“You can learn and inform yourself about the finger (a detail),
But that does not mean you know the entire body (the whole)”.

Samuel Ben-Or Avital

Since the Kabbalah is becoming very popular these days – something that is very significant for the future of humanity and the Universe – it is very important to make a few things clear about this sacred, ancient and new knowledge, wisdom and exact science of the Cosmos. For Kabbalah contains the cosmic laws and the practical wisdom of natural balance, which can be harmoniously integrated, to become in tune and resonating with all creation.

Many great minds in history have orbited around the Kabbalah to learn about life and the “mystery of our being here.” However, many of them have missed the target and gotten the wrong notion. They were not able to perceive what this enigmatic ancient knowledge has to offer and teach us – about our being, who we are, and what we are doing in “this world”, and what our role is in life as a whole. Until now, sad to say, most of us humans have been using only one hemisphere of the brain to function and seek knowledge – which is a great limitation.

Kabbalah is both a great “mystery” and also very simple to understand; for it is a science and wisdom of the Cosmos. It is both simple and complicated, which seems to be a “paradox” to the ordinary person’s mind. But when one begins to really know, it is not a paradox, it is simply an integration of both aspects of our being. However, since we humans have always been at war with ourselves, since the dawn of time, it is a difficult thing for us to interact with the oneness of the Creation.

Kabbalah is a science of actual learning, which means learning not just with words, and not just with the intellect, but with the full intelligence. This includes actual kinesthetic practices, which are very effective, but are generally not acceptable to the average human being today, because most people are completely immersed in “playing the violin with one hand.”

Among other aspects of knowing, Kabbalah teaches one to DARE TO BE fully oneself without fear.  Kabbalah teaches how the laws work of the Cosmos, and the creation, and “this world” we live in now – for us to manifest on all levels and dimensions of life, both visible and invisible.

These laws can be mastered and worked with, until one becomes “in tune” with them.”  This is done by specific practices of Tikkunim = restorations. This will lead to being and becoming who we were meant to be. One can then actually reach a stage of having the merit to be called “human.”

There are some basics one needs to know before embarking on the journey of exploring Kabbalah:

First, you must differentiate very clearly between information and knowledge. In this day and age, the focus is on information, and most think that information is knowledge. One must be able to make a very clear distinction between these two things.

It is good to be informed, as a starting point, but knowledge is an experience that comes from working on yourself with a genuine Teacher. However, since there are many so-called “teachers”, you must use your common sense of sanity and lucidity, to recognize and really find an authentic teacher, who can guide you properly. When you find an authentic teacher, be ready to engage deeply, without fear or mind-heart limitations.

One must know how to ask, and be in the true state of knowing how to be a “student.” The “Teacher”* will recognize you, and when you make the true contact and connection, that’s when you begin your great adventure. You will learn to know who you are, what is the genuine meaning of your life, why you are living, and how you can learn and apply the laws of the Universe, as the Kabbalah teaches.

A FEW THOUGHTS ABOUT WHAT KABBALAH IS NOT

  • Kabbalah is not a philosophy or just an intellectual pursuit.
  • It can never be learned academically in an intellectual way.
  • It is not a religion.
  • It is not black magic. It has nothing to do with the occult and is not superstitious.
  • It does not have any Greek, Egyptian or any other non-Jewish cultural elements.  It is not part of Christian, Rosicrucian, Masonic or any hermetic philosophies.
  • Kabbalah has nothing to do with “new-age” beliefs – historical or modern.
  • It has no connection to any Eastern religions. .

Kabbalah will never be understood until one begins to know the profound meaning of the terms: “Human,“  “Jewish,“ “Light,“ “Love,” “Life,” “Vessel,” “Tree of Life,” “Spiritual,” “Soul,” “Self,” ”Time,” “Space,” and, many other ideas. These contain within themselves, a complete understanding, and a specific relation to the whole of Creation. There are many more things to understand, but for now, these are essential and basic enough for one to come to some important realizations. 

Now, in English, the word “Jewish” usually brings up a historical and cultural understanding of the Jewish people, including their experiences and contributions over the history of humanity. But in Hebrew, it means something else completely. The word “Jewish” is from the word YEHUDI, which comes from the tribe of YEHUDA, one of the 12 tribes of Israel. In Hebrew it simply means:

  • YEHUDI (יהודי)(Yod, Hay, Vav, Daleth, and Yod) means B E I N G. The root word of Yehudi comes from the Hebrew verb, Hay, Yod and Hay (היה), meaning: TO BE.  We know that in “this world” humans have been habituated to think only with the logical side, and self-awareness of only the physical. This creates habits of mostly talking about being and not essentially being. This Yehudi is a stage of spiritual development of shifting from talking about being, to actually being. 
  • According to the Zohar, the verb also means YIHUD (יחוד), meaning Union, or To Be One. It indicates the work of every being, to unite with the Creator of the Universe, with every thought and action. The possibility exists to “UNITE all that is separated,” in every situation in life, and in all dimensions.
  • Another aspect hinted at by this beautiful verb is HODAYAH (הודיה) (Hay, Vav, Daleth, Yod, and Hay), which means deep gratefulness for BEING.  So, in Hebrew, the gratitude for BEING is already built in, within the word and letters of the verb of BEING.
  • So, this word simply means TO BE.  What to be?  To DARE to BE and BECOME close to the Creator, and navigate life for the benefit of all. This is living ”this life” of “matter” on earth, as it was meant to be in the “First Place”- restoring oneself to that state of complete perfection, homeostasis, right here on earth, and not after “death.” Right here and now, no postponing.

This is a state of being consciously in the process of transition from being a human animal to divine human. The one who is spiritually aware can understand the spiritual state of being, which is the balance between duality and nonduality. This allows one to transition from the state of being a human animal, which is the state of 99% of humanity, to go from the state of duality, to that of essential being.  

Through these Tikkunim = Restorations, one can purify the vessel to receive Kabbalistic insight about oneself and the Universe. The learning process becomes so different from what passes these days as “education.” Here, one gains a completely different understanding of what information and knowledge are.

A FEW THOUGHTS ON WHAT KABBALAH IS

  • 1. Kabbalah is rooted within the Jewish tradition, but it is not a religion, it is a sacred science of the universe, both wise and practical. It was called “The mother of all sciences.”  Kabbalah in Hebrew, means to receive. To receive what? That is the ancient exploration, exploring the “mystery” of the human will, the purpose of Creation, and the process of being and becoming.
  • 2. Kabbalah dwells with the essence of being. It is a code of becoming. It is an integration of thinking, using both right and left-brained ways of orientation, both “inner and outer space-time”, integrating both the physical and spiritual aspects of who we are. This way we can use the duality and conflict to balance the opposites. For I call it a trap and a laziness on the person’s part, not to accept both sides of the paradox and find congruency between them.
  • As one studies with an authentic Kabbalistic teacher, one can learn to use both hemispheres and beyond. One can develop the ability to go beyond the thinker and the thought, and get to that space I call “Nowhere.” I consider the perfect art and science of Kabbalah as a Cosmic Computer that can reveal all the “mysteries” of life, on all dimensions, in a practical and logical manner.
  • 3. Are you willing to study the original languages, Hebrew or Aramaic, to go deep in the study of the Kabbalah?  This means to drink from the source-waters and not the stream. For you must know that most translations are treacherous in transmitting the authentic message.  When you want to study Shakespeare, clearly you must learn it in English. Or if you study Molière, it must be in the original French. The translations can be good, but it is like drinking from watered down soup – the learning gets diluted and becomes more superficial.
  • 4. You can read any book on Kabbalah and be informed to a certain degree.  But if you do not have access to, or cannot build for yourself the proper background in the original language in which it was written, you will never understand the totality of its “secrets“ or “mysteries.” Book learning can be good information to inform yourself to a certain degree, but you must go deeper to understand. Kabbalah is full with codes, both simple and complex, and computations, among other things. In learning, it is recommended to drink from the source, rather than from diluted vessels or streams.
  • Kabbalah is a unique spiritual language, that has to be learned in order to access this source of wisdom and spiritual health of being. It is a total language which has infinite styles of spiritual instructions, that is neglected by academia. It is a unique language, like music, in which you must learn the musical notes in order to play. 
  • 5. In teaching certain BodySpeak™ exercises, I say “You can learn about the finger, but that does not mean you know the whole body.” One does not know the whole body by knowing only a finger. Unfortunately, in the shallow “culture” we live in these days, many people learn one tiny part of knowledge and pretend to know the whole.
  • 6. Kabbalah contains the metaphysical understandings underlying the commandments (Mitzvot), and stories in the Torah, given by the Creator to the Jewish people at Mt. Sinai. The stories are there to keep the tradition alive and safely stored across thousands of years. The Kabbalist however, understands and dares to go beyond the “stories,” through a specific system of study, including Tikkunim (deeds of restoration).
  • These bring one closer to the Creator – working with the laws of the universe to restore one’s personal world and the whole world. In this way, the student of Kabbalah learns to use all (or most of) one’s faculties of intelligence and thinking.  This means the constant application of what one learns, in order to be and become with genuine knowledge.   
  • 7. Kabbalah is actually more than a subject of learning, it is really an exact science. It embraces a whole system of practices that revive the life of the spirit that is concealed within the body of the stories in the Torah, and other sacred writings. Within every letter and word, and between the lines and spaces, lie the laws of Creation. It reveals how to live in both worlds with total harmony, developing one’s spiritual evolution, and restoring oneself and the universe at the same time, right here and now.
  • 8. Kabbalah offers a very profound and proven system of meditation that enables the student to achieve the state of beyond, being close to the Creator – to achieve the perfect union with the one that uttered the word and the world came into existence. Perfection is possible for the genuine student of Kabbalah.
  • 9. The 613 Mitzvot of the Torah are the deeds that one practices with focused intention = Kavanah, in order to orbit more around the Presence of The Creator, and merge with that oneness with the whole beingness of all life. These are the restorations, Tikkunim. Through them, one learns to integrate the personal universe within us all, with the outer universe that seems to us as a separate reality.
  • 10. The more one develops this healthy, logical, intuitive and sane attitude of learning, the more one gets closer to the authentic and proper way to study this sacred science of the Kabbalah. For it is widely known that, without the proper preparation and an attitude of “Conscious Innocence,”** Kabbalah can be really “dangerous”, and even harmful for a person’s health and life.
  • 11. There is a vast literature about Kabbalah in many languages. Authentic books on Kabbalah and its practices have been translated, to help inform one to some degree. While this information does exist, it does not offer any actual experience and practical wisdom to use in life, which is needed so you can know who you are, what is the meaning of your life and all Creation, and what your purpose is being in “this world.”
  • In order to enter the experience of knowing Kabbalah, one has to graduate the logical only understanding of the world, which is the cause of the limitation. Trying to understand logically only will put you in the muddy river, and you will not understand it. You have to find a balance between understanding information and actual experience. 
  • 12. When these profound questions of self-examination really begin to dwell within your thoughts in an urgent way – And when you really ask deeply what is the purpose of your being here, and what is the purpose of creation – And when your soul yearns and cries out for you to search profoundly – And when you yearn for that perfect state of being – When all of this happens, then you will find your living teacher. Then you begin on the meaningful journey toward discovering yourself. At that point, you can truly begin to make a difference in your life and the lives of “others.”
  • 13. The Book of the Zohar, the Sefer Yetzirah, and others, gives us a glimpse of the various deeper interpretations of the Torah. In them, Kabbalists have explored deeply and recorded their teachings in a specific way to learn and practice. However a ”guide” is necessary for you to learn how to explore this knowledge yourself. This knowledge has been kept very closely concealed for thousands of years, but it is available today for those ones who are ready for it. And it will only be open when one approaches it for a specific purpose – to help us change this world into a harmonious and balanced state of being and living. Your “Guide” in this might be your spiritual environment itself, until you learn how to walk by yourself in the “ocean of wisdom and great wonder.”

One of the most important aspects of Kabbalah study, is to learn to use one’s thoughts consciously, with a benevolent direction, and to transform one’s negative inclinations into a positive, creative source of the good.  The student of Kabbalah must fully understand and practice focused and intentional thought for the benefit of “others” and oneself. 

When we learn to love the “other” MORE than oneself, we connect with the Power Source of the Creator, and act with the same benevolence, humility and mercy of the Creator.

So, my friend, with our focused, directed and intentional thoughts, we can learn to align ourselves with that sacred energy, and attract ourselves to what we simply call, “LIGHT” (אור Orr in Hebrew). We actively mold and shape our personal, mental, spiritual and physical reality, to manifest the good in “this world.”

This aspect of Kabbalah study and practice is a very powerful and creative process, to observe silently and discreetly, and to use for the benefit of all beings, in all worlds of the soul’s existence.

So, Kabbalah is a vast body of knowledge, both concealed and revealed, and a practical science of wisdom that one can learn easily, both intuitively and logically.  Kabbalah is available today to those who are honestly ready and seeking authentic knowledge in “this world and beyond.”

This article was transcribed from a Public Talk, Boulder, Colorado. March 1989

* See the article “Finding Your True Living Master Teacher” by Samuel Ben Or Avital, Creator and teacher of BodySpeak™ – Moving Body and Mind, with the addendum called “The “Presence” of the Teacher, and the Emanation of Energy“, or email Samuel Avital for more information about this article.

** See more about Conscious innocence in “Defintuitions” The BodySpeak Manual, page 127