Thanks, a good article.

I read the article on the link. Now I'm curious, regarding Kabbalah, what is Keter (in Sanskrit, Sushumna - the crown chakra)?

Here's the perspective I am coming from: It is at this point of the crown, as high as one can reach whilest living in a human body and metaphorically the peak of the tallest mountain (as an inner exerience), that we can experience the Divine as "I am." The ego comes into a space of such surrender that one's I is unable to create even a label. It knows it exists and is aware of it's existence as "existence/beingness" with an I as an experiencer. All the soul can experience at this point IN A BODY is "I am."

"I am" is a cosmic consciousness experience, an experience of self as part of everything that exists.

Beyond "I am" is void - no more "I" to experience, pure mergence and no more ability to live in a human body.

I have myself experienced a state of spiritual connectedness where even the act of "thinking" seems unholy - as though it would spoil the whole experience. This is when my brow chakra is connecting with my crown chakra, as my teacher has explained it to me. He lives permanently in the space of the "I am."

So I can understand the reverence towards names of the Divine...it comes from that experience of actually experiencing divinity - which is a "silent mind" experience and thoughts are like dirty shoes that you need to leave outside the door of the temple.

Honza I like that you're trying to create bridges between different ways of understanding the same oneness that we all come from.

Agreed on all points Rabbio! Also, Esther, nice article :)

Honza...as Rabbio mentioned, in both Hinduism and mystical Judaism, the formless One/God emanates into the physicality of our existence...and the spark of the divine is in everything. Thus God is (in) us and and we are (in) God...keep the (in) in if it helps your understanding, and if not, omit. Clearly we are not the all knowing and formless One...and yet we are all (finite material individuated self-aware and God-like) aspects of the divine. We reflect God and God contains all.

Here's some interesting info on the soul from the Kabbalistic perspective:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabbalah
Human soul in Kabbalah
See also: Gilgul

Abraham Abulafia's meditation techniques included the "inner illumination of" the human form.[19]


The Kabbalah posits that the human soul has three elements, the nefesh, ru'ach, and neshamah. The nefesh is found in all humans, and enters the physical body at birth. It is the source of one's physical and psychological nature. The next two parts of the soul are not implanted at birth, but can be developed over time; their development depends on the actions and beliefs of the individual. They are said to only fully exist in people awakened spiritually. A common way of explaining the three parts of the soul is as follows:

• Nefesh (נפש): the lower part, or "animal part", of the soul. It is linked to instincts and bodily cravings.
• Ruach (רוח): the middle soul, the "spirit". It contains the moral virtues and the ability to distinguish between good and evil.
• Neshamah (נשמה): the higher soul, or "super-soul". This separates man from all other life-forms. It is related to the intellect, and allows man to enjoy and benefit from the afterlife. This part of the soul is provided at birth and allows one to have some awareness of the existence and presence of God.

The Raaya Meheimna, a section of related teachings spread throughout the Zohar, discusses fourth and fifth parts of the human soul, the chayyah and yehidah (first mentioned in the Midrash Rabbah). Gershom Scholem writes that these "were considered to represent the sublimest levels of intuitive cognition, and to be within the grasp of only a few chosen individuals". The Chayyah and the Yechidah do not enter into the body like the other three—thus they received less attention in other sections of the Zohar.

• Chayyah (חיה): The part of the soul that allows one to have an awareness of the divine life force itself.
• Yehidah (יחידה): the highest plane of the soul, in which one can achieve as full a union with God as is possible.

Both rabbinic and kabbalistic works posit that there are a few additional, non-permanent states of the soul that people can develop on certain occasions. These extra souls, or extra states of the soul, play no part in any afterlife scheme, but are mentioned for completeness:

• Ruach HaKodesh (רוח הקודש) ("spirit of holiness"): a state of the soul that makes prophecy possible. Since the age of classical prophecy passed, no one (outside of Israel) receives the soul of prophesy any longer. See the teachings of Abraham Abulafia for differing views of this matter.
• Neshamah Yeseira: The "supplemental soul" that a Jew can experience on Shabbat. It makes possible an enhanced spiritual enjoyment of the day. This exists only when one is observing Shabbat; it can be lost and gained depending on one's observance.
• Neshamah Kedosha: Provided to Jews at the age of maturity (13 for boys, 12 for girls), and is related to the study and fulfillment of the Torah commandments. It exists only when one studies and follows Torah; it can be lost and gained depending on one's study and observance.

I think that we are coming into an age where we are becoming more aware of the existence of the Chayyah (חיה) and the Yehidah (יחידה) and thus the need to better understand the mystical concept of God/I am.

Cheers :)
7L

7L -

Speaking of Hinduism, thinking of OM brings to mind Brahman and thinking of Brahman brings to mind both Ayn Sof and Ayin. As Prof. Daniel Matt, who has been involved in a massive translation of the Zohar, has written in part -

The kabbalists adopt Maimonides' negative style of theology and take it to an extreme. Among their new names for God, Eyn Sof is the most famous but not the most radical. Having carved away all that is false, they discover a paradox of a name: ayin, Nothingness....

What does it mean to call God Nothingness? It does not mean that God does not exist. In the words of a fourteenth-century kabbalist, David ben Abraham Halavan,

Nothingness (ayin) is more existent than all the being of the world. But since it is simple, and all simple things are complex compared with its simplicity, in comparison it is called ayin...

Ayin is a name for the nameless. It conveys the idea that God is no thing, neither this nor that. Rather, as ayin, God animates all things and cannot be contained by them. The paradox is that ayin embraces "everything" and "nothing." This nothingness is oneness, undifferentiated oneness, overwhelming the distinctions between things. God is the oneness that is no particular thing, no thingness, Nothingness with a capital N.

Ayin is not empty or barren; it is fertile and overflowing, engendering the myriad forms of life. According to Jewish, Christian and Islamic medieval philosophy, the world was created "out of nothing" (yesh me'ayin, ex nihilo, min la shai). The mystics turn this formula on its head, reinterpreting it to mean that the universe emanated out of divine nothingness.

Ayin is an antidote to idolatry. It forces us to surrender our comfortable, confining images; it melts them down... But how can we think or speak of God without images and conceptions? We can't. Even ayin is a conception. The images it evokes may be vast---a limitless ocean, the expanse of outer space---but they are images nonetheless. The value of nothingness is that it dissolves all images and conceptions, including itself.

Names and images of God enable us to approach the divine, but they can't quite get us there. They keep us at a safe distance. The words and pictures indicate the reality but cannot convey it. To experience the divine, we need to leave names and images aside. We must renounce the idolatry of worshiping the image, of worshiping the name. On the threshold, we are challenged to let go of words, to attune ourselves toקוֹל דְּמָמָה דַקָּה, "the sound of sheer silence" (I Kings 19:12).

B'shalom,

Peter

RabbiO, a beautiful excerpt - thank you for posting. I'm going to be quoting this everywhere...

BTW I really like D Matt's translation, what I have seen thus far.
l'shalom,
7L

Hi Uma,

It sounds like you are comparing this Buddhist philosophies? It's important to consider that while there might be similarities, the Torah comes at a situation like this from a completely different angle.

From what I understand, the place you are coming from is meditating on a divine state of awareness in order to achieve the experience of divinity? (Please correct me if I'm wrong.) If this where you are coming from, than this sounds like an opposite ideal of how to experience divinity.

Why? Because in the situation you describe, the focus is on elevating yourself up to the divine though clearing your mind and experiencing a heavenly moment of a "silent mind". But with Torah, the focus is on on how to bring the divine down to Earth and carry out G-d's Will in the physical realm. It is the lowest level that is connected to the highest consciousness.

Meaning: the focus is on the action. Doing G-d's Will is actually experiencing divinity. We Crown G-d as King by carrying out His Will in the physical world. And this brings about the greatest pleasure.

Some information on Keter (Crown)

-esther

P.S.

With regards to thoughts being like "dirty shoes" also keep the following in mind:wink: (yes, ok, pun intended). Just like the lowest level is connected to the highest level, the end is connected to the beginning. This means that the action is connected to the thought. However, a thought is considered to be a direct expression of the soul so it's not as easy to remove as a pair of dirty shoes. Fortunately, a thought is only like a dirty garment if it's not a holy thought. Because a thought is a garment of the soul, it is possible to clean up your thoughts and bring G-dly thoughts into "the Temple".

Do you mean God? Why omit the o?

We are not allowed to erase G-d's Holy Names. Even though this is just an English translation of His Name (so technically it's ok for it to be erased), not writing the "o" is still a sign of respect. Baruch HaShem

Here's an article on not spelling out G-d's name since I recall seeing this question asked several times before.

-esther

Esther, baruch HaShem :) & shalom

Since it's English I spell out God...but I respect the idea...it may be a good time to discuss this so we see less of the tetragrammaton (i.e., "the 4 letters") spelled out by other posters. Which btw for those who aren't Jewish, is not done by Jews out of respect for God's name. This is why even in English some omit the "o" from God, in order to reflect the idea of not spelling out God's name in the original Hebrew.

I completely understand your perspective and it's nice that you have a link for others :)

l'shalom,
7L

Uma...I'm glad Esther responded directly. There is so much to say that it's hard to be succint and clear. I'll try...sort of...

First...if you are coming from a Buddhist perspective and trying to understand Judaism...the best "fit" is the Tibetan Buddhist Vajraya perspective of uniting Heaven and Earth...rather than renouncing either for the other.

Secondly...see God/Ayin (above in RabbiO's post).

Third...the Sephirot are describing emanations of God from formless All down to physical existence.

You can (and healers have...too bad Yamah is not here to back me up, LOL....) make symbolic comparisons to the human chakra network, of course. There may not be a direct 1-to-1 Sephira to chakra but the general parallel is there. However as Esther said...opening your crown chakra (and there are chakras above that or contained within that, which are located outside the physical body...much as the kabbalists allude to centuries ago) is of limited use after you are awakened, unless your perspective is ultimately integrative...or unless you plan to live the cloistered life, which some do but which most do not.

And this is (IMO) where Buddha was going when he said [paraphrasing] in 2500 yrs from now, it [my legacy] will change...that's because (again IMO) the Tibetans saw the need to integrate the spiritual and the material with Vajrayana philosophy...as has Thuy (Thicht Nhat Hahn) with his engaged Buddhism, and many others...and as Judaism traditionally always has...

As Buddha said :) Don't let nirvana interfere with your work :D

Peace/shalom,
7L