Kabbalah - Introduction

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Kabbalah - Introduction

The knowledge of Kabbalah is mighty. Throughout centuries

esotherists from various backgrounds, inspired by the Jewish Kabbalah,

created their own mystical Kabbalah systems. The oldest and most

ancient Kabbalah manuscript is Sefer Yetzirah â€" Book of Formation. It

is believed that Jewish Mysticism has its origin in the biblical times

of Abraham, and that the knowledge of Sefer Jetsirah has been conveyed

orally from one generation to the other.

Rabbi Akiba in the 10th century brought into light a short

booklet â€" the first written version of Sefer Yetzirah, the Book of

Formation. It describes the basic structure of Kabbalah, i.e., the

creation of our Universe through 22 hidden paths (22 letters of Hebrew

aleph-beth) and 10 Sephirots.

In France, in the 11th century appeared Bahir â€" the Book of

Illumination. Somewhat latter in Spain appeared Zohar â€" the Book of

Splendor, another important Kabbalah document. The exodus of Jews from

Spain in 1492 helped spread the classical Kabbalah throughout Europe.

Ben created the German Kabbalah, which is rooted in the

Merkabah mysticism, with emphasis on magical rituals.

At large, the western Kabbalah is actually Christian

Kabbalah, with add-ons like alchemy, tarot, magical rituals, astrology,

numerology (notaricon, temurah), etc. The possibility of complementing

Kabbalah by introducing new aspects is easy and unlimited. What is

common to all variations of Kabbalah is the strong desire for a

mystical experience of reunification with God. Meditation, prayer,

prayer for others, mantra, fasting, and proper conduct is a way of

achieving this goal.

Kabbalah is a key to controlling the subtle powers in achieving

genuine mystical experience of Oneness. The transcendental experience

lies beyond the borders of the rational and even the irrational mind.

The Divine experience lies even further on the scale of spiritual

accomplishments. To convey your own experience to somebody is hardly

possible. It could only be done by Divine means of communication, which

lie above and beyond the Tree of Life. This is the reason why the

higher Sephirots are so vaguely comprehensible.

The Tree of Life is expressed through Sephirots into 4 worlds:

Atzilut â€" archetypal, Divine world, world of emanations, level of radiation

Beriah â€" creative world, world of Archangels, level of creation

Yetzirah â€" formative world, world of Angels, level of shaping

Asiyah â€" manifested world, world of chakras and nadis, physical levelBeyond Keter in the world of Atzilut are three veils of

negative existence: nothing, limitless nothing, and limitless light.

These veils contain and conceal the unmanifested aspects of the

Sephirots, the ones that human mind can hardly comprehend. Keter is

created by contraction of the limitless light. It is the first

perceivable point of manifestation. In spite of that, both Atzilut and

Beriah are on the far side of human understanding. Their structure can

only be hinted through the expression of the Sephirots in the lower

worlds. Yetzirah and Asiyah, on the other hand, are somewhat closer to

our understanding.

The Tree of Life depicts the descent of the Divine into the

manifested world. It contains three Pillars upon which the 10 Sephirots

are distributed. The left side of the Tree â€" which corresponds to the

Pillar of Severity â€" is related to the left side of the brain

(Pingala). The right side of the Tree â€" which corresponds to the Pillar

of Mercy â€" prefers the right side of the brain (Ida). Our spinal cord

corresponds to the Middle Pillar on the Tree of Life, which is Pillar

of Balance (Sushumna).

The Tree of Life is more spiritual in its upper parts.

The 22 Paths on the Tree of Life contain the 22 Letters of the

Hebrew aleph-beth and interconnect the 10 Sephirots. Each Sephirot has

its own number.

Sephirot No. 1, Keter is Thought,

Sephirot No. 2, Chokhmah is Wisdom,

Sephirot No. 3, Binah is Understanding,

Sephirot No. 4, Chesed is Mercy,

Sephirot No. 5, Gevurah in Power,

Sephirot No. 6, Tifereth is Glory,

Sephirot No. 7, Netzach is Victory,

Sephirot No. 8, Hod is Identifying with God,

Sephirot No. 9, Yesod is Foundation, and

Sephirot No. 10, Malkuth is Kingdom.

The Sephirot Daat â€" Knowledge, has no number and is situated in the gap between Chokhmah â€" Binah, and Chesed â€" Gevurah.

Each Path connects two Sephirots.

The Paths on the Tree of Life represent our movement

from one state or condition to another. They are our subjective

experiences.

In Kabbalah special emphasis is put on Paths that correspond to so

called Mother letters. These Paths are positioned horizontally on the

Tree of Life.

SHIN connects Chokhmah and Binah, it is a Plane of Fire and corresponds

to the Right Pillar â€" head. This Plane governs the celestial world,

which includes the constellation of planets and stars.

ALEPH connects Chesed and Gevurah, it is a Plane of Air, and

corresponds to the Central Pillar â€" lungs. The Plane of Air controls

the rain.

MEM connects Netzach and Hod, it is a Plane of Water, and corresponds

to the Left Pillar â€" abdomen. The Plane of Water is the source of the

regular sequence of the seasons. As the Earth revolves around the Sun,

the waters of the Earth change appropriately.

To each of the Paths a single Major Arcana (a key or mystery)

is connected. The Arcanas represent the Cosmic Elements, and each of

the Arcanas is a small Universe for itself. To understand the Arcanas

properly, a mental ability of simultaneous differentiation and

identification of seemingly inconsistent concepts is needed. This

inconsistency exists only in the mind of the observer. Once this is

understood, there comes the possibility of initiation.

The true meaning of the Tarot Cards is revealing the

Universe. Each Tarot Card is a key to the invisible world. There are 78

Cards in total: 22 Major Arcana â€" constituting parts of the Tree of

Life, 40 Minor Arcana â€" representing the four elements distributed in

the ten Sephirots orsephira's , and 16 Court Cards which as well belong to the Sephira's.

The Sephirot, Emanation or Sphere, is a Symbol of an objective

state. The Sephirot is a number. A number is a primitive forms of an

Archetype. It is a mediator between people and higher worlds. A number

is an alias for a secret law. Symbols are technical help, intuitive

ideas, they transform the psychical energy from lesser to greater

forms.

We know that the logic of the ego-consciousness does not reach

the sub-conscious mind. A symbolic image could be composed of known

elements, but behind the whole there can be something hidden, something

that cannot be interpreted. That something is of opposite meaning. It

is a secret. The unconscious part of our personality understands

symbols. By using symbols we can express hardly apprehensible

unconscious material.

The symbolic process is unconscious. It is perceived in images,

i.e., the messages are received in form of images. Without symbols we

cannot get in touch with our unconscious. Therefore, it can be stated

that the symbol is a middle way on which the opposites merge to enable

new motion.

The material which follows will be divided into several

lessons. The lessons will be short, clear and with emphasis on

practical work.

More information: http://www.sunnyray.org/Kabbalah.htm