Kabbalah 101

[Mr Cheese]

Well I am no expert, as I have said elsewhere (maybe not on this thread)
I know a guy, been practising Kabbalah for over 40 years..with fingers in pies that extend from England, to South africa and of course Israel....

and after 40 years, he still considers that he has barely scratched the surface.

............

the abyss....

well the abyss is a void...
a place "between" places...


IF we examine the tree there are the 3 supernal emanations at the top and the lower 7 below...often called the smaller and greater face or similar terms....

We can see that the 7 below are the experiences of man.... thus the highest that a man is a man is the 4 emanation of Chesed, Mercy. Some place the idea of laughter at Chesed. Here at Chesed then laughter can be seen as the highest of all human "emotions"

So then the abyss cuts between that which is human and that which is beyond concept. We see the number 7 of course.

7 being the number of days of creation
7 being the number of directions that define 3 dimensional space (up down left right forward back within)
7 chakras
etc

So we see 7....

thus to leave 7 is to truly leave anything that has a vestige of the world...
Perhaps this is one reason why 7 heavens are mentioned in many traditions. In Gnosticism the 7 heavens represent 7 false heavens all owned byu beings called Archons. Archons (rulers) are beings that hold mankind in captivity and prvent us from progressing, At a basic level we can see them as beings liek "greed", "lazyness" "self loving of the ego" etc etc but not just at a personal level,, also at a cosmic level.

Now while many traditions would state Christ is found in the center as the 6th emanation, christ can also be seen to be the lower 7. From emanation 10 (malkuth, all manifest physical reality) through to 4 (Chesed, divine mercy). This lends to the idea of Christ as the divine man...and arguable you can see the supernal triangle thus, acts like a crown, like Kether on top of the Christ.

Essentiallty the lower 7 can be "studied" arguably through intellect, to some extent,... the supernal triangel....requires experience..arguably

But the abyss itself. The abyss itself is a gateway. Some traditions place the Klippah, or shells as connected here at the abyss. The Klippah or shells are unformed emanations. These can be thought of as a secondary tree, and is often assigned demons to each emanation in contrast to a normal tree that is assigned angels. The shells themselves, are perhaps most easily though of as God's excrement. If God is a being and has a body (the tree of life) then the shells are what god has pooped.... It is here at the place of the shells that we find much of the Chthonic underworld streams....

the abyss is embodied by Daath or Knowledge. This is Gnosis as opposed to book and intellectual knowledge which is arguably found at Hod, and is Episteme, another greek word meaning knowledge.

We can think of daath as the beginning of Gnosis

If we have kether as a person giving a message
then we have chockma as the message itself
this is received and in order for the message to be understood a medium is required. Television, a compact disc, paper etc
It is then in Daath that the message is read....
....

Here is something that may be slightly in tune with what you have already read.
http://www.religiousforums.com/forum/1621691-post5.html

...........

"What separates man from God? Consciousness, or rather the lack of it on the part of man. God has the perhaps unfair advantage of being all-aware, or omniscient, and so can be completely conscious of man, whereas man can only be aware of God in very attenuated and limited ways. Our efforts at understanding or comprehending the real nature of divinity fall pathetically short of the mark. On our side of the Abyss we can only guess and speculate. All the understanding and comprehension is on God's side, not ours. We only have what leaks across, as it were.....
Note that the concepts above the Abyss are not approachable by feelings, while those below the Abyss are. One cannot very well feel wise or understanding, but one can feel merciful, mighty, harmonious, victorious, and glorious. In the Kingdom, of course, one exercises alltypes of feeling in the experience of life. Though many workers with the Tree tend to neglect the Abyss concept, it is an essential part of the great plan and has a vital function to fulfill. The point here is that everything above the Abyss is pure consciousness while everything to do with our human nature lies below that level of life.
Think of things this way. Unless our fallible and imperfect type of life existed, there would be no need for mercy, might, balance, victory, glory, or stability. Pure consciousness alone could make a closed circuit of itself, and live in a perfect state of self-perception. Life without end, Amen. The Abyss is a demarcation line past which, in a 'downward' direction, spirit materializes and, in an 'upward' direction, matter spiritualizes. 'Up' and 'down,' of course, are purely relative terms here.....
.....for the present be content to see it [the Abyss] as a division between divinity and humanity which is more than difficult for any human soul to cross completely. Yet this crossing may be possible, but only after long preparation and training plus superhuman courage inspired by sheer self-affinity for the Absolute. Legend tells of a 'Sword Bridge' over the Abyss which souls had to cross with as much care as if they were walking along a sword blade. Many myths have comparable bridges between ideal and ordinary worlds. In Norse mythology it is a high, arching bridge of brittle ice. With our Grail legend it is a bridge to the Grail Castle which is a bowshot long and only a foot wide which is supposed to broaden out when a brave man begins to cross it.....
You may have seen sometimes a dotted circle drawn there and read of references to a mysterious 'eleventh Sphere of Daat' which means 'Knowledge gained by Experience.'

 

[Reverend Rick]

Thank you Mr. Cheese.

This was exactly the kind of post I was hoping for. :yes:

 

[Mr Cheese]

The fact that you see it as " I suspect the old, I am orthiodox so you're not a real jew" is disturbing to me. Because that's not what anyone is saying. If you truly study Kabbalah, you know that there are plenty of illegitimate sources of it out there (particularly sources that allow for the abrogation of divine commandments).

The fact is that Kabbalah is inseparable from the commandments of the Torah. To study Kabbalah and not follow the commandments is a lot like reading the table of contents of a book and thinking you know what happens.

to be honest....

kabbalah is a huge subject....

and what you are saying is true to an extent...very true

But beyond the rhetoric and propoganda, which I am fairly confident you are spouting without any real knowledge, there is far more to the story....

far , far more.....

But again Kabbalah is HUGE....
and yes it is like an "index to Torah"
but it is also far more.

My apologies for harsh words...

 

[TheKnight]

to be honest....

kabbalah is a huge subject....

and what you are saying is true to an extent...very true

But beyond the rhetoric and propoganda, which I am fairly confident you are spouting without any real knowledge, there is far more to the story....

far , far more.....

But again Kabbalah is HUGE....
and yes it is like an "index to Torah"
but it is also far more.

My apologies for harsh words...

I would agree that there are aspects of Kabbalah that can benefit a person's life. However, I don't see how one could call themselves a student of Kabbalah without obeying the commandments, or at least making an attempt to do so. Kabbalah as seen through the perspective of an observant mekubal is so much greater and so much sweeter to practice. A person who doesn't observe commandments and attempts to learn it will never grasp its essence.

 

[arimoff]

you've been practising kabbalah within a Jewish tradition for decades too huh?

or is it simply another case of someone online being an "expert"?

Are you the expert? I can for sure say you are not. Most of the Jewish traditions
among Ashkenazim and Sephardim are based on Kabbalah, if you would be that expert you would know that.

 

[Mr Cheese]

Are you the expert? I can for sure say you are not. Most of the Jewish traditions
among Ashkenazim and Sephardim are based on Kabbalah, if you would be that expert you would know that.

Yawn

you know what...until you and Knight actually have something to say as opposed to moaning...

geez....

I think I have already posted a sufficient amount of information that shows that I and the sources I am posting from have sufficient information for this forum and the conversations therein....

whereas all you and knight are posting is "no, thats not right"

to put it bluntly, hush children, unless you have somethign to say, the adults are talking!

I mean its not like many people are actually interested in kabbalah here....
maybe it because of ignorant rants such as your two's....oh and other similar rants outside this thread I have read on other Kabbalah posts....

please kindly refrain, unless you actually have anything of substance to say
In the end you only continue to reflect badly upon yourselves.
.............

"A person should see himself as if the Holy One dwells in his innards, as it says, 'The Holy One is in your midst'."

— Talmud Bavli (quoting Hosea 11:9)

​

"The secret meaning of the matter is that all worlds are a chariot (Merkavah) and a throne one to another. For the body is a garment and cover for the Nefesh (Instinctual Vital Self), the Nefesh for the Ru'ach (Conscious Self), the Ru'ach for the Neshamah (Higher Spirit Self) and the Neshamah for Him, may He be blessed, who dwells inside and in the midst of a person."​

— Chaim Vital (Etz Hada'at Tov)

​

"One needs to know that God's glory fills the whole earth and there is no place empty of Him. He fills all worlds and surrounds all worlds.....Without His divinity they would have no life and existence at all. The only limitation is that the lower the level the greater the Tzimtzum (contraction) of His divinity there, and the more it is clothed in layers of clothing."​

— (Meshivat Nefesh)

​

"Master of the Universe, who is near to those who call out to Him in truth, grant us the merit to know that You exist always, at all times, in each person and in every place. Even in the mot hidden depths of concealment. You are to be found there. For You in Your essence, are hidden among all concealed things in the World.....You are to be found there, for there is no place where You are absent.....Without You there is no life in anything in the world. Even all the K'lippot (Demonic Shards), all the impurities in the world, all of the Sitra Achra (Other Side [Evil Realm]) and all the concealing forces in the world which mask Your divinity, all of them only have the life and power which they receiver from Your essence."​

— Jacob Joseph Katz of Polonoye (Toldot Ya'akov Yosef)​

​

 

[habahaba]

I will know kabbalah its cool, I thank for the information.

 

[Mr Cheese]

ON THE SEFER YETZIRAH
_________________________________________________________________

by Gershom Scholem

"Speculation on the ma'aseh bere**** was given a unique form in a
book, small in size but enormous in influence, the Sefer Yezirah
("Book of Creation"), the earliest extant Hebrew text of systematic,
speculative thought. Its brevity - less than 2,000 words altogether
even in its longer version - allied to its obscure and at the same
time laconic and enigmatic style, as well as its terminology, have
no parallel in other works on related subjects. The result of all
these factors was that for over 1,000 years the book was expounded
in a great many different ways, and not even the scientific
investigations conducted during the 19th and 20th centuries
succeeded in arriving at unambiguous and final results.

Sefer Yezirah is extant in two versions: a shorter one which appears
in most editions as the book itself, and a longer version which is
sometimes printed as an appendix. Both versions were already in
existence in the tenth century and left their impreint on the
different types of the numerous manuscripts, the arliest of which
(from the 11th century?) was found in the Cairo Genizah and
published by A.M. Habermann (1947). In both versions the book is
divided into six chapters of mishnayot or halakhit, composed of
brief statements which present the author's argument dogmatically,
without any explanation or substantiation. The first chapter in
particular employs a sonorous, solemn vocabulary, close to that of
the Merkabah literature. Few biblical verses are quoted. Even when
their wording is identical, the different arrangement of the
mishnayot in the two versions and their resultant altered
relationship one with the other color the theoretical appreciation
of the ideas."

An excerpt of: Gershom Scholem, Kabbalah, New York: Meridian, 1978
(Jerusalem: Keter Publishing House, 1974), p. 23

 

[Zardoz]

It is disgraceful that Kabbalah would be classified outside the Judaism forum.

Sorry, I have to go with Jay on this one.

BTW, I've been exploring Kabbalah (all kinds) since '71 so I'm no stranger to it.

It's not that I think non-Jews will not benefit from study of Kabbalah, nor do I think that they can't have real insights into certain parts of it. I think they can gain much and contribute much. It's more that Kabbalah is purest at it's source, which is Judaism. It's an inseparable part of Judaism, in fact, to me.

 

[Mr Cheese]

Sorry, I have to go with Jay on this one.

BTW, I've been exploring Kabbalah (all kinds) since '71 so I'm no stranger to it.

It's not that I think non-Jews will not benefit from study of Kabbalah, nor do I think that they can't have real insights into certain parts of it. I think they can gain much and contribute much. It's more that Kabbalah is purest at it's source, which is Judaism. It's an inseparable part of Judaism, in fact, to me.

fascinating.....

now do you actually have anythign to contribute or are you just making another irrelivant comment, just like all the other naysayers?

considering pretty much everythign I have thus far posted has been Jewish...
some people need to put their money where their mouth is...or hush up

Oh and I was born a Jew!

It is not I that chose to put the forum here...

................

"A man who gains his understanding of the essentials of reality from books is called Chacham, a scholar. If he obtains it from Kabbalah, that is to say from one who has himself obtained it from the contemplation of the divine names or from another Kabbalist, then he is called Mevin, that is, one who has insight, but if his understanding is derived from his own heart, from reflecting upon what he knows of reality, then he is called Da'atan, that is, a gnostic. He whose understanding is such as to combine all three, to wit, scholarly erudition, insight obtained from a genuine Kabbalist, and wisdom from reflecting deeply upon things, of him I am not indeed going to say that he deserves to be called a prophet, especially if he has not yet been touched by the pure intellect, or if touched does not yet know by whom. If, however, he has felt the divine touch and perceived its nature, it seems right and proper to me and to every perfected man that he should be called 'master,' because his name is like the Name of his Master, be it only in one, or in many, or in all of His Names. For now he is no longer separated from his Master, and behold he is his Master and his Master is he; for he is so intimately adhering to Him, that he cannot by any means be separated from Him, for he is He. And just as his Master, who is detached form all matter, is called Sechel, Maskil and Muskal, that is the knowledge, the knower and the known, all at the same time, since all three are one in Him, so also he, the exalted man, the master of the exalted name, is called intellect, while he is actually knowing; then he is also the known, like his Master; and then there is no difference between them, except that his Master has His supreme rank by His own right and not derived from other creatures, while he is elevated to his rank by the intermediary of creatures."

— Anonymous (The Knowledge of the Messiah and the Meaning of the Redeemer)​

"He who wishes to know the secret of the connection of his soul above and the communion in his thought with the Supreme God, and to acquire by that continuous, uninterrupted thought the life of the world to come, and that God be always near him, in this life and the next—let him place before his eyes of his mind and his spirit the letters of the Unique Name, as if they are written before him in a book in scribal writing (Ashurit).....so that when he places the letters of the Unique Name before his eyes, your mind's eye and your heart's thought shall be in them, in the Infinite."

— Isaac of Acre (Me'irat Einayim)​

 

[Mr Cheese]

Books « Prayers and Reflections

kabbalah book list...updated with Abraham Abulafia section...

best avoid modern translations of abulafia's works (the new ones online) as they are overpriced and horribly translated....

A Kaplan's translations may one day be in print...

 

[Zardoz]

...now do you actually have anythign to contribute or are you just making another irrelivant comment, just like all the other naysayers?

considering pretty much everythign I have thus far posted has been Jewish...

Not irrelevant, but honestly I wasn't commenting on your actual posts but the overall situation here. Yes, your posts may be on the mark, but anyone else can make a thread here with a completely ungenuine 'kabbalah' and it would carry the same weight as your posts, as this forum is not under the Jewish auspices of being in a Jewish DIR.

As for contributing... well there are a few topics I'd like to post about, sure. That would have to wait until after I finish writing my drash on Job, and also a long long one so far on Joseph. Even then, I would likely post the Kaballah threads over in the Judaism DIR somewhere. Just how I feel.

Oh and I was born a Jew!

Yes, I know.

...It is not I that chose to put the forum here...

That's true of course.

 

[Smoke]

It is disgraceful that Kabbalah would be classified outside the Judaism forum.

I find that an extremely elitist comment

I don't. I think separating Kabbalah from Judaism is like separating the Eucharist from Christianity or the Sun Dance from Native American religion. When such things are wrenched from their religious and cultural context and adapted and reinterpreted in wholly new and alien ways, common decency makes it imperative that the reinterpreters, at the very least, make it clear that they are reinterpreters, rather than feigning continuity and appropriating a heritage that is not theirs.

However, that's also pretty much how I feel about Evangelical Christianity. At least the Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses have the decency to admit (and even celebrate) their divergence from historic Christianity.

 

[Mr Cheese]

I don't. I think separating Kabbalah from Judaism is like separating the Eucharist from Christianity or the Sun Dance from Native American religion. When such things are wrenched from their religious and cultural context and adapted and reinterpreted in wholly new and alien ways, common decency makes it imperative that the reinterpreters, at the very least, make it clear that they are reinterpreters, rather than feigning continuity and appropriating a heritage that is not theirs.

However, that's also pretty much how I feel about Evangelical Christianity. At least the Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses have the decency to admit (and even celebrate) their divergence from historic Christianity.

well Kabbalah is a syncretic thing...
as such it contains many elements besides just jewish ones!

be they Islam, Neoplatonism, pythagorean, Gnostic or anythign else...
so unlike the eucharist... Kabbalah is far from "just" Jewish...

But then in modern times there are those that still insist it it "just" Jewish...
largely this seperates those that just read about it, from those that actually participate in it...

 

[Mr Cheese]

:yes:If we consider what was said in the previous paragraph far for a moment, we would note that a "pillar" is a support, and that the two opposing "Pillars" on the Tree of Life, besides showing the opposites between which we have to find our ways, also represent that which are metaphorically the "supports" towards healthy living in this world. We need our "severities" and our "mercies." We need both reason and emotion, in our discovery of the meaning of being. Looking at "pillars" again we may note that anciently people used to plant staffs into the earth to act as markers or pointers to indicate the way leading to a search for destination. In fact, we do it to this day with road signs, etc. Staffs planted in the ground also indicate "the end of the race," and to those who observed cycles, the shadow of the staff indicated the movement of the sun, the moon and the stars.

Thus far we have referred to the two opposing "Pillars of Wisdom," but there is a third one, the "Middle Pillar of Balance," which is represented by all who combine, in a "sacred marriage" as it were, the opposing ways and principles within themselves, into what is called the "Way of the Mystic." So there are really three Pillars on the Tree of Life, with only the two outer Pillars of action shown, since they do exist as reality, but the Middle Pillar of Balance is in fact the Being who must combine these opposing ways into a true life experience.

William Gray wrote in "Concepts of Qabalah" (recently reissued as "Qabalistic Concepts") that: "so deeply had the theme of sacred pillars entered the human consciousness that they had become integral to most forms of worship one way or another. Though the Jews had been strictly forbidden to raise any sort of stone idol, they compromised in the Temple of Solomon by including two ornamental pillars as part of the architecture. These were in front of the Holy House...The right hand one was called Jachin (He shall establish) and the left one was Boaz (in it is Strength)..." He continues by indicating that "the background for the Tree of Life seemed best represented by a male and female pillar of two stylized palm trunks, one white for male and the other black for female....The Middle Pillar, however, would be a pure column of light represented by the stars, Sun and Moon, illuminating the Earth. It also symbolized the ‘Pillar of Fire by Night’ said to have guided the Israelites in their desert wanderings..." William Gray said that the "immediate message" of the three Pillars is: ".....the Golden Rule of Life. Between two extremities, always choose the Middle Way," and he concludes that "we can scarcely go very wrong if we keep that rule throughout our lives on earth. It was said the black Pillar consisted of Severity, the white one of Mercy, and the Middle Pillar of Mildness."


Having said all this, I now propose to speak to those who will think and feel with me in this discourse, because the way of realizing that which is essential to our existence, is between mind and body, both pushing the self, the "I", towards Divinity. I want to speak of human emotion. As you may well know already, "emotion" has been considered as something "evil" in the past, while in point of fact, it is the really evil beings who show no feeling in any way whatsoever, and manifest the most terrible coldness which nothing can conceal. Total lack of emotional feeling is about the worst symptom of psychopathic illness there is, accountable for diabolical crimes, because the perpetrator is utterly unable to feel the slightest sense of "wrongness" anywhere. It is the opposite evil to hyper emotionalism, where everything is felt so intensely that consciousness itself is agony. That is why the Kabbalistic Middle Pillar of the Golden Way is always the ideal path to follow...if you can!

Talking of the Three Ways linked to the Three Pillars on the Tree of Life, William Gray wrote: "One could call them the Pillars of Pain, Pleasure and Peace. Our whole lives are mostly formed by bouncing between these ‘pillars’ and trying to keep a central course between them, so they are an excellent symbol of an average human’s progress. From an occult viewpoint however, these Pillars indicate the three broad paths of spiritual dedication by which initiated souls seek ultimate light. Most of us are mainly on one particular Path, but it is possible to find elements of all three in some who have varied their approaches from one incarnation to another."

William Gray described each of the three Paths, represented by the three Pillars, quite simply and beautifully in his writings, indicating that there is:


1. the "Hermetic Path (Black Pillar)...named from Hermes Trismegistus (the Thrice-Great) who is the old ‘Initiator’ from whom the Mystery teachings of the West are reputedly derived. This is the path mostly followed by ritualists who prefer formalized and intellectual ways of working. It is the way of caution, scientific application, and painstaking research..."


2. the "Orphic Path (White Pillar), so called from Orpheus, patron of joyous living and popular music. This is the Path for nature-loving...people who do not take kindly to discipline and restrained behaviour because someone else dictates how they ought to behave. Here we find spontaneity and exuberance contrasted with deep tragedy and heartbreak. This is the Path of emotion and pure unguarded feeling."


William Gray indicated that "very often souls are drawn to the (Orphic) Path in youth and gradually change over to the Hermetic Path in later life." However we must also look at the third Way of Wisdom, which William Gray indicated is:

the "Mystic Path (Middle Gold Pillar)...the hardest Path of all for a human to attempt and relatively few may expect more than initial progress here. It is the Path of sheer single-minded self-sacrificing (in the real sense) devotion to deity however idealized, which gives all to attain nothing. No one unprepared to ‘suffer for the cause’ should devote themselves to this Path unthinkingly. It is a Path usually undertaken by souls who have had long experience of the other two in former incarnations and have reached a stage of development where they know the risks and problems involved, and are willing to launch themselves lightward in a final fling for liberation into Perfect Peace Profound. It is a Path for Avatars and Sacred Kings."

 

[Mr Cheese]

A
s indicated earlier, the Middle Way is best and may to some degree be implemented already in our lives by attempting to "marry" the two opposing Pillars as it were, within ones own being. This is done by finding the way between thinking and feeling, using both rationality and emotion, seeking out both the loftiest realms of the reasoning self, as well as the deepest recesses of the instinctual self, and in so doing, bring about the "Way of Peace," a task which must be achieved singly and independently by each individual who chooses this way of life. No-one can bring any individual who follows this path to a state of self-realization. It must be achieved personally by that individual. We can be companions, sharing with each other, and providing the necessary support and love, but that is all.
A Companion is one who celebrates Life with you, since you share one of the most wonderful possessions, which is true fellowship and a common share or interest with everything in Life. Here one would talk of "Communion" or a Common Union, a union of souls, which is so much more than communication which is from mind to mind, a union of only minds or intellects. Communion does not depend on words, though these may accompany the act, whereas communication does depend on words, whether any spiritual feelings are roused by them or not.

In both Communion and Communication one shares something, but soul sharing is certainly much more wonderful than word sharing, because that is the sharing of something common to all, resulting in a union or an act of uniting. Do you sense the sexual implications? But this is not necessarily physical at all. In any event, the "-ion" suffix in the word "Communion" denotes state, condition, action, and in terms of the Sangreal, means the unification of all Companions into a common state, condition and action. As in Communion there is also a unification in Companion, coming from "-com" meaning with, union, combination, completeness, to hold together, and "panis" which means bread.

"Panis" has a stem "pa-" which means to feed. The word "bread," linked to the idea of feeding, comes from an Aryan root meaning bubble, boil, spurt, which occurs in many words like "bourn" where the idea is the bubbling of water; "burn" where the idea is a spring of water; "brew" where the idea is to boil, babble or ferment; "brood" where the idea is to warm or boil; "breed" where the idea is to produce offspring or give rise to, and another word from this root is "fervent," where the idea is to boil, glow, foam, rage, and gives a good understanding of its meaning as ardent and intense. All this applies very well to Companions, those who fervently share or unite their lives, bubbling up from the Primal Stream or Ocean of the Great Mother, into a spring of Collective Consciousness, resulting in an Entity, a Sangreal, who feeds them and is fed by them.

Probably one can say fairly accurately that Companions have Compassion for Life and Its activities. Compassion is something to be thankful for, and can only exist between people in absolute harmony with each other, as companions are in their communion. Like Companion and communion, the word "Compassion" has the prefix "com-" implying union or together, coming from the Latin "cum-" meaning "with," but it can also mean completeness as in "comficere," which means to finish off.

On the other hand the "com-" prefix can mean "common," and here we see that Compassion means Common Passion, or shall we say the Compassion between Companions of the Western Inner Way means Fellow-Feeling, sympathy and pity with the desire to help and to relieve. The "passion" of "Compassion" can mean a suffering, an emotion or an affection, and again one thinks of pity. Immediately I state that your "pity" should always be "piety," since that is what pity actually means. Piety comes from roots indicating a dutiful conduct towards the gods, filial respect and affection shown to what and whom one belongs with, and in general piety implies duty, honour, devotion and loyalty. To me, true Compassion or Fellow-Feeling would dutifully respect the god within what you are feeling with, and then to give the service inspired by the feeling of duty, honour, devotion, etc.
In all this there is pain. There is the suffering of "passion." There is pain in mercy, pain in love, and pain in sympathy. Sympathy is really the word to explain the pain of compassion, because it is made up of two words "sym" and "pathos." "Sym-" like "com" means together or with, and a further meaning is balance. "Pathos" is that quality in human life and experience evoking a sense of sorrow and piety. In sympathy there is pain but above all this pain is absolutely and exactly the harmonizing element, because sympathy is a harmony of feeling, a spiritual harmony. There is deep understanding beyond words in compassion and sympathy. Sharing, tenderness, condolence and consolation.


Sympathy is the correlation existing between the completely, perfectly tuned and vibrating lives of the Companions of the Western Way, and the Inner Awarenesses or "vibrations" of the one are transmitted indirectly to the other through the medium of their folk soul, the Sangreal, their common Blood bond. What is more they possess a mercifulness towards Life in that they would like Life to be what It Wills within Itself and them. Interesting that the word "Mercy" comes from the Latin "merces" meaning to pay, reward and favour. If you truly understand you would know exactly how to pay and reward, or how to extend your favours. Of course you will aid and assist, and sometimes you assist more by allowing a person his pain so that he may be relieved of it. When you have compassion with someone, you would not hesitate to allow pain to that person. If you truly understand, you would know that more pain is sometimes needed to relieve sufferers from pain, and relieve means to raise, lighten, alleviate and liberate.

I know most people call pain severity. I feel differently about the matter. It is true that whereas mercy and compassion unite, severity separates, but they are inseparable like the two sides of a door that opens and shuts. What is more, they are sometimes indistinguishable, because pain unites them.

--J Swart

 

[Mr Cheese]

"As the hand before the eye conceals the greatest mountain, so the
little earthly life hides...the enormous lights and mysteries of
which the world is full."

- Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav

 

[arcanum]

whew getting a little hot in here! I'm no expert on the kabbalah or judiasm but I do think that it has elements that are not entirely Jewish.I suspect the seeds were sown during that fertile Hellenistic time in Palestine were many idea's were exchanged from all over the empire.The trunk of the tree may be jewish but i'm not so sure about roots,as there is probably some egyptian and neoplatonism influences as well.:run:

 

[Mr Cheese]

whew getting a little hot in here! I'm no expert on the kabbalah or judiasm but I do think that it has elements that are not entirely Jewish.I suspect the seeds were sown during that fertile Hellenistic time in Palestine were many idea's were exchanged from all over the empire.The trunk of the tree may be jewish but i'm not so sure about roots,as there is probably some egyptian and neoplatonism influences as well.:run:

Yes and more besides...
however the word is not coined until the 11th century in spain, by a Jew
and is actually today used for any form of Jewish mystical practise (and shock horror to many, Jewish magical practise)...and not just Jewish...

this includes most famously the use of the Etz Chaim (tree of life), biblical(torah) commentary, gematria and other numerological related study/practices, meditation, the use of God names and much much more....

Its main, or major roots are arguably found in the chariot and palaces mysticism... which arguably was a product of a form of Judaism( essentially a sect) that arguably no longer exists... Although, nothing, includign Jewish sects, really die, they just change and evole, and get incorporated etc etc etc etc etc

 

[Raymond Sigrist]

Hi Mr. Cheese
Thanks for not being put off by the critics. I like to read with a post-modern perspective. If the text is useful for me, it is authentic for me. I don't need to have it authenticated by the established experts. I find what you have written to be quite useful.
ciao,
raymond