Malchut One of the deepest teachings of Kabbalah is also one of the simplest: that the world is not what it seems. As we have already explored, that which we experience as the world is actually a veil for the Infinite Oneness, the only thing that really is. Refracted through the various lenses of the sefirot, this “light” is the true structure of what is happening right now. But what about what seems to be happening right now?…
Keter, Hochmah, Binah The “top” triad of the sefirot is, in a sense, the mind of God. Keter, meaning “crown,” is transrational, and beyond all cognition. We can say almost nothing about it, except that it is the first stirring of what we would call “will” within the Infinite. In the world of keter, nothing exists: not “God,” not the universe, only the Ein Sof, with the most subtle intention to expand into manifestation. (It’s…
The Infinite light is refracted, as it were, through these colored lenses of the sefirot. Here is Cordovero on this subject, from Pardes Rimmonim. In the beginning, Ein Sof emanated ten sefirot, which are of its essence, united with it. It and they are entirely one. There is no change or division in the emanator that would justify saying it is divided into parts in these various sefirot. Division and change do not apply to it,…
The best-known and most important of the “streams” of Kabbalah is called, by scholars, “theosophical” Kabbalah. Theosophical means having to do with knowledge, or wisdom, about the Divine, and so theosophical Kabbalah explains, in great detail, the nature of the Godhead, the relationship of the Infinite to the Finite, and how this world came into being. (Incidentally, the word “theosophical” was used by a group of 19th and 20th century mystics, including W.B. Yeats, to…
As we indicated earlier, this site is probably of less interest to scholars than to people interested in Kabbalah as a contemplative or spiritual path. So, let’s explore how that might work in practice. Let’s assume for a moment a basic tenet of Kabbalah: that, ordinarily, we are only receiving a small portion of what the world is manifesting at any moment. Scientifically, and intuitively, we know this to be true. If our minds did…
The Kabbalah offers three types of answers to the fundamental questions of existence. Because the answers are very different, as are the spiritual techniques involved, scholars, following Moshe Idel, have taken to referring to three streams of Kabbalah. Kabbalists themselves also recognize these three trends within Kabbalah, though it’s important to remember that they don’t see themselves as in one or another stream; there is interpenetration among all three. Like most categories, these streams are…
For Kabbalists, the visible world is only the superficial skin of Reality. Because of the way our minds are constructed to interact with the world, we imagine ourselves as separate selves, going about our business, trying to be happy. In fact, we, the stars, our friends and enemies, and everything around us — all of us are dreams in the mind of God. Nothing has any separate reality — it only looks like there are…
Kabbalah is: Literally, “receiving,” as in a received tradition. Some Kabbalistic teachings go back thousands of years, and were passed from master to disciple. Others were invented yesterday. Figuratively, “receiving,” as in receiving the truth of what is happening right now. The truth is, you are God reading about God, in the process of God becoming God. But chances are you don’t “receive” that truth fully, because of how your mind, body, and heart…