KABBALAH INITIATION
Neither shalt thou bring an abomination into thine house, lest thou be a cursed thing like it:
but thou shalt utterly detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it; for it is a cursed thing. Deut. 7:26
The fact that a prominent Sephardic Jew like Avi ben Mordechai teaches the mysticism of the Kabbalah along with preaching the gospel should impress us that the the Kabbalah and kabbalizing of Christianity is not past history -- but a present day reality. Were it not for the propagation of this esoteric doctrine through the various media - although it is still regarded as "secret" - this writer would not have accessed so much information so easily. Make no mistake, the information that is promulgated is not all that Kabbalah contains, nor are lay people receiving all the information or plans for them that reside within the inner circle of adepts. The Kabbalah is being disseminated for a purpose.
Benjamin Creme wrote in The Reappearance of the Christ & The Masters of Wisdom:
"Through the Masonic initiation and certain esoteric groups will come the process of initiation. In this coming age millions of people will take the first and second initiation through these transformed and purified institutions." 1.Initiation: Human and Solar, by Alice Bailey, reveals the plan for universal initiation within the established churches:
"Before many centuries pass, the old mysteries will be restored, and an inner body will exist in the church - the church period of which the nucleus is already forming - wherein the first initiation will become exoteric, in this sense only, that the taking of the first initiation will, before very long, be the most sacred ceremony of the Church performed exoterically as one of the mysteries given at stated periods, attended by those concerned." 2.
Early Initiation
Many references and teachings in the Talmud are also found in the Kabbalah. Some claim that one really has nothing to do with the other or that there is no problem with either. Moreover, it is maintained that since Kabbalah was considered a "secret oral wisdom" (and still is) that pre-initiates must attain a certain age before studying it.
At one time there was a great controversy over the study of the Kabbalah, although it was taught regularly with certain restrictions. There had been, "…the centuries-old rabbinic ban on the dissemination of kabbalistic practices among those under forty and unschooled in Bible and Talmud-…" 3.
Other Jewish writers confirm these statements.
"…Kabbalah and Jewish mysticism, were traditionally not even taught to people until the age of 40, when they had completed their education in Torah and Talmud." 4.Colin Low states that many of the adepts started at an early age:
"…Kabbalist R. Isaac Luria (1534-1572), began the study of Kabbalah at the age of seventeen and died at the age of thirty-eight! His equally famous contemporary R. Moses Cordovero (1522-1570) began at the age of twenty…" 5.Mr. Low explains that the age restriction was not widespread, but required by the Ashkenazic Jews. Sephardic Jews, however, did not hold to this view.
"….This prohibition has come from Ashkenazic (East European) Jews and has never applied to Sepharidic (Middle Eastern) Jews. The historical basis for the 'rule' comes from opponents of Kabbalah within Judaism who (successfully) attempted to restrict its study. At the root of this was the heresy of false messiah Shabbatai Tzevi (17th. C) which resulted in large numbers of Jews leaving the orthodox fold…" 6.In a 1996 article, Colin Low cited the Rabbi Ariel Bar-Zadok, an Orthodox Sephardic Jew (like Avi ben Mordechai) who declared his support of the lower age:
" …I am not sympathetic to anything that is not pure, authoritative Kabbalah. Remember, Kabbalah means 'to receive'. I am an Orthodox Sephardic Rabbi, ordained in Jerusalem. I teach only from the true texts,… By the way, according to the Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rabi Ovadiah Yosef (Yehaveh Da'at 4,47) quoting Rabbi Moshe Cordovero, one only has to be 20 years old to study Kabbala, and not 40. THIS IS THE HALAKHA!!" 7.The term halakha, previously discussed in Part 2 of this series, refers to the "Way or Path".
"Halacha means 'Way' or 'Path.' Halacha is the application of the Law (Torah) to everyday living. The traditional viewpoint is that Halacha should be decided by those who are most knowledgeable in all aspects of Jewish law. Since the Halacha of each generation is decided by its greatest Torah scholars, and the Torah doesn't change, there is usually little change in the Halacha from one generation to the next. " 8.
From Talmud to Kabbalah
The connection between the Talmudic teachings and the Kabbalah is confirmed in the "Hypertext Halacha" of Project Genesis, which is disseminated by Orthodox Jews, and also linked to such Hebrew Roots sites as Larry Rowland's Messengers of Truth. 9. For example, in the meticulous instructions regarding women's hair we read from the Mishnah:
"Siman75. One should be careful about [a woman's] uncovered hair and a woman's [singing] voice when reading the Shema, and also not to read it in the presence of nakedness." 10.Many paragraphs later in this same Siman in the Mishnah of the Talmud is a reference from the Zohar giving more detailed instructions.
MB 14: Pokes out etc. - He means to say that apart from a hat on her head she has a hairband which is a piece of material that binds the hair together tightly so that it does not come out; and it this small amount of hair that is impossible to contain and pokes out of the hairband on which the Rashboh is lenient (Chasam Sofer Siman 36 see there).
The Zohar [a mystical commentary on the Torah of Mishnaic origin, compiled by Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai] on Sidra Noso is extremely strict that not one hair of a woman should be visible as 'it brings poverty on her household, renders her children of no account in their generation and causes an evil spirit to abide on her house. And all the more so [does this apply] if she goes like this in public. Therefore we require that a woman should not permit even the beams of her house to see one hair of her head. And if she conducts herself thus, then it is written [in Psalms] 'your children [shall be] like olive plants' - just as the olive [does not shed its leaves either in winter or summer but always retains its superiority over other trees, so] her children will excel over all other children; her husband will, moreover, receive blessings from above and from below, will be blessed with riches, with children and children's children'. This is a brief version of the words of the Zohar. And the Magen Avrohom writes that one should conduct oneself according to the Zohar. And in Tractate Yoma they mention a particular woman who merited by her extreme modesty, in that the beams of her house did not see [any of her hair], that [seven] High Priests descended from her. " 11.In Jewish Mystical Traditions, Zos Imos explains the student's transition from Talmudic "haggadah" to very potent mystical experiences, which spread like a revival "fire" throughout the Diaspora and led to development of the Kabbalah:
"…The study of these mysterious visions and symbols, according to the Talmudic *haggadah* or commentary on the 'tellings' or narratives of the Tanak (sacred scriptures), tells of the descent of this same 'fire' on the expositor of the prophetic scrolls when in a holy state of contemplation. In contrast, such meditation could lead to an 'ascent' (in imitation of Elijah) which could lead astray the unprepared, but could, as in the case of R. Akiva, lead to ascent and descent in 'perfect peace' (Scholem, 1991)."
"This journey of the sage through the higher realms (often seven levels) was guided by prayer, fasting and the recitation of sacred psalms. It also required the knowledge of the various 'names of the angels' so that a 'seal' or incantation could be said to facilitate the journey (Wald, 1988). The apex of this ascent is a vision of the Throne of Glory and thereby *kedushah* or 'sanctification' by the Divine Presence. Yet, this Presence remains something apart, a reality so Holy that the vision of its presence was the highest sanctification, so that man and G-D remain distinct, and the vision of the *sar ha-panim* 'prince of the divine face' was supreme blessing. This was symbolized as the *kavod* or Glory of G-D. This early development was then carried throughout the Diaspora to Jewish communities far and wide. By the 10th century, the *Sefer Yezirah (1987)* had been composed, that mystic guide to all Jewish contemplatives for over the last thousand years. In this book we find mention of the Ten Sefirot, the 'Book of Creation' where the paths of wisdom and the '22 elemental letters' give the sage access to divine knowledge. This work, along with the Merkabah tradition set the stage for the emergence of a full-blown meditative tradition known as Kabbalah (Bischoff, 1985; Verman, 1992)…" 12.
I John 4:12 states that "No man hath seen God at any time…" Whom then did the initiates visit in their ascent to the Throne of Glory. The "prince of the divine face" may have been the prince of the power of the air or Lucifer himself.
The term the Talmudic *haggadah* stated above is noteworthy. According to Hyam Maccoby:
"The Haggada (found mainly in the Midrash) is the poetical side of Pharisaism, and comprises folktales, parables, quaint fancies and metaphysical speculations." 13.Peter Michas claims the New Testament is similar to the traditional Halakah and Haggada writings mentioned above:
"…The New Testament is in the pattern of the Jewish traditional work of Torah, Mishnah, Haggadah, Halakah, Talmud and Midrash, but inspired by God Himself for the common people." 14.The Merkabah, also mentioned above, is a reference to the Mystics who were the precursors of the medieval Qabalists, and who worked with planetary powers, i.e. astrology. 15. On The Kabbalah And Its Symbolism, by Gershom Scholem, explains a portion of the ritual of the Kabbalists and the Merkabah mystics thus:
"… In line with the general principles here set forth, the Kaballists strove from the very first to anchor the ritual of Rabbinical Judaism in myth by means of a mystical practice. The first attempts applied primarily to the liturgy and everything connected with it. The ecstatic rites, by which the early Jewish merkabah mystics of Talmudic times effected the ascent of the soul to God, were replaced, through the medium of kavvanah, by the ritual of prayer, which soon revealed dangers and abysses unsuspected by the naive worshiper." 16.Scripture tell us that none have seen God, or ascended to Heaven, except Jesus Christ: "And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven." John 3:13
1 Timothy 6:16 refers the seeker of God to Jesus Christ: "Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen."
In spite of the extreme spiritual danger that is lying in wait for students of Midrash, the Talmud, the Haggadah, etc., students of Peter Michas and other Hebraic Roots leaders are urged to study these very books. Surely the Hebraic Roots leadership knows that these studies are stepping stones into mysticism and practical occultism.Kabbalist Colin Low asserts that by the 12th century, the doctrine of the "sephiroth", or the esoteric view of the way which God manifests, was established and that this secret doctrine is almost identical to that which is taught today.
"By the early middle ages further, more theosophical developments had taken place, chiefly a description of 'processes' within God, and a highly esoteric view of creation as a process in which God manifests in a series of emanations. This doctrine of the 'sephiroth' can be found in a rudimentary form in the Yetzirah, but by the time of the publication of the book Bahir (12th century) it had reached a form not too different from the form it takes today." 17.The secret doctrines of the Qabalah obviously violates God's commandment:
"There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord…" Deut. 18:10-12a
Adam Kadmon
Avi ben
Mordechai, who is promoted by James Trimm of SANJ and other Hebrew Roots leaders,
goes so far as to teach to the Kabbalist "sefirot" as a means of Grace:
"… But, there is something more in the use of the word Grace in that it ties in powerfully with a teaching in Judaism called Torat HaSod which is describing an emanated attribute of G-d called Tiferet which is part of something else called the lower Seven Sefirot of Adam Kadmon." 18.The Tiferet and the Seven Sefirot of Adam Kadmon mentioned by Avi ben Mordechai are, of course, in reference to Talmudic and Kabbalistic teachings. In order to understand and support those teachings, one would have to be involved in the teachings of Jewish Mysticism - the Kabbalah and the occult.
Gershom Scholem connects the Sefirot with the Merkabah, which was the hidden and transcendent "world of the archetypes" -- archetype meaning "the original pattern or model of which all things are representations or copies":
"…and when these ten sefiroth were made manifest, something corresponding to that supreme form became visible in every other creature, as is it is written: [Job 8:9]: 'Our days upon earth are a shadow' -- meaning: our days are a mere shadow of the transcendence of the 'primordial days'-- and all created being, earthly man and all of the creatures in this world, exist according to the archetype [dugma] of the ten sefiroth."
"In the language of the Kaballists this world of the archetypes is often called the merkabah, the chariot of God, …every detail in the ritual of the Torah is connected with a particular part of the merkabah. These 'parts,' to be sure, form a mysterious organism. 'Every commandment has a high principle and a secret foundation, which can be derived from no commandment other than this particular one, which alone contains these mysteries; but just as God is one, so all the commandments together form one power -- that of infinite divine life.
"The Torah as the totality of these commandments is rooted in this divine world, the pleroma of the sefiroth…" 19.In his Introduction to Kabbalah Unveiled, McGregor Mathers states that the unity of the ten sefirot represent the Adam Kadmon.
"In their totality and unity the ten Sephiroth represent the archetypal man, ADM QDMVN, Adam Qadmon, the Protogonos. In looking to the Sephiroth constituting the first triad, it is evident that they represent the intellect; and hence this triad is called the intellectual world, OVLM MVShKL, Olahm Mevshekal. The second triad corresponds to the moral world, OVLM MVRGSh, Olahm Morgash. The third represents power and stability, and is therefore called the material world, OVLM HMVTBO, Olahm Ha-Mevetbau. These three aspects are called the faces, ANPIN, Anpin. Thus is the tree of life, OTz ChIIM, Otz Chiim, formed; the first triad being placed above, the second and third below, in such a manner that the three masculine Sephiroth are on the right, three feminine on the left, whilst the four uniting Sephiroth occupy the center. This is the qabalistical Tree of Life, on which all things depend. There is considerable analogy between this and the tree Yggdrasil of the Scandinavians." 20.
The Adam Kadmon referred to by Avi ben Mordechai is the kabbalistic teaching of the "Primordial Man". The ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HASIDISM defines Primordial Man as physical Adam made in the image of the spiritual Adam, a concept which expresses the occult principle "as above, so below."
"Primordial Man. The early mystics inferred from Genesis 1:26 - 'Let us make man in our image' - that the physical Adam was created on the pattern of a spiritual Adam that existed in the celestial world. (cf. also Ezekiel 1:26 - 'the likeness as the appearance of a man') This became part of the later mystical view of the cosmos in which everything on earth had its counterpart of the realm of the Godhead." 21.On the Kabbalah and Its Symbolism, by Gershom Scholem, identifies the god of the sefiroth as Adam Kadmon, the First Man. Referring to the sefiroth, he explains the involved symbolism which leads to the delusion that God is man and man is incipient God.
"But nowhere, I believe, is the mythical content more evident than in the symbolism which identifies this God of the sefiroth with man in his purest form, Adam Kadmon, Primordial Man. Here the God who can be apprehended by man is himself the First Man. The great name of God in His creative unfolding is Adam, as the Kabbalists declared on the strength of a gematria, or numerical equation (isopsephism),… The Bahir had spoken of the 'seven holy forms of God,' each corresponding to a part of the human body. From here it was only a short step to Adam Kadmon, a conception from which the anthropomorphic and mythical view of God never ceased to draw new justification... The esoteric thinking of the Zohar …is wholly concerned with the primordial world of man, as creature and as the increate Adam Kadmon. For this secret world of the Godhead manifested in the symbol of man is both at once; it is the world of the 'inner' man, but also the realm which opens up only to the contemplation of the believer and which the Zohar terms the 'secret of faith,' raza de-mehemanutha." 22.Adam Kadmon is also referred to as lights emanating from the ears, mouth and nose of the Primordial Man, or God.
"In the pleroma arise the archetypes of all being, the forms, determined by the structure of the sefiroth, of Adam Kadmon, of the creator God who takes a hand in Creation…. From the ears, the mouth, and the nose of the Primordial Man burst forth lights which produce deeply hidden configurations, states of being and inner worlds beyond the penetration of the human mind, even in meditation. But the central plan of Creation originates in the lights which shine in strange refraction from the eyes of Adam Kadmon. For the vessels which, themselves consisting of lower mixtures of light, were designed to receive this mighty light of the sefiroth from his eyes and so to serve as vessels and instruments of Creation…." 23.The Adam Kadmon is also described as having "five faces".
"…In five figures, or configurations, which Luria calls partsufim, 'faces' of God or of Adam Kadmon, Primordial man is reconstructed in the world of tikkun. These five faces are 'arikh, 'Long-suffering'; the Father; the Mother; the ze' ir' anpin, 'Impatient'; and his feminine complement, the Shekhinah..." 24
Kabbalists teach that God is
masculine and feminine, and that when speaking of 'man' they are always
referring to two faces. Adam Kadmon is androgynous, according to the Kabbalah interpretation of
verses in Genesis -- "male and female created
he them" -- as cited in Blavatsky's Theosophical
Glossary and in
The
Secret Doctrine:
"Adam, as the supposed great 'Progenitor of the human race' is, as Adam-Kadmon, made in the image of God - a priapic image, therefore. The Hebrew words Zãkhãr and Nëqebãh are, literally translated, linga (phallus) and yoni, notwithstanding their transliteration in the Bible as 'male and female.' As said there: 'God creates 'Man in his own image'...in the image of God created he him, male and female created he them,' *the androgyne Adam-Kadmon. Now this Kabbalistic name is not that of a living man, nor even of a human or divine Being, but of the two sexes or organs of procreation, called in Hebrew Zãkhãr and nëqebãh; these two being, therefore, the image under which the 'Lord God' appeared usually to his chosen people. That this is so, is now undeniably proven by almost all the symbologists and Hebrew scholars as well as by the Kabala. Therefore Adam is in one sense Jehovah." (The Secret Doctrine, Vol. II, p. 467) 25.In his book, The Rod of an Almond Tree in God's Master Plan, Peter Michas states that Adam as he was first created contained a balance of male and female.
"Adam was created as a whole being, complete in form, containing a balance of male-female and a balance of logic-emotion." 26.Mr. Michas then mentions two Adams, "Then God separated from Adam another Adam as a helpmate (Genesis 2:2-22; Genesis 5:2)." 27.
This is reminiscent of the concept of the Hasidic Adam in the phsyical realm whose spiritual counterpart Adam-Kadmon inhabited the celestial realm. "As above, so below" is the esoteric philosophy which implies a correspondence between the forces of nature and the movement of the stars in the celestial realm. The ancient mystery religions viewed the cosmos as being bound together in perfect duality with the earth. It may be that Peter learned the concept of occult correspondence through the Hasidic Chabbad Lubavich, where he studied the Hebrew Roots of Christianity, as stated in the Preface of his book:
"I ended up going into a place call Chabbad House which was run by the Lubavich, the ultra-orthodox rabbis. This was the beginning of my education in the Hebraic roots of the Bible. As my knowledge of the Hebraic context of Scripture grew, my God was being revealed to me in ways that cannot even be explained. I realize that if God had not preserved the Jewish people and their books (including the Bible), most spiritual truth and surely all of the culture of Scripture would have been lost to tradtions of men." 28.Returning to Peter's account of Creation, the reason for the Fall is explained as a lack of male/female unity:
"Adam named her Eve and they were designed to work together as one complete being... Because Adam and Eve failed to act as a unit, they became vulnerable and succumbed to darkness and disobedience to God." 29.Every student of Scripture knows that in the Genesis account, God did not fault Adam and Eve for failing to "act as a unit" but precisely for their unity in rebellion against Him. However, Jacob Boehme, whose contribution to theosophy is universally recognized, repopularized the theory that the androgynous primal Adam experienced an internal rebellion, the feminine against the masculine...
"The Judeo-Christian myth and theology of the androgyny of the primal man were successfully reinterpreted and revalorized by Jakob Boehme (1575-1624). For this great mystic and theosophist, Adam's sleep represents the first fall: Adam separated himself from the divine world and 'imagined himself' immersed in nature, by which act he lowered himself and became earthly. The appearance of the sexes is a direct consequence of this first fall...Another fundamental idea of Boehme, Gichtel, and other theosophists was that Sophia, the divine virgin, was originally part of the primal man. When he attempted to dominate her, the virgin separated herself from him." 30.All of history is viewed by the esoteric schools as the return of mankind to the condition of Adam-Kadmon -- the perfect androgynous state. As the archetype of Adam-Kadmon, so is the concept of male and female being one soul -- it is taught that each soul and spirit start as a united male/female, which splits, and when a couple unites in marriage, it is the reuniting of that male/female soul.
From The Hebrew Zohar, we see the Kabbalah concept of androgyny:
"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." 31.Gershom Scholem stated in Zohar the Book of Splendor: Basic Readings from the Kabbalah:
"It behooves a man to be 'male and female', always, so that his faith may remain stable, and in order that the Presence may never leave him." 32.The Kabbalah Unveiled explains the androgyne teaching by referring to the unification of the masculine and feminine side of God.
"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." 33.McGregor Mathers' Introduction to Kabbalah Unveiled states: "41. Now, we find that before the Deity conformed Himself thus, i.e., as male and female that the worlds of the universe could not subsist…" 34.
Mathers explains that the Sephiroth contain the development and attributes of God, with some being male while other are female. The Holy Spirit is referred to as Ruach or the Spirit meaning "feminine" or Mother." Kabbalists believe that it was the union of the Father (masculine) and Mother (feminine) union of God that "begat the Son".
"Among these Sephiroth, jointly and severally, we find the development of the persons and attributes of God. Of these some are male and some are female. Now, for some reason or other best known to themselves, the translators of the Bible have carefully crowded out of existence and smothered up every reference to the fact that the Deity is both masculine and feminine. They have translated a feminine plural by a masculine singular in the case of the word Elohim. They have, however, left an inadvertent admission of their knowledge that it was plural in Gen. iv. 26; 'And Elohim said: Let Us make man.' Again (v. 27), how could Adam be made in the image of the Elohim, male and female, unless the Elohim were male and female also? The word Elohim is a plural formed from the feminine singular ALH, Eloh, by adding IM to the word. But inasmuch as IM is usually the termination of the masculine plural, and is here added to a feminine noun, it gives the word Elohim the sense of a female potency united to a masculine idea, and thereby capable of producing an offspring. Now, we hear much of the Father and Son, but we hear nothing of the Mother in the ordinary religions of the day. But in the Qabalah we find that the Ancient of Days conforms Himself simultaneously into the Father and the Mother, and thus begets the Son. Now, this Mother is Elohim. Again, we are usually told that the Holy Spirit is masculine. But the word RVCh, Ruach, Spirit, is feminine, as appears from the following passage of the Sepher Yetzirah: 'AChTh RVCh ALHIM ChIIM, Achath (feminine, not Achad, masculine) Ruach Elohim Chiim: One is She the Spirit of the Elohim of Life.'" 35.
We turn again to McGregor Mathers for an introduction to the very important Sefirot of the Kabbalah and "Tree of Life".
"39. I must now explain the real meaning of the terms Sephira and Sephiroth. The first is singular, the second is plural. The best rendering of the word is "numerical emanation." There are ten sephiroth, which are the most abstract forms of the ten numbers of the decimal scale, i.e., the abstract forms of the ten numbers 1, 2, 3,4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. Therefore, as in the higher mathematics we reason of numbers in their abstract senses, so in the Qabalah we reason of the Deity by the abstract forms of the numbers; in other words, by the SPIRVTh, Sephiroth. It was from this ancient Oriental theory that Pythagoras derived his numerical symbolic ideas." 36.A brief review of the Sefirots and Tiferot is found on the web site "The Ten Sefirot of the Kabbalah. 37. The ten sefirot or emanations are interrelated, generally one sefirot linking to the next. There is of course, much more to the Talmudic and Kaballastic teachings of the Ten Sefirot. Part of the concept of the sefiroth and the ascent through the gates or ladders of wisdom refers to the Kabbalistic Tree of Life that matches the Sufi mystic teachings. Due to space limitations the following list does not encompass all the sefirot and relationships, but presents comparisons between certain of the Kabbalistic sefirot and the Kundalini chakras on the Tree of Life.
The parallels with Kundalini are found in A Kabbalistic View of the Chakras, by Rebekah Kenton, who explains the chakras in terms of Jacob's ladder:
"…The chakras are connections between the physical and psychological bodies… their reflections can also be perceived as whirling discs in front of the body…The reference for the parallels comes from 'Kundalini Tantra by Swami Satyananda Saraswati' and all quotations are from this book…" 38.
"…from the Kabbalistic point of view it is more interesting to concentrate on the psychological aspect and evolving consciousness, and as such the chakras should be seen on the Jacob's Ladder on the psychological or Yeziratic Tree of Life." 39.Very briefly, and without showing all the Sefirot, nor all the deep, secret meanings of these emanations of the Kabbalists' god, we may arrive at some understanding of Avi ben Mordechai's use of these terms.
"Tiferet represents the ideal balance of Justice and Mercy needed for proper running of the universe. This Sefirah unites all the upper nine powers…."
"Tif'eret is the offspring of Hokhmah and Binah.;
"It is often symbolized as a bridegroom or prince who strives to be united with the Shekhinah. Their union produces the human soul." 40.The analogy to the stated Tiferet refers to the unification of Hokmah and Binah which means, "… their union produces the human soul" according to A Kabbalistic View of the Chakras by Rebekah Kenton. 41.
"Manipura Chakra (Navel or Solar Plexus); Tiferet. In the same way that the sun continually radiates energy to the Planets…Manipura or Tiferet is the Self, the midpoint of the psyche…"
"'When the consciousness evolves to Manipura, one acquires a spiritual perspective.' This refers to the position of Tiferet as the Kingdom of Heaven. In Mooladhara and Swadhisthana the consciousness is still preoccupied with personal matters and resolving old karmas, but in Manipura one starts to realize the possibilities in becoming truly human…" 42.From the Ten Sefirot the initiate attains to God's wisdom:
"Hokhmah: Wisdom
"Hokhmah represents the contemplative, synthetic aspects of God's thought.
"It is the primordial point of creation from which all knowable reality originates."
"There are 32 ways of Wisdom." 43.The Binah of the sefirot is said to unite with Hokhmah and give birth to the seven lower Sefirot, mentioned also by Avi ben Mordechai.
"Binah: "Understanding, Discernment "
"Binah refers to the analytic, distinguishing aspects of God's thought."
"It is the uppermost feminine element in the Godhead, and is symbolized as the mother of the Shekhinah. Many of the symbols associated with Binah are therefore identical to those of the Shekhinah."
"Having received the seed from Hokhmah, Binah conceived and gave birth to the seven lower Sefirot. "; "There are fifty "Gates of Understanding."
"…Supernal Mother, Supernal Shekhinah…Palace…Womb…Repentance ("Return," Teshuvah)…A river branching out into seven streams…Supernal Jubilee…The Hebrew Alphabet…" 44.According to Rebekah Kenton. Binah-Hokhmah refers to the opening of the Third Eye.
"Ajna Chakra (The Third Eye); Binah-Hokhmah Ajna is the chakra of higher intellect. 'Ajna is the witnessing centre where one becomes the detached observer of all events, including those within the body and mind. Here the level of awareness is developed whereby one begins to 'see' the hidden essence underlying all visible appearances. When Ajna is awakened, the meaning and significance of symbols flashes into one's conscious perception and intuitive knowledge arises effortlessly."
"Up until Ajna chakra awakens, we are under delusions. It is only after awakening of Ajna chakra that the laws of cause and effect can be known. Thereafter your whole philosophical attitude and approach to life changes... As said, it is very important to develop the qualities of Binah and Hokhmah already at the very beginning of one's spiritual journey. "Only those who have reason and understanding are able to cope." 45.
"Paradoxically, the awakening of the chakras should start as high as Ajna or the Third Eye. One needs a degree of Wisdom and Understanding, a certain philosophical outlook and detachment, to be able to cope with the psychic phenomena that follow the awakening of the lower chakras.
"It would seem that the awakening of the Ajna chakra follows the sequence of the Lightning Flash, activating first the Binah and then the Hokhmah aspect of this level. It is said that from Ajna there is only a short way to Sahasrara or enlightenment; from Hokhmah we would see how to get there." 45.in Masonic and Occult Symbols, Dr. Cathy Burns explains how the proper alignment and awakening of the chakras leads to spiritual enlightenment - the opening of the third eye - or advanced psychical powers:
"In the Hindu/yoga world of 'reality', they believe, as do much of the occult and New Age meditators, that the body contains seven basic energy centers, known as chakras. When these centers are properly aligned by practicing yoga and meditation, there will then occur a 'merging' of the spinal chakra (the serpent of Kundalini) together with Shiva, located in the frontal chakra (psychic third eye) and this 'spiritual union' is believed to increase extrasensory and psychic powers.75." 46.The Lightening Flash which accompanies the opening of the Third Eye has occult meaning referring to Lucifer, and is also found in Scripture...
"And [Jesus] said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightening fall from heaven." Luke 10:18The Yesod sefirot is the equivalent of the male phallus or organ of reproduction:
"Yesod is the channel through which Tiferet strives to unite with the Shekhinah and pass on the creative and benevolent divine forces.""This Sefirahis symbolized as the male phallus, sanctified through the covenant of circumcision. " 48.
The explanation of the Kundalini parallels what has been presented above for the sefirot Yesod.
The Shekhinah, also in the Talmud, is often referred to as the feminine side to God and speaks of the longing of the male and female elements of the Godhead to be united."Mooladhara Chakra (Base); Yesod "…Mooladhara is at the root of the chakra system and its influences are at the root of our whole existence. In tantra, Mooladhara is the seat of kundalini, the basis from which the possibility of higher realization arises…"
"All the passions are stored in Mooladhara, all the guilt, every complex and every agony has its root in Mooladhara chakra. It is so important for everybody to awaken this chakra and get out of it. Our lower karmas are embedded there, as in lower incarnations, one's whole being is founded on the sexual personality…" 49.
"The Shekhinah is a Talmudic concept representing God's dwelling and immanence in the created world. It was equated with the "Keneset Yisrael," the personified spirit of the People of Israel."
"According to a Rabbinic tradition, the Shekhinah shares in the exiles of the Jewish people.
"Therefore, the redemption of the people of Israel is inextricably linked to the remedying of an alienation within God him/herself, introducing a bold new element into traditional Jewish Messianic eschatology."
"It is through the Shekhinah that humans can experience the Divine."
"The passivity of the Shekhinah is often emphasized (equated with its femininity), as the recipient of forces from the higher Sefirot."
"The Shekhinah is often portrayed as a bride or princess whose male lover is the composite of the nine upper sefirot, represented by the prince/bridegroom Tiferet.
The erotic and romantic phrases of the Song of Songs and Prophetic imagery is evoked to represent the longing of the male and female elements of the Godhead." 50.Isaac Meyer states in The Qabbalah, regarding the male and female elements of the sefirot, that King Solomon's idolatry involved the worship of such deities:
"Early Hebrew prophecy and Bacchism are similar in some aspects. The Qabbalists called the Holy Spirit, the mother, and the Church of Israel, the daughter. Solomon engraved on the walls of his Temple, likenesses of the male and female principles, to adumbrate this mystery; such it is said, were the figures of the cherubim. This was, however, not in obedience to the words of the Torah. They were symbolical of the Upper, the spiritual, the former or maker, positive or male, and the Lower, the passive, the negative or female, formed or made by the first." 51.Also on the Tree of Life is found, "The Anahata Chakra (Heart); Gevurah-Hesed" which involves the "ability to determine one's own destiny, and escape a preordained fate" 52. and each upward move on this ladder evokes a Lightning Flash on the Tree of Life.
Psalm 37:23 states otherwise: "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way."
The Vishuddhi is paralleled to the knowledge aspect in Kabbalah."The more abstract aspect of Vishuddhi is the faculty of higher discrimination… any communication received telepathically can be tested here for its correctness and accuracy…allows us to differentiate between realization coming into our consciousness from the higher levels of knowledge, and the mere babblings of our unconscious mind and wishful thinking…When Vishuddhi is awakened the divine fluid is retained and utilized, becoming the nectar of immortality. The secret of youth and regeneration of the body lies in the awakening of Vishuddhi chakra. At this state of awareness the poisonous aspects and experiences of life are absorbed and transformed into a state of bliss." 53.Of interest regarding the ascent of the ladder of the Kabbalistic Tree of Life is Rebekah Kenton's statement:
"…In Kabbalah, an individual whose all chakras have fully and permanently awakened would be called the Messiah." 54.
Daniel 8:23-25 prophesies that such an individual will become the world dictator in the last days:
And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up.
And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up aginst the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.
Footnotes
1. Benjamin Creme,
The
Reappearance of the Christ & The Masters of Wisdom, Tara Center,
1980, p. 84.
2. Alice Bailey,
Initiation:
Human & Solar, Lucis Pub., 1922, p. 9.
3. Kabbalah, A Brief History,
Michael Sidlofsky; www.shamash.org/kavannah/kabbalah.html
4. Kabbalah: The Misunderstood
Doctrine; http://baptist1.com/judaism/kabbalah.htm
5. Colin Low; Kabbalah Faq;
February 1996; www.digital-brilliance.com/Kab/index.htm
6. Ibid.
7. Ibid.
8. Torah and Halachic Authority
(3/12) - What is "Halacha?" How is it determined?; http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/text/faq/usenet-faqs/html/judaism/FAQ/03-Torah-Halacha/faq-doc-45.html
9. Hypertext Halacha; http://www.torah.org/learning/halacha/
10. Ibid., Siman 75, http://www.torah.org/learning/halacha/s75.htm
11. Ibid.
12. Zos Imos, Jewish Mystical
Traditions;1995; http://140.190.128.190/merton/zos/jewish.html
13. Hyam Maccoby, op. cit.,
p.281.
14. Peter Michas, http://www.ez/com/~peterm/HB.GK.RF.HTML
15. Dance of the Seven Veils-Jewish
Astrology; http://ggms.com/asherah/veils.htm
16. Gershom Scholem, "On
The Kabbalah And Its Symbolism," Schocken Books, 1965, p.133.
17. Colin Low, "cabalah.cln";
Kabbalah, http://marlowe.wimsey.com/rshand/streams/thera/canaan.html
18. Avi ben Mordechai, email
to Mr. Ed Tarkowski, dated May 8, 1998:
19. Gershom Scholem,On The
Kabbalah And Its Symbolism; op.cit., p.123-124.
20. McGregor Mathers, "Introduction
to Kabbalah Unveiled", www.webvs.com/hogd/kabalah_unveiled.html
21. Encyclopedia of Hasidism,
editor, Rabinowicz, Tzbvi M., p. 8.
22. Gershom Scholem, "On
The Kabbalah And Its Symbolism," p.104, Schocken Books, 1965/1996
23. Ibid., p.112.
24. Ibid., p.114.
25. Blavatsky, The Secret
Doctrine, Vol. II, p. 467
26. Peter Michas, p. 48, The
Rod of an Almond Tree in God's Master Plan, WinePress Pub., 1997.
27. Ibid., p. 48.
28. Ibid., p. 19.
29. Ibid., pp. 48-9.
30. Mircea Eliade, Encyclopedia
of Religion, Vol. I, NY: Simon & Schuster MacMillan, 1995, p. 279.
31. The Hebrew Zohar; http://marlowe.wimsey.com/rshand/streams/thera/canaan.html
32. Gershom Scholem, Zohar,
the Book of Splendor: Basic Readings from the Kabbalah, Schocken
Books, 1995, p. 10.
33. The Kabbalah Unveiled;
www.webvs.com/hogd/kabalah_unveiled.html
34. S. L. McGregor Mathers;,
"Introduction to Kabbalah Unveiled", www.webvs.com/hogd/kabalah_unveiled.html
35. Ibid.
36. Ibid.
37. The Ten Sefirot; www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~elsegal/Sefirot/Sefirot.html
38. A Kabbalistic View of
the Chakras by Rebekah Kenton; http://www.kabbalahsociety.org/chakras.htm
39. Ibid.
40. www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~elsegal/Sefirot/Tiferet.html
41. Rebekah Kenton; op.cit.
42. Ibid.
43. www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~elsegal/Sefirot/Hokhmah.html
44. www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~elsegal/Sefirot/Binah.html
45. Rebekah Kenton; op.cit.
46. Ibid.
47. Dr. Cathy Burns, Masonic
and Occult Symbols Illustrated, Sharing, 1998, p. 128.
48. www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~elsegal/Sefirot/Yesod.html
49. Rebekah Kenton; op.cit;
http://www.kabbalahsociety.org/chakras.htm
50. www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~elsegal/Sefirot/Shekhinah.html
51. Isaac Myer, The Qabbalah
; http://marlowe.wimsey.com/rshand/streams/thera/canaan.html
52. Rebekah Kenton; op.cit;
http://www.kabbalahsociety.org/chakras.htm
53. Ibid.
54. Ibid.