I once asked the teacher why we were created and I was blessed to get his answer:
In the beginning, G-d created the heavens and the earth. So that is the first sentence in the Book of Genesis which is about the beginning of the world.
But consider, for a moment, why Genesis, the first book of the Torah or Bible, begins with the second letter in the Hebrew alphabet rather than the first? Wouldn't it be logical for the creation of everything to start with the first letter, which is aleph?
I said, yes, that would sound logical.
He said, "The reason for the aleph א is that it is open on all sides, meaning it is the symbol of an expanding and contracting universe. Consider the big bang theory. The constant expanding and contracting of all, which is called in the Kabala, גדלות can be translated as greatness as well as expansion. It's opposite called צמצום or collapsing, or folding in onto itself, is also necessary for the expansion of the universe and has been going on for all of eternity.
The Torah starts with the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet ב and there is a small dot placed inside the letter to the left. But it is blocked above, blocked below, and blocked to the right. Remember that Hebrew is written from right to left which indicates two things.
One, that our reality was created within the expansion and contraction of all things for a purpose.
Two, do not look to the past for answers or above or below. Look only forward since time is a linear 6,000 years set aside from eternity, which is timeless.
Three, the dot indicates that there were worlds or realities that came before and it is sufficient for us to understand this without trying to explore concepts outside of our reality.
Therefore, as you have learned before, we must concentrate on the time reality made available for us, which exists within and yet is apart from eternity, in order to repair the primordial soul, which we spoke about earlier.
"And after this period of time, what will become of us?" I asked.
"We will have fulfilled our destiny." He smiled, and would say no more at that time.
Friday, November 23, 2007
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
From the Teacher to David: On the Feminine and Masculine Aspects of Divinity
The Teacher said: All things are either matter or energy. Equally true, all things are either feminine or masculine; which is to say, connected with the right side or with the left side.
The unity of the divine is expressed in the indivisibility of the Name of Four Letters found in Hebrew (Tetragrammaton) ; the first two letters from the right being masculine and the first two letters from the left being feminine.
With the exception of Judaism, the world's religions have always either worshipped either the masculine (the right) or the feminine (the left), and, for the most part, still do. Those that prize mercy over justice worship the the left and those that prefer justice over mercy worship the right.
The Right is associated with Law and Justice. It is also associated with cold logic, and what can be cruel and dictating behavior. To pursue justice no matter what the price and without consideration of pain caused can cause terrible damage to a person, to a family, friends, and neighbors, to the world.
And alternately the Left which is associated with mercy and passion, if un-tempered, can cause terrible damage to a person, or a society by leaving evil influences unchecked by the tempering influence of law.
When there is a unity of feminine and masculine, left and right, we have creation: the balance between the two primordial forces creating the central line or axis from which energy can be drawn upon and transformed into matter; or, in other words, from which all physical objects are formed.
A misunderstanding of this function of unity has always led to chaos; Adherents of one side or the other clashing without combining,is the cause of intolerance, war, and persecution.
Peace and harmony occurs when the balance between the feminine and masculine is achieved in a total oneness.
The Teacher then said:
The perfect example of harmony between left and right, which is the harmony of God's four letter name in Hebrew (Tetragrammaton) is the joining of a woman and a man to create new life. The male and the female principles seek to balance their natures . That is why a perfect mate is called the soul-mate for life. All creation strives for harmony and unity.
The unity of the divine is expressed in the indivisibility of the Name of Four Letters found in Hebrew (Tetragrammaton) ; the first two letters from the right being masculine and the first two letters from the left being feminine.
With the exception of Judaism, the world's religions have always either worshipped either the masculine (the right) or the feminine (the left), and, for the most part, still do. Those that prize mercy over justice worship the the left and those that prefer justice over mercy worship the right.
The Right is associated with Law and Justice. It is also associated with cold logic, and what can be cruel and dictating behavior. To pursue justice no matter what the price and without consideration of pain caused can cause terrible damage to a person, to a family, friends, and neighbors, to the world.
And alternately the Left which is associated with mercy and passion, if un-tempered, can cause terrible damage to a person, or a society by leaving evil influences unchecked by the tempering influence of law.
When there is a unity of feminine and masculine, left and right, we have creation: the balance between the two primordial forces creating the central line or axis from which energy can be drawn upon and transformed into matter; or, in other words, from which all physical objects are formed.
A misunderstanding of this function of unity has always led to chaos; Adherents of one side or the other clashing without combining,is the cause of intolerance, war, and persecution.
Peace and harmony occurs when the balance between the feminine and masculine is achieved in a total oneness.
The Teacher then said:
The perfect example of harmony between left and right, which is the harmony of God's four letter name in Hebrew (Tetragrammaton) is the joining of a woman and a man to create new life. The male and the female principles seek to balance their natures . That is why a perfect mate is called the soul-mate for life. All creation strives for harmony and unity.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Food and Spirituality
Part of my definition of spirituality is a consciousness of what we eat and what we think when we eat and our emotional state when we are eating. People who are highly sensitized can feel the vibrations of food when they eat and long after they eat. They can also feel the emotions and intentions of the person who cooked the food.
I was studying yogic philosophy of living and health--ayurveda--and my teacher, an ayurvedic doctor told us this story of a man he knew. The man was a very kind and compassionate person who took care of his ailing father. Though his father could be rambuctious and demanding, his son never became irritated with him and never short-tempered. But one day, when the old man started complaining about his son's lack of love for him, the son burst out in anger. "After all I've been doing for you all these years? This is how you pay me back? You take care of yourself!"
No sooner had he finished his outburst, then he was overcome with remorse. Why did he speak this way and what made him to do it? He began to think about what he ate the day before, and suddenly it occured to him that he had eaten in a restaurant. He went to the restaurant, found out the identity of the cook, and spent the next days finding out as much about the cook as he could.
On his last day of detective work, he made a discovery which in once sense was shocking but in another not suprising at all.
The cook had been released from prison three years before after having served time for commiting a murder.
I was studying yogic philosophy of living and health--ayurveda--and my teacher, an ayurvedic doctor told us this story of a man he knew. The man was a very kind and compassionate person who took care of his ailing father. Though his father could be rambuctious and demanding, his son never became irritated with him and never short-tempered. But one day, when the old man started complaining about his son's lack of love for him, the son burst out in anger. "After all I've been doing for you all these years? This is how you pay me back? You take care of yourself!"
No sooner had he finished his outburst, then he was overcome with remorse. Why did he speak this way and what made him to do it? He began to think about what he ate the day before, and suddenly it occured to him that he had eaten in a restaurant. He went to the restaurant, found out the identity of the cook, and spent the next days finding out as much about the cook as he could.
On his last day of detective work, he made a discovery which in once sense was shocking but in another not suprising at all.
The cook had been released from prison three years before after having served time for commiting a murder.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
What is Spirituality and What It is Not 2
If my definition of spirituality is not communicating with spirits, by way of pendulums, tables-tilting, seances and mediums....
If my definition of spirituality is not using mind control to free a parking space in Manhattan, or imagining a mouse running before a cat's nose so strongly teh cat runs after the mouse...
If my definition of spirituality is not gongs and chakra bowls and chimes and crystal and all the beautiful things sold in new age stores...if spirituality is not other-worldly, projecting ourselves into higher worlds, speaking to angels and devils and disembodied beings, what then is spirituality?
I believe spirituality is here and now, in this world and nowhere else. It is in everything we do. It is the life we have been given and what we do with that life, every single little thing. It is what we eat and how we eat and what we are thinking and feeling when we eat. Feeling the miraculous life force in food nourishing us as we eat is for me the beginning of a spiritual state of being. When we eat unwholesome food, and feel it clog our minds and spirits, this is also the beginning of spiritual awakening. Spirituality is being alive, deeply alive and attuned to the miraculous forces all around us and within us.
Spirituality is our very thoughts. It is the very quality of our mind. If we think about perfecting ourselves, tuning our instrument ever more finely we are making a step towards becoming the spiritual creatures we were meant to be, god-like human beings on a beautiful and blessed earth.
I know I sound like little Miss Know It All. But really, spirituality is in the hard day to day banal, boring difficult things--dealing with other people, with husbands, wives, family and friends. I fail in most of these little sacred things every day.
If my definition of spirituality is not using mind control to free a parking space in Manhattan, or imagining a mouse running before a cat's nose so strongly teh cat runs after the mouse...
If my definition of spirituality is not gongs and chakra bowls and chimes and crystal and all the beautiful things sold in new age stores...if spirituality is not other-worldly, projecting ourselves into higher worlds, speaking to angels and devils and disembodied beings, what then is spirituality?
I believe spirituality is here and now, in this world and nowhere else. It is in everything we do. It is the life we have been given and what we do with that life, every single little thing. It is what we eat and how we eat and what we are thinking and feeling when we eat. Feeling the miraculous life force in food nourishing us as we eat is for me the beginning of a spiritual state of being. When we eat unwholesome food, and feel it clog our minds and spirits, this is also the beginning of spiritual awakening. Spirituality is being alive, deeply alive and attuned to the miraculous forces all around us and within us.
Spirituality is our very thoughts. It is the very quality of our mind. If we think about perfecting ourselves, tuning our instrument ever more finely we are making a step towards becoming the spiritual creatures we were meant to be, god-like human beings on a beautiful and blessed earth.
I know I sound like little Miss Know It All. But really, spirituality is in the hard day to day banal, boring difficult things--dealing with other people, with husbands, wives, family and friends. I fail in most of these little sacred things every day.
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
What is Spirituality and What It is Not
Since the name of my website and this blog is Spirituality Information, the time's come for me to set down my thoughts on this question--what is spirituality?
It is easier to say what it isn't. For me, it is not other-worldly. It is not leaving your body. It is not hating this life and waiting for another life after this one.
It is not exerting power over people or using mind control.
A man I grew up with wrote to me and said that on a crowded street inManhattan, he could will himself a parking place. Zip, he just closed his eyes, and he could make anyone do anything, even hurry back to their car and drive away!
No, spirituality for me is not magic. It is not imagining a mouse like W.B Yeats used to do and projecting the image to a cat who then runs after it. It is not inducing an altered state of consciousness, like Yeats used to do, by meditating on symbols then communicating with disembodied spirits angels.
It is not holding a pendulum in your hand, like I used to do and asking a question and watching it move to answer "yes" or "no. It is not putting your hands on a table, like people used to do, and asking a spirit a question and watching the table tilt in yes or no.
It is not listening to the silvery tones of astral bell, the vibrations of chakra bowls, the soft and soothing music sold on CD's. It cannot be bought in stores. It is not smells or bells or burning a flower to ashes and putting the ashes in a bell jar in order to make the phantom of the flower rise.
It is not so many things and more.
So what is spirituality?
It is easier to say what it isn't. For me, it is not other-worldly. It is not leaving your body. It is not hating this life and waiting for another life after this one.
It is not exerting power over people or using mind control.
A man I grew up with wrote to me and said that on a crowded street inManhattan, he could will himself a parking place. Zip, he just closed his eyes, and he could make anyone do anything, even hurry back to their car and drive away!
No, spirituality for me is not magic. It is not imagining a mouse like W.B Yeats used to do and projecting the image to a cat who then runs after it. It is not inducing an altered state of consciousness, like Yeats used to do, by meditating on symbols then communicating with disembodied spirits angels.
It is not holding a pendulum in your hand, like I used to do and asking a question and watching it move to answer "yes" or "no. It is not putting your hands on a table, like people used to do, and asking a spirit a question and watching the table tilt in yes or no.
It is not listening to the silvery tones of astral bell, the vibrations of chakra bowls, the soft and soothing music sold on CD's. It cannot be bought in stores. It is not smells or bells or burning a flower to ashes and putting the ashes in a bell jar in order to make the phantom of the flower rise.
It is not so many things and more.
So what is spirituality?
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