"Kurious" about the Kabbalah?
April- 2004 Article 4-1
What is the Kabbalah?
Kabbalah is the received wisdom and tradition of mystical knowledge believed from God. It's 2000 years of spiritual and religious devotion to God. Many people are studying the Kabbalah now as they search for their roots - the origins and greater understanding of creation - and the messages of God. Many are drawn to the Kabbalah because of the need of healing, balancing and conscious awakening. To put it mildly the study of the Kabbalah is no fad. It may be the latest area of esoteric studies that you have begun or am "Kurious" about. However, the Kabbalah is no quick fix to your souls answers, no divination tool but must be approached with respectful seriousness as all that should matter to your soul and well being.
As I like to put it…"When all is said and done there always is and always will be only God"… Kabbalah can be spelled several different ways - each seemingly correct (see CABALA, CABBALA, OR CABBALAH, Kabbala, also spelled KABALA, KABBALAH). Qabbalah refers to an oral tradition of esoteric or secret knowledge concerning 'essentially' the mysteries of Nature, and more overtly, the hidden teachings concerning the Hebrew Torah. The Torah is, of course, the first five books of what Christians call the Old Testament, and the oldest surviving of the Judaic liturgical texts.Esoteric Kabbala is also "tradition" that lays claim to secret knowledge of the unwritten Torah (divine revelation) that was communicated by God to Moses and Adam. Though observance of the Law of Moses remained the basic tenet of Judaism, Kabbalah provided a means of approaching God directly. What is the "Tree of Life"?
In Genesis 2:9 we are told that in the Garden of Eden God caused to grow every tree that was pleasing to the sight and good to eat in the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and the Tree of Life. The Tree of Life , the source of immortality and God's radiance was given to his image, humanity. The Kabala is presented, symbolically in the form of The Tree of Life. The Tree contains ten centers called sephiroth (spheres of Divine attributes or energy), individually seppir (Hebrew for sapphire which indicates the brilliance radiating from God), which are connected by 22 paths.Below is a short explanation of each seppir:
- Keter:
Crown
Lies at the top of the Tree of life. God, infinite light, wisdom total &
supreme coconsciousness.
- Chhokhmah: Wisdom
Spiritual force, inspiration and revelation. Male energy, yang.
- Binah:
Understanding
Pure love. Intellect and reason..this also lies in 11. Da'at the non-sephira
representing knowledge from God.
- Chesed:
Mercy
Tolerance, consolidator of things and expansive
- Gevurah:
Judgment
Control, discipline and discrimination. Strength.
- Tiferet:
Beauty
Equilibrium and grace. Harmon and perfection.
- Netzach:
Endurance
Instinctive and impulsive elements creativity, Venus.
- Hod:
Glory
Prophecy and communication, Mercury
- Yesod:
Foundation
Moon, Vision and deep memory. The union of feeling thought and action.
- Malkhut: Kingdom
Complements Keter and presents God in the material world, physical reality,
death and pain.
- Da'at:
Knowledge
The abyss and random chaos of thought and conception.
Bringing the Kabbalah into your life
So where does this all take us? How could a 10-11 step word be the basis to building upon your spirituality? For starters where are now in your base of religion or faith you may apply each seppir through meditation and living within the "word". It is the "understanding" that is key here. It's our lack of understanding that prohibits our growth therefore creating negative energy and decay. In your everyday life include God in all that you do and to whom you communicate with. There is the essence of creation and motion in all that IS. Once you are in synch with all that is you become one therefore learn to govern your surrounding both internally and externally.
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