Jewish Kaballah Meditation

[Doc Stier]

Dancing with Angels: Meditation and the Bible

http://home.utah.edu/~rfs4/jkm.htm

Doc

[Doc Stier]

Excerpts from "KABBALAH: GETTING BACK TO THE GARDEN" by Marcia Montenegro

"Kabbalah is a body of mystical and esoteric beliefs based on commentaries on the Torah, the first five books of Hebrew Scripture. The term Kabbalah comes from a Hebrew root word... 'to receive.' According to Jewish Talmudic teachings, the secrets of the Kabbalah are to be 'carefully controlled.' Rabbi Cooper says that Jewish mysticism satisfies a need for a 'connection with the great unknown; we want to experience the secrets of other realities and the meaning of life.'

"The Kabbalah 'discusses angels and demons, souls’ journeys after death, reincarnation, resurrection, and the goal of achieving messianic consciousness.' .... It is not about rote obedience of laws and commands, but is rather a spiritual tool to enable us to regain unity with God, 'to re-enter the Eden from which we were exiled.'

"'Linear, mechanistic ways of rational thought need to be set aside in order to fully grasp Kabbalah teachings. Yehuda Berg states that Kabbalah is the 'hidden wisdom' that has been kept secret for centuries but now this teaching is coming into the open for a society fraught with social and spiritual problems."

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[Doc Stier]

Kabbalah: Getting Back To The Garden

"In Kabbalah, the Creator is Ein Sof, which literally means 'endless.' ... Ein Sof pervades all creation, so that even a stone has divinity; In Kabbalah, The Shekinah is sometimes called Eden, and the Torah is the Garden where God hid the light. By becoming vessels of light, we can regain Eden."

"In contrast, the Bible teaches that it is God who will redeem all creation."

"Various accounts of creation are given One is that Ein Sof emanated a spark, 'from which emerged and radiated all light' and this constituted the upper world. A lower world was created from a light 'without brightness,' which represents a lower consciousness."

"Kabbalah teaches that God’s blessings flow to the world through the Tree of Life when there is ethical behavior among humans."

http://www.crossroad.to/images/extra/Kabbal1.jpg

"Evil actions disrupt the union of the sefirot, and empower demonic activity. God and humankind are interdependent.... Thus, we are 'co-creators with God'..."

"According to Kabbalah, a person must metaphorically and spiritually ascend the 10 points of the Tree of Life to reunite with the Divine. As one increases his or her spiritual capabilities, one increases the capacity to contain more of the Light pouring down through these 10 emanations, and so draws nearer to the Creator.... Thus, the Tree of Life both symbolizes the Divine Being, and offers the way back for humans to be reunited with the source from whence we came."

"Kabbalah... is not about worship or belief, but rather 'becomes a direct path of communion between the individual and the Divine.' The Tree of Life and the sefirot have been used in New Age and occult teachings, and aligned with occult tools such as the Tarot. Indeed, the Kabbalah has been a basis for Western occult teaching for several centuries, though it should be noted that many Kabbalists and traditional Kabbalist rabbis do not sanction such activity."

Edited by Doc Stier

[Doc Stier]

Excerpts from Kabbalah: Getting Back To The Garden

http://www.eso-garden.com/images/uploads_bilder/learning_kabbalah_1.jpg

"In Kabbalah, Adam and Eve are viewed as symbols of male and female energy, and as metaphor for the 'Primordial Vessel', whose existence came before creation, thus encompassing all the souls of humanity to come. The presence of the Serpent, considered a fragmenting force, was necessary for creation; otherwise, all would unite with God. This gave man the opportunity of earning the Light on his own."

"One of the hidden meanings of the story is that there are two Gardens of Eden, one above, and one below, and reuniting these two Gardens is the goal of humankind."

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"...everything, including evil, has divine nature. Adam and Eve took a second bite of the fruit, done out of self-serving motives, thus short-circuiting their ability to receive the fullness of the Creator’s Light and moving them back to the material level with a knowledge of death and evil. God’s command that Adam must now work the land was not literal; rather, it meant that he must 'rebuild the Vessel of yourself through your own work in the world'...."

"When a critical mass of humanity spiritually advances, it tips the scale in favor of all humanity, and will bring us back to a connection with the immortality we had before the fall. We all have sparks of the Divine and are shards, albeit broken ones, of the original Vessel in the Garden. We can fix ourselves, regain what was lost....!"

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"Our days spent doing good deeds are woven into a 'Garment of Splendor' that will clothe the soul as it enters God’s Presence in the world to come."

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"...there are three ways to ascend to higher consciousness: 1) study and scrutiny of behavior; 2) seclusion, contemplation, and soul-searching; and 3) having a constant awareness of the implications of everything one does...."

Abridged and edited by Doc Stier

[Doc Stier]

The 72 Names of God or Shem Ha Mephorash

http://www.newthoughtkabbalah.com/72name1.jpg

Kabbalah teaches that every human being shares the same ultimate purpose in life, which is to receive the complete joy and fulfillment that God desires for us. But while this is easy to say, true spiritual work is needed to remove the negative tendencies that separate us from life’s gifts. And as we undertake this work, our souls need technical support, as would a computer or any other highly sensitive mechanism.

One of Kabbalah’s most important teachings is that we are not alone in life’s tasks. There are powerful tools to help us, including the Bible itself. Kabbalah teaches that the Bible is neither a topic for academic study nor a book of commandments and prohibitions meant to be taken literally. Rather, the Bible is a coded document in which the true underpinnings of the universe lie hidden — including the amazing spiritual technology known as the 72 Names of God.

What exactly are the 72 Names? According to Kabbalistic teachings, 72 unique combinations of Hebrew letters from Chapter 14 of the book of Exodus create a spiritual vibration that is a powerful antidote to the negative energy of the human ego. This revelation is a crucial step forward in the work of Kabbalistic masters over thousands of years.

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Each succeeding generation of sages has advanced the task of decoding the Bible — each building on the work of those who came before, each making its own contribution to Kabbalistic wisdom. The purpose and commitment of the Kabbalah Centre is to continue this work. Kabbalistic scholar Yehuda Berg devoted five years to researching and discovering the concealed meanings of the combinations of letters that comprise the 72 Names. Their revelation has been a breakthrough in the centuries-long history of Kabbalah.

The key to connecting with the power of the Names is found in the specific biblical passages from which they are derived. As the Bible describes, 600,000 Israelites stood on the banks of the Red Sea. Pharaoh and the Egyptian army were in pursuit. With the water in front of them and their enemies behind them, there seemed to be nowhere the Israelites could turn. They could only cry out to God for salvation. And what did the Creator say in response to their cries? This is one of the most carefully studied and debated passages in all biblical scholarship. The reply was: "Why are you calling out to me?"

But whom could the Israelites call upon if not God? The Kabbalists explain that the passage is an encrypted message explaining the secret of human nature and the way to overcome the challenges we face throughout our lives.

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In its commentary on this passage, the Zohar, the source of Kabbalistic wisdom, explains that there was no need for the Creator's help — because at that moment Moses revealed the 72 Names, and the collective consciousness of the people was elevated. But not a single molecule of water moved until the people had physically moved forward into the sea with unwavering certainty. Only when they were neck-deep in the waves — and still maintained complete certainty that the water would part — did the sea part to give them a passage to freedom.

As the Zohar makes clear, the purpose of the 72 Names is hidden in the story in which they are found. The Names are a tool to help humanity gain control over chaos by controlling physical nature. By their use of the 72 Names, the Israelites overcame the ego-based negativity of doubt and thus changed the nature of water until it no longer flowed. According to Kabbalah, humanity is destined to have control over physical nature; the only obstacle is our ego. Overcoming ego at its very foundation brings control of the physical world, and that is the purpose of the INSTRUMENT THAT IS THE 72 NAMES.

The Zohar further explains that, despite what we might believe, our ego is not actually who we are. Rather, the Kabbalists describe the ego it as a garment, a curtain that hides the Light of our genuine selves. Our purpose in this world is to remove the garment that conceals our true essence and potential.

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