Being and Becoming

Being and becoming are inseparably interwoven, completely interconnected and interdependent. The play of becoming is founded upon being and driven by being, and yet, at the same time, being is founded upon becoming and is actualized and realized through the continuum of becoming.

The essence and nature of being is transcendent of becoming, however, and does not change or transform in any way, though, indeed, through the play of being in becoming this essence and nature is actualized and realized.

When we speak of the thunderbolt illumination it does correspond with neshamah of neshamah, which is experienced as a breakthrough into supernal consciousness. There are, of course countless gradations of supernal and primordial consciousness within and beyond this, which correspond with the various gradations of hayyah and yechidah. What we call “thunderbolt illumination” or “enlightenment” is, in truth, an entrance into a yet greater cycle in the evolution of consciousness, as though a radical acceleration of the evolution and ascent of consciousness.

Self-discipline

God places Godself within obstructions in order to be found, and likewise, placing a desire in us, God creates obstacles in order to kindle our desire into a yearning, or longing, until we have enough energy to fulfill the desire.

Does Ain Sof, the Infinite, become trapped or bound up in any way, or does Ain Sof, in fact, change in any way? If we were to speak of what might become trapped or bound up in creation, and in obstructions or klippot, it would be sparks of Or Ain Sof, the Light of the Infinite, or sparks of holiness. However subtle and sublime this distinction might be, it is a very different statement and hints at a great mystery; the mystery of how God is immanent, within all creatures and creation, and yet contains and surrounds creation, and is ever beyond creation, completely transcendent of all creatures and creation.

The prologue to the Gospel of St. John speaks to something of this holy mystery, speaking profound truths of the Divine Incarnation.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things came into being through him, and without him nothing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it” (1:1-5). 

In the person of Messiah Yeshua the Holy One becomes a human being, God placing Godself in the flesh, and so into all obstructions we experience as human beings, and in so doing God reveals Godself to us, and we are able to find God, and cleave to God, and enter into conscious unification with God in Yeshua Messiah. Through Yeshua Messiah, this presence and power of God, the True Light, rays out, as it were, to all humanity, awakening that Holy Light that is within all humanity, and drawing out that Holy Light, uplifting that Holy Light, and reintegrating that Holy Light with the Light Continuum, Yahweh – entering into Adonai Yeshua, the Messiah enters into all humanity, into all who desire to receive that Holy Light, all who desire reintegration, or enlightenment and liberation.

In the person of Yeshua Messiah, God places Godself in all obstructions, or klippot, not only to reveal Godself to us, but also to release the sparks of holiness, Or Ain Sof, from the obstructions, the klippot, taking on the sin of all humankind and the world for the sake of forgiveness, the salvation of souls. The Holy One enters into the obstructions, or klippot, but is not overcome by them, or bound or trapped by them, or subdued by them in any way, but rather through the power of the Holy One, through the Holy Spirit, the obstructions are overcome, the klippot are shattered and the sparks of Or Ain Sof are drawn out, uplifted and reintegrated with the Light Continuum – living spirits and souls are liberated from their bondage in this way.

Indeed, it is God who must do this, for it is God who is not overcome, bound, trapped or subdued by the darkness, or by matter and chaos; and apart from God’s power, Divine Grace, no living spirit or soul would awaken and be liberated from their bondage.

Through Adonai Messiah living tzaddikim are empowered to engage in this very same action, empowered to enter into klippot to draw out sparks of holiness without becoming subdued by them, and so also are each and every one of us in the Messiah, for the Shekinah of the Messiah indwells us all, and in the Messiah we are all uplifted to stand among the tzaddikim, we are all established in our innate perfection, righteousness, in the Messiah – we need only remember our victory and freedom in the Messiah, and choose righteousness and truth.

In speaking about self-discipline, we are speaking of the power of awareness, which activates the power of free will, and we are speaking about the use of our free will to choose truth over falsehood, light over darkness, good over evil, and so draw nearer to God and enter into unification with God, the Truth, the Light, the Good. 

Self-discipline requires the presence of awareness, or remembrance, and the inner intelligence to discern truth, light and goodness, and the force of will to choose it. It is, however, not by our power alone, but the power of the Messiah and Holy Spirit in us that we are able to do this; when we have faith in Hayyah Yeshua, and we cleave to Hayyah Yeshua, our power, our soul, is joined to Yeshua Messiah and the Shekinah of the Messiah, or the Holy Spirit.

We do, though, have to choose to cleave, or rather choose to generate a new self-identification, letting go of grasping at the ego, at name and form, and personal history, or grasping at habitual patterns of thought, speech and action, and instead, identify with the indwelling Messiah, or the Holy Tzaddik in us.

If we inquire into this “self” that needs discipline, this is the ego, or self-grasping, which is the principle obstruction in us to the Holy Light, and yet, ironically, through self-discipline the ego, or self-grasping, becomes transformed into a vehicle of the Way. This is true of any obstruction we might name, if we look and see the spark of holiness in it, and discover God in it, in that instant the obstruction is transformed into a vehicle of the Way. This is exactly what we are doing in the practice of spiritual self-worth, or divine pride, we transform the ego, or tendency of self-grasping, into a vehicle of spiritual realization, shifting our self-grasping from the outer person to the inner person, or from the “lower self” to the “Higher Self,” the indwelling Messiah.

This shift in our self-grasping, or self-identity, goes hand-in-hand with the practice of looking to see the good in us, focusing more and more upon the good, the positive, rather than the negative, and when confronted with negativity, or unconscious habitual patterns, looking to see the good, the spark of holiness that is in them, and seeking to draw out the good, the holiness.

Here I’m inclined to remind of a truth of our soul, for while we may speak of the relative bondage our soul, the relative reality of our soul bound up in the ignorance, trapped in the gilgulim, in truth, the inmost aspects of our holy soul have never been bound up, never been trapped, but in much the same was as with the Holy One, and with the Messiah, the inmost aspects of our soul are transcendent, abiding in an innate perfection and union with God, the True Light. As much as in the body, so the soul surrounds the body and is beyond the body, and beyond all incarnations; the coming of the Messiah invokes this holy remembrance in us, and it is in this remembrance that we are empowered in the Way of Transformation and Way of Perfection.

We have spoken of the Way of Transformation in this contemplation, but there is an even better manifestation of the Way – the Way of Perfection; in this way it is the simple recognition that all that appears is Ain, no-thingness, and in this recognition there is nothing to cut off or transform, but rather all self-liberates as it arises, reintegrating with its inmost essence, Ain.

Who is wrestling, and what is being wrestled with? Indeed, who or what is the “self” in need of self-discipline? 

Very often it seems that of much our of wrestling with this and that, or our fixation on our problems, is nothing more than propping up, or bolstering, of the empty ego, that “little nothing” that tends to be so full of itself!

O Adonai, please help us remember our innate perfection in Hayyah Yeshua, amen. 

Extensions of the Continuum of Ten Holy Days

There are many different practices that can be added to the Continuum of Blessing the Head of the Year and here I’m inclined to share some of them with you.

First, there are shifts between various Partzufim that may be used in this cycle of Ten Holy Days. In the initial three days, the “supernal days,” we may take up practices of union with the Holy Mother, for example, on the first day we might perform a union with the Woman of Light, on the second day a union with Or Imma, the Bride Mother, and on the third day a union with Kali Imma, the Dark Mother – that, or we might choose any single emanation of the Holy Mother, and abide in the remembrance of the Living Father, the Transcendent. Then, in the six days of creation, corresponding with Zer Anpin, or Tiferet and the extremities, we may take up the practice of union with Hayyah Yeshua, the Risen Messiah. Then, finally, on New Year’s Day we may take up a practice of union with the Holy Bride, the Tower of the Flock. This is joined to the study, contemplation and invocation of the Sefirot corresponding to each day.

Those who know and understand the way with the 144 Names of God may also include the chant of these Holy Names in this continuum of practice. There are several ways that this might be done. The first way is to include the chant of the 72 Names of Gevurot on the first day, with the intention of dispelling all klippot or obstructions to the flow of blessings and for the opening of the way, then taking up the chant of the 72 Names of Hasidim on the final day with the intention of grounding and extending blessings and light. A second way is the same as the first, but on the sixth day of the continuum, corresponding to Tiferet, all 144 Names are chanted in the midst, that or their unifications as inspired by Ruach Ha-Kodesh, the Holy Spirit. The third way is to hold these chants until the final day and then intone all 144 Names on that Holy Day for the full manifestation of the power of Supernal Malkut, the full ornamentation of the Holy Shekinah. Needless to say, this invokes great light power into the Continuum of Blessing the Head of the Year.

There may also be a practice of tending a shrine during these Ten Holy Days, offering up lights and incense, and special offerings corresponding with the Holy Sefirot, their blessings and powers.

It is also very common that a special sacred ceremony is performed on the final day, grounding the Continuum of Blessing the Head of the Year – at times, for example, an initiate might go out, create an altar and sacred circle of stones, and perform a full invocation of Ha-Shem, the Shekinah and all Divine Powers.

Along a similar line, initiates tending a Continuum of Blessing the Head of the Year may elect to gather together to perform a special sacred ceremony on the final day, understanding that when initiates come together for spiritual work greater light-power is naturally invoked and made manifest in the world.

There are many other additions or extension of the continuum that might be done, but these are among the most common, giving some examples.

We can also say that through knowledge and understanding of deeper mysteries of the Holy Sefirot, their attributes and relationships, there are specific points of power in this continuum of Ten Holy Days when special spiritual works can be done, or special esoteric mysteries may be explored, all as is known among Christian Mekubalim, initiates.

Here we may give two examples.

First, on the night of transition between the “supernal days” entering into the “days of creation” is a time corresponding to Da’at and great flux in the continuum – theurgic works that evening are especially powerful, as well as “prayers at midnight,” a vigil invoking a manifestation of special blessings.

Second, the final day of the continuum corresponds to the “Shabbat of the Year,” and so New Year’s Eve corresponds to the Union of the Tzaddik (Human One, Yesod) and Shekinah (Malkut), and to the reception of the Queen of Shabbat – mysteries of the Bridal Chamber; spiritual works associated with this are especially powerful on New Year’s Eve among those who are no longer of this world, but who walk in the company of the Supernal Shekinah, cleaving to Hayyah Yeshua, the Risen Messiah.

There are many points, mornings and evenings, like this in the Continuum of Blessing the Head of the Year, and when inspired to do so initiates take advantage of them as they tend this continuum for the people and the land.

Thus, this Continuum of Blessing the Head of the Year can be very simple, or it can be very complex and elaborate, all as each initiate is able and inspired, all as needed by the people and as ordained by Ha-Shem.

Continuum of Blessing the Head of the Year (Invoking New Years Blessings)

Mekubalim Tradition

Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah, Day of Atonement and the Head of the Year, and ten days passing in between – in Judaic Kabbalah these ten days correspond to the ten Holy Sefirot so that secretly, among Jewish Mekubalim, a special continuum of prayer and invocation is kept drawing upon the shefa, spiritual influx, of the Sefirot over this ten day period. Essentially, each day a Sefirah becomes the focus of contemplation and prayer so that with heart and soul, through kavvanah and devekut, the Mekubal (Kabbalist) attaches themselves and unifies themselves with the corresponding Sefirah drawing down blessings for the people in the New Year. It is a cycle of repentance and the invocation of mercy, blessings, laboring for auspicious circumstances in the year to come, and it is good.

Sophian Tradition –  Continuum of the Year

There is a similar continuum kept each year by zealous initiates of our tradition, all according to our Christian Kabbalah and the marking of our solar continuum of Holy Feasts in the year. In our tradition the Feast of the Mother and Child on winter solstice represents both our “Christmas” and New Years Eve – on a spiritual level, and in nature, according to God’s will, the New Year is conceived in the long night of winter solstice, after which light grows and increases. In the world, however, in the profane society and culture, the coming of the New Year is not celebrated until ten days later on the first of January. Thus, from winter solstice on the twenty-first of December to New Years Day on the first of January there are ten days, and in much the same way as among Jewish Mekubalim, zealous Christian Mekubalim often tend a special continuum of contemplation and prayer through the Holy Sefirot, banishing shades and shadows, klippot, and invoking blessings, the shefa of the Sefirot. The intention of this continuum is to invoke blessings upon the people and the land in the New Year, and to manifest the new solar cycle in auspicious circumstances. Naturally, in so doing, we cleave to Yahweh, Yeshua, through the Sefirot and deepen our acquaintance with the Divine Attributes, the Sefirot, and it is good.

This continuum begins with the remembrance of the Holy Mother and Child, the Divine Incarnation of the Messiah, and with the awareness of the Holy Sefirot as the Mystical Body of the Messiah, the Human One of Light. On the first day following the Holy Feast or winter solstice we take up the continuum of banishing klippot and invoking the Sefirot, beginning with Keter-Da’at. Then, following the Path of the Lightening Bolt, the natural order of emanation of the Sefirot, each day we focus on a Sefirah, until on New Years Day we come to Malkut, the Kingdom, the Shekinah.

Beginning with Keter-Da’at each day we study and contemplate mysteries of a Sefirah, and inwardly we cleave to that Sefirah and we unify our soul with it, becoming a vehicle, a channel, of that Divine Attribute, that Divine Power, with our soul, and our mind, heart and body, all in the Blessed Name of Adonai Yeshua Messiah. As we do this, each day we take up a corresponding continuum of prayer and meditation, invoking the correspondences and the blessings associated with the Sefirah, giving praise and thanks to Ha-Shem, rejoicing in the presence of Ha-Shem, and praying for the people and the land in the coming year.

We call upon the corresponding Name of God, archangel and order of angels, and so also we may call upon the names of spiritual ancestors, corresponding tzaddikim and navim, and we will shape our prayers to invoke the power and blessing of the Divine Attribute that is our focus that day, from Crown to Kingdom, praying for the manifestation of the kingdom of heaven on earth, the manifestation of Ratzon Elyon, the will and desire of the Supreme, in the coming year.

In this continuum every prayer and invocation is sealed with the Blessed Name and cleaving to Hayyah Yeshua, the Risen Messiah, and Shekinah of the Messiah, the Holy Mother-Bride.

Now, the first three days of Keter-Da’at, Hokmah and Binah are Supernal, Primordial, the holy remembrance of all spirits and souls emanating from the Light Continuum (Yahweh) and Pleroma of Light (Elohim), all beginning with El Elyon (God Most High) and Eheieh (the Divine I Am), and we pray in unification with Adonai Messiah, the Human One of Light, and seek the extension of the Light of the Messiah, Supernal Habad.

These are the holy days of timeless eternity, primordial space, preceding the days of creation, and as such they are days of the holy remembrance of the Great Natural Perfection, Primordial Wisdom, Mother Clear Light – our true and bornless nature; and along with the three Holy Supernal Sefirot, so also we invoke in the remembrance of Ain, Ain Sof and Or Ain Sof, the nature of God, which is the nature of the Human One and all creation.

Then, on the fourth day we enter into the Days of Creation, and as much as contemplating and praying with the Sefirot, so too we may add contemplations and prayers of the Days of Creation, from the First Day to the Seventh Day, considering their esoteric and metaphysical mysteries, and invoking blessings of the corresponding acts and aspects of creation.

In the continuum of the days of creation, the second day, which is the fifth day in the greater continuum corresponding to Gevurah-Judgment is critical, for as we know and understand the Second Day of Creation represents the activation of the klippot in creation, the entrance of the shades and shadows, evil, and so it is a day of confessing and repentance for ourselves and the people, a day of banishing husks of darkness and purification, laboring to mitigate judgment, liberate and uplift holy sparks, and remove obstructions, barriers, to the flow of light and blessings.

On New Years Day we will reach Malkut, the Kingdom, the Holy Shekinah, and so we will invoke the blessings, the spiritual power, of the Supernal Kingdom of Heaven upon the earth and into the New Year, praying for the salvation, the enlightenment and liberation, of all living spirits and souls in the Spiritual Sun.

In this continuum, of course, we are invoking the full Light-presence and Light-power of the Spiritual Sun of God (El), the full presence and power of the Messiah, the Holy Child of the Virgin Mother, and so we establish ourselves in full in the Mystical Body of the Risen Messiah, the Divine Attributes, the Holy Sefirot – in this way we may walk in beauty and holiness in the coming year, empowered as a true light-bearer or vision-bringer, and true healer and peacemaker, and apostle of the Spiritual Sun, the Messiah.

Those who love Yahweh, the Light Continuum, delight in Yahweh and cleave to Yahweh – and so having zeal for Yahweh we enact the Continuum of Light Transmission.

This is the peak of our prayers and invocations on New Years Day with Supernal Malkut, the manifestation of the Continuum of Gnostic and Light Transmission in the world, the Shekinah of the Messiah.

It seemed good to share about this continuum of contemplation and prayer this year for anyone who might be inclined to it.

May the Light of the Spiritual Sun, the Messiah, shine brightly in the coming year. Amen. 

When we take up this continuum of study and contemplation, prayer and meditation, over the years, naturally we will gain deeper and deeper insight into the Holy Sefirot and Olamot; especially, for example, if we happen to practice the form of hitbodedut in the Tree of Life, praying in descent and ascent through the Holy Sefirot each day, for then this practice becomes an intensification of our daily practice of hitbodedut – very much so!

If we contemplate the first three days of this continuum, and the shift from the Supernals to the seven Sefirot of Construction, understanding the seven Sefirot of Construction as corresponding with the seven days of creation, then this shift in the continuum is at the outset of creation, a point of great renewal, or great possibility. If on the even of this shift we tend a special vigil of prayer, there is a great generation of merit or light-power, and if we take up a theurgic action, or prophetic action, there is a special, greater force that moves through it on account of the continuum we are keeping. In so doing, on a spiritual and mystical level we are cleaving to Ruach Elohim hovering over the surface of the deep at the outset of creation, and as we know, Ruach Elohim is Ruach Ha-Messiah. Thus, we are cleaving to the source of creation, the source of all blessings, and we may draw in supernal shefa, perhaps even something of the shefa of the primordial, hence great spiritual and material bounty.

Basically speaking, in remembering and keeping this continuum we can create a great flux in the matrix of spiritual forces, and so, potentially, bring about radical changes in the flow of reality and life – in a word, through God’s power, we can become conscious agents of great wonders for ourselves and others.

The shifts between each of the Holy Triads on the Tree of Life can be viewed in a similar way, and if with each of them we hold to our intention, our prayers and invocations, then it is possible for us to bring in a radical influx of shefa, and whatever it is we have spoken in the Spirit will come to pass as we have spoken in, all through the power of Ruach Elohim, Ruach Ha-Kodesh.

As I shared previously, the even before the final day and movement of this continuum also holds very special power, and in the Great Tree of Life, with the Olamot overlapping, it represents the same position, though between Yesod and Malkut it represents full actualization and manifestation, full influx into this body and world, this life.

As for exactly what spiritual works we might do, this will depend upon our own inspirations and creativity – truly all manner of spiritual works can be done, all depending upon the need we perceive or vision we have, and so responding.

In the midst of this continuum, and this time of shifting between the Supernals and the Sefirot of Construction, let us remember the teaching of the awareness of spiritual adepts in Da’at or the Abyss: “Things manifest as you expect them to manifest.”

May we know the renewal of creation each year, and each day, and so live in the wisdom of the Eternal Youth, Ancient of Days. Amen. 

Hitbodedut: Running and Returning Through the Tree of Life

By Tau Malachi

The Holy One renews creation each and every day, as though all creation arises as for the first time as in the beginning (Bereshit); likewise, each day the Holy One restores your soul to your body after its flight in sleep and dream, as though you are entering into a new life, a new incarnation. In a similar way, each evening, when night comes, it is as though all creation dissolves and returns to the Holy One of Being, and so also your soul passes from the body and ascends to commune with the Holy One, reintegrating with the Light Continuum, Yahweh. Thus, each day there is a running and returning of creation and souls, descending and ascending, moving and moving-not, coming in and going out, and the blessings of Yahweh Elohim flow throughout, and therefore all who invoke and bless the Holy Name are uplifted and blessed with light and life in Ruach Ha-Kodesh, the Holy Spirit.

If we are aware of this running and returning, the emanation, creation, formation and completion of the heavens and the earth, and souls each day, and of the dissolution, ascension and reintegration of all in the culmination of the day, and if we take up this play of running and returning in prayer and worship, greater tikkunim of our soul and radical transformations of our consciousness become possible – incredible leaps in the evolution of consciousness and realization of the soul become possible through Divine Grace.

There is a way of hitbodedut, secluded prayer, that takes up this play of running and returning. It is prayers of the heart through the Tree of Life, descending through the Holy Sefirot in the morning, ascending through the Holy Sefirot in the evening, and in the afternoon, remembering the invocations of the morning, calling upon the Blessed Name, and invoking those Holy Sefirot needed for adjustment and balance, or the “mitigation of judgment.” This is the practice through the three times of prayer, morning, evening and afternoon, corresponding with mercy, compassion and judgment; and in this practice these three times are called “descending,” “ascending” and “abiding,” respectively.

In the morning prayer this practice of hitbodedut begins with primordial meditation, going within, opening to the Holy Light from above, and abiding in the presence of the Holy One within and all around us, and ever beyond us; and at the outset of prayer, praise and bless the Holy Name, and invoke the Holy Name. As you invoke the Holy Name, begin with El Elyon, then descend through the Middle Pillar, Eheieh, Yahweh Elohim, Yeshua Messiah, El Shaddai and Adonai, and then invoke the Names of the Pillar of Mercy joined to the Names of the Pillar of Severity, Yah-Elohim, El-Elohim Givor, Yahweh Tzavaot-Elohim Tzavaot, and intone Ararita and AGLA. When you have called upon the Holy Name in this way, focus upon Keter, and the mysteries of Keter, and invoke Eheieh, Metatron and the Hayyot Ha-Kodesh, and let prayers of your heart as inspired by Ruach Ha-Kodesh in the moment arise, prayers for yourself, for those you know, and for your community and the world, all your relations, invoking the shefa, spiritual and material bounty, corresponding with Keter. Then, following the Path of the Lightening Bolt, through Hokmah, Binah, Hesed, Gevurah, Tiferet, Netzach, Hod and Yesod, to Malkut, do the same, invoking the Name, Archangel and Order of Angels, and praying corresponding prayers of the heart. When these cycles are complete, if there is another meditation you are called to take up, such as giving and receiving or union with partzuf, we take it up, that or abide a while in primordial meditation, listening and hearing, waiting upon the Spirit of Yahweh. This is the morning session of hitbodedut descending through the Tree of Life.

Remembering and keeping this continuum of hitbodedut, running and returning in this way, very often we will awaken with hitbonenut, a contemplation of mysteries of Torah and Gospel from the night, or with influences from luminous dreams and visions in the night. These we will let influence and shape our morning hitbodedut, and indeed all of our prayers and life throughout the day, carrying the inspirations and illuminations we have received in sleep and dream with us, always interpreting our dreams in a positive way, and speaking of them only in prayer and to those who love us.

Praying through the Tree of Life in the morning in this way we invoke the shefa, spiritual influx, of all of the Holy Sefirot from Keter to Malkut, invoking the fullness of all blessings and generating the greater glory of the Holy Shekinah, and we give greater strength to the prayers of living tzaddik and to the holy angels of God, drawing the influence of the kingdom of heaven into the world on that day.

In the evening the practice is the same, but instead of descending through the Holy Tree we ascend. Thus, just as in the morning we begin with primordial meditation as taught, but when we praise and bless the Holy Name, and call upon the Holy Name, we ascend the Middle Pillar, beginning with Adonai, and then invoking Shaddai El Hai, Yeshua Messiah, Yahweh Elohim and Eheieh, and then we invoke the Names of the Pillar of Severity joined to the Names of the Pillar of Mercy, Elohim Tzavaot-Yahweh Tzavaot, Elohim Givor-El and Elohim-Yah, and then we intone El Elyon. (In the evening prayers Ararita and AGLA are not intoned.) Once we have invoked the Holy Name in this way, then we pray from Malkut to Keter in ascent, invoking the Name, Archangel and Order of Angels, and praying corresponding prayers with each Holy Sefirah, each Divine Attribute. In completion, if there is another meditation we are called to take up, we take it up, but if not, then we abide in primordial meditation for a while, waiting upon the Spirit of Yahweh. This is the evening session of hitbodedut ascending through the Tree of Life.

Essentially, in the evening prayer we are uplifting our soul and all creation to the Holy One, praying for the great resurrection and ascension of this good earth, and so of all our relations, and we are uplifting all that has happened in the day, good or bad, enacting a “life review,” as it were, and offering all to the Holy One. It is a prayer of dissolution and reintegration, returning to the Holy One, just as all has emanated from the Holy One in the beginning.

In the afternoon, at some point we will remember our morning prayer, and considering our energy, the energy of others around us, and the flow of what’s happening that day, for a few moments we will remember the Blessed Name of Adonai Yeshua Messiah, and we will remember the holy sacrifice of the Lamb of God, and if there is a need for adjustment, we will invoke the corresponding Sefirah, or Sefirot. Simply remembering the Blessed Name, and calling upon the Blessed Name, is often enough, however, for the power of all the Holy Names, Archangels and Angels is in the Name of Adonai Yeshua Messiah.

This is the continuum of hitbodedut descending and ascending, running and returning, through the Tree of Life.

Joined to this practice of hitbodedut there is often a practice for going to sleep and for waking up. When going to sleep we will pray, “Abba, into your hands I commend my spirit,” that, or we will recite the Shema; as we are awakening in the morning, we will pray, “Adonai, blessed are You who renews creation each day, and who has restored my soul to my body,” that, or we will recite the Shema. According to great mekubalim, these prayers going to sleep and waking up can bring about great tikkunim of our souls, specifically tikkunim at night as in the World to Come.

There is also another practice that a few initiates join to this during certain periods of life, as taught in the Zohar. During certain cycles, when they seek to invoke greater movements of the Continuum of Light Transmission, or seek to breakthrough into a higher level of spiritual realization, they will arise at midnight for the study and contemplation of the Holy Torah and Gospel, taking up a practice of hitbonenut, or spiritual contemplation in the night.

If and when there is time during the day, as for example on the Holy Shabbat, the practice of hitbonenut, spiritual contemplation of mysteries of the Torah and Gospel, can be added to this practice of hitbodedut, drawing out greater blessings from the Holy Shekinah and Ruach Ha-Kodesh; in the Life Divine hitbodedut and hitbonenut go hand-in-hand, empowering one another, just as do kavvanah-concentration and devekut-cleaving.

In this practice of hitbodedut, of course, devekut is most essential; hence, right attachment to the Messiah and Shekinah of the Messiah, or to our heart tzaddik and root tzaddik, for the Divine Grace that flows from Hayyah Yeshua and the prayers of our holy tzaddik or apostle strengthen our prayers. All of our spiritual practices, in truth, are empowered by our devekut, right attachment, to the living tzaddikim and our desire to stand among the living ones.

This practice, of course, assumes knowledge of the Holy Sefirot and their correspondences, and it is empowered by our experience of initiation, Light Transmission, and our reception of Ruach Ha-Kodesh, the Holy Spirit. When this is in place, this way of hitbodedut proves very powerful, great blessings and wonders transpire through it. As you might imagine, over the years, tending this continuum of hitbodedut, an initiate will become intimately acquainted with the Holy Sefirot, and acquire insights into deep mysteries of the Holy Sefirot, deep mysteries of the Holy Torah and Gospel, and experience various grades of spiritual illumination and nearness to the Holy One. Truly, this way of secluded prayer can lead to great tikkune and create the conditions for higher levels of spiritual realization; in and of itself it is a practice that can facilitate a breakthrough into Supernal Realization, the dawn of Supernal or Messianic Consciousness, for it is a practice of hitbodedut generated from the experience of Supernal Realization.

Here we may speak an open secret concerning this practice of hitbodedut, one reflecting its generation from the experience of Supernal Realization. Essentially, it is an expression of the spiritual power of Hayyah Yeshua, the Risen Messiah, appearing in the resurrection and disappearing in the ascension; hence, an invocation of the Supernal Influx manifest in Hayyah Yeshua. As such, it is an invocation of the second coming of the Messiah, the full outpouring of Ruach Ha-Kodesh and the reception of the Holy Bride, New Jerusalem.

O Adonai, may we be blessed and empowered in our running and returning; if and when our heart runs, may it swiftly be returned to its place. Amen. 

Tikkunim at Night

Father, into your hands I commend my spirit” (Luke 23:46). 

This is a inmost essential transference of consciousness at the time of death, and, as the Ari teaches, it is also a transference of consciousness at the time of going to sleep, understanding that how the soul, or consciousness, passes into sleep and dream, and passes into death and the afterlife is very similar, and reaches into the same inner or metaphysical dimensions. According to the Zohar, sleep and dream are “one sixtieth” the power of death, and just as in death the soul takes flight, descending and ascending, passing through all manner of realms and worlds, so also in sleep and dream souls take flight; the distinction, though, is that in sleep and dream the soul preserves a vital connection with the body, and running and returning the soul reenters the body, but at the time of death the vital connection is severed, and although a soul might attempt to return to the body, it cannot reenter the body. Thus, what we call “death” is more powerful, a significantly more intense experience of transition, one that will lead to a completely different life, whether in inner, subtle dimensions, or in the material dimension. What we call “sleep,” on the other hand is somewhat less intense because we return to our body, to this life and world, and yet, according to great mekubalim, like the Ari of Sefed, through sleep and dream there is the possibility of a great transformation of the soul, consciousness, and therefore a great transformation of our present life, so much so that it can be as though we receive a new life, a new incarnation, drawing in the influence of inner aspects of our soul. 

As we know and understand in our experiences of the Feast of the Blessed Dead, and specifically the inner form of that holy feast, the “rite of sending a soul,” and as we know from our experiences of significant moments of Light Transmission, and our deeper spiritual and mystical experiences in prayer and meditation, our consciousness can ascend into higher, more expanded states, and can open to inner, metaphysical dimensions, and we can experience various gradations of nearness or closeness to God, and oneness with God. In other words, while as yet in this body, this life, our soul can reach into the same realms, worlds and universes as in the afterlife, and we can experience the seven earths, seven heavens and the eighth heaven, Supernal Malkut, through the Divine Grace in the Messiah. In fact, each time we go to sleep and our soul, or consciousness arises in dream, there is an opportunity for the ascent of the soul through the heavens, and for very luminous dreams and visions in dream; yet more, as in death and the afterlife, there is the possibility of greater nearness to God, and the experience of oneness with God, or various grades of the reintegration of our soul with the Light Continuum, Yahweh. If and when souls run and return in this way, experiencing heavens and gradations of reintegration in sleep and dream, naturally there is a significant development and evolution of the soul, or realization of the soul, and great tikkunim are accomplished – radical transformations of our soul, our consciousness, are possible. 

The actualization and realization of our soul, the embodiment of the inner aspects of our being, and the embodiment of the Messiah and Ruach Ha-Kodesh, is accomplished through our incarnation, through the material dimension; and yet, the fruition of our realization, the completion of the tikkunim of our soul, happens in dream and the afterlife, or in the World to Come – the greater fruit, reality, of what is realized in our incarnation is experienced beyond this body and life, beyond this world. Every authentic wisdom tradition in the world teaches us this, and all teach us that we are generating our experience of sleep and dream by how we live each day, and are generating our experience of death and the afterlife by how we live this life, and all speak of a greater fruition, realization, beyond this life and world. 

Here we may say, whatever our orientation, whatever occupies our thoughts the most, whatever our soul most loves and cleaves to, the soul becomes, in dreams, in afterlife experiences, and in incarnations; understanding this, we have every reason to pay attention to our thoughts and desires to ensure that they are directed to where we wish our soul to go, for wherever thought and desire goes, there we go, there we are! 

In this light we may recall a very beautiful and powerful teaching of St. Paul in his Letter to the Colossians, in which he writes: 

“So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died, and you life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory” (3:1-4). 

If we inquire into “things that are above,” they are mysteries of the Holy Torah and Gospel, and the Word to Come, mysteries of the seven heavens, and more so the eighth heaven, and mysteries of the Divine Attributes, the Holy Sefirot and Olamot. Thus, understanding that our soul goes where our thoughts and desires are directed, St. Paul teaches us to contemplate the mysteries of the gospel and the heavens, and to set our minds and hearts on the World to Come, cleaving inwardly to the Risen Messiah, orienting our life and soul to El Elyon, God Most High. 

The foundation of this, of course, is living the gospel and living in the Messiah, cultivating faith, hope and love, and seeking knowledge, understanding and wisdom; it is in the spiritual life, good works and charity, and in study and contemplation, prayer and meditation, and an ever deepening of our communion with the Holy One. If we were to speak the most essential key to an ascent of the soul, an ascent of consciousness in the Messiah and Holy Spirit, it is passionate devotion and cleaving in the fullness of faith, hence devekut. 

Basically speaking, the more we are immersed in the spiritual life and practice, the more zealous, passionate, our devotion, the deeper our worship, our communion, the greater the ascent of our soul, our consciousness, in sleep and dream, and in death and the afterlife, and so also during our prayers and meditations. This is a simple truth, for in so doing we enact an active and dynamic surrender to the Messiah and Holy Shekinah, and we co-create the conditions necessary for the full action of Divine Grace. The more we live the gospel, the more we live in the Risen Messiah, the more our soul can be uplifted and illuminated by Ruach Ha-Kodesh, the Holy Spirit. 

This will become reflected in our dreams, and visions in dreams, and it will become reflected in our afterlife experience – the greater our faith and devotion, our devekut, the greater our ascent and realization in the Messiah. As St. Paul teaches us, in wisdom, naturally, we always seek a “better resurrection,” as well as “greater gifts of the Spirit.” 

The seven heavens, and the countless “mansions,” or heavenly realms and worlds within them, correspond with various gradations of nearness to God, and from one heaven to another, or from the exteriors to the interiors of the heavens, souls experience greater nearness and communion with God, and experience greater oneness with the Holy Light of God; and the eighth heaven, and the countless light realms and worlds within it reaching into Ain Sof, the Infinite, correspond with various gradations of oneness with God, nearness becoming an experience of conscious unification with the Holy Shekinah, and the delights of the union of the Holy One and Shekinah, or Holy One and The Name. 

The more we cleave with our heart and soul, mind and life, to Yahweh Elohim, and to Hayyah Yeshua, the further the ascent of our soul into the seven heavens and their interiors, and if our devekut is faithful and passionate, it may come to pass that our soul may be drawn into the eighth heaven, Supernal Malkut. It is in this that the greater tikkune of our soul becomes possible and is accomplished, our soul becoming fully uplifted in the Messiah, fully illumined by Ruach Ha-Kodesh. 

Now souls can ascend through the heavens, moving from one to another as though “climbing a ladder of lights,” or “flying through various altitudes,” and souls may pass into the eighth heaven in this way, assuming they do not get caught up in one of the seven heavens along the way, or do not become distracted, bound up in attachment to the splendors and their bliss. If their sole thought and desire is for greater nearness and unification with the Holy One, deeper communion and intimacy with the Holy One, then they may reach into the eighth heaven, Supernal Malkut. 

It is also true that through the good grace in Yeshua Messiah, the Son of the Human One having descended from the eighth heaven, and becoming incarnate, and ascended into the eighth heaven, that souls can be uplifted through Divine Grace from any of the seven heavens into the eighth heaven in an instant. Because of this descending and ascending of the Soul of the Messiah, emanations of the sanctuary of grace, pure light realms, are manifest within all of the heavens, lower and upper, and so also great tzaddikim in the Messiah, apostles or “saints,” generate light realms as sanctuaries for souls in the heavens, laboring to uplift souls from the seven heavens into the eighth heaven, the true kingdom of heaven, Supernal Malkut. Thus, apart from a sequential, linear ascent through the heavens, if a soul abides in the fullness of faith and devotion, through the good grace in Hayyah Yeshua they can be uplifted, exalted, into the eighth heaven from within any of the seven heavens. 

There is an even greater possibility, and even greater movement of Divine Grace – if we have full faith, and full zeal for Yahweh (the Light Continuum), and we cleave in full with our heart and mind to the Risen Messiah, without passing through the seven heavens our soul may be uplifted, exalted, into the eighth heaven. 

Thus, when we go to sleep, or when we are dying, if we pray this prayer empowered by Adonai Yeshua on the cross, from dreamless sleep instantly, or from death instantly, our soul may arise in the eighth heaven, Supernal Malkut, directly; hence, our soul may experience full reintegration with the Light Continuum, Yahweh. This, naturally, will bring about great tikkunim of the soul. 

Here we may say, this prayer of Adonai Yeshua on the cross, enacting the transference of consciousness, full self-offering at the time of his death, is the heart essence of the Lord’s Prayer, or what has been called the “Secret Lord’s Prayer.” This prayer, however, is something more than the words spoken, it is a full and clear conscious intention for reintegration, complete unification with the Holy One, a full focus of the mind and heart, thought and desire, on the Holy One – a single intention, thought and desire for the Holy One of Being. If prayed with full kavvanah and devekut in this way when going to sleep, or when dying, then this full reintegration, or full unification, will come to pass through Divine Grace. 

Thus, cleaving to our hope in Hayyah Yeshua, going to sleep we may pray, “Father (Abba), into your hands I commend my spirit,”and this proves to be a powerful spiritual practice that can generate lucid dream, heavenly visions in dream, and experiences of nearness and unification in dream. Likewise, it will generate the conditions that can make the transference of conscious possible when the time of our death comes, and through the transference of consciousness, just as the Gospel of St. Thomas teaches us, we will not “experience death.” 

This prayer of Adonai Yeshua, of course, is an evolution of the prayer from Psalm 31, for in praying to the Father, Abba, the soul is directed into Atzilut, and more than Malkut of Atzilut, the soul is directed into Hokmah of Atzilut, which corresponds with the full reintegration of the soul with the Light Continuum, Yahweh, the complete tikkune of the soul. Thus, in Messiah Yeshua we have a very special blessing and empowerment for this essential transference of consciousness when we lay down and go to sleep, and so also when we lay down at the end of life, our soul shedding physicality entirely. 

If we take up this prayer of Yeshua Messiah when going to sleep, there is another prayer we may take up while awakening in the morning: “Adonai, I give praise and thanks to you for restoring my soul to the body, and for the renewal of my life this day. Amen.” This completes and seals the running and returning of the soul from sleep and dream, and it invokes remembrance of our dreams upon awakening. 

May all living spirits and souls be uplifted in Hayyah Yeshua. Amen.

The thirty-six Lamed-Vau Tzaddikim

The Lamed-Vau (36) Tzaddikim are very mysterious and represent a radical display of God’s mercy, and surely they allude to the way of crazy wisdom or wild gnosis, for they are the most unorthodox and concealed tzaddikim who use the most unusual methods for the liberation of souls from negative karma or sin, and the suffering associated with it.

According to the tradition, in every generation there are thirty-six tzaddikim who feel the pain and suffering of people in the world very deeply in their heart, and they are souls of very lofty grades who bear secret mystical powers, specifically the power to take on the negative karma or sin of others, and their suffering, releasing, healing and redeeming souls. Most often, these tzaddikim do not appear to be holy and righteous people, but rather frequently appear quite opposite, and yet, inwardly, secretly, they are realized individuals with special spiritual powers.

There is a story of one Lamed-Vau Tzaddik who became a street person in a very large and harsh city, and who would act as though he was mentally ill, and often in a very grumpy fashion. Inwardly he would abide perpetually in the company of the Holy Shekinah, and pray for every person who caught his eye or came into contact with him – those who might treat him badly, he took their darkness upon himself, and those who had compassion for him he would be blessed and uplifted. As he did this, he lived among the outcasts of society and he brought the Holy Light to them, dwelling with them and living as they lived, suffering as they suffered, laboring in secret, save for the few occasions he revealed the Holy Light that was in him. Essentially, save under the most exceptional circumstances, if one encountered him they would have never know he was a holy tzaddik, a realized individual.

One is reminded of what Adonai Yeshua teaches concerning souls confronted in the judgment within the afterlife experience claiming to have followed him and about his response of how they turned him away when he came to their door in need of food as a homeless beggar – that’s rather like a Lamed-Vau Tzaddik coming to offer spiritual assistance!

Yes, indeed, their labor is often very much like the spiritual labor of the Messiah in the hell realms. According to masters of the tradition, the Messiah assumes a form corresponding to those to whom he appears, and takes up the reality of their experience in order to preach the Holy Gospel and extend the Holy Light, facilitating their salvation, their enlightenment and liberation.

The very play of the Garden of Gethsemane, the passion and crucifixion reflects this, for the Messiah takes up our experience completely, taking the full karma upon himself in order to shatter the klippot, dispelling it for those who believe and who cleave to him – it is a very powerful and profound theurgic action.

It must be said, though, that the Lamed-Vau may appear in all manner of situations – as much as in poverty they could appear in wealth, or as an ordinary person in virtually any walk of life. Within and behind whatever appearance, however, they are engaged in a very powerful and special spiritual work, delivering souls from suffering and persecution, completely willing to take suffering and persecution upon themselves for the sake of the deliverance of others.

They are worthy of praise in the presence of the Most High – very noble and lofty righteous ones, and they are beloved by the angels of God, the True Light.

They are quite an example to us all, just as is Yeshua Messiah who takes on all manner of suffering for the liberation of souls.

May we be empowered and blessed in our spiritual labor as the Lamed-Vau are empowered and blessed in theirs. Amen.

 Tau Malachi

The Holy Tzaddik: The Fifth Element – Part VII

As we have been engaging a contemplation of Yesod as the Holy Tzaddik, and considering the attribute of the Tzaddik as the Foundation of the World, or Fifth Element, we have arrived at the discussion of the tikkunim that may be brought about through the spiritual life and spiritual works of living tzaddikim and their companions, the active labor for the manifestation of the kingdom of heaven on earth and for the glorification of God. These are tikkunim of the Holy Sefirot, or of the Names of God and Partzufim, and so with every Name of God and Partzufim we can speak of specific actions that bring about tikkunim. Essentially, through the various sacred events, or activities of faith in spiritual community, such as sacred discourse, worship, prophecy and so forth we brings about tikkunim, realizing the greater potential of God within creation. In terms of the tikkunim of Partzufim, those of Zer Anpin and Nukva are most important, for these two are most accessible to us and they form the interface between this world and the upper, inner, spiritual and supernal worlds; hence, it is primarily through Zer Anpin and Nukva that the shefa of the upper, inner, worlds reaches us, shefa being the cause of blessings, bounty, material and spiritual.

Concerning the tikkunim of Zer Anpin, or of the “beard of Zer Anpin,” there is a reading of Numbers chapter twenty that reveals these tikkunim, and from which there are deep teachings drawn concerning the matrix of living tzaddikim in a generation. At the outset I’d encourage you to read and become familiar with the story told in this chapter of the Book of Numbers, noting the death of the prophet Miriam, the strife that breaks out in the grief following her death, and what transpires with Aaron, Moses and the children of Israel at the rock of Meribah, and also the story concerning the potential passage through the land of Edom.

Having read the story, let us remember the prophet Miriam and the legend of Miriam’s Well. According to Midrashim, through the power of Yahweh Elohim wherever the children of Israel wandered in the desert she would make the well appear, one that gave sweet waters. When the children of Israel would arrive at a new place and set up camp, she would call out an elder woman (zaken) from each tribe to invoke the well, and together they would sing a heart-song and the well would appear. Thus, when the prophet Miriam died, the well could no longer appear for no one knew how to invoke Ruach Ha-Kodesh to inspire new heart-songs that would make the well manifest. Because of this at Meribah the children of Israel were left with bitter waters, joined to the bitterness of their grief in the loss of a holy one near and dear to them. This leads to the strife between Moses and the children of Israel at Meribah.

There is a significant teaching that can be drawn from this, for Miriam represents Binah and Imma, and Binah is called the “Supernal Heart” in the Holy Kabbalah, and Binah is as a well in that all illuminations and revelations of Hokmah pour out through Binah, and all knowledge and understanding comes from Binah. Miriam also represents a truth in the matrix of living tzaddikim in each generation – within and behind, always, there is a great tzaddik who is the conduit, as it were, of new teachings, illuminations and revelations in their generation, through whose soul all other tzaddik are able to draw from the Supernal Heart. “Surrounding” this holy one are other great tzaddikim, and “surrounding” these are all manner of gradations of living tzaddikim forming the matrix of messengers in a generation. This inmost holy tzaddik may become well known, but very often they are concealed, or recognized and known by relatively few, acting inwardly, largely in secret as far as the world is concerned. If and when this great tzaddik dies and is removed from the world, then new teachings, illuminations and revelations cease until another holy one arises to take their place. During this time of transition, naturally, there is a great vulnerability in the Continuum and Community of Israel, and so there is a greater susceptibility to the influence and dominion of the Other Side, the klippot.

Now it must be said that if we understand the mysteries of the various aspects of the soul, and the capacity of a realized soul to enter into a multiplicity of incarnations simultaneously, that the principle of this Holy Tzaddik, the “great tzaddik of a generation,” can be embodied in more than one person, extending to two or three apparent individuals. If embodied in two or three, if one dies and is removed from the world there is the greater influx becomes impaired or restricted, and so there is still vulnerability in transition in the Community of Israel, the manifestation of the Holy Shekinah and Divine Kingdom. This is reflected in the death of Miriam and what transpires following her death at Meribah, understanding a deep inner connection between the souls of Miriam, Aaron and Moses, these siblings in the Spirit.

This teaching is intimately connected with the tikkunim of Zer Anpin, the world of angels, for naturally during a time of transition in the matrix of living tzaddikim the Sefirot of Zer Anpin become impaired, restricted, and an imbalance can come in the matrix of spiritual forces, the world of angels, causing a greater influx of influence from the forces of the klippot due to a weakness in the Continuum and Community. Thus, in the story of Meribah the tikkunim of Zer Anpin are given, and the way of these tikkunim is sacred discourse between a tzaddik and their companions, specifically a sacred discourse in which new teachings of the Torah and Gospel are spoken, which as we know create new heavens and new angels according to the Zohar.

If we look into chapter twenty of Numbers there are nine actions taught for a zaken or tzaddik in the process of giving a sacred discourse, nine spiritual works that are done, which correspond with the tikkunim of Zer Anpin, the world of angels. While these spiritual works are taught in chapter twenty, they also correspond to the nine attributes of mercy spoken by Moses in Numbers 14:18:

“Yahweh (1) is slow (2) to anger (3), and abounding (4) in steadfast love (5), forgiving iniquity (6) and transgression (7), but by no means clearing the guilty (8), visiting the iniquity of the parents upon the children to the third and fourth generation (9).”

The nine tikkunim of Zer Anpin, or the nine actions of a zaken in sacred discourse are as follows:

(1)“Take the staff”; 2) “Gather the community” – to subjugate klippot in the assembly; 3) “Speak to the rock” – in humility with pleading; 4) In their presence – the soul of the zaken joining with the souls of their companions; 5) Speaking with words of fire like flaming coals; 6) Drawing teachings of Torah and Gospel; 7) Creating holy angels; 8) Receiving the power of the sword of Edom to vanquish forces of evil and wickedness; 9) Entering into the Holy Land, or a full generation of the Community of Israel [Community of the Spiritual Elect].

The teaching of these nine actions of tikkune are as follows:

“Take the staff,” and “Yahweh,” this is the power of the continuum of the zaken, or the Shekinah of the Messiah joined to them, and when taking up sacred discourse, so the zaken will study and contemplate the mysteries of the Torah and Gospel, and they will pray and meditate upon them, generating light-power, merit, in advance, and praying for the outpouring of Ruach Ha-Kodesh upon their companions, praying for the removal of klippot, obstructions, and for their empowerment to receive and integrate the teachings to be given. The greater the continuum of the zaken, the greater the level of their spiritual realization, the greater the power of these prayers will be, but gathering the community, entering into the assembly, they will not rely upon their merit, or upon their own knowledge and power, instead, gathering the community they will pray with humility, asking for an undeserved gift of knowledge, understanding and wisdom from the Holy One, Yahweh. Their holy staff, however, is for the sake of subduing klippot, negative forces, in their companions, and invoking the humility of the assembly, opening the way for the reception of teachings, revelations of deeper mysteries.

“Gather the community,” and “slow,” this is the action of the zaken drawing their companions out of the world and therefore out of the dominion of the klippot, and calling them into Holy Malkut, the presence and power of Yahweh, the Light Continuum. If they are, indeed, companions, initiates, they also will take up a continuum of study and contemplation, prayer and meditation, and as they gather so also they will walk in beauty and holiness, joined with the Shekinah of the Messiah. Attending the continuum of prayer before hand, the true living tzaddik imbues their companions with the Spirit of Life (Ruach Ha-Hai), and with something of their own ruach, or inner intelligence, as they invoke Ruach Ha-Kodesh upon their companions. Each of their companions receives their portion according to the continuum of prayer their companion has kept, all according to their desire and capacity to receive. In this way, entering into the assembly, and entering into the presence of the zaken, all are uplifted to a higher level or grade, and greater revelations become possible.

“Speak to the boulder,” and “anger,” this is a prayer and invocation in complete surrender and humility at the outset of sacred discourse, an invocation of the mercy and grace of the Most High (Elyon), the mitigation of judgment, and the request for blessings and gifts undeserved – hence, not calling upon merits, or relying upon one’s own knowledge and power, but rather seeking unification with Yahweh Elohim, and with the Messiah and Shekinah of Messiah, and receiving knowledge, understanding and wisdom through Divine Grace, the movement of Ruach Ha-Kodesh. The humility of the zaken invokes humility, receptivity, in their companions, and as the zaken is uplifted by Ruach Ha-Kodesh and unified with Yahweh Elohim, and with the Messiah and Shekinah of Messiah.

As mentioned above, within every generation there is a matrix of living tzaddikim of various grades, and there is one Holy Soul that is in the center of this matrix, who is called the “light of the generation” (or “holy lamp”), and it is through this Holy Soul (Holy Tzaddik) that all new insights and revelations flow, and all new Habad of the Holy Torah and Gospel comes to the entire matrix of living tzaddikim. In the twentieth chapter of Numbers the prophet “Miriam represents this Holy Soul” and Miriam corresponds with Binah, the “Supernal Heart.” Thus, in their ascent the zaken seeks to be established in Da’at (knowledge) through Divine Grace, and therefore able to draw in teachings from Binah, the Supernal Heart – this is tzur, the “rock,” that gives forth living waters, new insights and revelations, new teachings. Here we may say, when a zaken or tzaddik “touches” this Supernal Heart with their prayers, and these sweet waters issue, then the “waters” flow through the entire matrix of living tzaddikim, and so also throughout all of the worlds, or universes.

“In their presence,” and “abounding,” in this action, having prayed, invoked, with deep heartfelt pleading – full devekut, the zaken joins their soul with the souls of their companions, uplifting their companions and drawing their companions into unification with them in the Shekinah of Yahweh Elohim. The greater this unification of the zaken and their companions, the greater the revelations and light transmission that will transpire – the holy vessel for the reception of the influxes of the Sefirot is generated in this way.

Here is must be said that all of this depends upon the faith of the companions, their faith in the Holy One, and in the Messiah, and their faith in their tzaddik and their attachment to their tzaddik, their love of their tzaddik. The greater their faith and attachment, the nearer they are to their tzaddik, the more intimate the spiritual unification.

“Speaking with words of fire like flaming coals,” and “steadfast love,” in this action the zaken speaks teachings, insights and revelations, and their speech is on fire, is holy, and there is light-power in it, for the Holy Spirit is speaking with, in and through them. Thus their sacred discourse with their friends has great power, and great wonders can transpire through it.

“Drawing teachings of Torah and Gospel,” and “forgiving iniquity,” this is the generation of new heavens, new light realms, and greater knowledge, wisdom and understanding – the reception of the transmission, the teachings, by companions invokes greater mercy and forgiveness, and serves to uplift many more souls, anchoring the Holy Light, as it were, in the world so that all who desire might receive something of the Holy Light, something of the Habad.

“Creating holy angels,” and “forgiveness of transgression,” this action empowers and gives strength to holy angels, increasing their power and influence in the world, and quite literally, new angels are created through a sacred discourse that transpires in this way – countless merits and blessings are generated in this way.

“Receiving the power of the sword of Edom to vanquish forces of evil and wickedness,” and “but by no means clearing the guilty,” this is the action of diminishing the influence and power of evil and wickedness in the world. When a zaken or tzaddik and their companions are joined in one mind, and one heart, knit together in the bonds of love and devotion, engaging in sacred discourse in this way, the power of the “sword of Edom” is set into their hands – the greater the level of holiness in the sacred discourse, the greater this power is given to them. Quite literally, sacred discourses of this kind can turn the tides of events in the world, shifting the play of fate and fortune, manifesting the kingdom of heaven in the world.

Giving strength to the holy angels of God, the True Light, takes power away from the klippot, the archons and demons, and it serves to facilitate and protect the Continuum of Light Transmission in the world. Understand, this world, the powers of darkness, ignorance, that rule it, do not want the Holy Light in it, they seek to destroy the Community of Israel, the light-bearers and spiritual humanity; if and when children of Israel, spiritual human beings, become distracted, deceived, and fail to pray and worship with full faith and zeal, the forces of the klippot, archons and demons, are given the power to persecute and to destroy the Community of Israel. When we attend to the continuum, however, serving the kingdom of heaven and seeking the glorification of God, this power is taken away from klippotic forces, and the power to subjugate and destroy klippotic forces is given to us – the balance of power shifts, the balance in the matrix of spiritual forces shifts, and so mercy, not judgment, prevails with the Community of Israel, and judgment is invoked upon evil and wickedness, the Other Side.

“Entering into the Holy Land, or the full generation of the Community of Israel,” and “visiting iniquity,” this is the manifestation of Supernal Malkut, and the Continuum of Light Transmission, through sacred discourse – full empowerment of the Community of Israel everywhere that it appears in the world, the fullness of blessings made manifest.

These are the nine tikkunim of the beard of Zer Anpin, and you might also look into the nine powers of the Holy Tzaddik that are taught in “The Holy Tzaddik: The Fifth Element” in our forums. These, too, have a connection, for the power in the Holy Tzaddik and Community of Israel (Companions) to bring about tikkunim of the Partzufim is in these attributes of the Holy Tzaddik.

Now, it must be said that there are many different levels of holiness possible in sacred discourse, and based upon the level of holiness – the level of kavvanah and devekut in the assembly, is the degree to which the holy angels are empowered. It is possible to speak of various gradations of the empowerment of angels, from the least empowerment to the greatest.

In a similar way, as was said last night, there are various gradations of receiving teachings from a zaken or tzaddik. One may hear them in person, directly, or one may hear them recorded, less directly, or one may hear them repeated by a companion who heard them, or one could read them, or one could hear them from someone who read them. Each of these is a different gradation of light and holiness, hearing teachings in person from a zaken or tzaddik having the greatest potential for holiness and light, and being in every way superior, for theirs are “words of fire like flaming coals,” and they are “hot” in person, but progressively “cooler” when received in a less direct way.

You may also wish to contemplate the use of “zaken” as the primary term for a holy man or woman in this teaching – it goes hand-in-hand with the teaching, and with what’s being done through sacred discourse, subduing evil in the assembly, vanquishing evil and wickedness in the world. As a hint, we can say that living tzaddikim have the power to enter into klippot without becoming corrupted or bound up in order to shatter the klippot and uplift sparks.

This is an essential overview of the teachings of the tikkunim of Zer Anpin through sacred discourse, and it is my prayer it will bless you and be helpful to you.

O Adonai, this very day may many new heavens and new angels be created, and may Your Holy Spirit empower all who desire to receive influxes of Your Divine Attributes. Amen.

Tau Malachi
Sophia Fellowship
Ecclesia Pistis Sophia

The Holy Tzaddik: The Fifth Element – Part VI

There is a teaching regarding the Holy Sefirot as parts of the Body of Adam Kadmon, or parts of the Body of the Human One of Light, the image and likeness of Yahweh Elohim: Hokmah and Binah are the right and left sides of the face and head, and Keter is the top of the head and is the brain; Tiferet is the torso, Hesed and Gevurah are the right and left arms, Netzach and Hod are the right and left legs, Yesod is the reproductive organ, and Malkut is the feet.

Of this Holy One, this Bornless One, it is said, “My head is in the height, the expanse of Ain Sof, and my feet are in the depth, the expanse of Ain Sof, and the Pleroma and Entirety are in my heart – this is the Divine I Am, the All-In-All; know this I Am and you will understand and attain all wisdom.”

This is the vision of Christ, primordial and cosmic, and it is the radiant display that arises in the Great Vision of Messiah Melchizedek – the vision arising from the pregnant emptiness of the Holy Mother, the Virgin of Light, Mother Clear Light.

The Holy Mother, the Virgin, is the Body of Truth (Amet), from which this Body of Glory and Body of Emanation rays out; the Body of Truth corresponds to Adam Kadmon and Atzilut, the Body of Glory to Beriyah and Yetzirah, and the Body of Emanation to Asiyah, and we may say that all creation, the Pleroma and Entirety, is in this Threefold Body of the Human One of Light, the Messiah.

The Names of God and Great Partzufim are the radiant energy of the Body of Truth, the archangels and neshamot, along with the world of angels, are the radiant energy of the Body of Glory, and the world of spirits, and the matrix of countless star-systems and world-systems is the Body of Emanation.

All creation is in this Holy Body of the Sun of God, the Christ, and this Shekinah, this Light-presence and Light-power, is embodied in Adonai Yeshua and the Magdalene; and this is the truth of the Divine I Am in us when we can look and see, listen and hear, letting Supernal Habad dawn.

This name and form, this personal history, this incarnation, what is it in this Great Vision of the Risen Messiah, the Divine I Am?

When mind, speech and action (body) accords with this Truth and Light, something of this Truth and Light is actualized and realized in us, embodied; we bring in, hold and anchor something of the spiritual power of the Holy Sefirot of the corresponding grade depending upon the degree to which we are aligned and in harmony with the Light Continuum, Yahweh, Yeshua.

It is very good to set our mind upon those things that are above, those things that are in the Human One of Light, and to let our speech flow from the illumined mind of Christ, and let our actions be directed from that divine illumination – in so doing we actively envision the Holy Sefirot in our body, and something of their shefa and ruhaniyot is in us, something of the Christ presence and Holy Spirit

As we know and understand, when Ruach Ha-Kodesh moves with, in and through a holy tzaddik, or when there is a Godly influx, their face becomes radiant. According to the Holy Torah when Moshenu returned from speaking with Yahweh upon the mount Sinai his face was radiant with holy light and it shone brightly so that he had to veil his face before the people. Likewise, taking his close disciples up upon a mountain in private Adonai Yeshua was transfigured before them and his entire body shone with glory, holy light, and Elijahu and Moshenu appeared with him. It was overwhelming to his companions and therefore he restricted the glory, withdrawing and concealing it once more in compassion. In our experiences in moments of light transmission, or powerful movements of Ruach Ha-Kodesh with our tzaddik, we know of this radiance, light, glory, that shines from their face, and at times their whole body and the environment surrounding them, and it is a cause of holy awe and wonder, and great joy, as we recognize and remember the true abode of our soul in the Light Continuum, Yahweh, Yeshua, and experience closeness to the living tzaddikim and maggidim, and closeness to God, the True Light.

Indeed, in such a moment we are aware through direct experience that the “kingdom of heaven has come near,” and yet more, we know that the “kingdom of heaven is spread out upon the earth,” that is it “within and all around us.” The natural response of our soul is to give praise and thanks to El Elyon, and to rejoice in the Shekinah of Yahweh, saying “Hallelu Yah!”

This radiance is from a Godly influx, and from holiness, and we are also meant to become radiant in this way. This radiance is knowledge and joy of the heart, deep love of Yahweh, but it is a heart that is circumcised, open and sensitive, and joined to the intellect, or rather to the inner and higher intelligence of our soul as we are in the Light Continuum, Yahweh, Yeshua. Thus, circumcising our heart, we must cultivate and draw out our inner, higher intelligence, and rise up from one level of holiness to another, opening to the Holy Light from above, a Godly influx, and in this way our face will also become radiant with glory, radiant with the delight of the fear and love of Yahweh, the light of the Messiah.

Come and see! Atik Yomin is hidden and concealed, but Zer Anpin is revealed and not revealed, and Arik Anpin is in between the revealed and the concealed. Godly influxes come from these three Partufim especially, and it is Zer Anpin, “Little Face,” that conveys these influxes of Godliness to incarnate souls. These influxes causes the face of living tzaddikim to become radiant with glory, their faces becoming radiant with the Holy Light of Zer Anpin and Arik Anpin from a communion “face to face,” as we see with Moshenu, and yet more with the Perfect Tzaddik, Yeshua Messiah.

There is an open secret to be spoken. The face of the holy tzaddikim is turned to the Lord, Adonai, Yahweh, and the face of the Perfect Tzaddik is turned to Eheieh, and so they speak, commune, face to face, whether at the level of Zer Anpin or Arik Anpin, and in fruition, completion, the Perfect Tzaddik becomes the face of the Lord, Adonai, and speaks in the Essential Name, Eheieh. This latter corresponds with reaching into Atik Yomin, for as we know it is from the level of Atik Yomin that the Messiah comes, the inmost aspect of the soul of the Messiah, the Perfect Tzaddik, coming from Adam Kadmon.

First and foremost, however, our immediate concern is face to face at the level of Zer Anpin, which conveys influxes of Arik Anpin, just as first and foremost our concern is the realization of ruach, our inner intelligence, which conveys the influence of neshamah, our divine nature or supernal soul – this is the primary concern of most initiates, corresponding with the grade of their soul and spiritual labor in this life.

Concerning the reception of Godly influxes from Zer Anpin, the essential teaching of this is very simple: “Turn your face to the Lord, Adonai, Yahweh.”

The mystery of receiving Godly influxes, and knowledge of how to open to them, is contained in two verses: “You hem me in, front and back, and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is so high I cannot attain it” (Psalm 139:5-6).

It is written, “front” and “back,” or “before” and “behind,” and so this speaks of two aspects of our inner or higher intelligence, and the illumination of our heart with intelligence. “Back” corresponds with the intelligence a person cultivates and attains through provisional and introductory teachings or explanations – the reception of numerous teachings, discourses. “Front” corresponds with a greater intelligence a person may receive without any provisional teaching or introductory explanation, one that is gifted through a Godly influx – this latter is “front,” or rather face. These two, of course, are interconnected, and generally speaking the intelligence corresponding with “back” is cultivated and attained before the intelligence corresponding with “front,” face; but the purpose of our spiritual education in the Holy Kabbalah is the greater intelligence that comes with Godly influxes, revelations from God – and this is the intention of our holy tzaddik with us, that we might acquire direct knowledge of the mysteries of creation and God, and so experience full spiritual realization, awakening.

The true inspiration of the heart is conceived through the intelligence, specifically movements of the intelligence. This is because it is the nature of motion to generate heat; the heat, flame, generated in the heart corresponding with the swiftness of the movements of the intelligence. Through a Godly influx, an influx of Ruach Ha-Kodesh, there is greater intelligence that can be bestowed swiftly – free from the need of introductory explanations or provisional teachings – as a result of this swiftness the flame of the heart burns brightly and continuously on its own, as we see if we encounter a living tzaddik and observe the continuous flow of inspiration and illumination arising from their contemplations and prayers.

It is important for us to seek to cultivate the intelligence corresponding with “back,” going to school and seeking a good spiritual education. This is necessary preparation. Yet, receiving our spiritual education, then we must seek to receive Godly influxes, and so receive, realize, the greater intelligence that is possible for us. To receive Godly influxes is impossible, though, without self purification, and specifically the purification and sanctification of the exterior and interior senses, or the mouth, nose, eyes and ears, the apertures of the face, for it is these that radiate Godly influxes to a person when they are established in righteousness (tzedek).

As we have said above, to purify and sanctify these apertures, “Turn your face to the Lord, Adonai, Yahweh.” Extending from this essential teaching, we may say, “Let the apertures of your face be drawn into harmony and unification with the apertures of Anpin, the face of the Holy One.” When this happens Godly influxes transpire, for whenever the conditions necessary for the movement of Divine Grace are present, Divine Grace enters into motion.

If we wish to understand the purification and sanctification of these openings of the face, first there is the mouth. Study and contemplate the Letter of St. James, and understand. A spiritual person must guard their tongue and tame it, allowing nothing false to come from their mouth, guarding against all forms of negative or evil speech, and so likewise paying attention to internal speech, tending to right thought, right speech – speaking righteousness and truth, speaking according to the word of Yahweh and Yeshua. The nose is purified and sanctified by the fear of Yahweh, “Fear of Yahweh is the beginning of Da’at (knowledge),” and “Fear of Yahweh is the beginning of Hokmah (wisdom).” This is the awareness of heaven, and the afterlife, and awareness of the play of perfect justice under the law, but the perfection of the fear of Yahweh is the love of Yahweh – the full desire to enact righteousness, having knowledge of the truth that sets the soul free and desire for the true kingdom of heaven, Supernal Malkut. With this, so too, breathing the radiant holy breaths sanctifies the nose, and we may recall the breath of the Messiah upon us, and the teaching that the Messiah “judges by smell,” and so also by “taste.” The eyes are purified and sanctified through shutting them to evil, not looking upon evil, but casting one’s gaze upon the good, and seeking to draw out the good, the righteousness, from within all. So also, the release of judgment, and the play of desire and fear, receiving all that comes, all that transpires, as from God, whether seemingly auspicious or inauspicious – freedom from egoistic likes and dislikes. Here we may remind of the teaching of Adonai Yeshua, “Let your eye be single and your whole body will be filled with light.”

Now, as for the purification and sanctification of the ears, it is not “listening to your heart,” for more often than not that is the great deception of many would-be mystics. If the heart is uncircumcised and is not joined to the inner intelligence, what is listened to is klippah nogah, a glowing husk enshrouding the heart, and self-deception and delusion may follow, or a kind of spiritual narcissus. This becomes a continuation of the impurity of the ears and hearing. Instead, the purification of the ears is having faith in the sages and holy ones, the zakenim and tzaddikim, and it is in listening to their teachings, and it is in listening and hearing the word of Yahweh, the Holy Scriptures, and following in the way of the Lord, no longer in the way of the world. When our heart is circumcised and joined to our inner intelligence, ruach, and these apertures are sanctified in this way, then, indeed, we may listen and hear our true heart, and the voice that comes from the deeper places of our soul, and so also receive Godly influxes, influxes of Ruach Ha-Kodesh, but first this purification and sanctification is necessary in order to be a clear “channel,” open and sensitive to the Spirit of Truth (Amet), closed to spirits of deception, falsehood.

Here we may say that listening to the teachings of the tzaddikim includes receiving correction and guidance with a good heart – a true desire for instruction.

As you might surmise, there are various gradations of this purification and sanctification of the apertures of the face, and corresponding to the degree of their purification is the gradation of Godly influxes we are able to receive – as we know, in Zer Anpin there are sixty gradations of expanded consciousness and greater intelligence, all human intelligence being contained within Zer Anpin.

The sanctification of these apertures of the face and reception of Godly influxes that come through this is the foundation of the tikkune of Zer Anpin on an individual level, and it is also the foundation for the greater tikkunim of Zer Anpin that are accomplished through the action of sacred discourse in assembly, sacred discourse between the holy tzaddik and community.

This purification and sanctification of the apertures of the face has its root in our attachment to our tzaddik in the Blessed Name, for he or she is the immediate emanation of the sanctuary of grace and face of the Lord, Adonai, in this life with us. Likewise, the purification of the yesodot is integral to this, for to turn our face to Ha-Shem implies an ongoing purification of the fundamental elements of consciousness.

In closing, perhaps an open secret may be spoken concerning the second verse of the psalm quoted above: “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is so high I cannot attain it.” First, the preceding verse speaks of the knowledge, da’at, of Zer Anpin, while this verse speaks of the knowledge of Arik Anpin – “too wonderful” indeed! Second, “I cannot attain it,” truly so – it can only be revealed and gifted by Divine Grace, and also, even when gifted, much of such knowledge may remain encircling, transcendent, until the soul abides in the World-To-Come at the conclusion of its journey.

May we be bless to commune face to face, and to know the Lord, Adonai, in this way. Amen.

Tau Malachi
Sophia Fellowship
Ecclesia Pistis Sophia

The Holy Tzaddik: The Fifth Element – Part V

Within and behind the physical body, there is a subtle body of consciousness, which is a body of energy. The generation of the body of light represents the development of consciousness beyond the body and thus, represents an evolution beyond the need for material incarnation. In the Sophian tradition, this body of light is called the threefold body of Melchizedek. In the teachings, it is spoken of as ‘three bodies,’ although it is understood to be one holy body, the true mystical body of Christ. The three aspects of this divine body are called the truth body, the body of glory, and the body of emanation, corresponding to Keter, Tiferet, and Malkut, respectively.

Remaining purely in the body of truth, the tzaddikim would have no connection with unenlightened souls and the world; they would be completely transcendent and hidden. Therefore, in love and compassion, the Tzaddik generates a body of glory that allows the tzaddik to appear and manifest in the inner dimensions.

There is physical, material light, and there is astral light, spiritual light and the supernal light – the four gradations of light corresponding with the Olamot, from Asiyah to Atzilut. Each of these represents a different level of energy, a different frequency of vibration, and as distinct universes or dimensions they represent very different expanses of space, time and consciousness. Here we may speak an open secret for anyone having hears to hear it. All these gradations of light share one and the same essence, one and the same nature, the Clear Light Nature, which is the “All-Pervading Light.”

The motivation of living tzaddikim is the Sacred Heart, love and compassion, and every gradation the Light Transmission is a moment of spiritual love between a tzaddik and their disciple, or companion, the degree of spiritual or psychic intimacy, transparency, determining the gradation of Light Transmission that transpires between them, and as we know the inmost gradation of Light Transmission happens when the holy tzaddik and disciple disappear, or become completely transparent, the one Light-presence and Light-power shining without obstruction. This moment of inmost Light Transmission is the recognition, realization, of the Body of Truth (Amet), full reintegration with the Light Continuum (Yahweh), and corresponds with Clear Light Union. This recognition and realization, in turn, is the generation of the Body of Glory and Body of Emanation, so that arising from this holy union the elements of consciousness arise in their innate purity, more or less, depending upon the depth of recognition of the Clear Light Nature, the Ain Nature of all (Kol).

This is, indeed, a movement of ahava, love, the desire of which, and the nature of which, is achad, unity – and the fullness of ahava arises from the awareness of Sacred Unity, the awareness of the interdependence and interconnectedness of all, and the inseparability of all from the source of being, Ain Sof, the Infinite.

To enter into this play of Light Transmission, this dance of the Shekinah of the Messiah, meeting a living tzaddik we must attach ourselves to the tzaddik, forming a bond of spiritual love in sacred friendship, and becoming attached, seeking to receive teachings and initiation, we will give charity to the tzaddik, and take up the spiritual work of the tzaddik as our own, and drawing closer still we will enact confession and repentance with our tzaddik, seeking the most intimate and subtle instruction and empowerment regarding the tikkunim of our soul and the realization of the innate perfection that is in us, the Light-presence and Light-power.

Meeting a tzaddik is one thing, attachment is another; attachment implies a spiritual connection, a heart connection, a bond of spiritual love. If we meet a tzaddik and recognize them, becoming attached to them, then we will seek to strengthen and cultivate that holy bond, wishing to draw closer, and through giving charity and taking up a co-labor with them we do just that, our bond becoming stronger and more energetic, more passionate. This naturally leads to a greater openness and honesty, a greater transparency, hence “confession and repentance,” and it is in this spiritual intimacy that the deepest instructions and secret mysteries can be shared between us.

“Attachment,” “charity” and “repentance,” these correspond to the three principle gradations of Light Transmission, “glory,” “light” and “essence of light.” As for meeting a tzaddik without attachment, if there is some recognition it is “glory of glory,” and perhaps it is a seed implanted, as it were, for a future incarnation.

If we are to speak of true repentance, understanding giving charity as taking up the work of our tzaddik, and understanding “repentance” as the foundation of the inmost Light Transmission, true repentance is living as the tzaddikim, living according to the Truth and Light revealed; hence, reintegrating our mind, speech and body with the Light Continuum, Yahweh, Yeshua.

Through this play of attachment, charity and repentance with the holy tzaddik the klippot of the yesodot, or the impure arising of the fundamental elements of consciousness are dispelled, the yesodot, or fundamental elements of consciousness being purified.

The first element is earth, and corresponds with the mineral realm, and its klippah is depression, lethargy, apathy, inertia, and all that might be associated; when a person is dominated by this klippot they are never satisfied with their lot in life, and are always bound up in feeling of lack and not being good enough.

The second element is water, and corresponds with the vegetable realm, and its klippah is unbridled passions, the desire, craving, for all manner of pleasures and lusts, and it leads to envy and jealousy, as well as to dishonesty and outright theft.

The third element is air, and corresponds with the animal realm, and its klippah is unrighteous speech, or evil speech, idle chatter, vain conversation, gossip, slander, falsehood, mockery and hate-speech, all harsh speech, as well as bravado or boasting; by nature this klippah leads to divisiveness, and the inciting or generation of great negativity.

The fourth element is fire, and corresponds with the human realm, and its klippah is pride and arrogance, haughtiness, as well as anger and hatred, and it leads to great violence and murder.

The fifth element is space, as has been said, and corresponds with the spiritual or divine realm, and its klippah is ignorance, the illusion of separation, the delusion of lack, which arises as fundamental self-grasping and self-will; it is the foundation of all of the other klippot of the yesodot, the root of sitra ahara, the evil inclination – the desire to receive for self alone.

(The order of yesodot in this teaching corresponds to the letters of the Great Name rather than the directions of the sacred circle and attributes of the interior stars.)

The Holy Tzaddik, the pure Fifth Element, is the opposite of the corresponding klippah – living tzaddikim embody and live according to the sitra tov, the good inclination, which is the desire to give, ahava, free from self-grasping and self-will, seeking to enact the will of God (Ratzon), abiding in the fear and love of Yahweh, the Light Continuum. They love Yahweh Elohim with all their heart, soul, mind and strength, cleaving to Yeshua Messiah, and they love their neighbor, all their relations, as themselves, aware of all in themselves and themselves in all, hence aware of Achad, the Sacred Unity underlying all.

Attachment to a living tzaddik is the purification of the klippot associated with earth and water, giving charity to a living tzaddik is the purification of the klippot associated with air and fire, and confession and repentance with a living tzaddik is the purification of the final klippah associated with space. This purification of the klippot of the yesodot opens the way for the experience of Light Transmission, for these klippot are the fundamental obstructions and distortions of the Holy Light, and are the creators of the false lights that deceive and bind souls. As perhaps you may surmise, first the gross manifestation of these klippot are purified, and then more subtle and sublime manifestations – and we may say that there are three primary gradations of this self-purification, corresponding with the three veils on the Tree of Life, Qeshet, Paroket and the Abyss.

These fundamental klippot of the yesodot give rise to the body of impure emanation, the karmic body, or physicality, and they are the cause of the bondage of souls to the gilgulim, the potentially endless rounds of transmigration; the purification of these klippot, in effect, is “divesting our soul of physicality” and the transformation of the body of impure emanation into a body of pure emanation, the matter composing the body being translated into pure spirit, pure energy, pure light. This is being hinted at when we speak of the “disappearance” of the tzaddik and disciple in the instant of the inmost Light Transmission – a moment of the divesting of the soul of physicality to abide in a body of pure light, Clear Light.

Here we may say, abiding in the Body of Truth, Clear Light, is the perfection of love, ahava, free from any object of desire; this is perfect peace and perfect joy, and it is the liberation of the soul.

Now there is something much more in this play of sacred friendship and Light Transmission between a living tzaddik and their companions, for as we know and understand the tikkune of souls, or realization of souls, is the tikkune or realization of the world, and is the tikkune of the world of angels and world of archangels, and the tikkune of the World of the Sefirot – the tikkune of the Great Name of God. Thus, in the spiritual works and activities of a living tzaddik and their companions, or in spiritual community, are tikkunim of the Names of God and Partzufim – in other words, there is a greater labor of love in the exchange between living tzaddikim and their companions uplifting and reintegrating all creation with the Light Continuum. This is hinted at  in reference to Partzufim in our exploration of the principle of the Holy Tzaddik as Yesod Ha-Olam. Through our attachment to our tzaddik, and through giving charity and enacting repentances, these greater labors of love become possible; hence, tikkunim that transpire through sacred discourse, worship, and various sacred activities a tzaddik and their companions take up in spiritual community.

May the tikkune of the Great Name be accomplished with, in and through us. Amen.

Tau Malachi
Sophia Fellowship
Ecclesia Pistis Sophia