Theos-Talk Archives (September 1995 Message tl00044)

> Alan,

> > The idea of
> >a "right-hand" side is a human convenience to help us understand
> >the Kabalist Wisdom Tradition, and has no actual location
> >whatever, other than a symbolic association of ideas in human
> >minds, all of which will change when we go on to become angels
> >ourselves [so we are told in the tradition]. In 39 years as a
> >student of Kabala, I have never come across such a daft idea.
> >
>
> Alan,
>
> You are right in a way. I wrote this so hurriedly and couldn't find the
> exact quote I was looking for that I did present it pretty badly.
>
> Does your next post "re: concern" mean that you DO get the meaning of the
> first one?

I think so!

> Eldon was saying that he couldn't believe the angelic kingdom is a parallel
> evolution to man.

I don't think it matters if it is or not. What is of importance
and relevance for us is what we do if we meet any! :-)

> "The motivating Thought of Creation, which was to impart beneficence to man,
> through the Desire to Receive, influenced the emergence of the multiform
> degrees of the Desire to Receive. This is due to the fundamental
> characteristic of the Light, which could fill and nourish these vessels with
> an infinite quantity of abundance. In other words the Light, in its infinite
> Desire to Impart, necessitated and caused the manifestation of a
> correspondingly infinite number of souls which would desire this
> beneficence. Thus this first and primary world, the world of En Sof (the
> Infinite), is given this symbolic name in accordance with the endless
> variety of degree of receiving that took place within the union of the Light
> with the Kingdom of the En Sof."
> "We can compare this process of undiminished imparting to other
> varieties of power and energy - the endless waterfall, which can fill an
> infinite number of vessels without being affected, or an electric current
> that can supply power for a wide range of appliances ... without affecting
> the source of the energy." (P. 114-115)

Remove the inference of "Desire to Impart" [which can lead to
anthropomorphism] and I would argue more or less as above.

> If man is a combination of both energy and vessel, as the sephirothal tree
> is both left and right sided, then what is an angel? It isn't exactly a
> parallel evolution at all, but angels could be seen existing alongside man,
> animal, plant, and stone or within them.

THe "right" and "left" sides represent the simple, single Tree
of Life model which most people first discover when investigating
Kabala. My own life's work has involved the discovery of the
"Jacob's Ladder" model, which although very much more complex,
shows the sephiroth as "globes" or "circles" in
descending/ascending order.

> Angels are messengers and according to what I have read here, they do not
> participate in the "desire to receive." They are strictly associated with
> God's light, not the vessels, and would be a developed being that lives
> within the "Desire to Impart" of God and man. When we bless others with
> light, the angel does the work and lives in this activity.

Huh??? Messengers carry messages and information, *when
necessary or desirable* One such I contacted some years ago
later turned out to be the spirit [essence, identity] which had
formerly held a teaching post at Cambridge University (UK) in
the 1920s. This became clear as the communication developed,
and the contact/messenger/angel gradually came closer to the
material level, having started the communication in Briah
[mental plane] and then slipped down into Yetzirah [astral
plane] when he began to re-assume his previous personality. The
session was necessarily terminated in everone's interest.

> Also, "It is a law of the metaphysical realm that the first vessels to
> develop after the Tsimtsum were those with a greater degree of purity and a
> consequently lesser degree of the Desire to Receive. The opposite is true of
> the Lights; here we find that the first Lights to emerge are those with a
> lesser degree of the Desire to Impart, and a consequently smaller amount of
> energy." (p. 107)

Yes.

> Remember, judgement (Gevurah) and emptiness (Din) on the left, mercy(Hesed)
> and glory(Hod, also known as Netzah-Victory) on the right.
> Only these four are considered because Kether, Hokmah and Binah all conduct
> the Light and this is their only affect on the physical world. (This is why
> there are four doors in the home????)

All are reconciled by Tiphereth [Beauty, Harmony] in the center.
And so we, in our development as individuals. are wise to seek
to center ourselves. Hod and Netzach are usually juxtaposed
left and right, being separate and distinct sephiroth.

> Here's an interesting quote: "The other nations are ruled by prevailing
> influences, by the instincts that are indicated by the angels, while Israel
> has chosen to bind itself to the Almighty Himself. " (p. 99) Could explain
> why they take no masters.

But Israel has told us about the angels!

> On another subject: What more suitable fate for Mars than to "slaughter it."

Frankly, if this is not intended as a joke, I see it as nonsense.

> Anyway, I wrote some of this because Eldon was writing so selfishly about
> "what people could get out of the books they were reading" and it's more
> theosophical to think (which he does in a later writing admit) also what we
> can give to the authors and others who are our fellow travellers on the
> path. After reading a book, we don't just keep everything for ourselves, we
> try to practice, develop, or share what we learned.

Yes - we need to receive *before* we can give, which I am sure
Eldon realises. His writing seems to me to encourage people to
go in search of something to receive, which they can then, as
you say, pass on and share with others.

Some time back I uploaded my "Keys to Kabbalah" to theos-roots
and/or the theos-l archive. If it has gone missing, I can redo
it, or e-mail the [now slightly outdated] material in sections,
but not the diagrams, which are GIF files. This shows how the
"Jacob's Ladder" model is derived.

Nice to have a long chat with you!

Alan