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Kabbalah is an interpretation (exegesis, hermeneuic) key, "soul" of
the Torah (Hebrew Bible), or the religious mystical system of Judaism claiming an
insight into divine nature.
The term "Kabbalah" was originally used in Talmudic texts, among the
Geonim, and by early Rishonim as a reference to the full body of publicly available
Jewish teaching. In this sense Kabbalah was used in referring to all of known Oral
Law. Over time it became a reference to doctrines of esoteric knowledge concerning
God, God's creation of the universe and the laws of nature, and the path by which
adult religious Jews can learn these secrets.
Kabbalah, according to the more recent use of the word, stresses the
esoteric reasons and understanding of the commandments in the Torah, and the occult
cause of events described in the Torah. Kabbalah includes the understanding of the
spiritual spheres of creation, and the ways by which God administers the existence
of the universe.
According to Jewish tradition dating from the 13th century, this knowledge
has come down as a revelation to elect saints from a remote past, and preserved
only by a privileged few. It is considered part of the Jewish Oral Law by the majority
of religious Jews in modern times, although this was not agreed upon by many Talmudic
and medieval scholars, as well as many modern liberal rabbis and a minority of Orthodox
rabbis.
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The Divine Plan
Kether, while it doesn't always represent the infinite in the absolute sense, it does represent the infinite within the framework of any given system. The framework represented here, is the cosmos. Kether - crown - represents the total intention of Creation by the Creator. The successful realization of the Creator's plan is, by definition, guaranteed.
This infinite factor is implicit in the image of the Creator in which we are cast. We have an aspect of infinite light and infinite receptacle within ourselves. Kether represents the infinite and includes everything in existence. Existence is infinite.
Kether, Chochmah and Binah are the supernal Sephirot.
This is the realm of the transcendent, all of which, in relation to the temporal, is infinite. Any level, compared to the level below it, is infinite and there are many levels. Seen from below, the level, above, is seen as "light." Seen from above, the level, below, is "matter." These "higher mind" qualities within us, through contemplative efforts of submission and individual initiative (creativity), help us access the transcendent.
Kether symbolizes the infinite because it is essence - a seed - and a seed is infinite. A seed is the whole entity and yet it is nothing - yet. It is potential.
That's why it is called Kether - crown - because a crown, while representing the infinite seeking expression, is not exactly light (a symbol) and not exactly clothing (a receptacle). It could be thought of as being half light and half receptacle. This is a key feature that distinguishes it from the other Sephirot and a crown from other garments.
In Kether we have an infinite intention to create unlimited good - unlimited abundance - total realization. Why? Because the Creator is infinitely merciful and his intention includes nothing but good. An infinite Creator does not give paltry or limited gifts. He gives only infinite gifts. That we encounter restriction as we descend the tree is because there's a process taking us from infinite seed to infinite realization or fruit - from Kether to Malchut.
The seven lower Sephirot represent the world of manifestation including the temporal. Manifestation is temporary as is our suffering. In contrast with the ultimate, infinite gift we are going to receive, all suffering is insignificant and will be obliterated.
Divine Reality
Chokmah is the active father, initiating principle. Chokmah includes the total idea universe of the cosmos. It is the fertilization of Keter's infinite potential. It is the beginning of all form, yet it is still formless. It is the cosmic computer and, having been fertilized, is dynamically alive. It is moving towards the manifestation of vision. It is the thought of existence and includes the entire idea universe of existence. It reflects the Mind of the Creator that contains everything. This is the great cosmic computer including the terminals for accessing it. We are those terminals destined to manifest the vision - the thought of Creation.
Divine Nurture
Binah is the accommodating mother - the intention to give birth, to nurture and eventually realize all of cosmic potential contained in Chokmah. Binah gives birth to the temporal - the world of manifestation beginning with it's highest temporal expression - Chesed. Of the three supernal Sephirot, only Binah can (partly) descend into the temporal with impunity.
Chesed is a reflection of the infinite compassion of the Creator and the devotion of Binah. In the realm of the lower Sephirot, Chesed is Kether. It is our compassionate intention to emulate the Creator - our prime mover - to do good - to realize the Creator's plan. We have a good impulse, a good intention, a vision aspiring to reveal a key aspect of His Creation through some discovery or invention to which we are committed. If our intention is valid, the source is Chokmah. Lower down, in Tiferet, this impulse will become an unwavering conviction and, in Nezach, a concerted effort of contemplation.
Geburah is the determination to focus upon and realize the good intentions of Chesed. This includes loyalty to our vision originating in Chokmah. It is the discipline to resist temptations, to contain excesses and avoid distraction. It is here that we narrow our options and commit to the direction that direct, intuitive knowledge from Da'at may have reinforced in us.
Tiphareth is the center column. It says, "I know it is going to happen and I see what is required for its realization. I feel it can happen." Tiphareth is self-contained. It is a beautiful experience of presence that can tend to beatitude. Tiphareth means "beauty," the beauty of balance and symmetry foreshadowing success. We can taste success long before it is achieved, which generates the energy and even elation of anticipation. The experience of being centered is the validation of our intention, the springboard for action. "I'm balanced and poised for action. I know what I want and I know what's required."
Tiphareth is the balance between and synthesis of Chesed and Geburah. Through intention, through determination, I now arrive at the conviction that my discovery/invention will take form. Tiphareth is a place of silence, a warm place, a place of confidence and feeling, rather than conventional, reactive, emotional, fragmented feeling. It is the subjective knowledge that this will be realized. I know, emotionally, that realization is now possible and even probable.
This is the impulse to move forward, right foot first - action and effort. Thanks to Tiphareth we can now mobilize our intellectual, emotional and physical energies in an efficacious effort of contemplation to confront the obscurity that Creation presents to my as yet unclarified mind. If my faith is strong, if I don't waiver in my effort, my contemplation, erratic as it may be at first, will begin to lock onto the eternal present and allow me to be infused with energy to illuminate the elements of the problem I am addressing. Every cell in my body, collectively configuring the image of the Creator, will become a facsimile of the whole, and start resonating in Hod and manifesting the image of the Creator that encompasses my whole body as Mind.
That resonance starts to become encompassing as we become saturated with energy tracing the form and providing the substance of our search. It's a process of the passive side of the tree. It's not something I'm doing, its no longer guided from intention which is now inherent in the process, but rather by the energy generated by the concerted attention/intention transmitted through Nezach circulating in the image of the Creator that is the nascent mind that I am to temporarily become. It is passive in that it elaborates within myself, guided by the essential form in which I am cast and the terms of reference of my search that I specified in both Chesed and Nezach. I no longer think but, rather, thought, governed by the form and content of my contemplation in Nezach, elaborates within me, while centered in Tiphareth, I observe.
It reverberates and integrates until an abundance of complete and coherent vision starts to become evident. When the knowledge for realizing abundance materializes, I am in Yesod. Direct, elaborated knowledge pertains to Yesod that connects with Da'at of the tree below where it manifests as intuition.
Yesod is where abundance comes from, an abundance of seeds. It is the dynamic expression of creativity. When I get here, I am in an all-engrossing creative state elaborating within myself. This is Accelerated Thought. We could call it objective consciousness. We have become objective because now we have direct, coherent knowledge of the world. Yesod manifests a rectified, coherent abundance of ideas, vision, knowledge - an ordered idea universe. I have become one with what I have contemplated. This is the accomplishment of original intention in Kether leading to practical manifestation in Malchut.
Malkuth is the realization of Kether (divine plan), Chokmah (divine reality) and Binah (divine nurture). This is accomplished through the elaboration of these supernal intentions into manifest reality through human intention emulating divine will. Unlimited bounty is thus materialized in this world through discovery and invention, science and technology. As the Creator's partners in Creation, we reveal the Creator's infinite gift to us and, in the process, are relieved from all forms of limitation.
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