The jewish cabala equivalent to tao (dao)

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Edited August 21, 2015 by cobi

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Edited August 21, 2015 by cobi

[Michael Sternbach]

Yes, there are several parallels. For example, the Hebrew name of God Yod Heh Vau Heh (Jehovah) refers to the four Aristotelian elements that form the foundation of Creation. Whereas according to the I Ching, the original Nothingness (Wu chi) splits up not simply into Yin and Yang, but into Greater Yin, Greater Yang, Lesser Yin and Lesser Yang, as shown in the famous "double fish" symbol (Tai chi). In both cases, from the Zero emanate the Four.

Edited July 5, 2015 by Michael Sternbach

[Michael Sternbach]

This looks interesting (although I must say that I just found it and didn't have the opportunity to give it much thought yet).

 

http://www.workofthechariot.com/TextFiles/Trees-TrigramTree.html

Edited July 5, 2015 by Michael Sternbach

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Edited August 21, 2015 by cobi

[Michael Sternbach]

It is quite remarkable that, according to a revised version of the Big Bang theory called Conformal Cyclic Cosmology (CCC), all of the matter in the Universe will have turned into electromagnetic energy (light) one day in the far, far, very far future. In such a Universe, any kind of metric scale is meaningless, thus space and time both become infinite for all intents and purposes. So we can literally talk of the Limitless Light here!

 

But paradoxically, this at once describes a state of Zero spacetime, therefore a Singularity that gives birth to a new Universe, reminiscent of Kether as the first emanation.

 

I spontaneously expressed these associations on a physics congress where Roger Penrose (by the way, one of the co-founders of the original Big Bang theory) presented his CCC, but he and his colleagues (not surprisingly) refrained from making any such metaphysical associations. Nevertheless, the parallels to Kabbalah and also Hinduism are not to be overlooked. It is my firm belief that the split that has occurred in mankind's consciousness needs to be cured by bridging the gap between the scientific and the religious view.

Edited July 5, 2015 by Michael Sternbach

[Zhongyongdaoist]

I studied both the Dao De Jing and Qabalah in several of its aspects from the late Sixties on. This included books of the Work of the Chariot which Michael Sernbach references here:

 

This looks interesting (although I must say that I just found it and didn't have the opportunity to give it much thought yet).

http://www.workofthechariot.com/TextFiles/Trees-TrigramTree.html

Their work was important in helping to revive Judaic Qabalism, especially in the US, but is not without its controversial aspects, not the least of which, even among its fellow Qabalists, is its syncretism.

The conclusion to which I came in the late Seventies, was that both Daoism and Qabalah could be integrated into a fundamental Platonic worldview, particularly as Platonism was developed by the so-called Neo-Platonists such as Plotinus and Proclus.

 

It is quite remarkable that, according to a revised version of the Big Bang theory called Conformal Cyclic Cosmology (CCC), all of the matter in the Universe will have turned into electromagnetic energy (light) one day in the far, far, very far future. In such a Universe, any kind of metric scale is meaningless, thus space and time both become infinite for all intents and purposes. So we can literally talk of the Limitless Light here!

But paradoxically, this at once describes a state of Zero spacetime, therefore a Singularity that gives birth to a new Universe, reminiscent of Kether as the first emanation.

I spontaneously expressed these associations on a physics congress where Roger Penrose (by the way, one of the co-founders of the original Big Bang theory) presented his CCC, but he and his colleagues (not surprisingly) refrained from making any such metaphysical associations. Nevertheless, the parallels to Kabbalah and also Hinduism are not to be overlooked. It is my firm belief that the split that has occurred in mankind's consciousness needs to be cured by bridging the gap between the scientific and the religious view.

I agree that curing the gap between Science and Religion is important, but it cannot and will not come from Qabalism or Hinduism, both of which will argue for the primacy of their own religious sources, but rather from the revival of a revelation independent, which includes the revelations of "mystical seers" as well as "religious prophets", Rational Mysticism as represented by the Platonic tradition.

If I have time I will post more on this here, but I have already written a fair amount about this in various of my posts on the Dao Bums.

 

[Michael Sternbach]

I agree that curing the gap between Science and Religion is important, but it cannot and will not come from Qabalism or Hinduism, both of which will argue for the primacy of their own religious sources, but rather from the revival of a revelation independent, which includes the revelations of "mystical seers" as well as "religious prophets", Rational Mysticism as represented by the Platonic tradition.

 

I most certainly agree that a reconciliation of the mystical and the scientific approach won't be initiated by any existing religion, and nowhere did I suggest it. Rather, it would be the result of a new, syncretistic and integrated view that embraces Kabbalah, Hinduism, Daoism and other such systems, and that in fact has a model in the (neo-)Platonic and Hermetic tradition.

[Nungali]

Does not the Kabbalistic pre-existence reside in the ideas of Tzim-tzum ?   If Ain Soph is light ... it can be named .

 

Can the Dao be named or defined , as to what it is ( as opposed to what it isnt ? 

 

I have always assumed 'pre-Kether'  was a tripartite process (I would not be going off the Wiki definition of Ain Soph here )  ;

 

Ain ... Ain Soph ... Ain Soph Aur .   Going 'back beyond ' this   Tzim Tzum seems to have 3 concepts related as well. 

 

-  But this may not be a  Lurian concept ? 

 

More and more I see the basis of all as  '3 in 1' ... the 4th principle (or element )  is 'removed'   or stands 'alone'  (, eg. gravity in the 4 forces, earth in the 4 elements) or is resultant from the 3 .;

 

Yin  Yang    Dao   - way

 

+  -   charge  - energy

 

wave particle light - illumination

 

 

As far as any 'unified field theory'   , yes, I think we will get there ( and yes, not via religion ) ... but I think it is already 'there' , we are already seeing it, in ways.

 

It is just , at the moment  ( 'scientific age' ) we are a bit busy looking through a 'microscope' ( specific lens or even paradigm) and that entails not looking at what is outside the field of that microscope. 

 

I think the focus will come back ( that focus which made us look at certain ideas and theories at the expense of others we perhaps should have incorporated ?)  ....  after we learn enough from the microscope, we may apply what we realised and go back and review what we passed over   ( like the concepts of Broome, Wallace, some concepts in Vedanta and  'Neo-Platonism' and  further studies in genetics,may really boost our understandings of evolution ? 

Edited July 5, 2015 by Nungali

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Edited August 21, 2015 by cobi

[Nungali]

Tzim tzum is the process of 'making' that void, is it not ?  

 

First comes the void, no concept. Then comes the idea of that void being 'limitless'  ( the idea of 'space'. then it is filled with light.  The Light 'condenses to Kether.

[Michael Sternbach]

Tzim tzum is the process of 'making' that void, is it not ?

 

First comes the void, no concept. Then comes the idea of that void being 'limitless' ( the idea of 'space'. then it is filled with light. The Light 'condenses to Kether.

 

First there was the Limitless Light (or ein soph). God contracted the Limitless Light (tzimtzum), in order to allow for "vacant space" (khalal hapanui) to be filled with creative light and eventually with finite things. That's the Lurianic Concept in a nutshell.

 

Again, I can't help being astonished by the parallels to aforesaid CCC:

 

At the final stage of a Universe (such as the one that supposedly existed previous to ours), there is infinite light. However, there is no space! (For such a concept is meaningless in the absence of matter). So there is some kind of "contraction": The creation of a Singularity. (This is not to be confused with the Big Bounce theory which is an entirely different concept!) The Singularity goes bang, that's the creation of finite space as we know it, filled with matter and energy (light).

 

Now, the Kabbalistic concept includes the creation of spiritual worlds which have no space (LOL) in the Penrose theory as is. So I am not suggesting that those two stories of Creation are the same - they may be partially the same, while supplementing each other in other regards.

 

One particular problem I have with CCC is that it doesn't allow for infinite space except at the end/before the beginning of the Universe. Whereas metaphysical systems (as well as Projective Geometry) teach that Infinity is always present. However, essentially the same paradox was already recognized by the Kabbalists of yore. Rabbi Nachman of Breslav wrote in Likkutei Moharan I, 64:1 (emphasis mine):

 

Only in the future will it be possible to understand the Tzimtzum that brought the 'Empty Space' into being, for we have to say of it two contradictory things... [1] the Empty Space came about through the Tzimtzum, where, as it were, He 'limited' His Godliness and contracted it from there, and it is as though in that place there is no Godliness... [2] the absolute truth is that Godliness must nevertheless be present there, for certainly nothing can exist without His giving it life.

 

Then again, from one perspective, infinite space could exist simultaneously with the finite Universe as our perception of time is "mistaken".

Edited July 6, 2015 by Michael Sternbach

[Michael Sternbach]

Does not the Kabbalistic pre-existence reside in the ideas of Tzim-tzum ? If Ain Soph is light ... it can be named .

 

Can the Dao be named or defined , as to what it is ( as opposed to what it isnt ?

Well, I would say that the idea of Limitless Light is quite as intangible as the Dao concept.

 

I have always assumed 'pre-Kether' was a tripartite process (I would not be going off the Wiki definition of Ain Soph here ) ;

 

Ain ... Ain Soph ... Ain Soph Aur . Going 'back beyond ' this Tzim Tzum seems to have 3 concepts related as well.

 

- But this may not be a Lurian concept ?

The trinity of infinite space, time and light perhaps?

 

More and more I see the basis of all as '3 in 1' ... the 4th principle (or element ) is 'removed' or stands 'alone' (, eg. gravity in the 4 forces, earth in the 4 elements) or is resultant from the 3 .;

 

Yin Yang Dao - way

 

+ - charge - energy

 

wave particle light - illumination

Agreed. There are many examples for that. I call it the 3+1 law.

 

As far as any 'unified field theory' , yes, I think we will get there ( and yes, not via religion ) ... but I think it is already 'there' , we are already seeing it, in ways.

 

It is just , at the moment ( 'scientific age' ) we are a bit busy looking through a 'microscope' ( specific lens or even paradigm) and that entails not looking at what is outside the field of that microscope.

 

I think the focus will come back ( that focus which made us look at certain ideas and theories at the expense of others we perhaps should have incorporated ?) .... after we learn enough from the microscope, we may apply what we realised and go back and review what we passed over ( like the concepts of Broome, Wallace, some concepts in Vedanta and 'Neo-Platonism' and further studies in genetics,may really boost our understandings of evolution ?

Yes, it will take the integration of knowledge both old (and neglected), and new.

Edited July 6, 2015 by Michael Sternbach

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Edited August 21, 2015 by cobi

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Edited August 21, 2015 by cobi

[Michael Sternbach]

The keter is the prime of the 10 vessels and in lurian cabala it gets energy from the energy going out of adam kadmon.

It looks like there is some ambiguity here. On the one hand, Adam Kadmon seems to have been created after the Tzimtzum, on the other hand, he is understood to be essentially one with ein soph - as you say, the source of the energy received by Kether.

 

From http://www.newkabbalah.com/adam.html:

 

In the Lurianic Kabbalah, Adam Kadmon is the first being to spontaneously emerge in the metaphysical void, which was formed in the center of the cosmos after the Tzimtzum. The Sefirot and worlds which they comprise are, according to Luria and his disciple, Vital, emanated from the various orifices in Adam Kadmon¹shead: from the ear, the nose, eyes, and mouth. The highest, most sublime of these emanations, forms the world of Atziluth, from the Hebrew "etzel", meaning "near" (to the infinite God). However, even higher than Atziluth, according to the Lurianists, is the World ofAdam Kadmon itself, often abbreviated as the World of A¹K, a world so high and sublime as to be virtually indistinguishable from Ein-sof. From within this realm, so close to the infinite God, Adam Kadmon directs the subsequent course of events in the lower worlds.

Acording to lurian mithology theenergy going out from adam kadmon was to strong and the lower vesseles of the 10 vessels broke,and where rearange in5 faces. From the braking of the vessel fell down sparks of light to the world.

I am not sure if in the Daoist understanding there is something comparable to the breaking of the vessels or sephiroth, although the eight trigrams are being arranged in two different orders:

- The Primordial (先天八卦), "Earlier Heaven", and "Fu Xi" bagua (伏羲八卦);

- the Manifested(後天八卦), "Later Heaven," or "King Wen" bagua.

Edited July 6, 2015 by Michael Sternbach

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Edited August 21, 2015 by cobi

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Edited August 21, 2015 by cobi

[Michael Sternbach]

Let's take a look at Aleister Crowley's union of Daoism and Kabbalah.

 

The Dao is identified with ein soph, but finds its expression as Dao-de in Kether. Then follows the separation into Yin and Yang, or Binah and Chockmah (the Mother and the Father on the Tree of Life).

 

Tui (Lake) on Chesed, Chen (Thunder) on Geburah, Sun (Wind) on Netzach and Ken (Mountain) on Hod, are seen as equivalents to the four elements of the Western tradition.

 

Crowley uses this system to interpret the Court Cards of his famous Tarot deck. Thus, the Knight of Wands (Fire of Fire) is quite aptly identified with the hexagram Chen etc.

 

Moreover, in the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (as evidenced in the Middle Pillar exercise), Kether represents the Quintessence, Daath Air, Tiphareth Fire, Yesod Water, and Malkuth Earth; these sephiroth are attributed here with Dao-de, Chien (Heaven), Li (Fire), Kan (Water) and K'un (Earth). A nice match.
 

The patterns of the Bagua form various kinds of symmetries here.

 

I don't suggest this scheme as some kind of ultimate truth, but I do find it an interesting take on the topic.

Edited July 6, 2015 by Michael Sternbach

[Michael Sternbach]

Of course, anything connected to Aleister Crowley tends to kindle controversy, and I expect that my posting of his system of Daoism-Kabbalah correspondences here will do so too.

 

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Edited August 21, 2015 by cobi

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Edited August 21, 2015 by cobi

[ralis]

Let's take a look at Aleister Crowley's union of Daoism and Kabbalah.

 

The Dao is identified with ein soph, but finds its expression as Dao-de in Kether. Then follows the separation into Yin and Yang, or Binah and Chockmah (the Mother and the Father on the Tree of Life).

 

Tui (Lake) on Chesed, Chen (Thunder) on Geburah, Sun (Wind) on Netzach and Ken (Mountain) on Hod, are seen as equivalents to the four elements of the Western tradition.

 

Crowley uses this system to interpret the Court Cards of his famous Tarot deck. Thus, the Knight of Wands (Fire of Fire) is quite aptly identified with the hexagram Chen etc.

 

Moreover, in the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (as evidenced in the Middle Pillar exercise), Kether represents the Quintessence, Daath Air, Tiphareth Fire, Yesod Water, and Malkuth Earth; these sephiroth are attributed here with Dao-de, Chien (Heaven), Li (Fire), Kan (Water) and K'un (Earth). A nice match.

 

The patterns of the Bagua form various kinds of symmetries here.

 

I don't suggest this scheme as some kind of ultimate truth, but I do find it an interesting take on the topic.

 

 

I have been through all of this years ago, but found no real practical applications/exercises. Will you give some references?

[Michael Sternbach]

I have been through all of this years ago, but found no real practical applications/exercises. Will you give some references?

 

My main use of that scheme lies in assigning hexagrams to the Court Cards of the Tarot, as described in the Book of Thoth, which can be downloaded here:

 

http://keychests.com/item.php?v=zuygcpnchav

 

For exploring these connections, I started a thread entitled "The Court Cards and the I Ching" on Aeclectic Tarot last year:

 

http://tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=226380

 

I am planning to go further into the topic on my blog (link on the bottom of this post), so if you are interested in this, be free to subscribe as not to miss out on those posts.

 

One could also think of using Crowley's scheme for performing the Golden Dawn's Middle Pillar exercise, substituting the trigrams for the sephiroth.

 

Hope this helps.