Kabbalah ......Understanding God.

The Kabbalah describes God as Ein Sof, which in Hebrew means "without end."  The Kabbalah shows us God’s essence. First we need to understand that nothing will bring God's reality closer to our understanding.  God is Ein Sof which is indefinable.

The human mind which is our most important and God-like organ and is where we  communicate with the divine Creator.  God is termed Bal Tachlis because God is not bound in any way shape or form.  Communicating with God is known as the Divine Hanhaga.  It is how we perceive God's interaction with the universe, which, of course, is contained in the rules and laws of the Torah.

Studying and gaining an understanding of the Hanhaga helps to develop a sense of the Divine will of God from an Earthly prospective. This is the study of Kabbalah.

Images @ Eminpee Fotography

EIN SOF

A beginning in understanding the Kabbalah ..

The Kabalistic term for the Deity prior to His self-manifestation in the production of the world, probably derived from Ibn Gabirol's term, "The Endless One" (she-en lo tiklah).

gif of ein sof: emanation theory (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It was first used by Azriel ben Menahem, who, sharing the Neoplatonic view that God can have no desire, thought, word, or action, emphasized by it the negation of any attribute.

Jewish views on astrology (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Zohar explains the term "En Sof" as follows:

"Before He gave any shape to the world, before He produced any form, He was alone, without form and without resemblance to anything else.

Who then can comprehend how He was before the Creation?

Hence it is forbidden to lend Him any form or similitude, or even to call Him by His sacred name, or to indicate Him by a single letter or a single point. . . .

But after He created the form of the Heavenly Man [ ], He used him as a chariot  [] wherein to descend, and He wishes to be called after His form, which is the sacred name 'Yhwh'"

(part ii., section "Bo," 42b). In other words, "En Sof" signifies "the nameless being."  Jewish Encyclopedia 

The three letters composing the word "En" () indicate the first three purely spiritual Sefirot.

"Any name of God which is found in the Bible can not be applied to the Deity prior to His self-manifestation in the Creation, because the letters of those names were produced only after the emanation."

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The Mystery of Daath

Tree of life with the ten Sephiroth and the 22 Hebrew characters as they are presented in the Sefer Yetzirah (Book of Formation) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In the branch of Jewish mysticism known as Kabbalah, Da'at is the location (the mystical state) where all ten sephirot in the Tree of Life are united as one.

In Da'at, all sephirot exist in their perfected state of infinite sharing. The three sephirot of the left column that would receive and conceal the Divine Light, instead share and reveal it.

Divine Light depicted by M Peters 2013

Since all sephirot radiate infinite self-giving Divine Light, it is no longer possible to distinguish one sephira from another, thus they are one.

Da'at is not always depicted in representations of the sefirot, and could in a sense be considered an "empty slot" into which the gem of any other sefirot can be placed.

 Qabalistic Tree of Life In the Golden Dawn tradition the Emperor is associated with path 15, and the Star with path 28. However, my tradition is not that of the Golden Dawn. My tradition is from the Gareth Knight, Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki, Servants of the Light lineage, which places the Emperor on path 28, and the Star on path 15. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Properly, the Divine Light is always shining, but not all humans can see it. The concealment or revelation of the Divine Light shining through Da'at does not actually happen in Da'at itself.

It only seems that way from the human perspective within Malkuth. The perception of change can only occur in Malkuth.

Humans who become self-giving like the Light become able to see it, and for them the benefits of Da'at's light seem "revealed". However, humans who remain selfish cannot see it, and for them its benefits seem "hidden".  Wikipedia


Images @ Eminpee Fotography- Divine Light Disc

Aiq Bekar -The Kabalah of Nine Chambers.

hebrew alphabet stencil (Photo credit: Shira Golding)

The system of temurah known as Aiq Bekar divides the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet into a grid of 9 chambers with their numerical values:

    Sh    L     G             R     K     B            Q     Y     A

   300   30     3            200    20     2          100    10     1

    M     S     V              K     N     H            Th     M     D

   600   60     6            500    50     5           400    40     4

    Tz    Tz    T              P     P    Ch            N     O     Z

   900    90    9            800    80     8          700    70     7

This grid is then used as the template from which to permutate words, which are either expanded or minimized.

 

In Hebrew, the word for man is ADM, adam. This is not an individual man, rather it represents humanity as a whole, mankind. The Hebrew letters enumerate to the number 45.

Using the Aiq Bekar grid, the word ADM may be permuted into the word AMTh (emeth), which means Truth and has the value of 441.

Tree of life with auras (Photo credit: anselm23)

Using this system, the Kabalah indicates that Man embodies Truth, and that Truth is in fact in Man.
 The  pentagram symbol also appears in Egyptian hieroglyphics, associated with the Goddess Sopdet, who was represented in the night sky by the brightest star, Sirius, the so called Dog Star in the constellation of Canis Major

Dogtags and Kabalah Charms from Israel (Photo credit: ranshoket)

I penned It down, until at last it came to be, For length and breadth, the bigness which you see.

John Bunyan 

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