KABBALAH'S CREATION PROCESS
***WHERE WE'VE
BEEN
We have covered
in the last few weeks, in our attempt to grasp what the essence of Kabbalistic
consciousness is all about, a few major approaches. Two weeks ago, we dealt
with the aspect of Esoterics referred to as 'Chochmat Hanistar' [The Hidden
Wisdom]...We focused on meditations to enable us to see and be receptive as
much as possible, to all that which is seeable as well as that which is
normally not seen at all.........Last week we focused on Kabbalahs Unity
Consciousness. Another definitive aspect of Kabbalistic consciousness----that
of making Hashem the center of our lives, was a topic that we learned together
the week before we began this Kabbalah series.
***TZIMTZUM
We are now ready
to plunge into the beginning---The Genesis of all Kabbalistic Wisdom---The
Creation Process. The Master Kabbalist--R. Yitzchak Luria--The Holy Arizal,
brings at the beginning of his master Kabbalistc work--'The Eitz Chaim' [The
Tree of Life], the following description of the Creation Process;;
''Before
all things were created...the Supernal light was simple. It filled all
existence. There was no empty space which would be space , emptiness or void.
Everything was filled with the simple OR AIN SOF [transcendent light of
Infinity]. There was no category of beginning and no category of end. All was
one simple undifferentiated light of Infinty. When it arose in His simple Will
to create all universes, He constricted His Infinite light, distancing it to
the sides around a center point, leaving a vacated [spherical] space in the
middle of the light of AIN SOF... After this constriction [Tzimtzum] took
place...there was a place into which all things could be brought into existence
[Atzilut], created [Briah] , formed [Yetzirah] and completed [Asiyah]. He then
drew a simple concentrated ray from the light of Infinity that surrounded the
space......The upper extremity of this ray touched the light of Infinity that
surrounded the space and extended towards it's center. It was through this ray,
serving as a conduit, that the [immanent] light of Infinity was brought down
and spread into the entire vacated space.''
Let us
extract from the Arizal's words, the essential components---there are three;
1. THE ENDLESS
LIGHT-------This Divine presence was all there was in the beginning
2. THE
VACANT SPACE-------The Infinite One-G-d, removed or hid Himself
3. THE
KAV------- [the conduit or ray]---A graduated drawing down of the Infinite
light into the Vacant space, in order to slowly , but surely reinfinitize this
space
***HOW TO
APPROACH THIS 3-STEP PROCESS
It's
crucial to understand at this point, that Kabbalistic wisdom, in general and
specifically--it's depiction of the creation process, is not meant to be looked
at as something that happened once upon a time in history--and then it's over
and done with. Quite to the contrary, all that Kabbalah teaches, especially
regarding the creation Process, is something that transcends time and
space-----a revelation of holy universal physics processes that are meant to be
studied carefully and seen as the templates and paradigms of all that happens
in our lives. Therefore, when we analyze this 3-step Creation process called
the Tzimtzum or Constriction process, we are meant to extract from the entire
process or from its component arts, as much as possible ---as many life
applications and ramifications as we can come up with. This 3-step process is
the foundation for all subsequent processes---everything that comes after it in
Kabbalah and in reality, is rooted in this primordial process.
***UNIVERSAL EXTRAPOLATIONS OF THIS PROCESS;
A CONTEMPLATION
Let us begin to open up a different part of
our minds---different than the meditative side that we keep bringing---Let's
open up the contemplative side. Before I bring a number of universal life
applications or extrapolations of this process, first do the following
contemplation; Focus on the 3-step Creation process--as a whole and each of its
parts.....Try to come up with as many life-applications as you can [here's an
example, to lead you in the right direction----The overall process teaches that
hiding oneself...ie... paralleling G-d's hiding... allows for the manifestation
of 'the other' ---something other than oneself
]____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
***A LIST OF TZIMTZUM EXTRAPOLATIONS
1. birth process 2.
making room for others 3. revealing Hashem's Presence everywhere [despite the
illusion that He's not there] 4. revealing that which is hidden 5. nothing
stands in the way of desire 6. constriction is the key to expansion 7.
emulating this process in our own creative expression 8. being able to carry
both sides of paradox 9. single-minded hyper-focus 10. the spiritual growth
process of yearning for that which is beyond us
2. ***TZIMTZUM
EXTRAPOLATION MEDITATIONS
1. The Birth
Process The Source --------------
The 2nd step of the Tzimtzum process ---the
Vacant Space--represents an absence and a void [of the infinite Divine
presence].... As the saying goes, ''Nature abhors a void'', therefore the Void
automatically 'gives birth'. In the Creation process, the birth is a grand
birth of all created beings. So we see that a void elicits a birth
process---the greater the void, the greater the birth [as we see from the
magnanimousness of the Creator's Void and the resulting birth process.... The
Birth Process Meditation---------Identify in your life a birth process that you
are presently going through.....Know that everyone is usually being born in one
way or another sometimes more; in an intense and meaningful way--- sometimes
less.....Know that this birth process usually comes as a combination of Higher
Divine influences [ie...Hashem determines that you are ready to be slowly and
surely eased into a new reality] , as well as your own expression of willingness
and readiness [whether you have done this in a conscious or unconscious way]
......Know also that a birth process will usually unfold on it's own, but you
can turn up the intensity by increasing the urgency...ie.. the unbearable
impact of not yet being born.....Therefore, do this---Once you identify and
realize the nature of your birth process---what it is all about---how far along
you are---how ready you are to be born------then decide if you want to turn up
the intensity of your Void or your urgency---act accordingly---first in a
meditative mode ---projecting in your mind where you are at in the birth
process, and where you would like to be-----then make it or let it happen in
real life.... more to come …
my best,
Yitzchak
****for those interested in private Kabbalistic
based guidance and\ or teaching, contact;
No comments:
Post a Comment