General Discussions => Spirituality => Topic started by: Anatta on February 19, 2013, 10:31:25 PM Return to Full Version
Title: Kabbalah
Post by: Anatta on February 19, 2013, 10:31:25 PM
Post by: Anatta on February 19, 2013, 10:31:25 PM
Kia Ora,
This is in the spiritual section because even though Kabbalah is an ancient Hebrew mysticism, there has been Christian kabbalists [I think they spell it differently] I read somewhere that Sir Isaac Newton was one ... So if you didn't know much about this ancient Hebrew mysticism , after reading this you should understand a 'bit' more...However to understand it fully you must master the Zohar the foundational work in the literature of Jewish mystical thought known as Kabbalah..
From what I gather non Jews can study it but for the most part it's a Jewish thing, unless that is one goes to one of the New age Kabbalah centres where its doors are open to all, including the likes of Madonna and Britney...
I personally found the part about how Kabbalist view the ego interesting...Very similar to Buddhist thought...But that's where the similarities end and the god-concept begins so to speak...But interesting all the same...
You learn something new everyday...Anyhow...These are snippets from various sources...So enjoy...
WHAT IS KABBALAH?
The word Kabbalah means many different things to many different people. In a nutshell, it is an ancient wisdom that reveals how the universe and life work. On a literal level, the word Kabbalah means "receiving." It's the study of how to receive fulfilment in our lives.
Kabbalah is an ancient yet entirely new paradigm for living. It teaches that all of the branches of our lives - health, relationships, business - emanate from the same trunk and the same root. It's the technology of how the universe works at the core level. It's a whole new way of looking at the world that can connect you to the kind of permanent fulfilment you may be seeking.
ANCIENT WISDOM
Approximately 4,000 years ago, a set of spiritual principles was communicated to humanity in a moment of divine revelation. These ancient revelations unlock all the mysteries of humanity; the secret code that governs the universe. It's the grand unified theory pursued by Einstein. It's an incredible system of logic and a phenomenal technology that can alter the way you view your life. It is the oldest sacred document in existence, filled with wisdom. This extraordinary, powerful set of tools is known as Kabbalah - the original instruction manual for life.
THE SECRET REVEALED
The teachings upon which the Kabbalah is based have existed from the beginning of time, but the first written record of it is called The Book of Formation. This ancient document, written 4,000 years ago, attempts to help us to understand the secrets of our universe, but if we were to open it and try to understand our lives and why things often don't go our way, we would have a hard time deciphering any meaning.
For centuries, the study of Kabbalah was conducted only among scholarly Jewish men over the age of forty, and forbidden to all others. But it was not easy for them. Scorned by the religious establishment for their efforts to make Kabbalah and the teaching of the Zohar available to men from all walks of life, many were tortured and their lives were ruined.
Kabbalah is not a religion, it's not dogmatic, and it's not a belief system that you have to buy into. Even more importantly, it's not anyone's personal opinion of how the universe works. It's simply timeless knowledge whose time has finally come.
Generally speaking, Kabbalah is divided into three categories: the theoretical, which concerns itself primarily with the inner dimensions of reality; the spiritual worlds, souls, angels, and the like, and the meditative, where the goal is to train the person who is studying to reach higher elevated meditative states of consciousness and, perhaps, even a state of prophecy through employing the Divine names, letter permutations, and so forth. The third type of Kabbalah is the magical, which concerns itself with altering and influencing the course of nature. It also uses the Divine names, incantations, amulets, magical seals and various other mystical exercises
'
The purpose of the Kabbalah is fraught with misconceptions. A popular misunderstanding is that the study of Kabbalah is meant to transform one into a psychic, or perhaps a clairvoyant, capable of miraculous and otherworldly abilities. This, however, is a misconception. The ultimate purpose in the study of Kabbalah is the perfection of the Self. Making the Self into a better, more expanded individual, more transcendent, more attuned to the essence and roots of one's soul, this is what Kabbalah comes to offer those who truly wish to receive it.
The Ego / False Sense of Self, as the Source of all Negative Emotions
It is the ego which give rise to all negative emotions. For example, when a person becomes angry, it is the ego's way of showing its objection that it is not happy. The ego, when it feels it is threatened, is the one who protests: 'how can you do this to me,' which arouses the anger. The fear of annihilation is the constant condition with regards to the ego. Anger is but a manifestation of a person preoccupation with his imaginary presumptions of survival. The total involvement with the illusory 'self' is the root of all negative emotions.
The nature of the Divine prompted kabbalists to envision two aspects to God: (a) God in essence, absolutely transcendent, unknowable, limitless Divine simplicity, and (b) God in manifestation, the revealed persona of God through which He creates and sustains and relates to mankind. Kabbalists speak of the first as Ein/Ayn Sof (אין סוף "the infinite/endless", literally "that which has no limits"). Of the impersonal Ein Sof nothing can be grasped. The second aspect of Divine emanations, however, are accessible to human perception, dynamically interacting throughout spiritual and physical existence, reveal the Divine immanently, and are bound up in the life of man. Kabbalists believe that these two aspects are not contradictory but complement one another, emanations revealing the concealed mystery from within the Godhead.
A few links that you might be interested in
http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/170308/jewish/What-is-Kabbalah.htm (http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/170308/jewish/What-is-Kabbalah.htm)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabbalah#Modern_era_traditional_Kabbalah (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabbalah#Modern_era_traditional_Kabbalah)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabbalah_Centre#Controversy_and_criticism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabbalah_Centre#Controversy_and_criticism)
Metta Zenda :)
This is in the spiritual section because even though Kabbalah is an ancient Hebrew mysticism, there has been Christian kabbalists [I think they spell it differently] I read somewhere that Sir Isaac Newton was one ... So if you didn't know much about this ancient Hebrew mysticism , after reading this you should understand a 'bit' more...However to understand it fully you must master the Zohar the foundational work in the literature of Jewish mystical thought known as Kabbalah..
From what I gather non Jews can study it but for the most part it's a Jewish thing, unless that is one goes to one of the New age Kabbalah centres where its doors are open to all, including the likes of Madonna and Britney...
I personally found the part about how Kabbalist view the ego interesting...Very similar to Buddhist thought...But that's where the similarities end and the god-concept begins so to speak...But interesting all the same...
You learn something new everyday...Anyhow...These are snippets from various sources...So enjoy...
WHAT IS KABBALAH?
The word Kabbalah means many different things to many different people. In a nutshell, it is an ancient wisdom that reveals how the universe and life work. On a literal level, the word Kabbalah means "receiving." It's the study of how to receive fulfilment in our lives.
Kabbalah is an ancient yet entirely new paradigm for living. It teaches that all of the branches of our lives - health, relationships, business - emanate from the same trunk and the same root. It's the technology of how the universe works at the core level. It's a whole new way of looking at the world that can connect you to the kind of permanent fulfilment you may be seeking.
ANCIENT WISDOM
Approximately 4,000 years ago, a set of spiritual principles was communicated to humanity in a moment of divine revelation. These ancient revelations unlock all the mysteries of humanity; the secret code that governs the universe. It's the grand unified theory pursued by Einstein. It's an incredible system of logic and a phenomenal technology that can alter the way you view your life. It is the oldest sacred document in existence, filled with wisdom. This extraordinary, powerful set of tools is known as Kabbalah - the original instruction manual for life.
THE SECRET REVEALED
The teachings upon which the Kabbalah is based have existed from the beginning of time, but the first written record of it is called The Book of Formation. This ancient document, written 4,000 years ago, attempts to help us to understand the secrets of our universe, but if we were to open it and try to understand our lives and why things often don't go our way, we would have a hard time deciphering any meaning.
For centuries, the study of Kabbalah was conducted only among scholarly Jewish men over the age of forty, and forbidden to all others. But it was not easy for them. Scorned by the religious establishment for their efforts to make Kabbalah and the teaching of the Zohar available to men from all walks of life, many were tortured and their lives were ruined.
Kabbalah is not a religion, it's not dogmatic, and it's not a belief system that you have to buy into. Even more importantly, it's not anyone's personal opinion of how the universe works. It's simply timeless knowledge whose time has finally come.
Generally speaking, Kabbalah is divided into three categories: the theoretical, which concerns itself primarily with the inner dimensions of reality; the spiritual worlds, souls, angels, and the like, and the meditative, where the goal is to train the person who is studying to reach higher elevated meditative states of consciousness and, perhaps, even a state of prophecy through employing the Divine names, letter permutations, and so forth. The third type of Kabbalah is the magical, which concerns itself with altering and influencing the course of nature. It also uses the Divine names, incantations, amulets, magical seals and various other mystical exercises
'
The purpose of the Kabbalah is fraught with misconceptions. A popular misunderstanding is that the study of Kabbalah is meant to transform one into a psychic, or perhaps a clairvoyant, capable of miraculous and otherworldly abilities. This, however, is a misconception. The ultimate purpose in the study of Kabbalah is the perfection of the Self. Making the Self into a better, more expanded individual, more transcendent, more attuned to the essence and roots of one's soul, this is what Kabbalah comes to offer those who truly wish to receive it.
The Ego / False Sense of Self, as the Source of all Negative Emotions
It is the ego which give rise to all negative emotions. For example, when a person becomes angry, it is the ego's way of showing its objection that it is not happy. The ego, when it feels it is threatened, is the one who protests: 'how can you do this to me,' which arouses the anger. The fear of annihilation is the constant condition with regards to the ego. Anger is but a manifestation of a person preoccupation with his imaginary presumptions of survival. The total involvement with the illusory 'self' is the root of all negative emotions.
The nature of the Divine prompted kabbalists to envision two aspects to God: (a) God in essence, absolutely transcendent, unknowable, limitless Divine simplicity, and (b) God in manifestation, the revealed persona of God through which He creates and sustains and relates to mankind. Kabbalists speak of the first as Ein/Ayn Sof (אין סוף "the infinite/endless", literally "that which has no limits"). Of the impersonal Ein Sof nothing can be grasped. The second aspect of Divine emanations, however, are accessible to human perception, dynamically interacting throughout spiritual and physical existence, reveal the Divine immanently, and are bound up in the life of man. Kabbalists believe that these two aspects are not contradictory but complement one another, emanations revealing the concealed mystery from within the Godhead.
A few links that you might be interested in
http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/170308/jewish/What-is-Kabbalah.htm (http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/170308/jewish/What-is-Kabbalah.htm)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabbalah#Modern_era_traditional_Kabbalah (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabbalah#Modern_era_traditional_Kabbalah)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabbalah_Centre#Controversy_and_criticism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabbalah_Centre#Controversy_and_criticism)
Metta Zenda :)
Title: Re: Kabbalah
Post by: Kia on February 20, 2013, 06:27:43 PM
Post by: Kia on February 20, 2013, 06:27:43 PM
Some interesting books on Kabbalah here:http://sacred-texts.com/jud/index.htm
that site also has other cool stuff.
Since Kabbalah is so old and Judaism is the original Abrahamaic religion a lot of Christian and even Islamic mysticism is related to it. Kabbalah has influenced Gnosticism, Hermeticism, and all sorts of mystical/occult thinking of Europe and the Near East. I will say this though a lot of Kabbalah is based in Hebrew and the languages versatility, Kabbalists have a lot of different ways to read the Tanahk which doesn't come out in translation, also a good majority of the practice is taught orally meaning you would need a teacher.
A professor I had was a rabbi, was raised Hasidic and was a Kabbalist and he had an interesting insight on Judaism and Kabbalah. He said the belief goes that YHVH (Adonai, God) created the universe but it was incomplete. The Jews were chosen to be the people who are to finish creation, complete God if you will. So much of Jewish practice is completing the aspects of creation through prayer, meditation, sacrafice, service and all that. The Kabbalic practices are like detail work on creation, fine tuning of the machine. The reason why Kabbalah is supposed to be for older people is because they have a defined base in Jewish theology, practice and tradition; also there's sexual reasons as older Jewish men would have wives that can help with sacred sexual aspects (which are prevalent in all mystical traditions). I just thought it was cool but of course I'm no expert or Kabbalist just a wacko mystic enthusiast
that site also has other cool stuff.
Quotethere has been Christian kabbalists [I think they spell it differently] I read somewhere that Sir Isaac Newton was one ...
Since Kabbalah is so old and Judaism is the original Abrahamaic religion a lot of Christian and even Islamic mysticism is related to it. Kabbalah has influenced Gnosticism, Hermeticism, and all sorts of mystical/occult thinking of Europe and the Near East. I will say this though a lot of Kabbalah is based in Hebrew and the languages versatility, Kabbalists have a lot of different ways to read the Tanahk which doesn't come out in translation, also a good majority of the practice is taught orally meaning you would need a teacher.
A professor I had was a rabbi, was raised Hasidic and was a Kabbalist and he had an interesting insight on Judaism and Kabbalah. He said the belief goes that YHVH (Adonai, God) created the universe but it was incomplete. The Jews were chosen to be the people who are to finish creation, complete God if you will. So much of Jewish practice is completing the aspects of creation through prayer, meditation, sacrafice, service and all that. The Kabbalic practices are like detail work on creation, fine tuning of the machine. The reason why Kabbalah is supposed to be for older people is because they have a defined base in Jewish theology, practice and tradition; also there's sexual reasons as older Jewish men would have wives that can help with sacred sexual aspects (which are prevalent in all mystical traditions). I just thought it was cool but of course I'm no expert or Kabbalist just a wacko mystic enthusiast