Original post: Gavriel
Hi all.
I was reading on the kabbalah, and how it's a mystical intreprtation of the Torah (To a degree.) How might I (without the use of the Kabbalah.) go about getting a good idea of the hidden secrets? Should I read the book of Genesis over and over, or what?
Thanks guys. =)
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Original post: nebhotep
hi
i was told that one should avoid the kabblah, well not the text but there was a tv program that made some of the followers as con artists but may i express clearly here that i am NOT saying that people who follow the kabbalah are con artists k=just some were a bit dogdy and in no way all. hidden secrests are hard to find lol good luck
nebhotep
hi
i was told that one should avoid the kabblah, well not the text but there was a tv program that made some of the followers as con artists but may i express clearly here that i am NOT saying that people who follow the kabbalah are con artists k=just some were a bit dogdy and in no way all. hidden secrests are hard to find lol good luck
nebhotep
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Original post: Gavriel
Thanks, one of them is how there as morning and evening before God made light and darkness, and time as well. Hmmmm. Secrets anyone? ;-)
Peace.
Thanks, one of them is how there as morning and evening before God made light and darkness, and time as well. Hmmmm. Secrets anyone? ;-)
Peace.
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Original post: Dys
[QUOTE=Gavriel]Hi all.
How might I (without the use of the Kabbalah.) go about getting a good idea of the hidden secrets? [/QUOTE]
Hi Gav,
Eqidistant Letter Seperation!
Actually ELS is mostly just math and probability.
Actually on topic though: Compare/Contrast Genesis 1 and Genesis 2; that will get you started.
[QUOTE=Gavriel]Hi all.
How might I (without the use of the Kabbalah.) go about getting a good idea of the hidden secrets? [/QUOTE]
Hi Gav,
Eqidistant Letter Seperation!
Actually ELS is mostly just math and probability.
Actually on topic though: Compare/Contrast Genesis 1 and Genesis 2; that will get you started.
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Original post: Winnipeg1919
[QUOTE=Gavriel]Hi all.
I was reading on the kabbalah, and how it's a mystical intreprtation of the Torah (To a degree.) How might I (without the use of the Kabbalah.) go about getting a good idea of the hidden secrets? Should I read the book of Genesis over and over, or what?
Thanks guys. =)[/QUOTE]
Pop over to the CM forum and read some of the stickies. Plenty of basic Qabala questions answered. The CM library also contains a number of PDF's of Qabalistic texts that range from beginner on up.
No, Qabala is not a cult. But there is a Newage (rhymes with sewage) variant practiced by celebrities. The real thing has no $45 red strings on your wrist or "Kabbalah Centers".
[QUOTE=Gavriel]Hi all.
I was reading on the kabbalah, and how it's a mystical intreprtation of the Torah (To a degree.) How might I (without the use of the Kabbalah.) go about getting a good idea of the hidden secrets? Should I read the book of Genesis over and over, or what?
Thanks guys. =)[/QUOTE]
Pop over to the CM forum and read some of the stickies. Plenty of basic Qabala questions answered. The CM library also contains a number of PDF's of Qabalistic texts that range from beginner on up.
No, Qabala is not a cult. But there is a Newage (rhymes with sewage) variant practiced by celebrities. The real thing has no $45 red strings on your wrist or "Kabbalah Centers".
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Original post: Rees
True Winnipeg1919.
It's what Madonna and David Beckham do.
You can analyze the Kabalah as one of the three "literatures" of Jews. It has nothing to do with the Kabalah that those artists are working on. They use it as a method to get some media atention only.
True Winnipeg1919.
It's what Madonna and David Beckham do.
You can analyze the Kabalah as one of the three "literatures" of Jews. It has nothing to do with the Kabalah that those artists are working on. They use it as a method to get some media atention only.
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Original post: fiat_lux_777
93
[QUOTE=Gavriel]I was reading on the kabbalah, and how it's a mystical intreprtation of the Torah (To a degree.) How might I (without the use of the Kabbalah.) go about getting a good idea of the hidden secrets? Should I read the book of Genesis over and over, or what?[/QUOTE]
In order to gain understanding of the hidden depths of Torah, you must have a working knowledge of Hebrew and Kabbalah. Not the Kabbalah of Madonna et al - real Kabbalah. Reading translated versions is pretty useless, as the nuances and "messages" are dependant upon the Hebrew alphabet and the gematria thereof.
Keep in mind most Rabbis spend their lives trying to understand the "secrets" of the Torah - don't expect to spend a few minutes on it and gain the keys to mastery.
93 93/93
Todd
93
[QUOTE=Gavriel]I was reading on the kabbalah, and how it's a mystical intreprtation of the Torah (To a degree.) How might I (without the use of the Kabbalah.) go about getting a good idea of the hidden secrets? Should I read the book of Genesis over and over, or what?[/QUOTE]
In order to gain understanding of the hidden depths of Torah, you must have a working knowledge of Hebrew and Kabbalah. Not the Kabbalah of Madonna et al - real Kabbalah. Reading translated versions is pretty useless, as the nuances and "messages" are dependant upon the Hebrew alphabet and the gematria thereof.
Keep in mind most Rabbis spend their lives trying to understand the "secrets" of the Torah - don't expect to spend a few minutes on it and gain the keys to mastery.
93 93/93
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Original post: Levite
Gavriel-
As FiatLux so rightly and eloquently pointed out, if you want to get the most out of Kabbalah, you need knowledge of Hebrew and of Jewish texts, including the Torah. Exactly which texts to focus on depends to some degree on what Kabbalistic texts you'll be working with. But it never hurts to re-read Genesis, as this is key for studying Zohar, Sefer Yetzirah, Bahir, as well as many of the lesser Kabbalistic works. General Torah study (and midrash study, and Talmud study) is important especially for the Zohar. Careful study of Genesis and knowledge of Hebrew is especially important for Sefer Yetzirah.
If you're going to study the Zohar, know that you're always going to be getting only part of the story: the Zohar is the most complicated Kabbalistic text extant, and the jumble of Aramaic, ancient and medieval Hebrew, and pseudo-Aramaic it is written in is incredibly challenging even for fluent Hebrew speakers and experienced Talmud students. Any Hebrew text loses considerable nuance in translation (at best), and this is triply so of the Zohar. Nonetheless, I recommend learning it for what it's worth, and the best way to do this is via Daniel C. Matt's new translation. Also, Arthur Green has written a fine preparatory book for studying Zohar, which I believe is titled something along the lines of "A Guide to the Zohar."
As always, if you plan to study Sefer Yetzirah, which I think is both more accessible (in some ways) and more applicable to practical usage, I recommend Aryeh Kaplan's excellent translation and commentary, which includes the original Hebrew text embedded within it.
Do keep in mind that true Kabbalah-- as opposed to that crap practiced by Madonna & Pals, and distinguished from genuine but independent, metakabbalistic systems like Hermetic Qabala-- is not primarily a 'practical' system, in the sense of not being focused on external projection of energy to 'do' anything like spells, summonings, etc. except rarely, at the highest, most advanced levels. What Kabbalah is mostly 'good for' is honing meditation skills, expanding one's metaphysical knowledge of the universe, and improving the skills of contemplation and connections/associations such as gematria.
Best of luck studying Kabbalah! It's very challenging, but fascinating stuff. Let me know if you'd like any further recommendations or would like to discuss anything at length....
Amitai ben Moshe
Gavriel-
As FiatLux so rightly and eloquently pointed out, if you want to get the most out of Kabbalah, you need knowledge of Hebrew and of Jewish texts, including the Torah. Exactly which texts to focus on depends to some degree on what Kabbalistic texts you'll be working with. But it never hurts to re-read Genesis, as this is key for studying Zohar, Sefer Yetzirah, Bahir, as well as many of the lesser Kabbalistic works. General Torah study (and midrash study, and Talmud study) is important especially for the Zohar. Careful study of Genesis and knowledge of Hebrew is especially important for Sefer Yetzirah.
If you're going to study the Zohar, know that you're always going to be getting only part of the story: the Zohar is the most complicated Kabbalistic text extant, and the jumble of Aramaic, ancient and medieval Hebrew, and pseudo-Aramaic it is written in is incredibly challenging even for fluent Hebrew speakers and experienced Talmud students. Any Hebrew text loses considerable nuance in translation (at best), and this is triply so of the Zohar. Nonetheless, I recommend learning it for what it's worth, and the best way to do this is via Daniel C. Matt's new translation. Also, Arthur Green has written a fine preparatory book for studying Zohar, which I believe is titled something along the lines of "A Guide to the Zohar."
As always, if you plan to study Sefer Yetzirah, which I think is both more accessible (in some ways) and more applicable to practical usage, I recommend Aryeh Kaplan's excellent translation and commentary, which includes the original Hebrew text embedded within it.
Do keep in mind that true Kabbalah-- as opposed to that crap practiced by Madonna & Pals, and distinguished from genuine but independent, metakabbalistic systems like Hermetic Qabala-- is not primarily a 'practical' system, in the sense of not being focused on external projection of energy to 'do' anything like spells, summonings, etc. except rarely, at the highest, most advanced levels. What Kabbalah is mostly 'good for' is honing meditation skills, expanding one's metaphysical knowledge of the universe, and improving the skills of contemplation and connections/associations such as gematria.
Best of luck studying Kabbalah! It's very challenging, but fascinating stuff. Let me know if you'd like any further recommendations or would like to discuss anything at length....
Amitai ben Moshe
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Original post: Gavriel
[QUOTE=Levite]Gavriel-
As FiatLux so rightly and eloquently pointed out, if you want to get the most out of Kabbalah, you need knowledge of Hebrew and of Jewish texts, including the Torah. Exactly which texts to focus on depends to some degree on what Kabbalistic texts you'll be working with. But it never hurts to re-read Genesis, as this is key for studying Zohar, Sefer Yetzirah, Bahir, as well as many of the lesser Kabbalistic works. General Torah study (and midrash study, and Talmud study) is important especially for the Zohar. Careful study of Genesis and knowledge of Hebrew is especially important for Sefer Yetzirah.
If you're going to study the Zohar, know that you're always going to be getting only part of the story: the Zohar is the most complicated Kabbalistic text extant, and the jumble of Aramaic, ancient and medieval Hebrew, and pseudo-Aramaic it is written in is incredibly challenging even for fluent Hebrew speakers and experienced Talmud students. Any Hebrew text loses considerable nuance in translation (at best), and this is triply so of the Zohar. Nonetheless, I recommend learning it for what it's worth, and the best way to do this is via Daniel C. Matt's new translation. Also, Arthur Green has written a fine preparatory book for studying Zohar, which I believe is titled something along the lines of "A Guide to the Zohar."
As always, if you plan to study Sefer Yetzirah, which I think is both more accessible (in some ways) and more applicable to practical usage, I recommend Aryeh Kaplan's excellent translation and commentary, which includes the original Hebrew text embedded within it.
Do keep in mind that true Kabbalah-- as opposed to that crap practiced by Madonna & Pals, and distinguished from genuine but independent, metakabbalistic systems like Hermetic Qabala-- is not primarily a 'practical' system, in the sense of not being focused on external projection of energy to 'do' anything like spells, summonings, etc. except rarely, at the highest, most advanced levels. What Kabbalah is mostly 'good for' is honing meditation skills, expanding one's metaphysical knowledge of the universe, and improving the skills of contemplation and connections/associations such as gematria.
Best of luck studying Kabbalah! It's very challenging, but fascinating stuff. Let me know if you'd like any further recommendations or would like to discuss anything at length....
Amitai ben Moshe[/QUOTE] Thank you, Levite.
I was meditating on the sefirot Malkuth a few days ago, and my root chakra got warm. Also, I could feel the Kingdom arpound me, and still know it's here. I KNOW certain things that canot be put into words - but my mind tells me that it's only the surface of the sefirot.
Peace.
[QUOTE=Levite]Gavriel-
As FiatLux so rightly and eloquently pointed out, if you want to get the most out of Kabbalah, you need knowledge of Hebrew and of Jewish texts, including the Torah. Exactly which texts to focus on depends to some degree on what Kabbalistic texts you'll be working with. But it never hurts to re-read Genesis, as this is key for studying Zohar, Sefer Yetzirah, Bahir, as well as many of the lesser Kabbalistic works. General Torah study (and midrash study, and Talmud study) is important especially for the Zohar. Careful study of Genesis and knowledge of Hebrew is especially important for Sefer Yetzirah.
If you're going to study the Zohar, know that you're always going to be getting only part of the story: the Zohar is the most complicated Kabbalistic text extant, and the jumble of Aramaic, ancient and medieval Hebrew, and pseudo-Aramaic it is written in is incredibly challenging even for fluent Hebrew speakers and experienced Talmud students. Any Hebrew text loses considerable nuance in translation (at best), and this is triply so of the Zohar. Nonetheless, I recommend learning it for what it's worth, and the best way to do this is via Daniel C. Matt's new translation. Also, Arthur Green has written a fine preparatory book for studying Zohar, which I believe is titled something along the lines of "A Guide to the Zohar."
As always, if you plan to study Sefer Yetzirah, which I think is both more accessible (in some ways) and more applicable to practical usage, I recommend Aryeh Kaplan's excellent translation and commentary, which includes the original Hebrew text embedded within it.
Do keep in mind that true Kabbalah-- as opposed to that crap practiced by Madonna & Pals, and distinguished from genuine but independent, metakabbalistic systems like Hermetic Qabala-- is not primarily a 'practical' system, in the sense of not being focused on external projection of energy to 'do' anything like spells, summonings, etc. except rarely, at the highest, most advanced levels. What Kabbalah is mostly 'good for' is honing meditation skills, expanding one's metaphysical knowledge of the universe, and improving the skills of contemplation and connections/associations such as gematria.
Best of luck studying Kabbalah! It's very challenging, but fascinating stuff. Let me know if you'd like any further recommendations or would like to discuss anything at length....
Amitai ben Moshe[/QUOTE] Thank you, Levite.
I was meditating on the sefirot Malkuth a few days ago, and my root chakra got warm. Also, I could feel the Kingdom arpound me, and still know it's here. I KNOW certain things that canot be put into words - but my mind tells me that it's only the surface of the sefirot.
Peace.
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Original post: fiat_lux_777
93
Dear Gavriel
[QUOTE=Gavriel]I was meditating on the sefirot Malkuth a few days ago, and my root chakra got warm. [/QUOTE]
It is important to keep in mind that the Hindu chakra system does not correlate with the Hermetic Qabalah (except in the most arbitrary of ways). The sephiroth of Malkuth should correspond with the feet, rather than the Muladhara chakra.
93 93/93
Todd
93
Dear Gavriel
[QUOTE=Gavriel]I was meditating on the sefirot Malkuth a few days ago, and my root chakra got warm. [/QUOTE]
It is important to keep in mind that the Hindu chakra system does not correlate with the Hermetic Qabalah (except in the most arbitrary of ways). The sephiroth of Malkuth should correspond with the feet, rather than the Muladhara chakra.
93 93/93
Todd
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Original post: insert_name_here
The Tree of Life and the Chakras bare some interesting spiritual attributions.
I'd imagine some of the secrets are Gematric, so I hope you're good at maths and know the alephbet decently enough -- notice how some letters are similar to others.
In LVX,
Frater INH
The Tree of Life and the Chakras bare some interesting spiritual attributions.
I'd imagine some of the secrets are Gematric, so I hope you're good at maths and know the alephbet decently enough -- notice how some letters are similar to others.
In LVX,
Frater INH
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Original post: Levite
[QUOTE=fiat_lux_777]It is important to keep in mind that the Hindu chakra system does not correlate with the Hermetic Qabalah (except in the most arbitrary of ways). The sephiroth of Malkuth should correspond with the feet, rather than the Muladhara chakra.[/QUOTE]
Of course, if you're using the framework traditional Kabbalah instead of Hermetic Qabala, there is no set correlation between each sefirah (sefirot or sephirot is plural, sefirah or sephirah is singular) and the classical Indian chakra system, so I don't see why you couldn't meditate on Malchut and feel your root chakra warm up. In fact, Malchut in Kabbalistic metaphysics is sometimes linked to the genital area, so correlating it to a chakra in your 'taint doesn't sound so ridiculous.
Ultimately, Gavriel, the important thing is that you're meditating and it's doing something!
Amitai ben Moshe
[QUOTE=fiat_lux_777]It is important to keep in mind that the Hindu chakra system does not correlate with the Hermetic Qabalah (except in the most arbitrary of ways). The sephiroth of Malkuth should correspond with the feet, rather than the Muladhara chakra.[/QUOTE]
Of course, if you're using the framework traditional Kabbalah instead of Hermetic Qabala, there is no set correlation between each sefirah (sefirot or sephirot is plural, sefirah or sephirah is singular) and the classical Indian chakra system, so I don't see why you couldn't meditate on Malchut and feel your root chakra warm up. In fact, Malchut in Kabbalistic metaphysics is sometimes linked to the genital area, so correlating it to a chakra in your 'taint doesn't sound so ridiculous.
Ultimately, Gavriel, the important thing is that you're meditating and it's doing something!
Amitai ben Moshe
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Original post: martin_alas
No you di'n't... You di' not just refer to the Muladhara chakra as "a chakra in your 'taint"!!!
Okay. You can't see it. But I'm crying laughing....!
peace,
martin
No you di'n't... You di' not just refer to the Muladhara chakra as "a chakra in your 'taint"!!!
Okay. You can't see it. But I'm crying laughing....!
peace,
martin
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Original post: RotA552
Gavriel I would suggest that you should learn to read and translate ancient and modern hebrew , as many of the friends here suggested , and further if your Jewish you should learn the books of the Ari hakadosh, and if not stick to reading and translating the five books of Moshe Rabbeinu A.K.A. MOSES and your qabbalah learn from A.C or Spare they have the closest thing as far as I've seen that compares to lurianic Kabbalah.
Gather
Gavriel I would suggest that you should learn to read and translate ancient and modern hebrew , as many of the friends here suggested , and further if your Jewish you should learn the books of the Ari hakadosh, and if not stick to reading and translating the five books of Moshe Rabbeinu A.K.A. MOSES and your qabbalah learn from A.C or Spare they have the closest thing as far as I've seen that compares to lurianic Kabbalah.
Gather