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As Above, So Below. Astrological Roots of Theology

Symbolic Living — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 17:11:50 +0000

Macrocosm and Microcosm unite in this fascinating teaching lecture which discusses how Astrology is the origin of Biblical symbolism providing us with details of the process of life and the heavens.

Get to understand the meaning of the seasons and the movement of the sun and moon. Understand the four elements, earth, air, fire, water, and the astrological qualities cardinal, fixed, mutable, signs and planetary rulers. See where astrology relates to and develops into the many myths of heaven, earth and hell.

Enjoy these absolutely fascinating insights into the Symbolism of Astrology relating to Ancient Mythology, Science, Religion, Time and life. Origins and correlations between words are also discussed providing insights into the development of language and symbolic meaning of religious phrases.

We are pleased to share this with you, and assured you will learn very much on Astrological symbolism in these lectures.

Click here to view the embedded video.

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Authentic Kabbalah Part 6

Symbolic Living — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 14:35:07 +0000

Be sure to read Kabbalah Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 and Part 5 first.

Authentic Kabbalah Part 6

10 sephirot

We see that the Light emanating from Atzmuto creates a Kli in four steps. That is why that final desire, named Bhina Dalet (Fourth Phase), is in fact the only Creature. All the phases that preceded it were only intermediate phases in its evolution. The final Creation consists of all phases simultaneously, but its essence is represented by Malchut.

The Light being spread out throughout 0-4 phases consists of 9 parts, called sephirot (plural from sephira), what literally can be translated as “shining”. Sephirot constitute a full spectrum of “faces” belonging to the Creator – in other words, sephirot represent a variety of ways that the Creator manifests Himself with relation to the Creature. Obviously, the Creator Himself is absolutely constant and invariable, however constantly transforming Kli makes the Creator appear differently, depending on the inner qualities of the Kli itself. This is why a pure and unvariable Light descending from the Atzmuto seems to consists of many parts.

Thus the Creator placed a goal before us : to ascend through all the sephirot toward Him, gradually revealing His actual quality of bestowal, and finally, to bond with Him by acquiring His quality. This goal is included in Bhina Shoresh, in which the Creator wants to entirely fullfil the Creature.

To sum it up, 9 sephirot constitute a sort of link between the Creature (Malchut) and the Creator. Those sephirot are as follows : Keter, Hochma, Bina, Hesed, Gevura, Tifferet, Netzah, Hod, and Yesod. At this point it’s not worth to delve into the details, but just keep in mind, that Bhina Gimel (Zeir Anpin) consists of the following parts : Hesed, Gevura, Tifferet, Netzah, Hod, and Yesod.

As we already cleared up, Ohr and Kli are inseparably united. Hence, although sephirot in fact refer to the Light, their names are used to indicate parts that the Kli consists of. So, in Phase 4 the finished Creation looks like this :

Tzimtzum Alef

Foreword

The following lesson constitutes a slight description of what happens next after the Malchut in phase 4 has been brought forth. This lesson might seem difficult, as it brings up many new terms that you need to learn by heart, but after you become familiar with this terminology you’ll be able to understand it better.

The scheme of perfect reception

The Creator has brought forth the Creation so that upon receiving the Light it may experience infinite pleasure, not in a selfish (egoistic) way, but rather in a perfect and an absolute way (altruistic). If the Light enters the Kli and fills it up completely, then the Kli can no longer receive because the desire is saturated by the Light, and in the absence of desire the pleasure passes away as well. Hence, it is only possible to receive endlessly when you do not receive for your own sake, meaning, you enjoy for the sake of the giver. Then Ohr entering the Kli does not neutralize the desire to receive. We do know already, that we cannot endlessly fulfill our desires in the corporeal World, as the pleasure that fills up our desires neutralizes the desires, and thus the pleasure itself (as Ohr and Kli are inseparably united and cannot exist without each other). Through experience we all know that when we are hungry and begin to eat, after a certain time we no longer feel the hunger, even if the most delicious dishes are made available. In our World there is nothing we can do to make it work differently, this is why Kabbalah doesn’t speak of preferable behavior in our World at all. The model of correct reception applies exclusively to the spiritual Kli, and only on this level it can be put into effect.

Hence, the main problem that Malchut had to face is that as soon as pleasure enters the desire and starts to satisfy it, this desire slowly fades away. And if the pleasure is stronger than the desire this can even lead to repulsion. So, how can pleasure be converted into something perfect? If man feels pleasure not within himself, but within others while pleasing them, then pleasure is infinite because it depends solely on the amount of pleasure he can still give and to whom he is giving it. The more people I give it to the more pleasure do I feel myself. Again, do not identify this dependency with our World, it has nothing to do with it – such a model cannot be applied to relationships between people in our world. This condition produces an eternal existence on the level of spirituality, the perfection, which is one of the attributes of the Creator. This is exactly the state the Creator wants us to come to. The ideal scheme includes the Creator constantly pouring the Light (altruistic bestowal) on the created being, whereas the created being consents to receive the Light only if by doing so it pleases the Creator (altruistic reception). This system is referred to as Returned Light or Reflected Light (Ohr Hozer), as opposed to the Straight Light (Ohr Yashar) emanating from the Creator.

The Creator has especially made the Kli in such a way that under the influence of His manifestation (Ohr Yashar) it will feel ashamed of only receiving. The Kli, using its freedom of choice, will reach a level where pleasure is not experienced in egoistic way, so as to please the Creator. In this case the Kli equals the Creator, meaning, Malchut ascends to the level of Keter and acquires His attributes. I realize, that such a description doesn’t convey you any idea of this state, but at this point just keep in mind that entrance into the spiritual worlds by acquiring just one degree of similarity with the Creator already means eternity, absolute pleasure and attainment.

Tzimtzum Alef and Masach

So, let’s step back to the finished Creature, Malchut, in the Bhina Dalet. We already cleared up that when the Light fills up the Kli with pleasure, the Kli gradually receives from the Light its attribute to give as well as sensation of the giver itself – the Creator. Malchut then begins to feel that its attribute is completely opposite to the attribute of the Light. It becomes aware of its own egoistic nature when compared to the giver, which causes such a feeling of shame that it decides (using his freedom of choice) to stop receiving Light and remains empty. This is in fact the first time when the Creature uses its freedom of choice, so this decision plays exceptionally important role in what happens next. The rejection of the Light from Malchut is called Tzimtzum Alef (hebr. The First Restriction). This is what Malchut decided to do in order to acquire equality with the Creator, which in fact is a state of equilibrium, as neither the Creator gives, nor the Creature does receive pleasure.

It’s been previously said that nothing can disappear in spirituality, therefore although the further development of Malchut consists of many stages, Tzimtzum Alef, as a rule, is present in all worlds that we’re about to study, including our world. It means no more and no less, that Ohr cannot enter the egoistic Kli, as it used to do in previous phases. This is why when the spiritual Kli appears within a human being for the first time, it remains empty, as it doesn’t match the quality of Light. Although the spiritual Kli grows up under the influence of Ohr Makif (surrounding Light), it cannot receive the Light untill it acquires a certain degree of similarity to the Light. Similarity to the Light is defined by strength of Masach (hebr. “the screen”), which is also known as sixth sense, as degree of its strength defines how much we’re capable to perceive. In other words, Masach constitutes our altruistic intention of the desire to receive. Depending on how strong this intention is, we can receive more and more Light, thus gradually filling up all the parts that Kli consists of, and thus receiving the information about the Creator coming along with the Light. The scheme of reception with Masach can be depicted as follows :

Hence, in order to cross Machsom and enter the spiritual world, one is supposed to develop Masach. Further spiritual development consists in increasing strength of Masach, thus ascending the spiritual worlds and thus revealing the Creator more and more clearly.

In order to understand the mechanism of reception with Masach we’re supposed to distinguish between several kinds of Light that appear as soon as a certain portion of Light is being rejected by Kli. Take a look at the following picture :

Ohr Yashar is the straight Light emanating from the Creator, and in fact, this is the only Light that exists. Other kinds of Light represent subjective sensation that appears within Kli as it begins to use Masach.
As we already know, when the guest faces the host and the table full of delicacies he first refuses everything. This sort of pleasure is called Ohr Hozer – it appears along with Tzimtzum Alef, when the Kli refuses reception whatsoever.
Then the guest decides to eat a bit in order to please the host, even though he would like to eat it all in one go. This means that one must use his selfish desires, but in an altruistic way. As the guest starts to consider things, he understands that he cannot accept the whole dinner for the sake of the host, because his altruistic intention (Masach) is not strong enough. Therefore he only may accept a small portion of pleasure that could be received in altruistic way. This sort of pleasure is called Ohr Pnimi – it represents degree of similarity to the Creator.
Let’s say, after having performed a restriction, Malchut can accept with altruism only a small portion of the Light, let’s say 20%, but it pushes away the remaining 80%. The part that has been pushed away is called Ohr Makif – it represents degree of dissimilarity to the Creator. In other words, Ohr Makif is the Light that cannot be accepted because of egoism being present in certain parts of the Kli.

Aviut and Kashiut

These terms refer to dependency between egoistic force and altruistic one. We already know that along with development of Kli (throughout phases 0, 1, 2, 3, 4) egoism grows up, so that in Malchut it reaches the higher degree. Hence, in the phase 4 the Kli consists of 5 layers of egoism. The level of egoism is represented by the term Aviut.

The term Kashiut refers to strength of Masach, meaning the force of resistance to receiving light. It is similar to a solid body that does not allow anything to enter it. Likewise, Masach prevents the Upper Light from entering Malchut. It stops and reflects all the light that was destined to fill Malchut. Kashiut corresponds with levels of Aviut, so that the bigger egoism is included in Kli, the strongest force of resistance is required. Hence, the more egoistic desire we deal with, the stronger Masach we’re supposed to develop.

Spiritual Worlds

Let’s step back to the term “world” (hebr. olam) that we used before. The genuine meaning of this term is inverse to understanding that we may have. The spiritual worlds constitute gradual concealment of the Creator. We already know that worlds don’t exist as an external reality, but they rather reflect properties that the Kli possesses (Aviut and Kashiut). The birth of spiritual Worlds is actually the realization of the five Sefirot: Keter, Hochma, Bina, Zeir Anpin, and Malchut, which were in Malchut itself. The spreading of the worlds from Above to Below matches the progressive increase of the Aviut of the four desires or phases from 0 to 4. It’s written :

The worlds are like a sphere surrounding Malchut. As an analogy, you can picture a man surrounded by spheres and using his organs of sensation to perceive only the sphere that is closest to him: the World of Assiya. By sharpening his organs of sensation and by modifying his qualities, man begins gradually to perceive the next sphere, and so on. All the worlds are a sort of filter placed in the Light’s path, a special Screen that blocks the Surrounding Light: Ohr Makif. As soon as man senses the presence of these worlds, he removes the screen-filters. This draws him closer to the Creator.

The Worlds appear as soon as a certain portion of the Light gets through Masach and enters the Kli. Depending on which parts of the Kli are being filled with the Light, the Kli senses the Creator in different ways. Hence, there are 5 Worlds corresponding with each part that Malchut consists of :

Adam Kadmon
Atzilut
Beria
Yetzira
Assiya

For instance, Adam Kadmon appears when KETER is being filled up with the Light. Likewise, Atzilut is associated with HOCHMA, Beria appears along with fulfillment of BINA, Yetzira corresponds with ZEIR ANPIN, and Assiya with MALCHUT.

Each World consists of 5 Partzufim (portions) that constitute gradual stages of fulfillment that a Sefira comes through. Similarly, each Partzufim consists of 5 sefirot. Hence, the entire spiritual path from MALCHUT to KETER consists of 125 steps (5 worlds x 5 partzufim x 5 sferot)

In the beginning, a man is located inside the worlds and he perceives their power and the constraints imposed upon him. How can one overcome these constraints? By performing an inner correction, corresponding for instance to the attributes of the World of Assiya. This means being an altruist on level zero.
After having been overcome, the World of Assiya penetrates man and can be sensed by him. In order to sense the World of Yetzira, it is necessary to acquire attributes similar to those of this world and to allow this world to penetrate us. At this stage we become level one altruists. The goal is to let all the worlds in, and to become similar to these worlds according to the following degrees of Aviut: 2, 3, 4.

Afterword

By knowing how many steps are included in spiritual development you can actually understand what part of Kabbalah this course does touch upon. Adam Kadmon, what constitutes 1/5 part of spiritual path between Malchut and Bina. Obviously, what we actually learn in these lessons is but a brief overview of main concepts. The actual kabbalistic texts contains much more detailed explanaition.

Terminology

As always, becoming familiar with the terms included in this lesson is a crucial requirement.

Tzimtzum
Masach
Ohr Yashar
Ohr Hozer
Ohr Makif
Ohr Pnimi
Aviut
Kashiut
Olam
Partzuf
Adam Kadmon
Atzilut
Beria
Yetzira
Assiya

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The Divine Trinity

Symbolic Living — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 19:15:53 +0000

Welcome back to Tarot Notes

As part of our exploration in the Tarot we’re also discussing the numerological associations.

As we know, the Tarot is an archetypal guide through the use of complex, symbolic images. Embedded in the tarot is the most primordial of all archetypal beginnings, Numbers.

We’ll be getting back to the tarot cards next week after this brief introduction into the number 3.

The Trinity – The fascinating and powerful Number 3 that brings one and two together.

The MOST primal, most fundamental example of the powerful symbolism of the trinity in 3 is Mother, Father and Child. The moment of conception, creation, birth. Life! There is no symbol more powerful than life.

In numerology the number three is considered a very positive number. It is associated with the Astrological Gemini as the third sign of the Zodiac. In Feng Shui three is an auspicious number to use when planning groups of items in your space.

In physics the number three is seen as the grouping of the atom – proton, electron, and neutron.

The Triad has a special beauty and fairness beyond all numbers, primarily because it is the very first to make actual the potentialities of the Monad ~ Iamblichus

Three takes us past the limitations of duality (dyad) and through it. Thus it symbolizes union, rebirth, transformation, succession.

Three is everywhere in our world, a part of our everyday life such as:

Beginning, Middle, End.
Birth, Life, Death.
Three dimensions – height, length, width.
Light, energy, mass.

Three is balanced relationship – Where there is two, a third, unifying point exists. The third aspect present in duality, is the movement along the spectrum of polarities.

Please Note: Entire volumes of books could be written about Trinity Mythologies. Below is merely a brief taste.

The Divine Trinity revealed through Mythology

The Trinity is Universal. Nearly all cultures, religious and spiritual traditions, symbolize divinity as a holy trinity.

We see the trinity within ourselves as body, mind and spirit.

Examples of archetypal symbols in spiritual traditions

Eyptian Trinity

Osiris – god the Father, setting sun. God of afterlife, underworld
Isis – goddess the Great Mother, creative power
Horus – Son, rising sun, god of the sky, symbolizing sun and moon, left and right eyes, falcon head. The well known Egyptian eye, is the Eye of Horus (Wedjat).

In the image Osiris is in the center, Horus is on the left, Isis on the right.

Also, Ra, Amun, Ptah trinity

Thrice great, Hermes Trismegistus

The Three Wise Men, recognized in Christianity is also related to the 3 stars of the Belt of Orion, which the 3 Egyptian Pyramids are modeled after. The 3 stars also point to Osiris’ star Sirius.

Hindu Trinity

The One God is symbolized by three gods, as universal forces of the universe. Each aspect containing one another. Each god also has it’s *goddess consort (female aspect) .

The Trimurti.

Brahma – creator of the universe. *Saraswati
Vishnu – preserver of the universe. *Lakshmi
Shiva - destroyer of the universe. *Kali

The three gunas (fundamental attributes, modes of being)

Sattva – Purity (Essence)
Rajas – Activity
Tamas – Inertia

Sumerian Trinity

Anu - Supreme Lord of the Sky, Lord of constellations.
Enki (Ea) – Lord of Waters, intelligence, creation.
Enlil – Lord of Air and Earth (King of Heaven and Earth), god of weather.

for more on Sumerian myth, we suggest Brifae, a member of the symbolic living forum.

Greek, Roman Mythology

Greek – The Three Fates known as Moraie were goddesses of destiny. They would appear three nights after the birth of a newborn to assigning it’s destiny through birth, life, and death.

Roman gods – Jupiter, Juno, Minerva

Kabbalah

The Three are One

1. Kether - Crown. Union archetype, initial spark, creation.

2. Chokmah – Wisdom. Male archetype, extended energy, force of creation.

3. Binah – Understanding. Female archetype, holder of the energy, womb.

At once the illumination exists in the trinity.

In the Tree of Life are the 3 pillars on which the sephira are placed

Severity to the left (feminine)
Balance in the middle
Mercy to the right (masculine)

Pagan- Celtic, Druid Trinity

Triquetra – Maiden, Mother, Crone; Triple Goddess; Mother, Father, Child. It is used to symbolize many celtic, pagan associations.

Awen – Three rays of the sun, divine inspiration.

Left ray, feminine force
Central ray, balance
Right ray, masculine force

Christian Trinity

Spiritual Trinity as One God

Father, Son, Holy Spirit

Sacred Geometry

As we see the Vesica Piscis naturally gives rise to the first geometric shape with 3 sides, an Equilateral Triangle. Note the perfection of the points.

There are three types of triangles that exist:

equilateral – all sides equal
isosceles – two sides equal, third is not
scalene – no sides are equal

There are three types of angles that exist – acute, right angle, and obtuse

Freemasonry

Freemasonry has 3 degrees of initiation

Entered Apprentice
Fellow Craft
Master Mason

The universality of previous mentioned trinity associations of the Divine, with Sacred Geometry, the Egyptian pantheon and Kabbalah being most dominantly evident in trinity association, as well as Christianity.

On the U.S. dollar bill seal we see the pyramid symbolizing the physical world. The eye within the triangle above it, symbolizing our consciousness. What do you consciously choose to do in the physical world? Money is one example of a tool that manifests your choices in the world.

Certainly there are infinitely many more associations to the trinity, a universal part of our reality. This is not an exhaustive list by any means.

Where else do you see Three used in myth and fairytale? Let us know your thoughts by commenting below.

When drawing the simple 3 card Tarot spread, it’s usually associated to Past, Present, Future. Try looking at the 3 card spread in terms of a mythological, universal triad.

We will get into the Tarot card associations next week.

Philosophy of the Matrix

Remember the Matrix? We hope you enjoy the thought provoking video. Consider the relationship between Neo (the One) and Trinity in the The Matrix. This video can not be embedded and will take you to youtube. Enjoy!

Click here to view the embedded video.

We hope you enjoy learning about Tarot (and Numerology) at Symbolic Living with an easy to understand approach for beginners.

Some weeks we may talk about the cards, history and more. As we go along things will change and develop, we’ll keep it interesting for you.

You are also welcome to join the Symbolic Living Forum for further discussion in the Tarot section where each card can be discussed with members.

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Authentic Kabbalah Part 5

Symbolic Living — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 13:17:37 +0000

Be sure to read Kabbalah Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4 first.

Authentic Kabbalah Part 5

The origin of Creation

Foreword

As we already have some idea what Kabbalah deals with, we can finally attempt to commence directly discussing its subject – the spiritual world. What we learned about in 1st and 2nd lessons is how the spiritual forces affect our world and our lives, and what the attainment of spirituality begins with. We cleared up the way that spiritual forces manifest themselves in corporeal world, and how they affect us. However, today we’re going to talk about spirituality itself – the spiritual root of Creation – and this is what usually kabbalistic books start with.

By “Creation” kabbalists understand one common desire to receive pleasure, as this is the core of everything that exists. What is going to be explained in this lesson constitutes in fact purely abstract concepts , that reach far beyond the world we know.

What is going to be described doesn’t deal with form, time, and space, so in fact, it cannot be compared with anything we have ever seen, or felt, and therefore, it cannot be properly understood at this point of study. Hence, the question that might arise is why should we bother ourselves attempting to study it anyway? The answer is included in the following quote :

While it is great and worthwhile publicizing that there is an incomparably wonderful quality to studying Kabbalah wisdom, even though they do not know what they are studying, it is the tremendous desire to understand what they are studying that awakens the lights surrounding their soul.

Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag – Introduction to Talmud Eser ha Sefirot

This quote briefly describes the method of Kabbalah. The term “Light” (hebr. Ohr) means sensation of the Creator within the Kli, or simply, manifestation of the Creator with reference to a human. However, the term Surrounding Light (hebr. Ohr Makif) indicates manifestation of the Creator that influences Kli in certain way, but the Kli itself cannot feel it yet, because of its dissimilarity in quality with relation to Ohr. The method of Kabbalah consists in triggering influence of Ohr Makif (the force of correction) that gradually transforms a point in the heart into a Kli. In other words, surrounding light corrects the Kli, turning its egoistic quality into altruistic one, so that it matches the Light itself. Triggering off the influence of this powerful force consists in learning about one’s spiritual root, from which he or she descended.

Through attempt to comprehend the spiritual concepts, that in fact we are all connected with, one triggers off a strong influence of Ohr Makif that exerts a pressure on one’s desire, pushing it directly to the spiritual world. Influence of Ohr Makif manifests itself through variety of inner and outside phenomena causing gradual transformation, which turns a point in the heart into a spiritual desire (altruistic quality). This is why it’s worth to study Kabbalah, even though it might seem to be vague at that point. Kabbalah requires repetitive comprehension of the text and work on oneself, until the feelings are equal to the material that’s being studied. This could be compared with the fulfillment of the musician reading the score – the notes give him a complete picture about the work of music. The music sounds in his head without the aid of musical instruments.

So, what I’d like to suggest you is following :

Delve deeply into those (at the first sight) abstract concepts and try to understand their inner logic.
Do not compare what we’re about to learn with anything you might already know.
Do not consider my drawings to be actual depiction of those concepts – they are just to help you to understand logical dependencies.

With time, as we proceed with the lessons, possibly including intermediate and advanced courses, you’ll be gradually revealing those complex spiritual structures within yourself, and then, Kabbalah will become a science speaking directly of you.

Four Phases of Straight Light

It’s important to understand, that although the following description puts in order certain stages of development, it doesn’t mean that there is time whatsoever. The order of phases indicates their hierachy, not their appearance in time. Moreover, when certain stage transform into other, it doesn’t mean that the previous stage disappears, being replaced by a new one. In the spiritual world nothing can disappear – all the stages exist simultaneously, being included in each other. In other words, although Kabbalah speaks of order of stages/levels/phases, there is no time, and no “before” and “later”. The order refers to hierarchy, which exclusively pertains to quality of “object” (meaning, capaity of desire to receive, and its intention).

There are four phases (0, 1, 2, 3, 4) that constitute the orgin of Creation. These phases represent the cause-and-effect development of Kli initiated by straight Light (Ohr Yashar)

0. Bhina Shoresh (Keter)
1. Bhina Alef (Hochma)
2. Bhina Bet (Bina)
3. Bhina Gimel (Zeir Anpin)
4. Bhina Dalet (Malchut)

Here is some short description of each phase :

0. Bhina Shoresh (Keter)

This phase (bhina shoresh means “the root phase”) represents the Creator emanating straight Light. The Light constitutes His desire to create beings and bestow delight upon them. In other words, as opposed to Atzmuto that we know nothing about, the straight Light (Ohr Yashar) is the way that the Creator manifests himself with relation to the Creature, and obviously, this is a manifestation of a pure and powerful altruistic force. Hence, at this point there is no Creature yet, there is only manifestation of the Creator that consists in Light emanated by Him. This phase constitutes the core of Creation, in which 1, 2, 3, 4 phases will be included.

1. Bhina Alef (Hochma)

In this phase (bhina alef means “second phase”) the spreading Light (Ohr) builds for itself the desire to receive pleasure from it (Kli), so that they perfectly match each other. Thus Kli is being filled up with the Light. It’s important to understand, that from now on, Ohr and Kli are inseparably united, because Ohr constitutes a degree of sensation of the Creator within Kli, wheras the Kli itself is the only object capable of sensing the Creator. Hence, one cannot exist without another.

The Light filling up the Kli in this phase is called Ohr Hochma (hebr. – Light of Wisdom) – this is a sort of Light that Kli receives in order to directly fullfil its own desire. This term will be exaplined later on – at this point just keep in mind that Ohr Hochma is a sort of fullfilment based on direct reception.

The Kli in this phase represents inanimate spiritual level – a tiny desire to receive pleasure in order to sustain its existance. There is no freedom of choice, no self-awareness, no tendency to develop, and no awareness of the source of pleasure, that in fact fully controls and dominates the Kli itself. It’s similar to infant suckling a mother’s breast.

2. Bhina Bet (Bina)

As we already know, the attribute of Ohr Yashar is to give, to bear the delight, while the attribute of the Kli consists in receiving, experiencing pleasure. However, when the Light enters the Kli, it begins to transfer to Kli its attributes, and thus, the information of its source – the Creator. Once the Kli senses that there is a source of pleasure, it begins to feel ashamed. It’s written :

He who eats someone else’s bread is ashamed of looking in the giver’s eyes.

Rashbi – Sefer ha Zohar

Feeling the giver while receiving pleasure always triggers a strong sensation of shame, that Kli cannot handle with. We can notice the same in our world. For example: there is a guest and a host. The host treats his guest with delicacies the guest would love to have. (The desire is in perfect fit with the Light in both quantity and quality, because the pleasure-light created the vessel-desire this way). But although the guest is very hungry, the presence of the host makes him feel ashamed, and that stops him from eating. The shame stems from the fact that he feels himself as a receiver, and the host as a giver. The shame is so strong that he can no longer eat. Thus the Kli in this phase wishes to become like the Giver, instead of wanting to receive, it now wants to give without restraint. Therefore it refuses to receive and throws out the Light from inside.

The Light being thrown out is called Ohr Hassadim (Light of Mercy) – this is not a direct pleasure coming from filling up with the Creator. It’s a sort of pleasure coming from feeling equal to the Creator, which is a lot stronger fullfilment.

The Kli in this phase represents vegetative spiritual level. It differes from the previous one in awareness of the source of pleasure and tendency to change ones behavior. However, although Bhina Bet (desire to bestow) constitutes an exact opposition to Bhina Alef (desire to receive), there is still no freedom of choice. Revealing the source of pleasure through the Light was a natural pocess, as well as feeling ashamed because of this. The Kli in this phase is still being fully controled by the Creator.

3. Bhina Gimel (Zeir Anpin)

Being empty of the Light, the Kli begins to consider that the goal of the Light consists in creating a Kli and pleasing it. Clearly, the Kli can only experience pleasure if it receives a certain portion of the Light. The Kli starts feeling that it cannot give unless it receives, as there is nothing to give. Hence it resumes receiving as in Bhina Alef, but of its own free will.

As a result of this decision the third phase emerges – a will to receive as in Bhina Alef combined with a will to bestow as in Bhina Bet. Such a mixed phase is called Bhina Gimel or Zeir Anpin (briefly noted as Z”A), what literally means “a small face” (it’s aramaic expression).

We can continue the story about a host and his guest, to give an example that we can observe in our world. The constant pleas of the host, who have prepared it all for the guest, finally persuade him that the host will enjoy it if he eats. Then the guest thinks that if now, after having rejected the pleasure several times, he will agree to eat, it will be considered a favor to the host. In this way, he will become the giver, and the host, the receiver.

In other words, the Kli in this phase makes a decision to receive the Light in order to please the Creator. Thus the Kli receives two sorts of Light simultaneously : Ohr Hochma and Ohr Hassadim, as it’s being filled up by pleasure coming from direct sensation of the Creator (Ohr Hochma) as well as pleasure coming from being similar to the Creator.

It’s important to stress that Ohr Hassadim consitutes merely 10 percent of the entire fullfilment. The rest is due to Ohr Hochma.

The Kli in this phase represents animate spiritual level. Although Kli might feel otherwise, there is still no freedom of will, and the decision to receive the Light in order to please the Creator is included in the root of Creation, clearly, it happens because of influence of the Light. However, what differes this level from the others is individualism and autonomy. Unlike the vegetative level, animate level is characterized by unique personality of object belonging to it. Hence, for the first time the Kli started to consciously receive the Light, being aware of the situation it’s taking part.

4. Bhina Dalet (Malchut)

After having reached this state, consisting of these two antagonistic elements, the Kli realizes that it is more natural and better to receive than to give without restraint. The original attribute of receiving and
enjoying is rekindled. The Light of Hassadim, which has only filled ten percent of the Vessel, cannot transfer to the Kli the attribute of giving without restraint, which thus leads to the predominance of the original attribute of receiving.

As a result, the Kli decides that it must fill itself with one hundred percent pleasure, receive the entire Light – 100 percent of Ohr Hochma. This is Phase 4, Bhina Dalet or Malchut. Such a completely filled Kli is defined as a true, genuine Creation since its desires come from within itself, which is different from Phase 1, in that it had no independent desires of its own, being filled with the Light because the Creator so wished.

Only at Bhina Dalet the true choice to receive the Light emanating from the Creator is made by the created being itself. This first desire, to receive pleasure from the Light, is born inside the created being.

Bhina Dalet belongs to the spiritual human level, which is characterized by utterly new desire, as for the first time the Kli wants to be pleased not only by the pleasure emanating from the Creator, but also by His essence – it wants to fullfil itself in all possible ways. This phase is named Malchut (Kingship), because the will to receive governs it.

Terminology

This time there is a lot of new terms to learn, and as always, it’s cruacial to know them really well before going ahead. All these terms will be frequently used in the next lesson.

Creation
Ohr
Ohr Yashar
Ohr Makif
Ohr Hochma
Ohr Chassadim
Bhina Shoresh
Bhina Alef
Bhina Bet
Bhina Gimel
Bhina Dalet

Coming up next in Kabbalah Part 6

Generally, in Kabbalah we study two stages: (1) the descent of the created being from above, while it develops from the very idea, as conceived by the Creator, up to the level of our world and (2) the ascent of man from our world all the way to the highest degree. What we have just started to talk about consists in the stage 1, meaning, the descent of the created being from above. This is indeed a very profound area to learn, therefore it’s not going to be fully explained in this course. However this is the area we’ll be focusing during next lessons – thus trying to gradually clearify the basic concepts that Kabbalah is all about. Next lesson will be mainly about further development of Malchut. We’ll be learning about the orgin of spiritual worlds, partzufim, as well as the entire path that each of us will have to go through in order to bond with the Creator.

Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

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Splendor Solis

Symbolic Living — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 15:38:11 +0000

Splendor Solis (The Splendor of the Sun) is an alchemical manuscript, work of art attributed to Salomon Trismosin from the 16th century dated 1532-1535 of 22 colored plates depicting the symbolic Alchemical death and rebirth of the King. There are 20 copies worldwide held in museums.

Enjoy the art and symbolism.

See slideshow instead

The following video displays the originals with a few modernized versions of some of the pieces by artist Laurie Lipton who was commissioned by Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica.

Your comments with interpretations are welcome.

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Freedom of Choice and Egoism

Symbolic Living — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 17:18:10 +0000

Our Freedom of Choice and Egoism manifesting in our lives.

A short documentary exploring what we want and why, the real causes and results of our desires. Our place in accordance to the laws of nature. What is freedom of choice all about?

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Authentic Kabbalah Part 4

Symbolic Living — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 15:39:45 +0000

Be sure to read Kabbalah Part 1 and Kabbalah Part 2, and Kabbalah Part 3 first.

Authentic Kabbalah Part 4

Freedom of will

The concept of freedom determines our whole life, and it is not by chance that for centuries humanity was engaged in bloodshed and battles to obtain a certain measure of freedom. Even so, we have a rather vague idea about freedom and independence. If we take a look at our actions carefully, we will discover that we act compulsively and that we have no free will at all. I realize, that it’s not easy to face such a statement, since we don’t feel the lack of freedom. But let’s consider the following:

Nevertheless Externally, a human being is guided by two reins: pleasure or pain (also defined as happiness or suffering), and choosing pain isn’t much of an option. People consciously prefer to endure pain if they believe that pleasure awaits at its end, and thus, a sick person agrees to a painful operation, trusting that this will improve his or her health., this choice is merely a pragmatic calculation in which one compares future pleasure to present pain. Clearly, this calculation is a simple mathematical operation in which the amount of suffering is subtracted from the future pleasure, and the difference determines the choice. The force of attraction to delight and retraction from pain is the only force that controls each level of existence, including human.

Obviously, the process of making choices is much more complex than initially explained. Each action (choice) is determined by two factors :

1. certain desire – one cannot even move a finger, if there is no desire for doing this.

2. variety of internal and external factors, that determine the way the desire is expressed. These factors are following :

origin – in other words, inborn individual information, genes, and properties (it defines around 90% of our personality), as well as parenting (defining what is good, and what is bad), and the place of born.
influence of environment – it’s an external force defining our goals. By coming to this world, a person falls under the influence of society against his or her will and takes in society’s character and properties.

The first factor (origin) is fundamental for us because we are creations of our parents. As their offspring, we (in a sense) are their copies; i.e., almost all the attributes of the parents and grandparents manifest themselves in their children. The concepts and knowledge acquired by parents manifest in their children as habits and properties, even at an unconscious level. Moreover, parents make us think and behave as they do. Hence, throughout our whole life, we know what to think of this, what to think of that, who to talk to, what is to be avoided, etc. Obviously, we are capable of slight modification of parenting results, but even our conscious attempt to change them is included in the rest of factors, and thus, in lack of freedom of will.

By coming to this world, a person falls under the influence of environment. Every one of us knows how our tastes and views can sometimes be reversed under the influence of society. Nothing like that can occur at the inanimate, vegetative, or animate levels of nature - this can happen only with humans.

The whole process looks like this :

All our thoughts and actions depend on these factors and dictate our entire way of life. We therefore see that there is no freedom of desire, that everything depends solely on the interaction between these four factors, and that we can have no control. Neither we can choose the desires themselves, nor we can choose the way we act to fulfill them. Thus we come to the conclusion, that although we feel otherwise, there is no freedom of choice in this world at all.

Knowing all this, the same question arises again : “What is the meaning of life?”.

The meaning of life

As kabbalists reveal the spiritual roots of matter, they understand the whole process of development on every level of existence. All that is going on in the corporeal world is merely a manifestation of the forces that kabbalists attain. The forces are constant and infinite, however in our world, they appear through time, space and form. This is why, kabbalists, who attain the Upper forces, are aware of the initial stage of every process, as well as its final outcome. The final outcome in humans development is what we call “the meaning of life”.

What I’m going to say now cannot be proven, if one doesn’t sense the spiritual world. Kabbalists tell us, the Creator’s way of governing our world is purposeful and manifest only at the end of our development.In His attitude toward us,the Creator is guided by the principle of absolute good, without a trace of evil, and the purpose of His governance is evidenced in our gradual development. What kabbalists reveal, is that we were created in order to be entirely fulfilled with absolute pleasure, and this is the final goal towards which we gradually develop.

The Creator has placed a goal before us:to reach His level and to bond with Him by climbing up the worlds He has built within us. The Creator’s goal isto please the created beings so that they will reveal His greatness and receive all the delight that He had prepared for them. Clearly, only human beings can fulfill this role. Only humans have the necessary sensation of others, and only humans can turn the will to enjoy (egoistic reception) into a will to please others (altruistic reception) by following the suggestions of Kabbalah in the process of working on themselves.

The model we must achieve looks like this :

The action of reception never changes, it is the core of the creation. However, the altered intention of reception makes the desire altruistic, and thus, identical with the Creator. This model of reception is called Ain Sof (hebr. the world of endlessness, meaning, the world of endless pleasure), as the pleasure doesn’t destroy the desire. It turns destructive interaction with the Creator into the most perfect state of existence. The desire in this state is called “human” (hebr. adam, dome – means, “similar to”), hence, becoming “humans” (similar to the Creator) is what can be defined as our goal.

The meaning of life obviously requires more detailed explanation, that will come along with the next lesson. Meanwhile, let’s go back to the development of human level.

Point in the heart and Kli

As we already know, when development within a stage reaches a certain limit, it stops, thus causing appearance of a new stage. The question is, what desire is going to appear next, after the desire for knowledge, which is, as we know, the last stage of egoism development? This is where the genuine spiritual desire begins to manifest itself, and this is actually what Kabbalah starts with.

The spiritual desire, in its initial form, is called a point in the heart. I have already mentioned, that the word heart refers to the full spectrum of human’s egoistic desires. Thus, the point within it represents the embryo of the spiritual desire (the sixth sense). Initially, the embryo represents the higher egoistic level, which through the kabbalistic method, gradually turns into an altruistic desire. Every human being, regardless of egoism level, is born with a point in the heart. It manifests itself only in young age – mostly as a question being asked by every child – a question about the meaning of life. In fact, this is a question about the root of one’s existence, from which he or she descended to the corporeal world. This is the embryo of soul. That particular question becomes forgotten as soon as a child becomes involved into daily life, egoistic desires and society influences.

When egoism reaches its apogee, a man usually falls into a deep depression, and a point in the heart begins to clearly manifest itself again. Initially, its appearance causes a sensation of inner emptiness. Man belonging to this level begins to understand, that there is nothing in this world that can fulfill him, and regardless of money, power, fame, and knowledge, he remains empty. At the same time, he begins to feel another desire, but the desired subject is unclear, as the fulfillment cannot be found in this world. A man begins to feel a need for unknown pleasure. The method of Kabbalah is meant for those, who have reached the most egoistic state in humans development – the clear appearance of a point in the heart. In this case, Kabbalah allows one to expand this point, so that it turns into a spiritual desire, called Kli (hebr. vessel).

A point in the heart differs from Kli in its quality (intention of reception). The appearance of Kli is indicated by acquisition of a certain (initially, tiny) degree of similarity to the Creator. That particular transformation from egoism to altruism is the hardest thing to do, and usually it takes many years. Once it happens, a person crosses the border dividing our world from the spiritual ones (it’s called machsom) and enters to the first spiritual world, called Assiya. He (or she) begins to sense a certain part of external reality (beyond form, time and space), consisting of forces descending from the Creator’s level. Increasing a degree of similarity to those forces is defined as spiritual development, which leads one throughout the spiritual worlds directly to the Creator’s level. During the spiritual development, a kabbalist remains living in our world (with egoistic desires) and nothing changes in his daily life.

It’s important to emphasize, that for the first time, along with acquiring a Kli, a certain degree of freedom of will appears. Freedom, for a person who acquired a possibility to clearly sense the upper forces, means being in agreement with what happens all along the path, justifying each step and selecting the maximum speed to undergo the process of correction and bonding with the Creator. This is the only human-dependent factor and this is where the essence of creation lies. To wish by himself to most quickly get rid of the initial condition, the way the Creator created him, to undergo a correction of attributes, and in the final point to bond to the Creator.

Depending on how much man expresses this desire he may be called a man – belonging to the human level of creation. Otherwise he is a totally impersonal creature, being utterly guided by the Upper forces, just like animals, and lower levels of existance. By identifying a man below machsom with an animal level of existance kabbalists don’t mean to be rude, or anything. This is a natural conclusion coming from experience of the Upper worlds, that allow man to acquire freedom. Kabbalah is the only science that helps man to develop and be an independent, individual, truly free personality.

Two paths

There is one common goal, that every human being will have to reach – to bond to the Creator, to climb to his level. Regardless of our wish, we are guided toward this goal along a path of suffering, which as a sole force (dissatisfaction) causes inner development toward this goal. The alternative path is what Kabbalah provides. When a man enters into the spiritual world, he begins to understand what forces influence him, what way, why, and where they want to lead him. Knowing this, a kabbalist can interact with those forces in a proper way, thus turning suffering into a pleasure.

To sum it up, the development directed toward achieving the goal of Creation is utterly guided by the Upper forces, that influence us in a constant way. The path of suffering embodies in the lack of sensation of the Upper forces, and thus, the lack of possibility to properly interact with them. It’s similar to electricity : we wouldn’t be able to properly use it, if we didn’t know the way it works. However, the path of pleasure embodies in attaining the Upper forces as well as their final outcome, so that a man can bond with them and “support” them in achieving their goal, which in fact is a common goal, that a kabbalist clearly perceives, understands and identifies with, as opposed to those existing below machsom.

Reincarnation

Kabbalah reveals to us a highly complicated system of reincarnation, which in fact, has nothing to with concepts we might have heard about. We’ll be gradually delving into that topic while going ahead with the lessons, however at this point it’s worth to just briefly describe this issue.

Kabbalah tells us, that there is a constant amount of souls descending to our world, clearly – 600.000 (their orgin could be clarified in another course). Hence, the number of souls has nothing to do with amount of bodies being born in our world. The structure of all souls put together is called Adam, and this is a spiritual construction (called also the Creation) from which the souls descend to our world. The soul consists of merely two parameters :

1. aviut – intensity (strenght) of the desire to receive

2. kashiut – intention of the desire, defining a degree of similarity with the Creator

So in fact, the process on reincarnation pertains to spiritual development only. People existing below machsom don’t have a soul, and they appear in the world only with its embryo – a point in the heart, which silently waits for a proper time to be developed, so that it becomes a Kli (soul).

Summary

In other words, all we’re missing is altered perception, as we already are included in the common soul Adam, and hence, we are already bonded to the Creator, existing in a state beyond form, time and space. All we need to do is to develop a clear perception of this state, meaning, to sense the world as it is, externally, not internally, and this is the goal that the Creator has placed before us.

Terminology

Make sure you are well acquainted with new terms used in this lesson. Corrupted or incomplete understanding will make the next lesson impossible to understand.

Kli
Ner Dakik
The Creation
Aviut
Kashiut
Machsom
a point in the heart
Adam

Coming up next

These lessons constituted a sort of preface to spiritual issues, that Kabbalah is solely about. The next lesson will bring up the topics directly related to Kabbalah. We’ll be talking over the spiritual roots of our existence, starting with the Creation’s origin.

Next, Kabbalah Part 5

Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

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Madonna Birthday Leo

Symbolic Living — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 13:46:08 +0000

Madonna is all grown up. At 52 today, August 16, Madonna is still going strong in her career. Madonna celebrated her birthday Saturday night night at the Shoreditch House in London.

Focusing on film directing, and a string of fashion shoots from Dolce & Gabbana, Luis Vuitton, Versace and more, Madonna is continuing to enjoy her career and her relationship with young 23 year old Jesus Luz. She hasn’t been working on Music recently because her time is consumed with film.

Madonna continues to practice and study Kabbalah and is an active member of the Kabbalah Center. Her love of philosophy, spirituality and the meaning of life is evident throughout her music career.

She’s currently working on a new film W.E.

Madonna explained to Interview, “Yeah, [it's] the movie everyone thinks I’m making that’s supposed to be a musical about the duke and duchess of Windsor. I don’t know why that got in the newspapers. The duke and duchess of Windsor are in the movie, but it’s not going to be about them. It’s really about this other woman’s journey, and the duchess is kind of her spiritual guide… I use the Sotheby’s auction in 1998 of the duke and duchess of Windsor’s estate as a device to flash backward from.”

She added, “I’ve been writing it for the last two and a half years, to tell you the truth. It’s been kind of an obsession of mine. I started writing it when I finished filming [2008 directorial debut] Filth and Wisdom. It was actually an idea I had before that, but I made Filth and Wisdom because I realized that I didn’t really have a right to make a bigger film until I made a smaller film — and learned how to make a film.”

Happy Birthday Madonna.

Astrology Quicky:

Madonna was born a Leo on August 16, 1958 at 7:05am in Bay City, Michigan.

Sun in Leo in the 12th house

Moon in Virgo (Ascendant) in the 1st house

Mercury in Virgo in the 12th house

Venus in Leo in the 11th house

Mars in Taurus in the 9th house

Jupiter in Libra in the 2nd house

Saturn in Sagittarius (ret.) in the 4th house

Uranus in Leo in the 12th house

Neptune in Scorpio in the 3rd house

Pluto in Virgo in the 1st house

Madonna’s astrology chart shows clear signs of her personality. A lot of her planets are hanging around her 12th house and ascendant, with Sun in Leo and Moon in Virgo, there’s a lot of evidence for her need and desire to express herself artistically, sexually with a lot of focus on mysticism, and spirituality. Her Saturn in Sagittarius shows a lot of her connection in terms of origins of religion and her sense of responsibility to continue going deeper into her beliefs and search for deeper meaning. She has a natural desire to study philosophy and search for inner wisdom. Being born into Catholocism, it’s no surprise she’s felt a strong connection to religion from an early age (4th house). Pluto and Mercury in the 1st house, shows further emphasis on taking the symbolism of the Virgin and moving it beyond it’s limits. Venus in Leo, there’s no surprise there either with her iconic persona and glamorous beauty. Although excesses have done her well, there is a tipping point and she should keep her plastic surgery balanced. Jupiter in Libra in the 2nd house is a sure sign she loves to make money and is very good at it. With an average income of at least $50 million per year, she definitely knows how to build success. She has a prominent materialistic side and success is hers when she wants it.

Light is fearlessness.
Light is compassion.
Light is all giving and it’s, it’s immortality.
It’s a place where there’s no chaos, no pain and no suffering.

Light is the laws of the universe.
You can do things to connect to it, or you can disconnect.
That’s what I say I fear… disconnecting.

~ Madonna

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Authentic Kabbalah Part 3

Symbolic Living — Mon, 10 May 2010 15:35:59 +0000

Be sure to read Kabbalah Part 1 and Kabbalah Part 2 first.

Authentic Kabbalah Part 3

The Desire’s Development

As previously mentioned, the desire to receive is the core of the universe, and all that exists within it in all its possible stages of development (inanimate, vegetative, animate and human) consists of certain strengths of the desire, which entirely determines its manifestation in our world. Let’s suppose, if we increased the desire of a tree (vegetative), it would turn into a cat (animate), and if we increased a cat’s desire a bit more, it would turn into a human being. Kabbalah tells us, that our world is a projection of the spiritual roots descending from the upper worlds, and beyond the illusion drawn by sensory perception, there is nothing, except for the desire to receive pleasure, and the pleasure itself.

Although the structure of the desire and its development will be explained in the further part of the course, a short explanation, however, may as well be given at this point. All that exists in each world is divided into four levels: Inanimate, Vegetative, Animate, and Human. These correspond to four levels of desire, and similarly, every object consists of these levels, and each level consists of sub-levels structured the same way.

Desire is often depicted as a vessel, or circle.

Let’s clarify, what is our place in that global desire structure, and what role do we play in it. As we already know, the whole process of the universe development is an exact projection of constantly growing desire to receive. There are several rules according to which the process of desire development works:

Hence, the whole process of development of humanity is merely a manifestation of constantly growing desire to receive. I hope it’s clear, that every action follows certain desire, and there is no action without a desire. We don’t control our desires, but they control our actions – they appear, develop, and disappear according to a constant pattern. Thus, knowing the structure of the desire, and its development pattern, our world becomes absolutely predictable. The appearance of human being is the last (4th) stage of desires development – its inner development can be depicted as follows :

Obviously, the dates are approximate. Please note, that humanity appeared around 40.000 years ago, and remained existing on the lowest (inanimate) level of egoism, which corresponds to simple desires of physical body -sustainingits existence. It consists of simple desires for food, sex, sleep, parenting etc. In fact, this level is not considered egoistic, as egoism deals with social desires only (to be explained later). As egoism level gradually grows up with the increasing speed, a new level of desire appears. There was a certain amount of people, who climbed up to the higher level of egoism (vegetative), while others remained existing on the lower one (inanimate). Invention of money was merely a way to express that new egoism layer, to express that particular division in society. People belonging to the vegetative level of desire felt differently than others, more separated from each other. Meanwhile, egoism kept growing up, thus creating a new level of desire, which appeared the same way as previous one. While two lower levels kept existing, a new one ascend to the upper level of egoism, thus creating a new form of desire. The aspiration to power, fame, and honor corresponds to the animate level of development, and obviously represent much bigger desires than the previous ones. The mechanism that this desire is based on is the same : people belonging to this level felt even more separated from one another, thus the need to express oneself in the society caused such manifestations, as wars, politics etc. The last level of the desire development embodies aspiration to knowledge, meant to be used on the same basis, as previous desires – to express one’s position in the society.

The levels differ from one another in two parameters, that gradually change from stage to stage : amount of people included, and egoism size.

Hence, the higher level of desire, the more egoistic state it represents, and the fewer people belong to it. This proportion is constant for each level of Nature (inanimate, vegetative, animate, and human) Although the amount of people living on the globe increases, this proportion doesn’t vary.

Desire and pleasure

The question is, why does humankind change so fast, whereas animal, vegetative, and inanimate level remain almost the same throughout thousands of years? Why our egoism is constantly growing? Let’s clear it up. In fact, there are only two distinct components that the universe consists of : desire, and pleasure. There is nothing else in the objective reality (beyond its form drawn by 5 senses) except for these two forces : reception and bestowal. The force of reception is represented by desire to receive, also called “the creation”, however, the force of bestowal is a manifestation of the Creator within the desire – in other words, with regard to our sensation.

Please note, that both receiving and giving is only an action, that doesn’t indicate whether it’s egoistic, or altruistic. Egoism and altruism represent the intention of action, not the action itself. Intention can be imagined as an electric charge – plus and minus. Hence, there are 4 possible combinations :

1. Receiving to receive pleasure (egoistic reception) -
2. Receiving to give pleasure (altruistic reception) +
3. Giving to receive pleasure (egoistic bestowal) -
4. Giving to give pleasure (altruistic bestowal) +

Egoistic reception (1) is what we know from our world – 95% of population represent this state. Egoistic bestowal (3) also exists in our world – around 5% of population are involved into “altruistic” organisations, etc. Altruistic bestowal (4) doesn’t exists in our world, and it’s impossible to reach by a human being. This is the quality included in the Creator, and this is the orgin of pleasure (hence, pleasure is considered to be a purely altruistic force). Altruistic reception (2) is possible only through method of Kabbalah, and this is what kabbalists do (to be explained later).
Egoistic intention of the desire means no more and no less, than sensation of pleasure within the desire (inner sensation). However, altruistic intention is a sensation of pleasure beyond the desire (sensation of what is outside). Thus, what we deal with in our world is either egoistic reception, or egoistic bestowal. Let’s examine what happens when altruistic pleasure (+) enters an egoistic desire (-) :

If the desire doesn’t match the quality of pleasure (their charges aren’t identical), it becomes destroyed by pleasure. The spark of pleasure received this way is called : “ner dakik” (hebr. tiny spark of light), as Kabbalists tell us, that people in our world don’t even know what real pleasure is, as they have never felt it. Let’s examine how this model of reception works :

1. The only goal we have is to receive pleasure. Regardless of its form (buying a car, making a career, eating french fries), all we want is at least that slight sensation of fulfillment.

2. The empty desire (without fulfillment) is felt as suffering, and the fulfilled desire is felt as happiness. This is what we want, right? To be happy.

3. Usually, it takes a pretty long time until we achieve our goal. It can take a day, a month, years, even a lifetime. As we feel empty throughout this process, we suffer.

4. Once we achieve our goal, we feel happy for a little while (a spark of light). Let’s say, I have been dreaming about buying a new car. To afford it, I had to work hard for many years. And finally, I can buy it. I feel happy, I got what I wanted. Tomorrow I’ll feel a bit less happy than today. In one week, I won’t even remember about that happiness. I’ll feel empty again, and some new, bigger desire will appear, making me suffer again, forcing me to go through the same process. Looking back, we see how much time we had spent on achieving the desired object, but received very little pleasure in return. Likely, our life consists of 99,9% of suffering (emptiness) and 0,1% of happiness.

Let’s take a look at what happens when the desire is being destroyed by pleasure :

Once the desire (along with spark of pleasure) disappears, a new one appears. It’s bigger than the previous one, therefore requires more time and effort to achieve. Accordingly, it causes more suffering, because the bigger emptiness is, the more suffering comes from it. This is the constant pattern of growing egoism, according to which our desires develop.

We live under a constant influence of the Creator, which represents utterly altruistic quality (altruistic bestowal). This influence doesn’t vary, and never changes. However, as our egoism grows up, and thus a degree of dissimilarity with the Creator’s quality increases, we receive more and more negative result (suffering) in return. Thus, this model of reception causes destructive results of interaction between the creature and the Creator.

Growing egoism increases a degree of dissimilarity to the Upper forces.
Hence, on the one hand, receiving pleasure is our inborn life core, but on the other hand, we are virtually incapable of receiving it, as the pleasure destructs the desire itself. At this point it can be concluded that we are born to suffer. Once man reveals this, one common question arises : “What is the meaning of my existence?”. Before we answer this, let’s go back to the question we asked previously : why does human level change so fast, whereas the lower levels (animate, vegetative and inanimate) remain existing on the constant level of egoism? What is the difference between 4th level of the desire, and the rest of them (1, 2, 3)?

1. The first level (inanimate) represents the smallest desire to receive pleasure, therefore it affects only the sum of all the elements, and is not separately manifested in each of the inanimate elements of nature.

2. At the next level (vegetative),the will to enjoy is bigger, and already manifests in each particular element. Hence, each element at the vegetative level already possesses the ability for individual movement (for example, plants open their petals and turn toward the sun). This level includes such processes as absorption and excretion, yet beings at this level still lack the sensation of individual freedom of will.

3. At the third level (animate),the will to receive pleasure grows even larger. Desire produces individual sensations in each particular element and creates a unique life for everyone, one that differs from those of the others. However, there is no sense of empathy with others at this level. These beings still lack the necessary compassion or pleasure with regard to others.

4. Finally, the fourth level (human) creates the desire to receive pleasure based on sensation of others. The previous levels cannot sense others and can generate simple needs only within the limits of their own desires. On the human level, a person who can sense another acquires the other’s needs.

The difference between the levels is pretty slight, and it’s still unclear, why humans egoism grows up, as apposed to lower levels. It is important to understand, that only human level is egoistic. In fact, there is no egoism on the lower levels of existence, because there is no freedom of will, and there is no sensation of others. These levels are entirely guided by the Creator (nature), so that no free choice remains. We observe, that these levels exist in perfect harmony. As we already know, egoism has nothing to do with the basic needs (sustaining one’s existence) – it manifests with regard to others, thus causing corrupted relationships between a person and the environment. Hence, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd levels unconsciously exist being perfectly connected with the Creator, whereas the human being is the only egoistic element in purely altruistic surrounding.

According to the law of equivalence of form, the Upper forces put pressure on the lower level, thus forcing it to change, so that they become identical. The higher degree of dissimilarity to the Creator a man reaches, the more destructive influence from above he may expect. A man can be compared to a cancer cell, that doesn’t feel the common desire of the whole body, and focuses on satisfying its own needs instead. A cancer cell, being surrounded by an altruistic environment consisting of healthy cells, gives up providing the body with esentially important elements, and begins to absorb them for pleasing itself. Thus the whole body dies, along with a cancer cell.

Being a sole egoistic component of the universe, a man doesn’t sense the unity of the world he lives in. His perception is limited to inner world, which is an illusory projection of inner qualities. This is pointed out in the Book of Zohar :

Quote:
Open slightly your heart to me, and I will reveal the world to you.
The Book of Zohar

In Kabbalah, the full spectrum of man’s desires is called “heart”. Thus, it’s said, that once you transform your desires, so that they are directed to outside reality, you will witness the reality itself, the way it exists regardless of observer, beyond time, space, and form.

It’s been said, that inanimate, vegetative, and animate levels have no freedom of will at all. Their behavior is determined by inborn mechanisms, thus they are absolutely guided by the Creator. The question arises : is there any freedom of will when it comes to a human level? This is indeed a very important question to be clear up.

Next, Kabbalah Part 4

Freedom of Will, Meaning of Life and more

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Authentic Kabbalah Part Two

Symbolic Living — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 16:26:24 +0000

See Kabbalah Part 1 before continuing onto Part 2 below.

What is Kabbalah?
What Kabbalah is not.

Authentic Kabbalah Part 2

What is an additional sense?

First off, let’s clarify how ordinary senses works, and what is reality. A kabbalist is a person who ascends to a higher level, beyond form and matter, and from there observes our world and the world that has been revealed to him, perceiving both worlds as one whole. This is why, many kabbalistic sources, including those that are thousands of years old, like Sefer ha Zohar (written 2000 years ago), or the ancient Midrash Raba, (3700 years ago), speak of the problems concerning the perception of reality.

According to Kabbalah, there is no objective reality whatsoever. To begin with, each living creature perceives it differently. If our sensory organs were different, we would see the world differently as well. If we could see in ultraviolet or x-rays, if we could hear, smell or feel in a different frequency ranges, then our world – the sum of our sensations -would be completely different and would draw for us a completely different picture. That fact clearly indicates that the world is basically our subjectively perceived reality, which exists within us. These days even science is developing a clear understanding that our world is illusory, as it depends solely on our sensory organs – their frequency range and mode of operation. Hence, ordinary science doesn’t examines the reality itself, but subjective sensations that our senses along with our brain draw for us.

Authentic Kabbalah - External World

Let’s take a look at the following example : if I knock on the table—you hear a sound. A certain action creates a certain wave. This wave reaches your ear, strikes the eardrum, moves through all the systems, (electrical, chemical), reflects in your brain, which compare it with familiar data, determines the origin of a sound, and informs you of it. What does all this have to do with whatever took place on the outside? Please note, that the external wave itself never gets through your ear – what you actually hear is subjective reaction on the wave coming from your eardrum, not the external sound itself. The rest of our senses work the same way, thus providing us an illusion of external reality we live in, including time, space, and movement.

One important question remains to be cleared up. Is there any external world at all? Kabbalah tells us that external reality doesn’t exist, and neither are there any external phenomena – everything exists within man. And outside of us there’s nothing, except a constant force within which we exist, and based on our compatibility with this constant force (the Creator), various kinds of internal phenomena occur within us, and create within us all sorts of sensations.

The lack of external reality is clearly perceived by kabbalists. They observe the forces that draw an illusion of reality within us. How do they attain those forces? Kabbalists add one additional sense to their usual five sensory organs. It’s called “soul” (נשמה – neshama). It functions according to a fundamentally different principle. The soul itself is a certain degree of similarity to the Creator, meaning, to the altruistic quality. The higher degree of similarity a kabbalist reaches, the more objective reality he attains. As opposed to 5 senses, the soul isn’t connected to the body, as it’s not egoistic. The sensation coming from the soul is a pure picture of the outside world, without form, time, space, and other illusory parameters created by 5 senses.

Authentic Kabbalah - Soul

Moreover, when Kabbalists attain the outside forces, their attainment is absolutely accurate and scientific—with graphs, formulas, and precise measurements. An altruistic perception does not disturb one’s worldview. It gives a sensation, awareness and knowledge of the world just as it is, irrespective of the observer. This sort of sensation doesn’t replace an illusion of the physical world – quite the contrary, it expands one’s perception with an additional layer of reality.

There is a simple question that might appear at this point : Why should one attain another reality that exists outside of him? How does it benefit him?

In fact, we are being pushed toward the entrance to this new reality, and we must enter it, because existence in this uppermost external reality, is eternal and complete. This is what nature is pushing us toward, and this is the final goal towards which humanity was directed from the very beginning. This issue will be explained in detail when discussing the stages of egoism development.

What kabbalists understand by “World”?

I believe, now it’s clear, that there is virtually nothing outside except certain forces, that influence us in the constant way. We have no idea that we live under absolute influence of the Upper forces. All variety of states we go through is caused by our inner change, not the change of the outside world.
This dependence can be depicted as equation :

Inner qualities + CONSTANT = The world man lives in

Hence, by “World” (עולם – olam) kabbalists understand a full spectrum of inner qualities, as the inner qualities solely define what reality we live in (by inner qualities I understand a certain degree of the soul development).

For example, the term Our World (עולם זה – Olam ha Ze) indicates, that a person living in it doesn’t have a soul (the level of similarity to the Upper force is equal to zero). Thus, the term itself doesn’t refer to the outside reality, but to the inner state.

Our World is something Kabbalah doesn’t deal with – this is a subject examining by ordinary sciences. Kabbalah examines the spiritual worlds only. Spiritual (קדוש – kadosh) also means “separated” – that is separated from Our World (egoistic quality).

While attaining the spiritual worlds, kabbalists remain living in Our World. It means, that altruistic quality doesn’t replace inborn egoism – so on the physical level nothing changes. The spiritual attainment is an additional layer of life, and it has nothing to do with one’s daily life.

The Purpose of Kabbalah

First off, let’s briefly sum up the main concepts :

1. Kabbalah is an accurate science allowing one to investigate and define man’s position in the universe. It allows one to empirically reveal the spiritual roots of the universe, thus answering almost all possible questions one might have, including : what is the meaning of life, why we are born, why we live, where we come from, and where we are going. Kabbalah is not a theoretical study, but a purely practical one. Man learns about himself, what he is like, and what he needs to do to change himself in order to attain the higher state – thus he reveals his own spiritual root, climbing to the top of spiritual ladder, being guided step by step, and stage by stage.

2. Kabbalah is a method of reaching the spiritual world, that can be shortly defined as the most perfect state of existance, characterized by constant and infinite pleasure. By studying Kabbalah, we develop another sense, allowing one to gradually attain the spiritual world, while still living in physical reality.

The word “Kabbalah” comes from the word “le kabbel” (to receive), that is to receive pleasure. Kabbalah describes the motives of every action as “the desire to receive”, that is the core of the universe, consisting of four levels : human, animal, vegetative, and inanimate. Thus, Kabbalah itself is a science of reception, the method of reaching the inborn goal of human being – infinite pleasure beyond its form.

Who is a kabbalist?

A kabbalist is a person who, on the outside, is like any other person. There is nothing unusual in the outward appearance. They are ordinary people who, through studying Kabbalah, acquired an additional sense – a sensation of the hidden part of the world.

A kabbalist can perceive the entire universe with this newly acquired sense, perceiving both our world and the spiritual world as a whole reality, just as we perceive our everyday reality. Kabbalists feel the Upper world and directly attain it. Kabbalists see that everything descends from the Upper world and appears in ours. They see all the causes and effects because they simultaneously exist in both the Upper World and in our world.

Hence, kabbalists aren’t religious, and they don’t believe anything except for their own empirical attainment. Obviously, kabbalists have nothing to do with Judaism, nor any other belief system, though many might think otherwise.

An ordinary person perceives only a fraction of the surrounding universe and calls this fraction our world, whereas a kabbalist perceives the entire scope of the universe.

This has been Part 2 of Authentic Kabbalah. Next, Kabbalah Part 3

Much more about Kabbalah coming soon.

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