the Gadlut (greatness) emerges in the Upper One, there is a division between the right and the left, between believing and knowing.
But the Upper One, too, is then diminished by the lower one, regarded as Masach de Hirik. In other words, for the lower one to receive the degrees of the Upper, to receive knowing only by the measure of faith, and not beyond, it is considered that the lower one restricts the Upper One’s left line. That is, the lower one is the cause. And then, the lower one can exist because it is comprised of both knowing and believing. This is called “three lines,” and it is specifically in this manner that the lower one receives perfection.
1.Exodus 18:13 - The next day Moses took his seat to serve as judge for the people, and they stood around him from morning till evening.
2.Matthew 27:19 - While Pilate was sitting on the judge's seat, his wife sent him this message: "Don't have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him."
3.John 19:13 - When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge's seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha).
4.Romans 14:10 - You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God's judgment seat.
5.Revelation 20:4 - I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
6.Revelation 20:11 - [ The Dead Are Judged ] Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them.
Mercy Seat... (KJV)
1.Exodus 25:17 - And thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof.
2.Exodus 25:18 - And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat.
3.Exodus 25:19 - And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof.
4.Exodus 25:20 - And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be.
5.Exodus 25:21 - And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee.
6.Exodus 25:22 - And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.
7.Exodus 26:34 - And thou shalt put the mercy seat upon the ark of the testimony in the most holy place.
8.Exodus 30:6 - And thou shalt put it before the vail that is by the ark of the testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the testimony, where I will meet with thee.
9.Exodus 31:7 - The tabernacle of the congregation, and the ark of the testimony, and the mercy seat that is thereupon, and all the furniture of the tabernacle,
10.Exodus 35:12 - The ark, and the staves thereof, with the mercy seat, and the vail of the covering,
11.Exodus 37:6 - And he made the mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half was the length thereof, and one cubit and a half the breadth thereof.
12.Exodus 37:7 - And he made two cherubims of gold, beaten out of one piece made he them, on the two ends of the mercy seat;
13.Exodus 37:8 - One cherub on the end on this side, and another cherub on the other end on that side: out of the mercy seat made he the cherubims on the two ends thereof.
14.Exodus 37:9 - And the cherubims spread out their wings on high, and covered with their wings over the mercy seat, with their faces one to another; even to the mercy seatward were the faces of the cherubims.
15.Exodus 39:35 - The ark of the testimony, and the staves thereof, and the mercy seat,
16.Exodus 40:20 - And he took and put the testimony into the ark, and set the staves on the ark, and put the mercy seat above upon the ark:
17.Leviticus 16:2 - And the LORD said unto Moses, Speak unto Aaron thy brother, that he come not at all times into the holy place within the vail before the mercy seat, which is upon the ark; that he die not: for I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat.
18.Leviticus 16:13 - And he shall put the incense upon the fire before the LORD, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is upon the testimony, that he die not:
19.Leviticus 16:14 - And he shall take of the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy seat eastward; and before the mercy seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times.
20.Leviticus 16:15 - Then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the vail, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat:
21.Numbers 7:89 - And when Moses was gone into the tabernacle of the congregation to speak with him, then he heard the voice of one speaking unto him from off the mercy seat that was upon the ark of testimony, from between the two cherubims: and he spake unto him.
22.1 Chronicles 28:11 - Then David gave to Solomon his son the pattern of the porch, and of the houses thereof, and of the treasuries thereof, and of the upper chambers thereof, and of the inner parlours thereof, and of the place of the mercy seat,
Judgment and Mercy... (KJV)
1.Deuteronomy 7:12 - Wherefore it shall come to pass, if ye hearken to these judgments, and keep, and do them, that the LORD thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy which he sware unto thy fathers:
2.Psalm 89:14 - Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face.
3.Psalm 101:1 - I will sing of mercy and judgment: unto thee, O LORD, will I sing.
4.Isaiah 16:5 - And in mercy shall the throne be established: and he shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging, and seeking judgment, and hasting righteousness.
5.Isaiah 30:18 - And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him.
6.Hosea 12:6 - Therefore turn thou to thy God: keep mercy and judgment and wait on thy God continually.
7.Zechariah 7:9 - Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother:
8.Matthew 23:23 - Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
9.1 Corinthians 7:25 - Now concerning virgins I have no commandment of the Lord: yet I give my judgment, as one that hath obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful.
10.James 2:13 - For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.
Judgment and Mercy... (NIV)
Jude 1:23 - Rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment. Show mercy to still others, but do so with great caution, hating the sins that contaminate their lives.
Mercy, Judgment, and the Kabbalistic perspective... (Bnei Baruch)
The essence of the work is the choice, meaning “therefore choose life,” which is Dvekut (adhesion), Lishma (for Her Name). Thus, one is rewarded with Dvekut with the Life of Lives.
But when there is open Providence, there is no room for choice. For this reason, the Upper One raised Malchut, which is Midat ha Din (quality of judgment) to the Eynaim (eyes). This created a concealment, meaning it became apparent to the lower one that there is a deficiency in the Upper One, that there is no Gadlut (greatness) in the Upper One. In that state, the qualities of the Upper One are placed with the lower one; that is, they are deficient.
It follows that these Kelim (vessels) are equal to the lower one: as there is no sustenance to the lower one, there is no sustenance to the Higher qualities. This means that there is no flavor in the Torah and Mitzvot; they are lifeless.
In that state, there is room for choice, meaning the lower one must say that all this concealment that one feels is because the Upper One restricted Himself in favor of the lower one. This is called, “when Israel is in exile, Divinity is with them.” Thus, whatever flavor one tastes, one says that it is not his fault for not tasting liveliness, but that in his view there really is no life in the Upper One.
And if one becomes stronger and says that the bitter taste he finds in these nourishments is only because he does not have the proper vessels to receive the abundance, because his vessels are for reception and not for bestowal, and regrets the Upper One having to hide Himself, which allows the lower one to slander, this is considered MAN that the lower one raises. Through it, the Upper One raises its AHP, and ascent means that the Upper One can show the lower one the praise and delight in the vessels of AHP that the Upper One can disclose. Thus, with respect to the lower one, the Upper One raises the GE of the lower one, by the lower one’s seeing of the Upper One’s merit. It turns out that the lower one rises along with the AHP of the Upper One.
Thus, when the lower one sees the greatness of the Upper One, through it, the lower one itself grows. But in the beginning, the lower one is worthy of receiving only Katnut (smallness). And when the Gadlut (greatness) emerges in the Upper One, there is a division between the right and the left, between believing and knowing.
But the Upper One, too, is then diminished by the lower one, regarded as Masach de Hirik. In other words, for the lower one to receive the degrees of the Upper, to receive knowing only by the measure of faith, and not beyond, it is considered that the lower one restricts the Upper One’s left line. That is, the lower one is the cause. And then, the lower one can exist because it is comprised of both knowing and believing. This is called “three lines,” and it is specifically in this manner that the lower one receives perfection.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Revealing The Book of the Zohar: We Are Black Dots in an Ocean of Light
Posted in: Daily Kabbalah Lesson
Revealing The Book Of Zohar: We Are Black Dots In An Ocean Of Light
The following discourse took place while we were reading the “Preface to the Sulam Commentary” at the Daily Kabbalah Lesson:
I am a black dot in an ocean of Upper Light. My entire existence is connected to this Light, and I assess myself with respect to it. I discover that He is good and bestowing with respect to me. Conversely, I am the receiver who wants to devour and use Him. I learn that our two natures, that of the Creator and the creature, are polar opposites. And when I compare myself to Him, I discover that there is an abyss separating us, because everything that exists in Him exists in me in the opposite form, like an imprint of a seal. And I am overtaken by shame! He is bestowing and full of love, while I am receiving and full of hatred…
This shame is unlike anything I have ever felt before – and it is the true creature. I have never sensed such a profound awareness of myself. I begin to regard His bestowal as good, and my reception as evil. But where is this measuring scale coming from? It didn’t exist in the Light! This is the true creature. It feels independent and separate from the Giver, and therefore, it realizes that it is opposite to Him.
This goes on until the creation comes to feel that it can no longer remain in this state; it cannot justify itself, and for this reason, it performs a restriction and expels the Light from itself.
This is Malchut of the World of Infinity, which suffers because it cannot be like the Creator - it cannot love like He does. That is why all the development following the First Restriction (Tzimtzum Aleph) ultimately brings us to love – to the same attitude as the Creator has for us. Everything stems from the action of the First Restriction, so much so that the decision to perform the restriction drives the whole universe and leads to its final correction.
Therefore, the sensation of shame was that “Big Bang” from which the whole universe had come into existence and traversed its entire path, down to our world and back up above.
The driving force of this development, causing reality to unfold from above downward and from below upward, is that very sensation of shame that was felt by Malchut of the World of Infinity. There is nothing else. It is like the Big Bang from which the universe was created and continues to expand evermore to this day.
All this transpires in the Malchut of the World of Infinity, which contains all nine preceding Sefirot.
By Rav. Michael Laitman
Revealing The Book Of Zohar: We Are Black Dots In An Ocean Of Light
The following discourse took place while we were reading the “Preface to the Sulam Commentary” at the Daily Kabbalah Lesson:
I am a black dot in an ocean of Upper Light. My entire existence is connected to this Light, and I assess myself with respect to it. I discover that He is good and bestowing with respect to me. Conversely, I am the receiver who wants to devour and use Him. I learn that our two natures, that of the Creator and the creature, are polar opposites. And when I compare myself to Him, I discover that there is an abyss separating us, because everything that exists in Him exists in me in the opposite form, like an imprint of a seal. And I am overtaken by shame! He is bestowing and full of love, while I am receiving and full of hatred…
This shame is unlike anything I have ever felt before – and it is the true creature. I have never sensed such a profound awareness of myself. I begin to regard His bestowal as good, and my reception as evil. But where is this measuring scale coming from? It didn’t exist in the Light! This is the true creature. It feels independent and separate from the Giver, and therefore, it realizes that it is opposite to Him.
This goes on until the creation comes to feel that it can no longer remain in this state; it cannot justify itself, and for this reason, it performs a restriction and expels the Light from itself.
This is Malchut of the World of Infinity, which suffers because it cannot be like the Creator - it cannot love like He does. That is why all the development following the First Restriction (Tzimtzum Aleph) ultimately brings us to love – to the same attitude as the Creator has for us. Everything stems from the action of the First Restriction, so much so that the decision to perform the restriction drives the whole universe and leads to its final correction.
Therefore, the sensation of shame was that “Big Bang” from which the whole universe had come into existence and traversed its entire path, down to our world and back up above.
The driving force of this development, causing reality to unfold from above downward and from below upward, is that very sensation of shame that was felt by Malchut of the World of Infinity. There is nothing else. It is like the Big Bang from which the universe was created and continues to expand evermore to this day.
All this transpires in the Malchut of the World of Infinity, which contains all nine preceding Sefirot.
By Rav. Michael Laitman
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Third Heaven? Contd...
Here are three takes on the "Third Heaven" discussed by Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:2, and excerpts from each article or book.
(1) Contemporary Christian perspective:
The Third Heaven, by Douglas Ward
Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry
(3) Kabbalistic perspective:
page 89 of Kabbalah: New Perspectives, by Moshe Idel
Was Jesus making a reference of a different kind? Are these words synonyms? I thought it could be a sign of the times, but Acts 14:17 is referenced as well and it uses the term shamayim shameh, which was translated as 'heaven'.
How do you see it? I'm not ready or maybe even interested in forming an opinion. I think I'll just read over this a couple times and see what I perceive within the next few days. I will continue this documentation.
(1) Contemporary Christian perspective:
The Third Heaven, by Douglas Ward
First, most students of Scripture accept that Paul is writing this verse about himself, and that he is referring to his own visionary experience on the road to Damascus some years earlier (Acts 9:1-9, 22:6-11).
Jews of that time did not have the scientific knowledge that we take for granted, so they did not think of the world in scientific terms or descriptions. Instead they attempted to conceptualize the world in terms of what they knew, and usually described it visually. So, when they conceived of the universe, they constructed a multi-layered world, sort of like a large onion composed of various layers with the physical world in which human beings lived at the center. These layers were called "firmament" or shamayim (heavens or sky) in the Old Testament or "heavens" in the New Testament era. There are many other non-Biblical books and writings that also describe these layers. This model was still in use in the Middle Ages (1400s AD) when Dante wrote of the various levels of heaven and hell.(2) Comprehensive Christian Perspective:
Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry
The First Heaven: Earth Atmosphere
The Second Heaven: Outer Space
The Third Heaven: God's Dwelling Place
The highest heaven, the third heaven is indicated by the reference to the Throne of God being the highest heaven:
(3) Kabbalistic perspective:
page 89 of Kabbalah: New Perspectives, by Moshe Idel
The ascent of the soul has been repeatedly discussed by scholars of ancient religions; the long sequence of studies dedicated to this topic renders superfluous any further presentation of the basic facts concerning this matter. I should like to dwell, however, upon the recent discussions of Morton Smith, who emphasized the importance of the ascent experience for a better understanding of certain passages concerning Jesus himself in early Christian literature.
According to this scholar, "We can fairly conclude that one or more techniques for ascent into heaven were being used in Palestine in Jesus' day, and that Jesus himself may we have used one. As Smith indicates Paul attributed an ascent to Jesus, saying that he was caught up to the third heave, "whether in the body or out of the body." Therefore, the conception of the soul ascending to Paradise - "out of the body"- for the sake of an ineffable experience, even before death, was current among Jews for the first century. This obviously represents a concept different from the more widespread belief in the possibility of bodily ascent to heaven, which seems to have prevailed much earlier. This mystical perception of celestial ascent is a remarkable parallel to the frequent ascent of the soul to heaven in order "to draw life" for her body during the night.In the 2nd perspective the word 'heaven' is shamayim shameh, and that translates to 'sky/lofty'. BUT Jesus, in the referenced verse Matthew 5:16, does not say shamayim shameh, but he says ouranos. That translates to elevation/sky/heaven, and there is a note in the Strong's translation that ouranos probably comes from the obsolete word oros meaning "to rear".
Was Jesus making a reference of a different kind? Are these words synonyms? I thought it could be a sign of the times, but Acts 14:17 is referenced as well and it uses the term shamayim shameh, which was translated as 'heaven'.
How do you see it? I'm not ready or maybe even interested in forming an opinion. I think I'll just read over this a couple times and see what I perceive within the next few days. I will continue this documentation.
Literary Review - Kabbalah of Yeshua, by Zusha Kalet
This is a review of the book Kabbalah of Yeshua, by Zusha Kalet. I read the book and enjoyed it very much. I definitely plan on reading it again!
Mystical Masterpiece (2007)
By Joburgpete "irridium" (Johannesburg)
This intriguing book is divided into two parts: 1. Yeshua and 2. Kabbalah, which is the soul of the Torah and includes writings like the Zohar, Bahir and Sefer Yetzirah. The purpose of studying Kabbalah is to understand more profoundly and to increase one's faith in Mashiach, according to the author, whose explanation of Kabbalah is of the theosophical variety.
Part One: Yeshua, starts with the chapter Defining the Disciple. Kalet refers to various texts like Mattityahu 13: 10 - 11, 6: 10 - 34, 28: 18 - 20 and Yochanan 17: 21 - 24 to explain why Yeshua spoke to the multitudes in parables but in plain words to his disciples. The author quotes the words of Saul in 2 Corinthians 12: 1 - 6 to show that this apostle had mystical experiences, just like Kefa(Acts 11:4 - 5) and Yochanan (Revelation 4: 1 - 2).
Chapter 2 examines the difference between speaking to the crowds vs. to the disciples by quoting from the Besorah of Matityahu, Mark, Luke and Yochanan. It is important to clarify who the audience is in the scriptures. The next chapter explains the Rabbinic Kabbalistic approach to the Bible through the Pardes system. The types of Rabbinic literature are discussed in chapter 4 - the five books of Moses and the four types of the Oral Torah: Mishna, Gemara, Midrash and Kabbalah.
The four levels of interpretation are covered in chapter 5. They are Pashat (Simple), the literal which gave rise to Mishna, Remez (Hint), the allegorical, hint or cross-reference level of the Gemara, D'rash (Threshing), the parabolic and possible level of interpretation that produced the Midrash, and Sod (Secret), the mystical which contains the hidden or subtle level of scripture which produced Kabbalah.
Chapter 6 explains the application of the four levels to the Brit Chadasha (New Covenant). The first three Besorah writers are synoptic, telling the story of Yeshua by narrating many of the same events, whilst Yochanan has an entirely different approach. Vessels Of Honor And Dishonor is the next, in which the author deals with concepts from the Tree of Life as they relate to passages in various books of the Besorah.
The Torah of Life and Torah of Death are discussed in chapter 8. The author explains that Torah is the body and Kabbalah is the soul. In other words, the Torah of the Spirit produces a life in union with Mashiach and sets us free of sin and death (Romans 8:1 - 2). Likewise, "bread" is written law while "wine" is oral law. In the next chapter, further biblical exegesis is provided, such as the 3-fold teaching, 3 different groups of people and 3 types of sin, as well as discussions on the evil (Yetzer HaRa) and good (Yetzer HaTov) inclinations and the Holy Spirit (Ruach HaKodesh).
The first chapter of Part Two deals with Halacha, the next one is a history of Kabbalah with reference to Simeon Bar Yochai, Moses de Leon, Abraham ben Simon Abulafia, Abraham Azulai and Isaac Luria, and chapter 12 explores the five levels of the soul with examples and quotes from both the Old and New Testament. The five realms or worlds are discussed in the following chapter, with reference to the letters of the Tetragrammaton.
Then follows a detailed description of the Kabbalistic Tree of Life (with an illustration), and an explanation of concepts like Ein Sof and the contraction (Tzimtzum) that allowed creation to occur. The three Sefirot at the top of the tree refer as follows: Keter (crown) = Father, Chochma (wisdom) = Yeshua and Binah (understanding) = Ruach HaKodesh. All the Sefirot are explained with their corresponding qualities, letters and biblical personalities. Our lives must be balanced with fruit (Chesed) and gifts (Gevurah) of the Spirit so that we may bring a beautiful offering (Tif'eret) to the Lord.
There are 3 pages of endnotes, a bibliography divided into sections for Kabbalah, Breslov and the Noahide Laws and the book concludes with a short biography of the author Zusha Kalet. The Kabbalah of Yeshua is a most absorbing work that ought to be studied in-depth, which I intend to do. It is truly amazing to learn of all the extraordinary connections between the Old and New Testament that I have previously been unaware of.
For more information on this book go to:
http://www.facebook.com/l/baabe;www.KabbalahNation.org
Mystical Masterpiece (2007)
By Joburgpete "irridium" (Johannesburg)
This intriguing book is divided into two parts: 1. Yeshua and 2. Kabbalah, which is the soul of the Torah and includes writings like the Zohar, Bahir and Sefer Yetzirah. The purpose of studying Kabbalah is to understand more profoundly and to increase one's faith in Mashiach, according to the author, whose explanation of Kabbalah is of the theosophical variety.
Part One: Yeshua, starts with the chapter Defining the Disciple. Kalet refers to various texts like Mattityahu 13: 10 - 11, 6: 10 - 34, 28: 18 - 20 and Yochanan 17: 21 - 24 to explain why Yeshua spoke to the multitudes in parables but in plain words to his disciples. The author quotes the words of Saul in 2 Corinthians 12: 1 - 6 to show that this apostle had mystical experiences, just like Kefa(Acts 11:4 - 5) and Yochanan (Revelation 4: 1 - 2).
Chapter 2 examines the difference between speaking to the crowds vs. to the disciples by quoting from the Besorah of Matityahu, Mark, Luke and Yochanan. It is important to clarify who the audience is in the scriptures. The next chapter explains the Rabbinic Kabbalistic approach to the Bible through the Pardes system. The types of Rabbinic literature are discussed in chapter 4 - the five books of Moses and the four types of the Oral Torah: Mishna, Gemara, Midrash and Kabbalah.
The four levels of interpretation are covered in chapter 5. They are Pashat (Simple), the literal which gave rise to Mishna, Remez (Hint), the allegorical, hint or cross-reference level of the Gemara, D'rash (Threshing), the parabolic and possible level of interpretation that produced the Midrash, and Sod (Secret), the mystical which contains the hidden or subtle level of scripture which produced Kabbalah.
Chapter 6 explains the application of the four levels to the Brit Chadasha (New Covenant). The first three Besorah writers are synoptic, telling the story of Yeshua by narrating many of the same events, whilst Yochanan has an entirely different approach. Vessels Of Honor And Dishonor is the next, in which the author deals with concepts from the Tree of Life as they relate to passages in various books of the Besorah.
The Torah of Life and Torah of Death are discussed in chapter 8. The author explains that Torah is the body and Kabbalah is the soul. In other words, the Torah of the Spirit produces a life in union with Mashiach and sets us free of sin and death (Romans 8:1 - 2). Likewise, "bread" is written law while "wine" is oral law. In the next chapter, further biblical exegesis is provided, such as the 3-fold teaching, 3 different groups of people and 3 types of sin, as well as discussions on the evil (Yetzer HaRa) and good (Yetzer HaTov) inclinations and the Holy Spirit (Ruach HaKodesh).
The first chapter of Part Two deals with Halacha, the next one is a history of Kabbalah with reference to Simeon Bar Yochai, Moses de Leon, Abraham ben Simon Abulafia, Abraham Azulai and Isaac Luria, and chapter 12 explores the five levels of the soul with examples and quotes from both the Old and New Testament. The five realms or worlds are discussed in the following chapter, with reference to the letters of the Tetragrammaton.
Then follows a detailed description of the Kabbalistic Tree of Life (with an illustration), and an explanation of concepts like Ein Sof and the contraction (Tzimtzum) that allowed creation to occur. The three Sefirot at the top of the tree refer as follows: Keter (crown) = Father, Chochma (wisdom) = Yeshua and Binah (understanding) = Ruach HaKodesh. All the Sefirot are explained with their corresponding qualities, letters and biblical personalities. Our lives must be balanced with fruit (Chesed) and gifts (Gevurah) of the Spirit so that we may bring a beautiful offering (Tif'eret) to the Lord.
There are 3 pages of endnotes, a bibliography divided into sections for Kabbalah, Breslov and the Noahide Laws and the book concludes with a short biography of the author Zusha Kalet. The Kabbalah of Yeshua is a most absorbing work that ought to be studied in-depth, which I intend to do. It is truly amazing to learn of all the extraordinary connections between the Old and New Testament that I have previously been unaware of.
For more information on this book go to:
http://www.facebook.com/l/baabe;www.KabbalahNation.org
John 3:16 - Every Christian's favorite verse
John 3:16 KJV - For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Literary Translations:
For = gar = reason
God = theh-os = diety
so = hoo-to = in this way (referring to what preceds or follows)
loved = ag-ap-ah-o = to love (in a social or moral sense)
the
world = kos-mos = arrangement, that is, decoration
that = hoce-teh = thus therefore
he gave = did-o-mee = to give
his = how-too = self
only begotten = mon-og-en-ace = only born
Son = hwee-os = son
that
whosoever = pas = all, any, every, whole
believeth = pisteuo = have faith, credit, entrust
in = ice = to, into
him = ow-tos = self (reflexive pronoun)
should not = may = negation
perish = ap-ol-loo-mee = destroy
but = al-lah = other
have = ekh-o = hold
everlasting = ahee-o-nee-os = perpetual
life = dzo-ay = life
History of Kabbalah: ARI - the Foundation of Modern Kabbalah
The Ari, a 16th century Kabbalist, completely reshaped the method of Kabbalah study. He opened up the Kabbalistic wisdom to the masses, enabling any person to study it, regardless of age, gender or nationality.
The Ari was born as Isaac Luria Ashkenazi, in 16th century Jerusalem. He lived at the dawn of the technological era, when the Middle Ages were being rapidly replaced by the Renaissance, and the first sprouts of a new civilization began to emerge. But humanity was not undergoing just technological and cultural development. People also began to develop spiritually, to yearn for spiritual elevation and to discover the source of life. Precisely this new desire that emerged in humanity allowed the Ari to reshape the Kabbalistic method, in order to adapt it to the new spiritual desires of the masses.
Beginning with a very young age, he became interested in sacred texts and devoted all his time to studying Kabbalistic texts, such as the Holy Scriptures. Very quickly, he absorbed all the Kabbalistic knowledge that was attained before him and became a renowned spiritual teacher at the young age of 35.
The Ari headed a Kabbalistic school in a small town in Northern Israel called Tzefat. There, he expounded his spiritual attainment and the wisdom of Kabbalah, but he did not simply teach the things others before him had attained. He presented the Kabbalistic wisdom in a completely new way, and later generations would study the spiritual world using primarily his books.
But as fate would have it, he taught for just a year and a half before passing away at the age of 36. Of all his students, he felt that only one student had understood him enough to continue studying his spiritual teaching. This student was 28 year old Chaim Vital, and in the year and a half he had studied with the Ari, he wrote down everything he heard. When the Ari passed away, Chaim Vital was the only disciple allowed to continue and publicize the Ari’s work.
All the existing texts of the Ari’s Kabbalistic teaching are the notes Chaim Vital took during that year and a half. They comprise about 20 volumes, of which the most important text is The Tree of Life. This text examines the origin of all life and the essence of Creation or man. Most importantly, it talks about the general force of Nature that governs everything and brings everything into existence. The Ari called this force "Upper Light." Here is an excerpt from the book The Tree of Life:
Behold that before the emanations were emanated and the creatures were created,
The Upper Simple Light had filled the whole existence.
And there was no vacancy, such as an empty atmosphere, a hollow, or a pit,
But all was filled with Simple, Boundless Light.
And there was no such part as head, or tail,
But everything was Simple, Smooth Light, balanced evenly and equally,
And it was called the Endless Light.
The Ari’s great achievement was that he renovated the entire Kabbalistic method that existed before him for thousands of years—the method of attaining the Upper Light. Before him, the method was intended only for special people whose souls already possessed unique spiritual qualities. After the Ari, the method could be used by the masses, by anyone who truly desires spiritual ascent, regardless of age, gender or nationality. Thanks to the Ari, anyone can now engage in the wisdom of Kabbalah, find out about the purpose of Creation, and attain a sensation of the Upper Light.
Moreover, the Ari paved the way for Kabbalah to become a modern science. He was the first Kabbalist to expound the wisdom about the spiritual world in a modern, scientific language. Before him, Kabbalists had stated the same knowledge in a mysterious, concealed language of legends, fantastical stories and the like. Their texts could be properly interpreted only by other Kabbalists, and remained hidden to the uninformed reader.
Thus, the Ari laid the foundations for modern Kabbalah, creating a method that responded to people’s new spiritual desires in his generation. The Kabbalistic method used in the world today by millions of people is also based on the Ari’s work, and his book The Tree of Life remains a fundamental textbook used by modern students of Kabbalah.
Kabbalah for the Masses
A video about the reason for Kabbalah's upsurge since 1995.
A video about the reason for Kabbalah's upsurge since 1995.
Religion - Truth
Religion does not unclothe the practitioner, but instead acts as a robe of secrecy, beneath which one can live precisely according to his or her own will and desires. I hope you see...
KJV Matthew 23:26 - Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.
Nobody told you to hide, and where exactly do you think you're hiding?
KJV Matthew 23:26 - Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.
Nobody told you to hide, and where exactly do you think you're hiding?
Third Heaven?
NIV 2 Corinthians 12:2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Malachi 3:17-18
"They will be mine," says the LORD Almighty, "in the day when I make up my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as in compassion a man spares his son who serves him. And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not." - NIV
And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not. - KJV
And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not. - KJV
Mark of the Beast... Mark of God... (NIV)
Genesis 4:15 - But the LORD said to him, "Not so ; if anyone kills Cain, he will suffer vengeance seven times over." Then the LORD put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him.
Isaiah 59:7 - Their feet rush into sin; they are swift to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are evil thoughts; ruin and destruction mark their ways.
Ezekiel 9:4 - ...and said to him, "Go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it."
Ezekiel 9:6 - Slaughter old men, young men and maidens, women and children, but do not touch anyone who has the mark. Begin at my sanctuary." So they began with the elders who were in front of the temple.
Romans 3:16 - 15"Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16ruin and misery mark their ways, 17and the way of peace they do not know."
2 Corinthians 12:12 - The things that mark an apostle—signs, wonders and miracles—were done among you with great perseverance.
Revelation 13:16 - He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead,
Revelation 19:20 - But the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who had performed the miraculous signs on his behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped his image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur.
Revelation 20:4 - I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
Isaiah 59:7 - Their feet rush into sin; they are swift to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are evil thoughts; ruin and destruction mark their ways.
Ezekiel 9:4 - ...and said to him, "Go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it."
Ezekiel 9:6 - Slaughter old men, young men and maidens, women and children, but do not touch anyone who has the mark. Begin at my sanctuary." So they began with the elders who were in front of the temple.
Romans 3:16 - 15"Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16ruin and misery mark their ways, 17and the way of peace they do not know."
2 Corinthians 12:12 - The things that mark an apostle—signs, wonders and miracles—were done among you with great perseverance.
Revelation 13:16 - He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead,
Revelation 19:20 - But the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who had performed the miraculous signs on his behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped his image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur.
Revelation 20:4 - I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
Ohr Makif - The Surrounding Light
"Meanwhile, that is, until that time it is considered that that Light of Ein Sof has become Ohr Makif, meaning it will clothe it in the future. For now, it circles it and shines upon it from the outside with a certain illumination."
Page 582 of Kabbalah for the Student by Rav. Yehuda Ashlag
Page 582 of Kabbalah for the Student by Rav. Yehuda Ashlag
The Holy Still
This article discusses a "holy still" and as you may have seen from a previous post named John 17:6, I am curious about "stillness"... While listening to one of the Kabbalah Revealed videos today Tony Kosenic made referrence to "The Holy Stillness"... Quite easily I did a search and found the article below written by the great Kabbalist Micheal Laitman.
Kabbalah in Our Lives
During the 6,000 years of their existence, souls descend to our world in a certain order and clothe the physical bodies of our world, which is the lowest degree of Creation in the universe. There is a clear and accurate order of the descent of the souls, from the finest with the least amount of egoism, to the coarsest, most egoistic souls.
The first souls to descend are those with the least amount of egoism, whose mere existence in this world is enough to correct them, and they do not need any external influence to guide them. After that, souls begin to come with a need for a guidebook, which we know of as “the written Torah.”
Although we have received the four parts of the Torah with their entire spiritual scope, including the wisdom of Kabbalah, over the years it has been used in many ways. At the same time, varying circumstances were organized from Above to keep the Mitzvot. For example, the ruin of the temple eliminated the possibility of keeping many of the Mitzvot that are connected with the temple and the land.
Although the souls that come to our world grow coarser and need further correction, the number of practical Mitzvot decreases. That is because these souls cannot be corrected by merely performing Mitzvot. These souls need a special guide to the wisdom of Kabbalah, because this is their final correction. These are souls that were purer in the past, but have sunk deeper and deeper into egoism over the cycles.
Therefore, the last correction should result in an exit from this world into the spiritual world. This is only possible with the help of changing our internal properties from egoism to altruism, not by any mechanical acts.
It is said: “A Mitzva without an aim is like a body without a soul.” It is only the aim that determines the value of the action. A mere mechanical act, an aimless one, is also a lifeless one. It does not produce any spiritual influence and brings no result.
However, observing Mitzvot mechanically is still necessary for the (Jewish) collective because it preserves their identities from generation to generation, and prepares souls for their personal correction in one of the future cycles, for the realization of the aim Lishma (for Her name).
Keeping the Mitzvot in the physical body purifies the spiritual “still” of man. Man’s soul consists of four parts of Creation; these correlate to the name of the Creator: still, vegetative, animate, and speaking. A person who keeps Mitzvot physically is turned from an “ordinary still” into a “holy still.” We mustn’t underestimate the level of this spiritual degree. It is that which keeps the Jews a nation.
A person in that degree is in the first degree of correction, though unaware of it. This person does not feel the spiritual world, just as a stone cannot feel spirituality. Rabbi Zidichev wrote in his book about the verse in Psalms 34, 15: “Depart from evil, and do good.” This means that without understanding the wisdom of Kabbalah, man is like an animal, keeping the Mitzvot automatically, just like an animal eats its food. Even if he is proficient in every detail of the Mitzvot, he must still give some time to study the Kabbalah, the core of the Torah, for without it, one is no better than an animal.
Just as everything comes from the ground, so from this degree it is possible to attain higher degrees. That is why Kabbalists do not object to keeping Mitzvot in the physical body, but maintain that it must be accompanied by a spiritual intent, an aim that gives one the ticket to the spiritual world. However, it is only according to one’s altruistic aim that one can rise to higher degrees in the spiritual worlds.
Although we have received the entire Torah, its hidden part, the Zohar, which was written at the time of the Talmud, was only discovered in recent generations. The Talmud was necessary to keep Mitzvot and was therefore immediately publicized, whereas the Zohar, because it was not necessary to the public, was concealed by the Kabbalists until they decided it was time to disclose it.
Because souls of a different kind descend to our world in every generation, they also require a different kind of leader to correct their souls. The Creator sends a number of Kabbalists in every generation. By being simultaneously in this world and in the spiritual world, they can create the necessary conditions for the correction of the souls of that generation.
That is the reason for the coming of the soul of the Holy Ari, the great Kabbalist of the 16th century, to our world. He was the Kabbalist who wrote the contemporary interpretation of the Zohar, thus creating a solid foundation for a clear and understandable study of the Kabbalah for every person. Rabbi Yeshaiahu Halevy Ish-Horovitz (known as the Holy Shlah) said of the books of the Ari, that their appearance is tantamount to the giving of the Torah to the nation of Israel.
Rabbi Avraham Azulai writes in his book, Ohr Chaim (Light of Life), that “The concealment of the wisdom of Kabbalah from Above so that not everyone could practice it, was done for only a limited period of time, until the year 5330 (1570 by the Gregorian calendar). But since that year, the concealment has been lifted and it is permitted for everyone to study the Zohar.”
It also says that “only if the masses study the wisdom of Kabbalah will the Messiah come, and not as a result of anything else, as others think…”
The Zohar itself mentions more than once that only the lessened value that we ascribe to the study is the cause of all our anguish and that of the last generation. It also says that this is the reason for our spiritual exile. However, the truth is that the only reason we suffer is that we are not correcting ourselves through the wisdom of Kabbalah; that is why we are marching on the path of pain.
From Chapter 5 of, The Path of Kabbalah, by Rav. Michael Laitman
Kabbalah in Our Lives
During the 6,000 years of their existence, souls descend to our world in a certain order and clothe the physical bodies of our world, which is the lowest degree of Creation in the universe. There is a clear and accurate order of the descent of the souls, from the finest with the least amount of egoism, to the coarsest, most egoistic souls.
The first souls to descend are those with the least amount of egoism, whose mere existence in this world is enough to correct them, and they do not need any external influence to guide them. After that, souls begin to come with a need for a guidebook, which we know of as “the written Torah.”
Although we have received the four parts of the Torah with their entire spiritual scope, including the wisdom of Kabbalah, over the years it has been used in many ways. At the same time, varying circumstances were organized from Above to keep the Mitzvot. For example, the ruin of the temple eliminated the possibility of keeping many of the Mitzvot that are connected with the temple and the land.
Although the souls that come to our world grow coarser and need further correction, the number of practical Mitzvot decreases. That is because these souls cannot be corrected by merely performing Mitzvot. These souls need a special guide to the wisdom of Kabbalah, because this is their final correction. These are souls that were purer in the past, but have sunk deeper and deeper into egoism over the cycles.
Therefore, the last correction should result in an exit from this world into the spiritual world. This is only possible with the help of changing our internal properties from egoism to altruism, not by any mechanical acts.
It is said: “A Mitzva without an aim is like a body without a soul.” It is only the aim that determines the value of the action. A mere mechanical act, an aimless one, is also a lifeless one. It does not produce any spiritual influence and brings no result.
However, observing Mitzvot mechanically is still necessary for the (Jewish) collective because it preserves their identities from generation to generation, and prepares souls for their personal correction in one of the future cycles, for the realization of the aim Lishma (for Her name).
Keeping the Mitzvot in the physical body purifies the spiritual “still” of man. Man’s soul consists of four parts of Creation; these correlate to the name of the Creator: still, vegetative, animate, and speaking. A person who keeps Mitzvot physically is turned from an “ordinary still” into a “holy still.” We mustn’t underestimate the level of this spiritual degree. It is that which keeps the Jews a nation.
A person in that degree is in the first degree of correction, though unaware of it. This person does not feel the spiritual world, just as a stone cannot feel spirituality. Rabbi Zidichev wrote in his book about the verse in Psalms 34, 15: “Depart from evil, and do good.” This means that without understanding the wisdom of Kabbalah, man is like an animal, keeping the Mitzvot automatically, just like an animal eats its food. Even if he is proficient in every detail of the Mitzvot, he must still give some time to study the Kabbalah, the core of the Torah, for without it, one is no better than an animal.
Just as everything comes from the ground, so from this degree it is possible to attain higher degrees. That is why Kabbalists do not object to keeping Mitzvot in the physical body, but maintain that it must be accompanied by a spiritual intent, an aim that gives one the ticket to the spiritual world. However, it is only according to one’s altruistic aim that one can rise to higher degrees in the spiritual worlds.
Although we have received the entire Torah, its hidden part, the Zohar, which was written at the time of the Talmud, was only discovered in recent generations. The Talmud was necessary to keep Mitzvot and was therefore immediately publicized, whereas the Zohar, because it was not necessary to the public, was concealed by the Kabbalists until they decided it was time to disclose it.
Because souls of a different kind descend to our world in every generation, they also require a different kind of leader to correct their souls. The Creator sends a number of Kabbalists in every generation. By being simultaneously in this world and in the spiritual world, they can create the necessary conditions for the correction of the souls of that generation.
That is the reason for the coming of the soul of the Holy Ari, the great Kabbalist of the 16th century, to our world. He was the Kabbalist who wrote the contemporary interpretation of the Zohar, thus creating a solid foundation for a clear and understandable study of the Kabbalah for every person. Rabbi Yeshaiahu Halevy Ish-Horovitz (known as the Holy Shlah) said of the books of the Ari, that their appearance is tantamount to the giving of the Torah to the nation of Israel.
Rabbi Avraham Azulai writes in his book, Ohr Chaim (Light of Life), that “The concealment of the wisdom of Kabbalah from Above so that not everyone could practice it, was done for only a limited period of time, until the year 5330 (1570 by the Gregorian calendar). But since that year, the concealment has been lifted and it is permitted for everyone to study the Zohar.”
It also says that “only if the masses study the wisdom of Kabbalah will the Messiah come, and not as a result of anything else, as others think…”
The Zohar itself mentions more than once that only the lessened value that we ascribe to the study is the cause of all our anguish and that of the last generation. It also says that this is the reason for our spiritual exile. However, the truth is that the only reason we suffer is that we are not correcting ourselves through the wisdom of Kabbalah; that is why we are marching on the path of pain.
From Chapter 5 of, The Path of Kabbalah, by Rav. Michael Laitman
The Fall and the World of Atzilut
The doctrine of Sheviret HaKelim, or "Shattering of the Vessels"
Although he accepted the typically "neoplatonic" idea of a sequential emanation of sefirot and Worlds - which was a fundamental theme in most previous Kabbalah - Rabbi Luria's creative genius introduced a new and very important element. He introduced a complex process of precreation Fall and Restitution, showing striking similarities to certain schools of Hellenistic Gnosticism.
According to Lurianic Kabbalah, the sefirot were originally of the nature of pure unmanifest Light. They only aquired a "vessel", or manifest characteristics, in the lowest of the Adam Kadmonic worlds, the World of Speech, or the Bound World, so called because all its ten Lights resided in a single vessel. This was only a prelude to the "World of Chaos" (Olam ha-Tohu) or "World of Points" (Nekudot), the first World to be emanated from Adam Kadmon and thus have actual manifest existence. The word Tohu refers to the state of the original Sefirot, as unformed and unordered points. It comes from Genesis 1:2, "And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep." The "World of Points" was so called because at this time the sefirot did not relate to each other, but were in the form of unorganised (chaotic) atomistic separateness (hence the term World of Points). The Sefirot, apart from the first three, were not organised in three columns as they are in the present world of Atzilut, but in a single row, making it impossible for them to interrelate.
So when the pure Light of Adam Kadmon shone down into them, these atomistic sefirot could not take the strain, and they shatterred and fell (the socalled "breaking of the vessels"). The fallen vessels became the klippot or "husks" of evil, which held trapped the sparks of sefirotic light.
The Nekudot were also characterised by an excess of Din; a Kabbalistic term meaning Severity, Judgment, limitation, rigidity. In Lurianic Kabbalah, Din is not only the cause of the Fall, but the ultimate cause of all creation, including the Tzimtzum (as in Kashmir Shaivism, all creation and manifestation is seen as the limitation of an original unmanifest and unbounded Absolute).
This was a World characterised by an excess of Nefesh (Desire soul or lower passions) or Din (Severity). In addition, it is said that the lights of these Sefirotic vessels is "thick". Thus the Sefirot of this World were unable to tolerate the influx of Light from the higher Source. The result was the socalled "Breaking of the Vessels" or "the death of the kings"; the latter term being derived from a reference in the book of Genesis to the "seven kings of Edom who died"; and the origin of evil. This process is described as effecting the different Sefirot in different ways. As the eighteenth century Kabbalist Moses Luzzatto explains:
"...The effect on the first three Sefirot was only that of annulment, rather than debasement. Only the rear portion of the first three Sefirot "fell"; and even this rear portion did not descend any lower than the world of Emanation (Atzilut)...." [Moses Luzzatto, General Principles of the Kabbalah,]
So the vessels assigned to the upper three Sefirot (Keter, Hokhmah, and Binah), being closer to the Source and thus of a purer nature, managed to contain the great downpouring of light that flowed into them, but the six lower Sefirot from Hesed to Yesod were weaker, and thus unable to hold the light. So one after another these vessels broke, a process referred to as "The Breaking of the Vessels". The vessel of the last Sefirah, Malkut, also cracked but not to the same degree.
Through this supernal Crisis then, the lower worlds came into being:
"...In this fashion, the innermost part of each vessel descended into Creation (Beriah); the interior part descended into Formation (Yetzirah); and the exterior part descended into Action (Asiyah)...."
So the lower Worlds are here described as coming into being through the fall of the seven lower Sefirot of the World of Points, while the fragmented parts of the first three Sefirot; i.e. the rear portions of the Netzah, Hod, and Yesod of Keter (each Sefirot itself has a full complement of ten subsefirot), and the complete Netzah, Hod, and Yesod of Hokmah and Binah; became the rest of the world of Atzilut.
Some of the light that had been in the vessels managed to retrace its path to its source in the world of Atzilut, but the rest scattered and fell down with the vessels themselves, and from their shards the Klippot ("husks") or forces of evil (or sitra ahra, the "other side") took on form. These shards are also the source of gross matter; another classical Gnostic motif.
http://www.kheper.net/topics/Kabbalah/Atzilut-tohu.htm
Although he accepted the typically "neoplatonic" idea of a sequential emanation of sefirot and Worlds - which was a fundamental theme in most previous Kabbalah - Rabbi Luria's creative genius introduced a new and very important element. He introduced a complex process of precreation Fall and Restitution, showing striking similarities to certain schools of Hellenistic Gnosticism.
According to Lurianic Kabbalah, the sefirot were originally of the nature of pure unmanifest Light. They only aquired a "vessel", or manifest characteristics, in the lowest of the Adam Kadmonic worlds, the World of Speech, or the Bound World, so called because all its ten Lights resided in a single vessel. This was only a prelude to the "World of Chaos" (Olam ha-Tohu) or "World of Points" (Nekudot), the first World to be emanated from Adam Kadmon and thus have actual manifest existence. The word Tohu refers to the state of the original Sefirot, as unformed and unordered points. It comes from Genesis 1:2, "And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep." The "World of Points" was so called because at this time the sefirot did not relate to each other, but were in the form of unorganised (chaotic) atomistic separateness (hence the term World of Points). The Sefirot, apart from the first three, were not organised in three columns as they are in the present world of Atzilut, but in a single row, making it impossible for them to interrelate.
So when the pure Light of Adam Kadmon shone down into them, these atomistic sefirot could not take the strain, and they shatterred and fell (the socalled "breaking of the vessels"). The fallen vessels became the klippot or "husks" of evil, which held trapped the sparks of sefirotic light.
The Nekudot were also characterised by an excess of Din; a Kabbalistic term meaning Severity, Judgment, limitation, rigidity. In Lurianic Kabbalah, Din is not only the cause of the Fall, but the ultimate cause of all creation, including the Tzimtzum (as in Kashmir Shaivism, all creation and manifestation is seen as the limitation of an original unmanifest and unbounded Absolute).
This was a World characterised by an excess of Nefesh (Desire soul or lower passions) or Din (Severity). In addition, it is said that the lights of these Sefirotic vessels is "thick". Thus the Sefirot of this World were unable to tolerate the influx of Light from the higher Source. The result was the socalled "Breaking of the Vessels" or "the death of the kings"; the latter term being derived from a reference in the book of Genesis to the "seven kings of Edom who died"; and the origin of evil. This process is described as effecting the different Sefirot in different ways. As the eighteenth century Kabbalist Moses Luzzatto explains:
"...The effect on the first three Sefirot was only that of annulment, rather than debasement. Only the rear portion of the first three Sefirot "fell"; and even this rear portion did not descend any lower than the world of Emanation (Atzilut)...." [Moses Luzzatto, General Principles of the Kabbalah,]
So the vessels assigned to the upper three Sefirot (Keter, Hokhmah, and Binah), being closer to the Source and thus of a purer nature, managed to contain the great downpouring of light that flowed into them, but the six lower Sefirot from Hesed to Yesod were weaker, and thus unable to hold the light. So one after another these vessels broke, a process referred to as "The Breaking of the Vessels". The vessel of the last Sefirah, Malkut, also cracked but not to the same degree.
Through this supernal Crisis then, the lower worlds came into being:
"...In this fashion, the innermost part of each vessel descended into Creation (Beriah); the interior part descended into Formation (Yetzirah); and the exterior part descended into Action (Asiyah)...."
So the lower Worlds are here described as coming into being through the fall of the seven lower Sefirot of the World of Points, while the fragmented parts of the first three Sefirot; i.e. the rear portions of the Netzah, Hod, and Yesod of Keter (each Sefirot itself has a full complement of ten subsefirot), and the complete Netzah, Hod, and Yesod of Hokmah and Binah; became the rest of the world of Atzilut.
Some of the light that had been in the vessels managed to retrace its path to its source in the world of Atzilut, but the rest scattered and fell down with the vessels themselves, and from their shards the Klippot ("husks") or forces of evil (or sitra ahra, the "other side") took on form. These shards are also the source of gross matter; another classical Gnostic motif.
http://www.kheper.net/topics/Kabbalah/Atzilut-tohu.htm
Searching
For the record. I don't know what I'm doing and I don't know what I'm looking for. I have eyes that want to see. I have ears that want to hear.
KJV Proverbs 3:4-6
So thou shalt find favor and good understanding in the sight of God and man. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
NIV Luke 8:8
He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
A Lion
Gospel of Thomas verse 7,
"Blessed is the lion which becomes man when consumed by man; and cursed is the man whom lion consumes, and the lion becomes man."
KJV Numbers 23:24 Behold the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion: he shall not lie down until he eat of prey, and drink the blood of the slain.
KJV Genesis 49: 9 Judah is a lion's whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?
CLV Genesis 49:9 The whelp of a lion is Judah. From the prey, my son, bow will he, recline as a lion. And as a parent lion, who will make him rise?
Literary Translations of KJV Genesis 49:9
"whelp" = goor = cub abiding (in the lair)
"prey" = tereph = torn flesh
"my son" = bane = son; builder
"thou art gone up" = aw law = ascend
"he stooped down" = kaw-rah = bend
"couched" = raw bats = crouch
"as a lion" = ar-ee, ar-yay = in the sense of violence; a lion
"and as an old lion" = law-bee' leb-ee-yaw' leb-aw-eem = to roar
"shall rouse him up" = koom = to rise
Monday, September 7, 2009
John 17:6
"I have manifested thy name [authority; character] unto the men which thou has given me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them to me; and they have kept thy word." -KJV
"I manifest thy name [authority; character] to men whom thou givest me out of the world. Thine they were, and to Me Thou givest them, and Thy word they have kept." - CLV
"I have made your name [authority; character] known to mankind, the ones you gave me from the world. They were yours and you gave them to me and they honored your manifestation." - Peshitta
Literary Translations
"manifest" = phaneroo = render apparent
"name" = onoma = authority; character
"world" = kosmos = arrangement, decoration
"word" = logos = something said; something thought; topic; reasoning; motive; computation
A question that came to mind when reading John 17:16 is that in order to keep the word of God, as it is written the thought, topic, reasoning, motive and/or computation of God, one would have to be aware of this "word" or logos. And not only in the corporeal existence (as in reading a sentence on a page and understanding the meaning of the words) but in the spiritual existence (where something is not known or learned, but revealed) where understanding of spiritual reasoning keeps its foundation.
Quote by Teilhard de Chardin
Someday after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides, and gravity
We shall harness for God the energies of Love,
and then for a second time in the history of the World,
humanity will have discovered Fire.
This leads me to believe that in "harnessing Love" we will develop means of ascending to Love through mastering the same elements again, but in the spiritual realm.
Wind - the spirit is moved by outside forces in directions outside of its own control
Waves - the spirit ascends and descends levels over distances
Tides - the spirit is regularly distributed to and retracted from various distances
Gravity - the spirit receives a weight upon it from an unseen source that tethers it to another substance.
If one were to "Master" these activities in the spirit he or she would seem to then stand still. Stillness thought by many great Sages to be the highest level of existence, is one in which there is no time or space, but only completion or oneness.
My thoughts on Still...
The Hebrew word shabbos or shabbat means rest or cessation, and is considered by many to be a state of mind (or spirit) and not necessarily a physical status. It's achievement is thought to be a gift from God.
cessation: a temporary or complete stopping; discontinuance
1 Kings 19:12 calls God's voice a "still small voice".
Numbers 9:8 Moses says "stand still and I will hear", speaking to the Israelites.
1 Samuel 9:27 Samuel says to Saul, "stand thou still awhile that I may show thee the Word of God."
...the search continues...
Time to read Samuel.
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