Rabbi Isaac Luria: The Lion of the Kabbalah by Baal Kadmon

Author:Baal Kadmon
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-07-06T16:00:00+00:00

Let us proceed with his teachings.

Core Concepts

Before I proceed I would like to say that the Ari’s Ideas on the Kabbalah are a bit complex and I will do my best to make it accessible. I will eventually be releasing a course on it where I go a bit deeper, but for now I will supply you with the “cliff Notes” version as best as I can.

There was absolutely nothing in existence, the vast expansive emptiness was eternal with no point in which to call “Here or there”. In this space, only the pure light existed, the essence of God. In Kabbalah called “Ein Sof” or “never ending” or "without end".

Since this pure “Ein Sof” state, there was nothing else. In Hebrew as I stated, Ein means “nothing” the opposite of EIN is “YESH”. For the Godhead to truly reflect upon itself, it had to cause within the Ein a process in which Ein and Yesh could coincide, this was a complex process. The all-pervasive light started to contract upon itself. Through immense force, this contraction called “Tzimtzum” created space within the void that was itself. The contracted Ein created the empty space within its own emptiness. It is within this newly created emptiness that the manifest or finite world is to manifest. Despite the contraction, this Ein will provide the living force of all things that will manifest within the empty space.

Now here is where it gets a bit complex. Within this empty space, an energetic soup starts to stir, in it all the archetypical ideas and values that make up not only the soul of humanity but the entire manifest cosmos becomes expressed in the Primordial human called Adam Kadmon. Adam Kadmon is a bit too broad because it is difficult to express the manifest world through this archetypical primordial man. We will instead discuss these values and ideas in a more direct fashion, and that is done through the 10 Sephirot (sometimes spelled Sefirot, I will both spellings interchangeably) or emanations. In Hebrew, Sephirot is usually translated as emanations but the word itself can mean count or number. They are essentially attributes of the divine, each in their own “sphere” but interconnected. Through them, the Ein sof creates the manifest world. They are in many ways like gateways and relays of divine energy. Each also embodies the attributes that make them up. In this way, they are the vehicles of their respective attributes. The Ari Called them Keeleem which is often a word defined as vessels but also can be defined as “tools”.

Here is an illustration as to how the Sephirot are generally illustrated within a “Tree of Life”.

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