Kabbalah In Our Time
KABBALAH IN OUR TIME
[A brief introduction to what Kabbalah is and what it is not]
The increased popularity of Kabbalah in our time has had both positive and negative effects on the psyche of humanity. The gullibility of accepting ideas, concepts, assumptions and ways of belief, without deeply examining, has the possibility of causing great damage to the many people now who are now pretending that they are “on the right track.”
The whole New Age movement I witnessed in America and other countries was built on the human gullibility to accept everything, and assume ideas to be true without thoroughly examining them both with the brain and the heart. Once the false ideas of yesterday are repeated, and repeated again and again by oneself or manipulators with a hidden agenda, they become the “truth” of today.
That is why those who study Kabbalah spend a lot of time in what we call “preparation.” This preparation trains the student to connect with the source of all creation and make oneself ready to experience “both worlds” – “this world” (Olam Hazeh), and the “world above” (Olam Elion), right here on earth, with full clarity and intense great pleasure.
This is a preparation that teaches the student to rise above the sense of oneself only, to a higher state of being, beyond the attitude of “ for me only ” and “ after me, let the floods come ”. It means developing an attitude that considers the “other person” and the “stranger”. For our history teaches us, that we are "strangers in a strange land," and to consider the “other person, more than oneself”.
The immense ego each of us has (which is necessary to exist, but not more) causes these simple concepts to be accepted by few. Similarly, the concept of “immortality” is not accepted by most of humanity because many religions and philosophies lead us to the wrong premise and to accept “death as an inevitability” rather than “death as an unacceptable reality.”
We are brought up with this divison built into our understanding and so, we live our lives divided and conflicted. As a result, the world is where it is today, with nothing learned from its bloody history. When we falsely believe “wrong is right” and “right is wrong,” or that “darkness is light” – and accept this as our way of thinking – the human condition is pushed deeper into what is called “the edge of the edges.”
I once said to my students, that it is futile to try to show people the difference between a true teacher and a false teacher, or how to recognize the true from the false, because of the limited understanding most people have of these matters. Charlatans actually have a very important role to play. They give those who are truly searching the opportunity to distinguish between what is true and what is false.
It has been said: “FALSE (fool’s) gold exists, because there is such a thing called TRUE GOLD.” Or, also, “counterfeiters exist, because there is such a thing as real gold.”
So, this brings us back to the increasing popularization of the Kabbalah. Even those who “teach” Kabbalah and present it in such a way to attract gullible and superficial thinkers have a role to play. Those who seek the true gold, will have the opportunity to enter the right gate, and begin their individual period of preparation. We will witness then how the sincere student can learn that great way of Kabbalah – HOW to transform the false into the true, and how to turn the negative into the positive. This also includes how to change one’s direction in life from being bad to being fully good.
By the time that individual transformation happened, through deep learning and purity of the heart, one is really ready to BEGIN to study Kabbalah.
Let me state once more the genuine way of the Kabbalah:
The ancient/new science and wisdom of the Kabbalah provides us with a practical and effective method and system to apprehend the “world above” (Olam Elion). We are able to realize the very root and source of our existence during our lives in “this world.”
Through this path of practical wisdom, we may achieve perfection take control of our lives, transcending all limitations of so-called “time” and “space.”
This way, we can realize our true purpose and the deep meaning of life. We experience real tranquility and infinite and unbounded enjoyment, while we are still living in “this world.”
No one can function properly in this world without using one’s five senses. We know the world through these limited perceptions and we call it “reality.” But that is a very limited “reality,” indeed. Now the soul also cannot function properly in the “world above” (Olam Elion), without using the new tools one must build beyond the 5 senses. These are the other 95 senses we do not use.
The study and application of the wisdom of Kabbalah provides us with the knowledge to build the spiritual sense. This allows us to profoundly explore the “Infinite” with new tools. These new tools come from the inner depth of silence, which are unperceivable, undefinable, and uncomprehensible for the linear mind. Acquiring this sense of “touching eternity”, while in this world, is possible with the kabbalistic way of being and becoming.
In the Hebrew version of The Invisible Stairway: Kabbalistic Meditations on the Hebrew Letters, I elaborated on some of the essential principles that are necessary to prepare one to be able to study the Kabbalah via the “mystery” of the Hebrew letters. Here are some of them.
1. One has to reach the end of philosophy, meaning, to stop philosophizing and following the vicious circle of mental acrobatics with no direction whatsoever. It is futile to repeat the utter failure of most philosophers of all time.
2. STOP arguing with the world, because to do so is a great distraction. That does not mean not to attend to the events and activities of “this world”. But it does mean to integrate a self-discipline that allows one to take the first steps of the Tikkun restoration, needed to prepare one to “enter the palace of learning.”
3. Do not try to understand during the period of preparation. When one tries to do this, one creates invisible obstacles that retard the real understanding, through experience. The superficial intellectual and physical understanding one usually seeks are obstacles in this real learning.
4. One must ask the profound questions: "Who am I?" and "What is the meaning of my existence in this world?" These nagging questions must be explored. Who am I? What am I doing here? What is the meaning of my life? Is there any sense to this cycle of habits and routine, the rush and run of endless pursuit, for no lasting purpose? These are genuinely deep questions that one must feel urgently and honestly. One needs to dedicate oneself to learning, and be ready to apply and work toward the goal of finding meaning and purpose. When one comes to this impasse in life and is earnestly searching for a new way, only then may that person be ready to learn and to apply the learnings.
These four principles will not be easily accepted by one who has been trained to “play the violin with one hand” – in other words, a person who is using only a fragment of their ability and capacity for true living and being. According to authentic knowledge, that kind of life is animalistic and stagnant. But, these proposed preparations can open the gate to full reality and true knowledge of creation. One can know the “mysteries” of creation and the purpose of humanity being here at this crucial time of transition and rapid change.
When we develop that “spiritual sense,” beyond our limited five senses, we enter into a new spiritual dimension of being. It is a shift from using “my will for me only,” to align, think and act with “the will of the creator.”
Next: Some Basics on Kabbalah