When asked Judaism Jews, commonly asked questions such as: What is the nature of God? Do you believe in heaven and hell? What happens to us after death? The answers to questions like these characterize most religions. While Jewish law (Talmud) focuses on what God wants of man, the area of Judaism and Jewish thought that discusses these issues within the realm of Jewish mysticism and Kabbalah.
Kabbalah is the name applied to the entire range of Jewish mystical activity.
The word Kabbalah comes from the Hebrew root-Beit-Lamed kuf, meaning “receive, accept.” If you have spent time studying or reading about the Kabbalah, one can not help but notice that there are many alternative spellings of the word. The reason for this is that some letters of the Hebrew alphabet have more than one representation in the English alphabet. For example, the letter “kuf can be written as K or Q or C. This has led some authors choose one spelling of Kabbalah, while others prefer another. Eventually, they are all talking about the rich mystical tradition has been a part of Judaism from its earliest
According to its supporters, the intimate understanding and mastery of the Kabbalah brings man spiritually closer to God and man as a result you can get information about the inner workings of God’s creation As these universal principles, which works to explain not only how our world which sits inside and outside, but why. It teaches a method that allows the spiritual seeker to live in harmony with the driving force behind all reality.
History of Kabbalah
Although it is unclear exactly where the mystical traditions of Kabbalah of origin, some texts claim this mystical system born to Moses on Mount Sinai, while others say that was provided by the angels to Adam as a means to return to the grace after the fall of “man. According to Kabbalistic tradition, the hidden dimension of the Torah – Kabbalah – was transmitted orally by the Jewish patriarchs, prophets and sages of antiquity. However, after the prophecy ceased and the Temple of Jerusalem was destroyed, a new era dawned for Kabbalah. And the teaching of Kabbalah began to emerge around the second century AD Since then, and is still used by many as a guide to discover our inner truth.
The most famous work of Kabbalah, the Zohar, was revealed to the Jewish world in the thirteenth century by Moses de Leon. The Zohar was the form of a commentary or interpretation of the five books of the Torah (the first five books of the Old Testament). While most of the comments to interpret the Torah as a plot and legal work, the mystics, like the Moses of Leon, tend to interpret as a system of symbols that reveal the secret laws of the universe.
Scholars have identified as the study of Kabbalah Yoga West. Its fundamental principles and beliefs are similar to the system, including chakra yoga. It is the theory that the ideas and the method used in chakra system represent abstract ideals to be achieved. The Kabbalistic system, on the other hand is expressed through the use of specific concepts and concrete symbols, which carry the unconscious thoughts, ideas and behaviors in our consciousness.
The prohibitions on the study of Kabbalah
Over the years, the prohibitions arouse around the study of Kabbalah. The rabbis of the Talmud regarded the mystical study of God as being important, but warned that it could be dangerous. There is a famous story where four great sages of the Talmud came into a garden. They went into a state of ecstasy, a state of ecstasy and spiritual, and three of them do not survive. One went mad, one died and one abandoned his faith. It is only Rabbi Akiva entered in peace and be left alone.
That was this episode, after the experiences of people who became mentally unbalanced while engaging in mystical and disaster false messiah Shabtai Zevi, which gave rise to the seventeenth century rabbis to legislate that Kabbalah should be studied only by married men over forty who were also scholars of Torah and the Talmud. In recent times, the prohibitions in connection with the study of Kabbalah, even in Orthodox communities have been relaxed.
Types of practical Kabbalah
There are two types of Kabbalah: contemplative practice.
Practical Kabbalah seeks to alter the nature of existence and change the course of events through ritual techniques. It can be seen as a kind of white magic, which is the use of techniques that could evoke supernatural powers. Its aim is to produce real change, through the intervention of God can find examples in the Bible, with stories such as Moses drawing water from the rock or a stick of Aaron is transformed into a snake. We use the expression of the divine names and incantations, amulets and talismans, like palmistry, astrology and physiognomy. In recent times, this is the way of Kabbalah is very often practiced by non-Jewish Kabbalah practitioners of magic or ofHermetic.
The other form of Kabbalah, Kabbalah contemplative seeks to explain the nature of God and the nature of our existence through intellectual and meditative techniques.
This form of Kabbalah is the most often when reading written works on Kabbalah. Much of this branch has grown from the study of Scripture. various techniques to reveal the basic meaning of the sacred texts are Notariqon temurah Gematria and exploring relationships and hidden meaning of numbers, letters, words and phrases. In turn, theories of how the universe was created and the essential nature of God and man, are explored and summarized through the symbol or glyph is known as the Tree of Life.
To a Kabbalist, the representation of the tree of life is often seen as a visual map that can continue as we enter the realm of the unconscious and the unknown. It consists of 10 balls or Sephirah that symbolize the emanations of God or quality. According to Kabbalistic tradition, the Ten Sefirot correspond to ten levels of creation or ten different ways of God is revealed to us.
They can also be considered as energy centers goals and discrete states of consciousness available to us or a description of the unfolding energy transition from God to man. They form the internal structure of reality and represent the dynamic relationships that take place both physically and spiritually, where we offer a model of personal growth and development. This is because hidden within each Sephiroth is a hidden force which corresponds to different states of psycho-spiritual motivation of the human soul.
There is much more that can be discussed when talking about the Kabbalah, but this should begin this exciting journey of self-discovery.
Kabbalah gives us the tools that allow us to explore all aspects of our inner and outer and help us better know and understand our relationship with the world around us. Can also be used as a tool to open spiritually and know God better No matter how you choose to use the wisdom of Kabbalah, find gratitude in all their work and learning and be open to receive his blessing.
© Copyright Body, Mind & SoulHealer – www. soulhealer. com 2007. All rights reserved.