Posted by john on August 31, 2001 at 14:39:05:
In Reply to: What Are We? posted by pollavon on August 31, 2001 at 14:20:23:
: From The Essential Kabbalah translation by Daniel C. Matt, p. 124:
:
: What are We?
: The greater you are, the more you need to search for your self. Your deep soul hides itself from consciousness. So you need to increase aloneness, elevation of thinking, penetration of thought, liberation of mind- until finally your soul reveals itself to you, spangling a few sparkles of her lights.
:
: Then you find bliss, transcending all humiliations or anything that happens, by attaining equanimity, by becoming one with everything that happens, by reducing yourself so extremely that you nullify your individual, imaginary form, that you nullify existence in the depth of your self. "What are we?" Then you know every spark of truth, every bolt of integrity flashing anywhere.
:
: Then you gather everything, without hatred, jealousy, or rivalry. The light of peace and a fierce boldness manifest in you. The splendor of compassion and glory of love shine through you. The desire to act and work, the passion to create and to restore yourself, the yearning for silence and for the inner shout of joy- these all band together in your spirt, and you become holy.
Kaballah is truly an intersting thing. I also know that it is extremely powerful and not to be taken lightly. Many people fear to dabble at all because of the spiritual ramifications this philosophy/ religion/ school of thought carries. I myself studied ABOUT it for awhile, but never got into the teachings themselves. I think some of the danger lies in its total acceptance of what we know to be true. I mean it is a Jewish mystic tradition from ancient roots. It understands the order of things and thus leaps ahead of many other mysticisms that operate in a flawed paradigm.
Still the post was a beautiful writing expressing a beautiful idea. What were you thinking about when you posted it?