Reading: "Simple Kabbalah" by Kim Zetter (Part 2)

Chapter 4:  Understanding Genesis.


p. 98  By blocking out the distractions of the world, silencing the chatter in their heads, and focusing their attention on one thing, Kabbalist mystics were able to tap into a level of consciousness in which they could comprehend the divine truths or concepts that otherwise eluded them. 

I believe the same would be true today - focus devotedly on God and wait for Him to teach His truths. I think of the Bible verse, "Be still and know that I am God." from Psalms 46.10. 


p. 106  One of the first legends in Judaism is that God created the world through the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Actually it says that 974 generations before God created the heaven and the earth.  He created the Torah, and through the Torah He then created the universe.  Through the letters of the Torah, he created all that exists in the Torah; thus He created Creation.  This is an area of Kabbalah called "letter mysticism." 

That is interesting but over my head except as a generalized  understanding: God created the universe through His Words.

p. 116  "Kabbalists believe that the story of Adam and Eve is an allegory for how the concept of duality became actualized in our world, and how the entire aim of Creation is to rejoin the parts into the one." 

Learning to see things as more then the surface story, i.e. Adam and Eve were real people in a real garden; but to go deeper to find the lessons available through the surface story is a new way of thinking for me. I like it as it adds more depth to my faith. I didn't realize the concept of duality would be in my writing again today after having written about it last night. I yearn for holistic, non-dual, non-separate life -- of being at one, at peace. For me that road-to-peace process started when I found peace with God through accepting Christ. But that doesn't mean I automatically have a non-dual peaceful thought life --- my propensity is to see things black/white, right/wrong, us/them. I want to grow out of that egocentric thinking pattern.

p. 119 and p. 120  "Other outside me to define me. I exist as me, because I am not you. Otherwise, without you, without something outside me, I am the whole world."  and "According to Kabbalists, God created in order to "know" Himself.  As we said about the infant, in order for her to fully recognize her identity there has to be someone outside herself. There is no relationship, and no realization of the self, without another. So God sent a part of Himself outside Himself in order to undergo a process of evolution and return to Himself a higher being, a being that knows himself..... God creates in order to know His own goodness...."

I can understand humans require "other" to know self... to learn the boundaries of where they end and the other begins; and then to learn to take responsibility for the self. I can't understand a sovereign God requiring the same or Him becoming more Himself.

p. 120 "While the consequence of the sin of Adam and Eve is a regretful one (there are no rewards or punishment in Kabbalah, only consequences), it is perhaps a necessary one. Unlike the traditional reading of the Bible, which places blame on Adam and Eve and straps us all with original sin before we're born, Kabbalists believe the soul needed to descent in order for it to evolve. The "punishment" was actually an act of love designed to elevate souls from a point of simple knowledge to conscious understanding (it's not just that I now; it's that I know I know). 

I find that interesting because I've read part of Matthew Fox's book, "Original Blessing" so the concepts have a framework to slightly understand the above. I am also starting to understand the difference of punishment and consequences which is a major departure for me from my Fundamentalist background.

p. 121  "The repenter is stronger than the person who is always righteous, because the repenter has had farther to climb back. He's had to batte impulses and overcome them, while the righteous has not even exercised a muscle." 

I really liked that. It reminded me of Jesus's story about the woman who washed his feet with costly perfume and dried his feet with her hair. He said, "her many sins have been forgiven. Her great love proves that. But whoever receives little forgiveness loves very little." (Luke 7:47 God's Word Translation).


p. 125 "Part of the repair work that we have to do, then, is to rejoin the physical and spiritual, to elevate the physical world to its former place of union with the spiritual.  The aim of Kabbalah is to teach us how to reconnect the two:  how to elevate the physical to the spiritual."

I like that. To me, that is one major way of growing in unity and overcoming dualism. Christ exemplifies that in three ways:  (1) by His Incarnation; (2) by His bodily resurrection; (3) by His promise to resurrect us not only spiritually but our dead bodies will be resurrected and we'll be given glorified bodies.

The lesson for me is to learn how to live that Incarnationel, rejoined life in this lifetime; to shed the dualism that so easily pulls me away from Christ and away from others and even shatters the bonds I have with myself.

Chapter 5: The Tree of Life

p. 134  "The word for Elohim, Kabbalists point out, is composed of a feminine singular root with a masculine plural ending, im." 

Very interesting.  After reading about Hebrew words that have gender, it made sense that English interpretations depict God as male since we have no gendered words or articles. I took part of a semester of French at Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kansas. I soon dropped out. Assigning gender to nouns was outside of my realm of practical. I could have cared less if I needed a feminine or masculine pronoun for table, chair or door. But those few weeks gave me enough understanding I could understand why English missed lots of the nuances of Hebrew or Greek.
 
p. 137  "Hochma on the human level represents pure, undifferentiated judgment. It is the act of living in the moment and of simply being aware of our place in the universe." 

I like that. I want to learn to live more in the now - to be aware of God now, not of the historical interactions of God and me or hopes for future interactions of God and me; but to be aware - t be alive to God in the current moment. Sitting in my rocker, I can sense the peacefulness of my home, the quietness of the area where I live, a tweet of a bird, the creaking of the rocker, the warmth of the room's heater, the bright gray of the sky shining in through the window. Sitting here quietly and not typing for a few moments, I could sense God's presence. I breathe in His love and exhale my love for Him. I am at peace. I love the times I am sitting in that awareness while a friend is talking - I can listen with empathy and not feel I need to have an answer ready, but can just inhale God's love and exhale my love for God and my love for my friend/s. 

The author mentions judgment. When I am at that loving place, the only judgment I can pass is love. I don't feel inadequate, scared, insecure or that I think I have or need all the answers. I can not judge my friend/s but just touch their humanity that they are so generously sharing with me.

I wish I could live there always; but I am grateful I know it is possible and God is slowly gifting me with that special place more frequently. I am happy. I am grateful.

p. 141  "Kabbalists call God in exile the Shekinah, the feminine presence of God. It is the queen exiled from her king, and exile persists for as long as the king and queen are not united. It was believed by the early Israelites that the Shekinal dwelled in the Ark of the Temple in Jerusalem.  But Kabbalists believe that, in essence, we are the Shekinah. The king is represented on the Tree by Tifert, the symbol of balance of harmony. Tiferet stands in the spiritual world while we stand in the physical one. Tifert and Shekinah were difided with the Fall of Adam and Eve. Therefore when Kabbalists speak of the union of Tiferet and Malkhut, they're talking about a symbolic union that expresses a desire to reunite the physical and spiritual worlds."

In case anybody reads this, Tifert and Malkhut are each one of the ten circles that diagram Kabbalah thought. Reading it out of that context makes it seem strange rather than a method to better understand the God of the Bible and ourselves in relationship with Him.

As I read that paragraph, it amazed me how it parallels my inner thoughts since having studied the "Song of Songs" about 8 years ago. That book is a beautiful example of God's love and longing for us; and how he awakens us to His love and eventually we're loving Him back and wanting to do things He would do and then discuss them with Him. Studying the "Song of Songs", to me is a beautiful pattern of Christian maturation process that opens our yearning for God and better understand Christ's yearning for us.

At one time my Christian walk was my desire to please God by rule-keeping. About 10 years ago (thanks to my godly 12-step sponsor) that started shifting to desire to know God intimately and personally - and living rules impeccably was secondary and dropping.  Yet, the more intimately and personally I know Him, the less I tend to sin and it seems I more easily see the motives that urge me to sin or to act holy - and, unfortunately, a some of the right things I do are motivated by my desire to serve Christ, but many are my own ego-centric needs trying to get met. Yet, the older I get the more eager I am to go to heaven and see my Heavenly Lover face to face and to enjoy relationships with those who were loved ones here - relationships that have the promise to not get bogged down in the ego needs that tend to boycott relationships here.

It seems odd, but there is a correlation between my desire for non-dual here that seems to grow at the same rate as my desire to be reunited fully with Christ at death.

p. 144 "The Tree of Life is a blueprint of us."  

The next two paragraphs are amazing in the scope of study that is encompassed in Kabbalah and how every aspect of humanity is represented in the tree.

p. 148  "Repair consists of two types: those that restore the world on the outside--on the physical level--and those that restore it on the inside--the psychological and spiritual levels.  The outside is repaired through thoughts, words and actions; the inside is repaired through deveoping spiritual awareness by study, meditation and prayer. If both types work together, there will be good done through conscious intention and awareness." 

I like action plans! Three steps to wholeness and  five steps to good relationships or 12-steps to recovery. These self-help plans have benefited me in the past. And they are beneficial as far as they go; but they seldom find balance between the inside and outside. Of course, God's plans are perfect and balanced - especially if we use His tools in a balanced way.

That takes me through Chapter 5. so I may take quotes from the rest of the book on another day.

Blessings to those who read here.

Thoughts on my Christian Walk - NonDualism and Metaphors

I spent several hours today watching sermon videos and reading Christian blogs. It seemed the overwhelming topic that stuck out to me was dualistic thinking v unitive or non-dualistic mind. I have been understanding this concept for a while but struggle with consistent non-dualistic thinking. I am joyful that I eventually catch myself and then stop petting my ego and looking down on others with dualistic (me vs them) thinking.

I realized today that as I switch from fundamentalism to liturgical, from dualistic to non-dualistic thinking that at times I've switched to a different set of criteria for reverting to dualistic thinking. I won't list the list of my egocentric thoughts; even though I just became aware that I have changed one set of criteria for another to continue to embrace dualistic thinking - even though I know how harmful it is to me, to relationships and especially to my relationship with God.

Jesus was non-dualistic. His teaching was beautifully non-dualistic and at times He even uses metaphors and parables that clash with what He said in other scripture. He's called the Prince of Peace - then says he brings a sword; He says He came to save all - then says he teaches in parables so people won't see or understand.  I know there are many more, but these two pop into my mind. To find any inner peace, I had to find intellectual sense to make them agree or put them into a framework so they would agree or pseudo-agree. I am learning to live with the dissonance and finding joy in the opposites written in Christ's red letters in my Bible.  Sometimes I wonder if God did that to teach me to trust Him even when my mind can't make sense of it; to help me learn faith is not by intellectual understanding but my trusting Him; and to remind me words are symbols of what they point to.

Example:  When I hear the words "Sports Car" what comes to my mind is a white 1994 Mazda Miata with optional hard top that I once owned - the joy of driving on the freeway late at night with the top down and my long hair pinned back so I didn't get a mouth full while driving - speeding around and changing lanes and listening to Christian rock or cool jazz while loving God in the freedom of speed.  I doubt if many people have a deep-seated sense of spiritual freedom or even being fully alive or fully abandoned to Christ when they hear the word "Sports Car".  Every word from baby-babble to a PhD candidate's discipline's vocabulary is a container for the dictionary meaning; however, it is much deeper than that - it carries all the knowledge, education, experience, emotion, hopes and desires that goes along with the word.

When hearing Biblical words, I have to remember they are more than the dictionary meaning, the interpreter's meaning (since I read the Bible in English) but include the denomination meaning, person's historical interpretation and all of the above list I mentioned in the last paragraph. It's no wonder no two people can interpret the Bible the same; in fact, it's a miracle that two people may even agree on any part of the Bible!

That's where metaphors and parables help me accept people even though they have very different interpretations of the Bible then I have. Even the words they tell me about their beliefs are containers for something deeper - for explaining not only what they believe but it also says a lot about who they are. It helps me remember I am a person in process and just because I believe something today - as I experience life and the Holy Spirit deals causing my beliefs and priorities to change that day by day,  how I interpret my faith and practice my faith will change. It's growth  -  scary but an adventure. There's times I like to study the Word from another frame of reference; it may help me grow and change my beliefs; or it may help me embrace stronger what I already believe - but overall, it seems to help me be more loving and accepting of those who hold different concepts of Christianity or different doctrines. Those God-ordained encounters help me grow in non-dualistic thinking and at my current place of faith - I feel God is wanting me, encouraging me and helping me shed the non-dualism as He creates the "mind of Christ" in me.  I am grateful He showed me I'd just changed a few of my dualistic, or thought areas of "me vs them" but was still in the ol' game of proving myself instead of enjoying myself, others and God.

Father God, deliver me from egocentric self who needs dualistic thinking to survive. Please deliver me from the need to be right or prove myself. Help me grow in the compassionate goal of loving others like Christ did. Help me remember when Jesus spoke strongly to those who he didn't agree with - it was done in compassion and not in judgment and help me remember I'm not called to judge or correct since I can't do it from a place of perfect love. Help me to offer a listening ear and compassion.  Amen.