Most people nowadays are familiar with the many benefits of meditation, so it does not always sound so exotic if one encounters it somehow. All pranic healing graduates know about the Meditation on Twin Hearts, or MTH as it is commonly called, because it is taught at the Basic Pranic Healing seminar, which all pranic healers pass through. For most of the students, it is the first meditation they have ever encountered.
Although the MTH is the first meditation taught to pranic healing students, it is actually an advanced meditation technique. Why is it considered advanced? And if so, why is it even being taught to new students?
Before we answer those questions, let's take a closer look at the origins of the Meditation on Twin Hearts. A lot of what I will say comes from Master Choa's books such as Miracles Through Pranic Healing (formerly The Ancient Art and Science of Pranic Healing), Om Mani Padme Hum - The Blue Pearl in the Golden Lotus and The Origins of Modern Pranic Healing and Arhatic Yoga. They all mention the MTH at some point, but each book offers a different perspective each time, therefore it is helpful to refer to all of them.
According to Master Choa, the Meditation on Twin Hearts is a higher form of the Buddhist Meditation on Loving Kindness. In Buddhism, loving kindness is called metta. Metta is a state of mind that seeks to unselfishly cultivate the welfare of others. The process of achieving this state of mind is called Bhavana, which one may translate as meditation. Therefore the Meditation on Loving Kindness is called Metta Bhavana in Buddhism. You may read more about it at this website.
Metta Bhavana develops and activates the heart chakra. All positive emotions and traits such as joy, love, unselfishness, generosity and compassion are attributed to the heart. This is why in Filipino, generous and kind people are called ginintuang puso or golden-hearted. Makes you wonder if the person who coined the term was clairvoyant, because the heart chakra does exude a golden aura when you consistently practice generosity, kindness and compassion to others.
In the MTH, not only is the heart chakra activated, but the crown chakra as well. The "twin hearts" refers to the heart chakra, the center for human love or love for others, while the crown chakra is the other "heart" or center for Divine love. Before the crown chakra can be activated, the heart chakra must be activated first, because how can one experience universal love if one does not even have love for one's fellow human beings? Activating the crown chakra opens the door for spiritual illumination and cosmic consciousness. This is why the MTH is considered a higher form of the Meditation on Loving Kindness. The Meditation on Twin Hearts is in fact based on a small section of Arhatic Yoga Level Two.
Before we proceed, it is interesting to note that in the Catholic tradition, there is reference to the two hearts of Jesus. Esoteric concepts are consistent the world over, so it wouldn't be far-fetched to think that early Christianity was aware of the importance of the twin hearts. A lot of spiritual truths can be found in the Catholic religion, though many have forgotten their meaning and significance and have been reduced to following tradition by rote.
So we go back to the question, if the MTH is such an advanced technique, why is it the first meditation taught to pranic healing students? The answers encompass several levels.
1. To produce more powerful healers.
During the meditation, an intense amount of divine energy pours down upon the person. This energy not only partially activates the chakras and expands the person's aura, but also flushes out all negative thoughts, feelings and energies within the person. After the meditation, the person feels refreshed, blissful and more energetic. The person is then able to use this divine energy to become a channel of healing for others.
Some time after the meditation, the size of the aura and the chakras decrease, but remain at a level higher than before the meditation. Done regularly, the MTH allows the person to project more and more powerful healing energy, sometimes resulting in immediate or miraculous healing among patients. It is like regularly going to the gym, where one's muscles continuously develop until heavier and heavier weights can be lifted and for longer periods. The MTH does the same thing for one's chakras and energy body.
2. To cultivate peace and harmony in a person's life and relationships by balancing self-interest with love and compassion.
Among most people, the instincts for self-preservation, sex drive and tendencies to react with lower emotions are quite prevalent. One book I read even describes peoples' lives revolving around eating, sleeping (shelter), sex and defending (one's possessions or social standing). Modern technology has changed the way we experience these things, but the basic drive has not changed since the time of the cave-dweller.
The educational system has also contributed to the imbalance by over-emphasizing the concrete and abstract mind, but for the most part lagging behind or even forgetting the development of the heart (compassion, mercy, generosity, selflessness, honesty, etc.), and also the crown (spirituality and a deep reverence to the Divine). This is why one may encounter people who are very smart, cunning and intelligent but are very abrasive and insensitive to others. The problem can even be seen at the national levels with government leaders who may be intelligent, but use their minds to benefit themselves at the cost of bringing more misery and suffering to their country.
Take note that self-interest and development of the mind are not bad per se. It is when they start to rule a person's life that the problem happens. The key is to balance everything. By practicing the MTH regularly, a person is able to balance one's own drive with the consciousness of being others-oriented. Thus, spiritually balanced people who are intelligent as well as loving and compassionate are produced, who can then use their gifts for the benefit of many people.
3. As a form of world service, for the healing of Mother Earth.
Part of the MTH involves channeling the downpour of divine energy towards the Earth and all its inhabitants. This results in a wonderful healing energy that can not only be used to heal a small community or a country, but the whole world as well. And looking at the news, there is no doubt that the Earth needs a lot of healing. Centuries of abuse, ignorance and neglect are finally exacting its toll and the MTH is one of the most powerful tools to mitigate the effects of all these Earth changes.
By performing this world service, people who practice the MTH earn good karma that they can also use to improve their own lives. Meditating as a group has an exponential effect compared to meditating alone, therefore people and families are encouraged to meditate together. The healing of Mother Earth is in fact so important that the spreading and teaching of the Meditation on Twin Hearts is encouraged even among non-pranic healers (though under the guidance of a pranic healer, who is aware of all the precautions and guidelines).
To the skeptic, the first reaction to the concept of healing the Earth can be "YEAH, RIGHT!". After all, how can an individual or even several individuals influence something as massive as the world? Amazing as it may seem, there is evidence that points in this direction.
In quantum physics, it has been shown that at the subatomic level, the consciousness of the observer influences how subatomic particles move and place themselves. For some reason, Newtonian physics ends at the atomic level, and we enter a whole new reality once we go deeper beyond the atom, sort of like Alice entering the rabbit hole. This is just one example that shows how the mind can influence reality. Science subjects can be boring for most, so if you want an entertaining yet informative documentary about quantum science, I recommend that you watch What the Bleep Do We Know on You Tube. It's quite long, though, so you might want to download all the segments first before playing the whole documentary. It should be about 2 hours long.
Going up a little higher to another level, starting in the late 90's, Masaru Emoto has published several books entitled Messages from Water. The basic premise is that thoughts, feelings and music can influence the molecular structure of water, which can be seen when the water is frozen and viewed from a microscope. Water samples that were exposed to loving thoughts, feelings and beautiful music had beautiful crystalline structures, while those samples exposed to a lot of negative thoughts, feelings and music had barely any structure at all.
How about the whole world, then? Even if the mind can influence small material objects, how can it change the world? To answer this, I would like to quote directly from the book of Gregg Braden, Fractal Time: The Secret of 2012 and a New World Age, because he says it best. The following quotation is from pages 193-195 of the said book:
--Start quote--
While there is a lot that we don't know about consciousness, there is one thing that we do know for certain: it is made of energy. That energy includes magnetism. While we can explore the magnetic nature of consciousness for another hundred years and still not solve all of its mysteries, we can apply what we've learned so far to help us meet the conditions of a changing world. A growing body of evidence now suggests that Earth's magnetic field plays a powerful role in connecting us with one another, as well as the planet.
In September 2001, two geostationary operational environmental satellites (GOES) orbiting the Earth detected a rise in global magnetism that forever changed the way scientists view our world and us. The GOES-8 and GOES-10 each showed a powerful spike of Earth's magnetic-field strength in the readings they broadcast every 30 minutes. It was the magnitude of the spikes and the time they occured that first called them to the scientists' attention.
From a location of about 22,300 miles above the equator, GOES-8 detected the first surge, followed by an upward trend in the readings that topped out at nearly 50 units (nanoteslas) higher than any that had been typical for the same time previously. The time was 9 A.M. eastern standard time, 15 minutes after the first plane hit the World Trade Center and about 15 minutes before the second impact.
The correlation between the events and the readings was uncanny. And it was undeniable. In light of the data, two questions had to be asked: Were the attacks on the World Trade Center and the satellite readings actually related? If so, what was the link? It's the answer to the second question that sparked the research, and the ambitious initiative, that has followed.
Subsequent studies by Princeton University and the Institute of HeartMath, an innovative nonprofit institution formed in 1991 to pioneer research and development of heart-based technologies, have found that the correlation between the GOES readings and the events of 9/11 are more than coincidences. Following the discovery that the satellites had recorded similar spikes during events of global focus in the past, such as the death of Princess Diana, the factor that seemed to connect the readings was clear: the indications pointed to the human heart.
Specifically, it's the heart-based emotion of the world's population that results from such events that seems to be influencing the magnetic fields of the earth. What makes this discovery so significant is that those fields are now linked to everything from the stability of the climate to the peace between nations.
Among the new findings are two discoveries that give new meaning to what the satellites showed us on September 11, 2001:
-- Discovery 1: It is well documented that the human heart generates the strongest magnetic field in the body, nearly 5,000 times stronger than that of the brain. This field creates a doughnut-shaped pattern that extends well beyond the physical body and has been measured at distances of five to eight feet from the physical heart. Data suggest that this field may be so large that we end up measuring it in miles; however, it's beyond the scope of the equipment used to detect such fields.
Implication: The heart's magnetic field responds to the quality of emotion that we create in our lives. Just as the intuitive link between feelings and the body seems to suggest, positive emotions increase the physical balance of hormones and heart rhythms, as well as mental clarity and productivity. Just as intuitively, studies show that negative emotions can influence as many as 1,400 biochemical changes in the body that include hormonal imbalance, heart-rhythm chaos, mental "fogginess," and poor performance.
-- Discovery 2: Certain layers of Earth's atmosphere, along with the earth itself, generate what is now being called a "symphony" of frequencies (between .01 and 300 hertz), some of which overlap the same ones created by the heart in its communication with the brain. It's this apparently ancient and almost holistic relationship between the human heart and the shield that makes life possible on Earth that has led to a beautiful theory and the project exploring it. In the words of HeartMath researchers, the relationship between the human heart and Earth's magnetic field suggests that "strong collective emotion has a measurable impact on the earth's geomagnetic field."
Implication: If we can learn the language of the heart - the same one that Earth's protective magnetic shield recognizes and responds to - then we can participate in the effects that the field has upon all life. This is where such a futuristic-sounding relationship becomes even more exciting. Changes in the magnetic fields that we access through our hearts have been associated with shifts that include the activity of the brain and nervous system, memory, and athletic performance; the ability of plants to create vital nutrients; human mortality from heart conditions; and the numbers of reported cases of depression and suicide, among others.
These two discoveries have opened the door to a new era of understanding our relationship with the earth. From the revelations the question has shifted from Is there an effect between collective emotion and the earth? to Why not? If a large enough portion of Earth's population were to focus the strongest magnetic field of the human body upon one emotion in the same period of time, it makes tremendous sense that such a focus would affect the portion of the planet that operates in the same range of frequencies as the emotions.
The relationship is clear: A change in the way we feel about ourselves and our world has the potential to affect the world itself. If the change is a positive one, then the effect of the emotions that result should be positive as well. Such a change is known to create coherence between the heart and the brain, and it now appears that the effect extends into the fields that support life on our planet. In the words of the HeartMath researchers, "Regulating emotions is the next frontier in human evolution."
--End quote--
Amazing, isn't it? If there was any scientific basis to the Meditation on Twin Hearts, this would be it. It hints at the relationship between the heart and the brain (which is connected to the crown chakra), as well as hints why the MTH is an instrument of world service, and why it is ideally done as a group.
Interestingly, the Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception has a section that discusses the different levels of the Earth. There is what is called the "reflecting ether" whereby all activities of humanity upon the Earth are reflected back upon them. If good is done, there is peace and bounty, but the cumulative results of evil would reflect as chaos and catastrophes. It's curious that Gregg Braden's description about the Earth's magnetic field is similar to what the reflecting ether does. Just goes to show that just because science may not be able to explain it, doesn't mean that the ancients didn't know what they were talking about. All too often, later on science stumbles upon a "new discovery" that happens to confirm something that has been in ancient texts for thousands of years.
Before I end this article, I want to relate one case where the MTH was able to effect change in a violent neighborhood. During one seminar, our instructor told us a story about a pranic healing center in South America (I forgot the country, but it was somewhere there). The general area where the healing center was located was notorious for being filled with criminals, drug-dealers and other dangerous people. It was like Tondo in Manila or being in The Bronx in New York. From the time the center was put up, the people at the center did the Meditation on Twin Hearts everyday, and at the end of the meditation specifically blessed the whole neighborhood. After a few months, all the criminals were gone, either captured by the police or somehow decided to move out, such that it became a normal neighborhood. The lesson is that you can bless your workplace, your home, your loved ones, even people you don't get along with. Such is the power of the MTH.
In case you are already raring to start practicing the Meditation on Twin Hearts, you should be aware of certain precautions. The following should not do the meditation:
- Persons below 16 years of age.
- Patients with severe heart ailment, hypertension, glaucoma, or kidney and liver problems.
- Pregnant women.
- Heavy smokers.
- Heavy meat eaters (particularly pork).
- Persons with excessive alcohol consumption or use of addictive and hallucinogenic drugs.
The energy from cigarettes, red meat such as pork, lots of drugs and alcohol are gross energy, while divine energy is very refined. The gross energy is clairvoyantly seen as energy congestions within the body, so once divine energy pours in, the congestions could worsen (like having a sudden inflow of high pressure water in a dirty pipe; the pipe could burst).
One should also do at least 5 minutes of physical exercise before and after the meditation, to make sure the energy channels remain clear of any energy congestion. If you will be doing this meditation for the first time, it is advisable that you visit a pranic healing center nearest you so that they can advise you better on what to do. At the very least, they can do healing on you first in order to loosen up those energy congestions, though a certain change in lifestyle will have to follow if you want to do the meditation regularly. Even better would be to attend a Basic Pranic Healing seminar so that you are given all the details.
That being said, if you would like to hear or experience the meditation, you may download a free audio stream at the US pranic healing website.
Meditate now...and change the world!
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Friday, May 7, 2010
The Law of Cycles and Tithing
During the Kriyashakti seminar I attended last year, at one point the discussion turned to the topic of tithing. I remember our instructor telling us that we should tithe regularly, meaning once a month. However, he also added that tithing in advance doesn't work. For example, if one regularly tithes P100/month, tithing P1,200 all at once to represent the whole year's tithe will not work. He was speaking from experience because one time he gave an amount that was 6 months' worth of tithe, so that he wouldn't have to do it every month. After all, he was going to tithe the amount anyway, so might as well give it all in one go. For the first 2 months he was okay, but after that period, a lot of misfortune started appearing in his life again.
Since he was speaking from experience, then there is something to what he was saying. Acknowledging a fact is not the same as understanding it, though, so it did not stop me from wondering why. After all, a tenth is a tenth, so 10% of one's monthly income given every month for a whole year is still the same as 10% of the total yearly income given in one go, so why does the timing matter? I had to set that question aside for a long time before I got the glimmerings of an answer.
A possible answer begins to show itself if we look at the way karma works. Aside from the basic "good" and "bad" karma, there are many other subdivisions of karma as well. There is national karma, family karma, prosperity karma, health karma, etc. It's a very complicated subject, but suffice it to say that before incarnating, the soul is shown how one's accumulated good and bad karma from previous lives will determine the parents, the nationality, one's station in life and all other important life events of one's upcoming corporeal existence.
The soul then forgets all of this upon incarnating in a physical body, in order to allow the lessons of life to proceed unhampered by any mental burdens. Once those karmic situations come up, a person's choices will determine if one has learned the lesson and therefore revokes the karma that brought about the situation in the first place or will necessitate the repeat of a similar situation sometime in the future. Master Choa's book Achieving Oneness with the Higher Soul discusses this in more detail. Since a soul's lifeplan has been laid out before incarnation, this explains why people have deja vu. The person happens to remember part of it again as the situation is encountered.
I will not go into any more detail on this subject because, as I said, it's very complicated. But I wanted to show that the good and bad karma for one's lifestream does not manifest all at once. Different situations are spaced out along certain intervals so that the individual has the chance to make the choices and learn the appropriate lessons. How is it all managed, then?
First, let us take a look around us. What do you notice about the world around you? It's governed by cycles. Summer gives way to fall, fall gives in to winter, and as spring comes, the melting ice and snow is transformed to water and rain that nourishes the land, and the leaves that fell last autumn fertilize the soil to give it new life. The Earth spins a certain number of times a day, completes a revolution around the sun once a year, the moon circles the Earth and goes through certain lunar phases every month. Even our bodies follow cycles as well. Childhood gives way to the fires of adolescence, then the enthusiasm of adulthood, the mellowing of middle age, and the golden days of retirement, the quiescence of old age until our bodies complete their eventual return to the earth it came from.
Since everything in nature is governed by cycles, then going by the principle of "as above, so below; as below, so above" it stands to reason that the manifestation of good and bad karma follows certain cycles as well. It is like when one is watching a movie on DVD. You experience the whole movie as one continuous, seamless whole, but once you get to the menu, you find out there are different scenes divided into chapters. Just consult any competent astrologer who can forecast whether a certain time period is favorable or unfavorable for the person concerned, depending on the particular astrological cycle being entered. This is why there is the expression of "beginning a new chapter in one's life" and "closing the chapter."
There are big cycles and there are small cycles. Some of the best astrologers can predict the death date of a person, while others can determine the most fortuitous times to gamble and thus make a killing at the casino (supposedly, some of the best feng shui experts in Hong Kong do this).
However, there is an esoteric saying that while the stars may impel, they do not compel. One always has the free will to choose those courses of action that will break negative cycles and generate good ones. This is where tithing, service, inner reflection and character development come in. These are the tools that one can use to shape one's future and destiny, instead of being allowed to be thrown hither and thither by one's astrological cycles.
It is my theory that it is because of these cycles that the timing of one's tithe matters. A really big tithe, representing one year's worth of normal tithe, all given within a certain cycle will influence that cycle the most, but once the next cycle starts, there is not as much energy left over. So it is better to apportion one's tithe over the course of several cycles, to get control of each of them.
For most people, their cycles revolve around the months of the Gregorian calendar (and one's salary disbursement usually follows that cycle as well). Other, more knowledgeable people may choose to follow their astrological cycle, but unless one has access to an astrologer (or is one), this may be hard to follow. There are other esoteric cycles that even fewer people may know about. But whatever cycle one follows, the best principle would be to tithe at the beginning of the cycle, so that one is all set to control and influence the rest of the cycle.
So far, I have not yet encountered any other esoteric work that specifically discusses tithing and the law of cycles, so this is just a working theory. But by far, it is the best explanation I can come up with regarding the experience of my Kriyashakti instructor. In any case, if one regularly does tithing anyway, then it wouldn't hurt to modify the timing of one's tithe.
Since he was speaking from experience, then there is something to what he was saying. Acknowledging a fact is not the same as understanding it, though, so it did not stop me from wondering why. After all, a tenth is a tenth, so 10% of one's monthly income given every month for a whole year is still the same as 10% of the total yearly income given in one go, so why does the timing matter? I had to set that question aside for a long time before I got the glimmerings of an answer.
A possible answer begins to show itself if we look at the way karma works. Aside from the basic "good" and "bad" karma, there are many other subdivisions of karma as well. There is national karma, family karma, prosperity karma, health karma, etc. It's a very complicated subject, but suffice it to say that before incarnating, the soul is shown how one's accumulated good and bad karma from previous lives will determine the parents, the nationality, one's station in life and all other important life events of one's upcoming corporeal existence.
The soul then forgets all of this upon incarnating in a physical body, in order to allow the lessons of life to proceed unhampered by any mental burdens. Once those karmic situations come up, a person's choices will determine if one has learned the lesson and therefore revokes the karma that brought about the situation in the first place or will necessitate the repeat of a similar situation sometime in the future. Master Choa's book Achieving Oneness with the Higher Soul discusses this in more detail. Since a soul's lifeplan has been laid out before incarnation, this explains why people have deja vu. The person happens to remember part of it again as the situation is encountered.
I will not go into any more detail on this subject because, as I said, it's very complicated. But I wanted to show that the good and bad karma for one's lifestream does not manifest all at once. Different situations are spaced out along certain intervals so that the individual has the chance to make the choices and learn the appropriate lessons. How is it all managed, then?
First, let us take a look around us. What do you notice about the world around you? It's governed by cycles. Summer gives way to fall, fall gives in to winter, and as spring comes, the melting ice and snow is transformed to water and rain that nourishes the land, and the leaves that fell last autumn fertilize the soil to give it new life. The Earth spins a certain number of times a day, completes a revolution around the sun once a year, the moon circles the Earth and goes through certain lunar phases every month. Even our bodies follow cycles as well. Childhood gives way to the fires of adolescence, then the enthusiasm of adulthood, the mellowing of middle age, and the golden days of retirement, the quiescence of old age until our bodies complete their eventual return to the earth it came from.
Since everything in nature is governed by cycles, then going by the principle of "as above, so below; as below, so above" it stands to reason that the manifestation of good and bad karma follows certain cycles as well. It is like when one is watching a movie on DVD. You experience the whole movie as one continuous, seamless whole, but once you get to the menu, you find out there are different scenes divided into chapters. Just consult any competent astrologer who can forecast whether a certain time period is favorable or unfavorable for the person concerned, depending on the particular astrological cycle being entered. This is why there is the expression of "beginning a new chapter in one's life" and "closing the chapter."
There are big cycles and there are small cycles. Some of the best astrologers can predict the death date of a person, while others can determine the most fortuitous times to gamble and thus make a killing at the casino (supposedly, some of the best feng shui experts in Hong Kong do this).
However, there is an esoteric saying that while the stars may impel, they do not compel. One always has the free will to choose those courses of action that will break negative cycles and generate good ones. This is where tithing, service, inner reflection and character development come in. These are the tools that one can use to shape one's future and destiny, instead of being allowed to be thrown hither and thither by one's astrological cycles.
It is my theory that it is because of these cycles that the timing of one's tithe matters. A really big tithe, representing one year's worth of normal tithe, all given within a certain cycle will influence that cycle the most, but once the next cycle starts, there is not as much energy left over. So it is better to apportion one's tithe over the course of several cycles, to get control of each of them.
For most people, their cycles revolve around the months of the Gregorian calendar (and one's salary disbursement usually follows that cycle as well). Other, more knowledgeable people may choose to follow their astrological cycle, but unless one has access to an astrologer (or is one), this may be hard to follow. There are other esoteric cycles that even fewer people may know about. But whatever cycle one follows, the best principle would be to tithe at the beginning of the cycle, so that one is all set to control and influence the rest of the cycle.
So far, I have not yet encountered any other esoteric work that specifically discusses tithing and the law of cycles, so this is just a working theory. But by far, it is the best explanation I can come up with regarding the experience of my Kriyashakti instructor. In any case, if one regularly does tithing anyway, then it wouldn't hurt to modify the timing of one's tithe.
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Exploring Kabbalah
When I attended my first Basic Pranic Healing seminar back in July 2008, I bought the book Origins of Modern Pranic Healing and Arhatic Yoga. It's a very interesting and eye-opening book, and every pranic healer should have a copy or have read it at least once. My interest to study and explore kabbalah was sparked after reading that book.
When I first started, my understanding of kabbalah was quite limited. I've read snippets here and there, but nothing that would qualify me as knowledgeable. All I knew then was that it came from the Jewish tradition and that it was some sort of magical system. I've read about the Golem of Prague, a story so famous that there was (or still is) a postage stamp in that city that features the golem. This only reinforced my idea that kabbalah was the "magic of the Jews." And for you Dungeons & Dragons fans out there, the word golem is a Hebrew word that essentially means "amorphous." Jewish folklore is even richer than the narratives that can be found in the Bible.
So what is this seemingly indecipherable body of knowledge? What is it that has drawn the fascination of occultists for the past several centuries? Kabbalah is hard to explain in such a short article. In truth, one must live it to really start to understand it. Even now with all the material I've read, I'm still just scratching the surface, but I will try to give as clear a picture as possible based on what I've managed to find out so far. Though I may not be the foremost expert on kabbalah, hopefully my experiences will help others have an easier time doing their own research. Although we are really luckier today because there is so much material on kabbalah and the floodgates of information about this field of study has opened up. In days of yore, kabbalists were tight-lipped about their knowledge, and frequently, anyone who released kabbalistic teachings without permission was killed. This contributed to the sparse information about it during Medieval times up until the early 20th century, and consequently led to a lot of misunderstanding about what it is.
The situation is further complicated in that other philosophies started integrating certain kabbalistic teachings. In the 15th century, there was a desire to interpret Christian doctrine even more mystically than the Christian mystics, and so the Christian Cabala was born. Then, during the 18th and 19th centuries, a lot of occult literature started to include concepts from the kabbalah such as the Tree of Life and the sephira. This is often called the Hermetic Kabbalah. One can see this particularly in the material of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Yet for all the material available on the subject, I could not find a clear way to make use of kabbalah, let alone make heads or tails out of it.
One book I read even mentioned that one needs to learn the Hebrew alphabet itself, (just the alphabet, although learning the language would help, since it would make gematria easier). This was an important suggestion, though I didn't realize it then, but more on this later. But for the meantime, this again left me scratching my head, because where was I going to find a teacher that could help navigate this morass of information? A lot of the kabbalah books I was reading presented material that was couched in metaphors, symbolisms and other stuff that could not be easily decoded or verified.
At this point, I luckily managed to purchase one of Master Choa's books, The Spiritual Essence of Man, which deals with the Tree of Life extensively and has very good material about kabbalistic teachings. The book helped lay the groundwork for a more focused search for information. In any case, when searching for information, Divine Guidance is really necessary. One will also realize that the right information or material will be made available when the time is right (which means one is able to understand and handle the information or one is entitled to it).
Like any tradition or body of knowledge, to gain a better understanding of it one must eventually go to the source. A lot can get lost in translation or misinterpretation, especially when the writer is not from the original tradition being written about. In the case of kabbalah, we are not talking about any one person as the source, but a whole culture. Moreover, there are many kabbalistic schools of thought. So I turned my search to actual Hebrew sources. Further research led me to realize that there are also two aspects to the study of kabbalah. Both are interwoven, because they use the same sources and knowledge, but the difference is in the application.
The first aspect is what is called Kabbalah iyunit, or "contemplative Kabbalah". Here, the aspirant seeks to know God and explain the nature of existence through intellectual study and meditation. In this way, kabbalah is the esoteric counterpart of the Judaic religion. Aside from the Torah, kabbalists also count the Sefer Yetzirah (Book of Formation), said to be written by Abraham, and the Sefer Ha-Zohar (Book of Splendor) as major references. Because of the heavy emphasis on scripture and the use of the Hebrew alphabet (the Alef Bet), most if not all kabbalists were also rabbis.
The idea of an esoteric tradition behind an established religion is not confined to Judaism. In the Islamic tradition, we have the Sufis, where we have the whirling dervishes. A lot of Sufis are also imams (clerics). With the Christian tradition, we have the Gnostics.
The second aspect to the study of kabbalah is the Kabbalah ma'asit or "practical Kabbalah." It is this aspect of kabbalah that is usually referred to among the books and stories of magic written outside the context of traditional Hebrew belief. Anything that directly affects the material plane is usually categorized under the practical kabbalah. The making of a golem or crafting of amulets and charms for varying purposes (very popular in Jewish culture) are examples of this. It is this aspect that has mostly gained the notice of occultists.
In the hermetic tradition, the kabbalah usually takes the form of ceremonial magic. It typically involves elaborate preparations in terms of incese and other occult material. The only exception would be Franz Bardon's system, in his book The Key to the True Quabbalah, which is closer to the Hebrew method. In the Hebrew tradition, practical kabbalah is effected through the use of the many different Names of God. This is why practical kabbalists were called Ba'al Shem Tov (Masters of the Good Name). Practical kabbalists also use the Hebrew alphabet and gematria in their work. Why the emphasis on the Hebrew alphabet? According to the Sefer Yetzirah, the Lord used the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet in order to create the universe. Therefore anyone who mastered the use of these letters had a very powerful key to influencing reality.
How come then that not everyone who knows the Hebrew language can do works of wonder? Well, there is a special way to using the letters and the Names of God that activates the energies locked within them. But the key to this is not easily found, and is a very closely guarded secret among kabbalists, and that's the dilemma that faces a lot of would-be practitioners.
Furthermore, there were heavy injunctions against using the Names of God "in vain," meaning for base reasons. Also, the divine energies being emitted by the letters and the Names was so strong that only a tzadik (righteous person) with a pure purpose could safely use them. There seems to be a basis on this because I have heard stories about people who attempted to use the kabbalah who went insane. This has not deterred people from pursuing this path, though.
In Jewish society, practical kabbalists were often called upon to perform exorcisms, do healing, or create amulets or talismans of protection for the home or person. It is strikingly similar to the duties an arbularyo (medicine man) would do in a typical Philippine community. For all that, the status of the practical kabbalist was quite controversial, because the rabbis were divided on whether it was allowable or not. It is further confusing in that some aspects of practical kabbalah were considered acceptable (such as crafting amulets) while others were considered taboo (such as uttering the Names of God in a kabbalistic manner). Some kabbalistic schools of thought even believe that until the Temple stands again, no one should use the practical kabbalah.
Usually, it depends on the particular community what is considered acceptable to them or not, although many took advantage of the the amulets and charms, with the rabbis who publicly denounce them just turning a blind eye to the practice (if not making use of it themselves). In actuality, it most likely wasn't a matter of one practicing contemplative kabbalah or practical kabbalah but rather to what extent one is incorporating either aspect into one's practice.
If you want to get a better idea of the role that practical kabbalah played in Jewish society, I would suggest you read Jewish Magic and Superstition by Joshua Trachtenberg. It's available for free online at the Sacred Texts website. You may also visit this website about practical kabbalah.
As I gained more ground in studying kabbalah, my research received a boost when I started reading the different books from the Kabbalah Centre. "Wait," you may ask. "The same organization that Ashton Kutcher and Madonna are members of?" Yes, it's the same one. But don't let the names of all those celebrities who are members throw you off. The Kabbalah Centre offers a lot of gems about kabbalah, and they de-mystified it such that even a total beginner can get a grasp of it. The Kabbalah Centre was founded in the early 1920s in order to spread the teachings of kabbalah to the world, and we are all the better for it.
So, how did the material from the Kabbalah Centre contribute to my understanding of kabbalah? One clue is in the word itself. Although "kabbalah" is one of the most often used transliterations, it is more accurately spelled as "Qabalah" or QBLH and the meaning is "to receive." Most attribute "receiving" to the fact that kabbalah was primarily an oral tradition, therefore one would receive the teachings directly from teacher to student. But once you read the different books, there is another level of meaning to it.
Let us ask the question, what does it mean to receive? According to the law of polarity, there is both a negative and a positive polarity. The Light of the Creator is the positive polarity that always flows and imparts. We, residing in vessels, are in the negative polarity and in the mode of receiving (take note that positive and negative in esoteric usage does not always refer to "good" or "bad"). It is this Light passing from the Creator and through our souls that gives life to our bodies.
Now, in kabbalistic belief, there are two ways that people are using this Light. One is the Desire to Receive for Oneself Alone, which results in darkness, pain and a heavy karmic debt, while the other is the Desire to Receive for the Sake of Imparting, which results in a lot of Light in one's life, eventually leading to a completion of one's tikkun (correction).
It works this way due to the law of flow. One cannot keep on inhaling without exhaling, and one cannot keep eating without ever defecating. This is why the Desire to Receive for Oneself Alone remains in the negative state and causes all manner of pain and suffering, not only for oneself, but also the world. When one gets into the consciousness of the Desire to Receive for the Sake of Imparting, one has just transformed the negative state back into positive and one is in tune with Creation. We have the free will to choose our actions and have to deal with either the consequences or rewards of our choices. Until one has totally transformed into the consciousness of Desire to Receive for the Sake of Imparting, one constantly has to work at one's tikkun, through several lifetimes if necessary (yes, reincarnation is part of kabbalistic belief; it's called Gilgul Neshamot or Reincarnation of Souls). The concept of tikkun, as used in kabbalah, is similar to the concept that we incarnate in this physical plane in order to work off our negative karma.
The study of kabbalah then is a study of how to achieve harmony with Creation, which is not limited to harmony with nature, but with all of Creation, which includes our fellow human beings. The knowledge of kabbalah gives one the tools to understand how everything works (in both the physical and non-physical realms), thus the enlightened individual gains the keys to positively influence Creation, as is our destiny as co-Creators. Yehuda Berg in his books describes kabbalah as Technology for the Soul, and it's a very apt description. Looked at in this light, kabbalah is simply a way of life and a spiritual path not unlike the practices of yoga, Buddhism and other esoteric disciplines.
So in its essence, kabbalah is very similar in its purpose as Arhatic Yoga, which is why I found it easy to cross-reference the two disciplines. Studying kabbalah has certainly enriched my spiritual life, and made me appreciate the value of Arhatic Yoga even more. In the end, kabbalah is more than just a magical system, but literally a path to God.
Even so, kabbalah has still managed to subtly exert its influence in ordinary things that we take for granted. For instance, I already mentioned how the word golem has found its way into the D&D system. Also, in Star Trek remember that Vulcan hand sign that Spock makes when he says, "Live long and prosper"? Make that hand sign on both your hands, then put your hands side by side. That's a kabbalistic blessing position! Gene Roddenberry must have known something about kabbalah. The atbash, a form of letter substitution, was an early form of cryptography and certainly had an influence in the development of that discipline.
However way one looks at it, kabbalah is definitely a field worth studying, and it's a good complement to whatever spiritual path one is following.
When I first started, my understanding of kabbalah was quite limited. I've read snippets here and there, but nothing that would qualify me as knowledgeable. All I knew then was that it came from the Jewish tradition and that it was some sort of magical system. I've read about the Golem of Prague, a story so famous that there was (or still is) a postage stamp in that city that features the golem. This only reinforced my idea that kabbalah was the "magic of the Jews." And for you Dungeons & Dragons fans out there, the word golem is a Hebrew word that essentially means "amorphous." Jewish folklore is even richer than the narratives that can be found in the Bible.
So what is this seemingly indecipherable body of knowledge? What is it that has drawn the fascination of occultists for the past several centuries? Kabbalah is hard to explain in such a short article. In truth, one must live it to really start to understand it. Even now with all the material I've read, I'm still just scratching the surface, but I will try to give as clear a picture as possible based on what I've managed to find out so far. Though I may not be the foremost expert on kabbalah, hopefully my experiences will help others have an easier time doing their own research. Although we are really luckier today because there is so much material on kabbalah and the floodgates of information about this field of study has opened up. In days of yore, kabbalists were tight-lipped about their knowledge, and frequently, anyone who released kabbalistic teachings without permission was killed. This contributed to the sparse information about it during Medieval times up until the early 20th century, and consequently led to a lot of misunderstanding about what it is.
The situation is further complicated in that other philosophies started integrating certain kabbalistic teachings. In the 15th century, there was a desire to interpret Christian doctrine even more mystically than the Christian mystics, and so the Christian Cabala was born. Then, during the 18th and 19th centuries, a lot of occult literature started to include concepts from the kabbalah such as the Tree of Life and the sephira. This is often called the Hermetic Kabbalah. One can see this particularly in the material of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Yet for all the material available on the subject, I could not find a clear way to make use of kabbalah, let alone make heads or tails out of it.
One book I read even mentioned that one needs to learn the Hebrew alphabet itself, (just the alphabet, although learning the language would help, since it would make gematria easier). This was an important suggestion, though I didn't realize it then, but more on this later. But for the meantime, this again left me scratching my head, because where was I going to find a teacher that could help navigate this morass of information? A lot of the kabbalah books I was reading presented material that was couched in metaphors, symbolisms and other stuff that could not be easily decoded or verified.
At this point, I luckily managed to purchase one of Master Choa's books, The Spiritual Essence of Man, which deals with the Tree of Life extensively and has very good material about kabbalistic teachings. The book helped lay the groundwork for a more focused search for information. In any case, when searching for information, Divine Guidance is really necessary. One will also realize that the right information or material will be made available when the time is right (which means one is able to understand and handle the information or one is entitled to it).
Like any tradition or body of knowledge, to gain a better understanding of it one must eventually go to the source. A lot can get lost in translation or misinterpretation, especially when the writer is not from the original tradition being written about. In the case of kabbalah, we are not talking about any one person as the source, but a whole culture. Moreover, there are many kabbalistic schools of thought. So I turned my search to actual Hebrew sources. Further research led me to realize that there are also two aspects to the study of kabbalah. Both are interwoven, because they use the same sources and knowledge, but the difference is in the application.
The first aspect is what is called Kabbalah iyunit, or "contemplative Kabbalah". Here, the aspirant seeks to know God and explain the nature of existence through intellectual study and meditation. In this way, kabbalah is the esoteric counterpart of the Judaic religion. Aside from the Torah, kabbalists also count the Sefer Yetzirah (Book of Formation), said to be written by Abraham, and the Sefer Ha-Zohar (Book of Splendor) as major references. Because of the heavy emphasis on scripture and the use of the Hebrew alphabet (the Alef Bet), most if not all kabbalists were also rabbis.
The idea of an esoteric tradition behind an established religion is not confined to Judaism. In the Islamic tradition, we have the Sufis, where we have the whirling dervishes. A lot of Sufis are also imams (clerics). With the Christian tradition, we have the Gnostics.
The second aspect to the study of kabbalah is the Kabbalah ma'asit or "practical Kabbalah." It is this aspect of kabbalah that is usually referred to among the books and stories of magic written outside the context of traditional Hebrew belief. Anything that directly affects the material plane is usually categorized under the practical kabbalah. The making of a golem or crafting of amulets and charms for varying purposes (very popular in Jewish culture) are examples of this. It is this aspect that has mostly gained the notice of occultists.
In the hermetic tradition, the kabbalah usually takes the form of ceremonial magic. It typically involves elaborate preparations in terms of incese and other occult material. The only exception would be Franz Bardon's system, in his book The Key to the True Quabbalah, which is closer to the Hebrew method. In the Hebrew tradition, practical kabbalah is effected through the use of the many different Names of God. This is why practical kabbalists were called Ba'al Shem Tov (Masters of the Good Name). Practical kabbalists also use the Hebrew alphabet and gematria in their work. Why the emphasis on the Hebrew alphabet? According to the Sefer Yetzirah, the Lord used the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet in order to create the universe. Therefore anyone who mastered the use of these letters had a very powerful key to influencing reality.
How come then that not everyone who knows the Hebrew language can do works of wonder? Well, there is a special way to using the letters and the Names of God that activates the energies locked within them. But the key to this is not easily found, and is a very closely guarded secret among kabbalists, and that's the dilemma that faces a lot of would-be practitioners.
Furthermore, there were heavy injunctions against using the Names of God "in vain," meaning for base reasons. Also, the divine energies being emitted by the letters and the Names was so strong that only a tzadik (righteous person) with a pure purpose could safely use them. There seems to be a basis on this because I have heard stories about people who attempted to use the kabbalah who went insane. This has not deterred people from pursuing this path, though.
In Jewish society, practical kabbalists were often called upon to perform exorcisms, do healing, or create amulets or talismans of protection for the home or person. It is strikingly similar to the duties an arbularyo (medicine man) would do in a typical Philippine community. For all that, the status of the practical kabbalist was quite controversial, because the rabbis were divided on whether it was allowable or not. It is further confusing in that some aspects of practical kabbalah were considered acceptable (such as crafting amulets) while others were considered taboo (such as uttering the Names of God in a kabbalistic manner). Some kabbalistic schools of thought even believe that until the Temple stands again, no one should use the practical kabbalah.
Usually, it depends on the particular community what is considered acceptable to them or not, although many took advantage of the the amulets and charms, with the rabbis who publicly denounce them just turning a blind eye to the practice (if not making use of it themselves). In actuality, it most likely wasn't a matter of one practicing contemplative kabbalah or practical kabbalah but rather to what extent one is incorporating either aspect into one's practice.
If you want to get a better idea of the role that practical kabbalah played in Jewish society, I would suggest you read Jewish Magic and Superstition by Joshua Trachtenberg. It's available for free online at the Sacred Texts website. You may also visit this website about practical kabbalah.
As I gained more ground in studying kabbalah, my research received a boost when I started reading the different books from the Kabbalah Centre. "Wait," you may ask. "The same organization that Ashton Kutcher and Madonna are members of?" Yes, it's the same one. But don't let the names of all those celebrities who are members throw you off. The Kabbalah Centre offers a lot of gems about kabbalah, and they de-mystified it such that even a total beginner can get a grasp of it. The Kabbalah Centre was founded in the early 1920s in order to spread the teachings of kabbalah to the world, and we are all the better for it.
So, how did the material from the Kabbalah Centre contribute to my understanding of kabbalah? One clue is in the word itself. Although "kabbalah" is one of the most often used transliterations, it is more accurately spelled as "Qabalah" or QBLH and the meaning is "to receive." Most attribute "receiving" to the fact that kabbalah was primarily an oral tradition, therefore one would receive the teachings directly from teacher to student. But once you read the different books, there is another level of meaning to it.
Let us ask the question, what does it mean to receive? According to the law of polarity, there is both a negative and a positive polarity. The Light of the Creator is the positive polarity that always flows and imparts. We, residing in vessels, are in the negative polarity and in the mode of receiving (take note that positive and negative in esoteric usage does not always refer to "good" or "bad"). It is this Light passing from the Creator and through our souls that gives life to our bodies.
Now, in kabbalistic belief, there are two ways that people are using this Light. One is the Desire to Receive for Oneself Alone, which results in darkness, pain and a heavy karmic debt, while the other is the Desire to Receive for the Sake of Imparting, which results in a lot of Light in one's life, eventually leading to a completion of one's tikkun (correction).
It works this way due to the law of flow. One cannot keep on inhaling without exhaling, and one cannot keep eating without ever defecating. This is why the Desire to Receive for Oneself Alone remains in the negative state and causes all manner of pain and suffering, not only for oneself, but also the world. When one gets into the consciousness of the Desire to Receive for the Sake of Imparting, one has just transformed the negative state back into positive and one is in tune with Creation. We have the free will to choose our actions and have to deal with either the consequences or rewards of our choices. Until one has totally transformed into the consciousness of Desire to Receive for the Sake of Imparting, one constantly has to work at one's tikkun, through several lifetimes if necessary (yes, reincarnation is part of kabbalistic belief; it's called Gilgul Neshamot or Reincarnation of Souls). The concept of tikkun, as used in kabbalah, is similar to the concept that we incarnate in this physical plane in order to work off our negative karma.
The study of kabbalah then is a study of how to achieve harmony with Creation, which is not limited to harmony with nature, but with all of Creation, which includes our fellow human beings. The knowledge of kabbalah gives one the tools to understand how everything works (in both the physical and non-physical realms), thus the enlightened individual gains the keys to positively influence Creation, as is our destiny as co-Creators. Yehuda Berg in his books describes kabbalah as Technology for the Soul, and it's a very apt description. Looked at in this light, kabbalah is simply a way of life and a spiritual path not unlike the practices of yoga, Buddhism and other esoteric disciplines.
So in its essence, kabbalah is very similar in its purpose as Arhatic Yoga, which is why I found it easy to cross-reference the two disciplines. Studying kabbalah has certainly enriched my spiritual life, and made me appreciate the value of Arhatic Yoga even more. In the end, kabbalah is more than just a magical system, but literally a path to God.
Even so, kabbalah has still managed to subtly exert its influence in ordinary things that we take for granted. For instance, I already mentioned how the word golem has found its way into the D&D system. Also, in Star Trek remember that Vulcan hand sign that Spock makes when he says, "Live long and prosper"? Make that hand sign on both your hands, then put your hands side by side. That's a kabbalistic blessing position! Gene Roddenberry must have known something about kabbalah. The atbash, a form of letter substitution, was an early form of cryptography and certainly had an influence in the development of that discipline.
However way one looks at it, kabbalah is definitely a field worth studying, and it's a good complement to whatever spiritual path one is following.
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