tree of life (kabbalah)

Tree of life (Kabbalah) 1

Tree of life (Kabbalah)

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Kabbalah

The Tree of Life, or Etz haChayim ( ) in Hebrew, is a classic descriptive term for the central mysticalsymbol used in the Kabbalah of esoteric Judaism, also known as the 10 Sephirot. The symbolic configuration of 10spiritual principles (11 can be shown, of which - Keter and Da'at are interchangeable), arranged in 3 columns/pillars,describes the manner in which God creates existence ex nihilo, the nature of revealed divinity, the human soul, andthe spiritual path of ascent by man. In this way, Kabbalists developed the symbol into a full model of reality, usingthe tree to depict a map of Creation.Jewish Kabbalah usually refers to the symbol as the 10 Sephirot, while non-Jewish Christian Cabala and HermeticQabalah generally terms it universally as the Cabalistic/Qabalistic Tree of Life. This metaphor derives from JudaicKabbalah, though is understood less universally. In the Jewish Kabbalist view, both of the two trees in the BiblicalGarden of Eden, the Tree of knowledge of good and evil and the Tree of Life were alternative perspectives of theSephirot: the full array of 10 as seen respectively from the last Sephirah Malkuth, and the middle Sephirah Tiferet.[1]

From the Renaissance onwards, the Jewish mystical concept was adopted by some esoterically inclined Christians aswell as some Hermeticists. Among the Christian Cabalists,Wikipedia:Avoid weasel words the sephirot were alsocalled Dignities, referred to by Latin, instead of Hebrew, names.[citation needed] Christian Cabala also places emphasison Christ as Sustainer and Preserver of the Universe, and the Malkuth of Jewish Kabbalah is absent, as it isconsidered of a different order-of-being.[citation needed] Hermetic Qabalah's use of the Tree continues as acontemporary Western esotericism tradition, with alternative Esoteric Christian and Occultist emphases.

Jewish Kabbalah interpretations

The Sephirot in Jewish Kabbalah

Category:Sephirot


Christian Cabala and Hermetic Qabalah interpretationsKabbalists believe the Tree of Life to be a diagrammatic representation of the process by which the Universe cameinto being. On the Tree of Life, the beginning of the Universe is placed at a space above the first sephira, namedKeter ("crown" in English). It is not always pictured in reproductions of the Tree of Life, but is referred touniversally as Ain Soph Aur (Ain - Without, Soph - End, Aur - Light).[citation needed] To kabbalists, it symbolizes thatpoint beyond which our comprehension of the origins of Being cannot go; it is considered to be an infinitenothingness out of which the first 'thing' (thought of in science and the Kabbalah to be energy) exploded to create aUniverse of multiple things.[2][3]

Kabbalists also do not envision time and space as pre-existing, and place them at the next three stages on the Tree ofLife. First is Keter, which is thought of as the product of the contraction of Ain Soph Aur into a singularity ofinfinite energy or limitless light. In the Kabbalah, it is the primordial energy out of which all things are created. Thenext stage is Chokmah, or Wisdom, which is considered to be a stage at which the infinitely hot and contractedsingularity expanded forth into space and time. It is often thought of as pure dynamic energy of an infinite intensityforever propelled forth at a speed faster than light. Next comes Binah, or Understanding, which is thought of as theprimordial feminine energy, the Supernal Mother of the Universe which receives the energy of Chokmah, coolingand nourishing it into the multitudinous forms present throughout the whole cosmos.[4] It is also seen as thebeginning of Time itself.Numbers are very important to kabbalists, and the Hebrew letters of the alphabet also have a numerical value for thekabbalists. Each stage of the emanation of the Universe on the Tree of Life is numbered meaningfully from one(Keter) to ten (Malkuth). Each number is thought to express the nature of its sephira.[5]

The first three sephirot, called the Supernal Sephirot, are considered to be the primordial energies of the Universe.The next stages of evolution on the Tree of Life are considered to exist beyond a space on the tree, called the Abyss,between the Supernals and the other Sephiroth, because their levels of being are so distinct from each other that theyappear to exist in two totally different realities. The Supernal Sephiroth exist on a plane of divine energy. This iswhy another correspondence for Binah is the idea of suffering, because the Supernal Maternal energy gives birth to aworld that is inherently excluded from that Divine Union. After Binah, the Universe gets down to the business ofbuilding the materials it will need to fulfill its evolution, and creating new combinations of those materials until it isso dense that, by the stage of Malkuth, the initial pure limitless energy has 'solidified' into the physical Universe.Since its energies are the basis of all Creation, the Tree of Life can potentially be applied to any area of life,especially the inner world of Man, from the subconscious all the way to what Kabbalists call the higher self.But the Tree of Life does not only speak of the origins of the physical Universe out of the unimaginable, but also ofMan's place in the Universe. Since Man is invested with Mind, consciousness in the Kabbalah is thought of as thefruit of the physical world, through whom the original infinite energy can experience and express itself as a finiteentity. After the energy of Creation has condensed into matter, it is thought to reverse its course back up the Treeuntil it is once again united with its true nature. Thus, the kabbalist seeks to know himself and the Universe as anexpression of God, and to make the journey of Return by stages charted by the Sephiroth, until he has come to therealisation he sought.


Similarities to other traditionsThe Tree of Life bears many similarities to the Christian Gnostic conception of the Pleroma, emanations from theineffable and self-originating Divine Parent that offer the best possible means of describing God. Each emanation inthe pleroma is born from a more complex emanation before it. Most notably between these two allegories is the finalsephira on the Tree, Malkuth, and the last emanation in the Pleroma, Sophia, whose fall resulted in the physicalworld.In the Bhagavad Gita[citation needed] there is a mention of Asvattha, tree of Life and Being, whose destruction aloneleads to immortality, is said in the Bhagavad Gita to grow with its roots above and its branches below. The rootsrepresent the Supreme Being, or First Cause, the LOGOS; but one has to go beyond those roots to unite oneself withKrishna. The Vedas are its leaves. He only who goes beyond the roots shall never return, i.e., shall reincarnate nomore during this "age" of Brahma.

Image gallery

Tree of Life window 1 in the JewishHistorical Museum Amsterdam



References[1] The Tree of Life - Kuntres Etz HaChayim, A classic chassidic treatise on the mystic core of spiritual vitality by Rabbi Shalom DovBer

Schneersohn of Lubavitch, translated by Rabbi Eliyahu Touger, Kehot publications. Extensive comparison of the 10 Sephirot views of the twotrees

[2] Fortune, Dion. The Mystical Qabalah. York Beach, ME: Samuel Weiser, Inc. (2000) p. 30-33 ISBN 1-57863-150-5[3] Malachi, Tau. Gnosis of the Cosmic Christ. A Gnostic Christian Kabbalah. St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn Publications. (2005) pp. 19-20. ISBN

0-7387-0591-8[4] Regardie, Israel. The Tree of Life: An Illustrated Study in Magic. St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn Publications. (2000) pp. 49-54. ISBN

1-56718-132-5[5] Encausse, Gerard (Papus). The Qabalah: Secret Tradition of the West. York Beach, ME: Samuel Weiser, Inc. (2000) pp. 83-4. ISBN

0-87728-936-0


External links Uberglue.com (http:/ / uberglue. com/ tree/ )

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