kabbalah3

K a b b a l a h

What do Kabbalists do?

The Tree of Life is not just a set of symbols in the mind but also a plan of the esoteric human body. The pipes or channels which run around it are shown here in their context. The sefiroth are the nodes and the paths between them are the channels. The emphasis is on keeping these channels clear or pure. You have to be careful what you connect to and that is why there are rules about diet and purity in Judaism.

If all goes well, you can open up to the higher worlds and some good things will flow down from them. You also have to close off to evil. That is why I started with the ethics applicable to non-Jews.

Kavannah means to act with intention or consciousness. You are not on automatic pilot. Where you place your attention is where your energy will flow and energy is exactly what flows between the worlds. Meditation will help to develop mindfulness and there are specific Kabbalistic meditations which can be practised.

Tikkun olam or repairing the world is an aim of Judaism and Kabbalah. In Lurianic Kabbalah, it was taught that God contracted part of himself into vessels of light in order to create the world. These vessels shattered and their pieces became shards of light trapped within material creation. They can be released by prayer and by contemplation of the Sefiroth. The aim of Tikkun is integration.

Kabbalah teaches that there are Four Worlds. In descending order, they are Atziluth (Emanation), Briah (Creation), Yetzirah (Formation) and Assiah (Action or Experience). Physical events take place in the World of Action. Mental events take place in the World of Formation. These are the two main Worlds we operate in as humans but the higher worlds are also accessible.

Coming down towards the manifest, the elemental attributes of the worlds are Fire, Air, Water and Earth. The planets are attributed to the sefiroth in the World of Action. The angelic orders are attributed to the sefiroth in the World of Formation. The Archangels are attributed to the sefiroth in the World of Creation. The gods are attributed to the sefiroth in the World of Emanation. Of course, this is monotheistic - the gods mean the forms in which the one God manifests in each of the sefiroth. (There are many names of God in the Bible.)