Life works in such a way that all cells must become mutually dependent on each other in order to build a living body. Nature created a regularity by which the adhesive that joins the cells and the organs as a living body is the relationship of mutual consideration among them. Thus, it follows that the force that creates and sustains life is a force of giving and sharing. Its objective is to create a life based on a mutually considerate existence, harmonious, and balanced among all its elements.
Humanity can benefit from seeing examples of mutual dependency in Nature, in order to inspire us to develop such relationships among ourselves. By achieving mutual consideration, trust and love among people, we will discover a whole new life of balance, harmony and completeness.
In order to promote this message of harmony, we are offering a book package containing the softcover versions of From Chaos to Harmony: The Solution to the World Crisis According to the Wisdom of Kabbalah and Bail Yourself Out: How You Can Emerge Strong from the World Crisis, to anyone who adds text to the above video that encases the above message. The prizewinners will also have their text added to the above clip, and it will be published on the site Illuzia.net.
To enter, simply write either one or both of the following options in the comment section below, together with your e-mail address where it asks for it: 1) Imagine there is a black screen at the end of this video, and you could write the text that appears in this screen. Write something that creatively captures the above message (Word Count Limit = 15 words) 2) Imagine there is a black screen both at the start and at the end of the video. Write the text that appears in each of these black screens. Write something that creatively captures the above message (Word Count Limit = 15 words per screen)
We will be selecting the winning entry on Tuesday, 21 July, 2009, and will announce the winner on this blog on that same day.
If you are interested in learning more about this message, then you are encouraged to read the following sections from the book From Chaos to Harmony:
We will publish the winning answer in the Kabbalah Newsletter of Tuesday, 3 March, and send out the prizes in the same week. (Subscribe to the Kabbalah Newsletter by leaving your e-mail address in the “Kabbalah Newsletter” box in the right sidebar.)
To enter the competition, in the comments section below, leave your
name
contact e-mail, and
write Kabbalah’s solution to the crisis in your own words, in a 140 to 220 word count limit.
The writing style can be anything you like: informative, creative, personal, a bulleted list… The answer with the most “Wow! Factor” receives the prize.
We are continuing the “Misconceptions of Kabbalah” posts with this one on numerology…
PART OF AN ENTRY SENT BY MARY DARE:I thought the Kabbalah had something to do with Numerology. Since I had never been good with numbers, I stayed away from it…
Numerology and Kabbalah
FROM THE BOOK: The term numerology did not exist in authentic Kabbalah; contemporary scholars linked the two. Although numerology is not an accurate term to describe Kabbalah’s treatment of numbers, there is probably no better word to use if you want to translate the Hebrew term Gimatria into English.
Gimatria, in simple terms, describes a Kabbalist’s experience of the divine. In Kabbalah, the ego performs Yihudim (unifications) with the Creator. The shape of Hebrew letters depicts such unifications through dots and lines over a white background. The dots and the lines symbolize the states of the Kabbalist, who perceives the Creator. The white background symbolizes the divine light, the Creator.
In Hebrew, each letter of the 22-letter alphabet is assigned a specific number… The correlation between letters and numbers created a way for Kabbalists to describe to each other what they experienced in a concise and accurate manner. For example, the word Nega (affliction) and the word Oneg (pleasure) have the exact same letters (in a different order) and, therefore, the same numeric value. The inversion in the order of letters indicates that when affliction is corrected (from egoism to giving), a person experiences pleasure.
We are continuing to post responses to the “Misconceptions of Kabbalah” competition…
ENTRY SENT BY JANNET:My encounter with Kabbalah was when I went to the library and out of curiosity borrowed the book entitled “Qabbalah Magic.” It told of what magic you can achieve and things you can acquire by performing all these rituals. However I didn’t finish the book as I felt it wasn’t what I was looking for.
Myth: Kabbalah Is All About Magic
FROM THE BOOK: It is a common mistake for people to think that Kabbalah deals with fortune telling, revelations of the past, and the study of the present. The definition of Kabbalah is the revelation of the Creator to people in this world today, not after death. Perhaps some draw this parallel as a result of the perception of secrecy that surrounds Kabbalah.
Either way, Kabbalah has no connection to magic. In fact, Kabbalah forbids fortune telling or any attempt to find out about the destiny of the physical body. The body is temporary, negligible, and, thus, insignificant. It is not worthy of attention beyond the question of how it serves the soul.
We wish to thank everyone who sent their entries for the “Misconceptions of Kabbalah” competition. All the entries made it clear that everyone’s spiritual path is equally unique, and no entry could be decided to be more or less unique than another.
We will continue featuring various entries in the daily Kabbalah Blog posts (Click here to receive them in your e-mail) and in the newsletter (subscribe on the right of this screen).
The following entry, sent by David D. Garcia of New York, was chosen to receive the free copy of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Kabbalah because it most closely fits the Jewish themes of this week’s newsletter and the new issue of Kabbalah Today.
WINNING COMPETITION ENTRY:As a Jew, my biggest misconception of Kabbalah before encountering Bnei Baruch was that I had to be fully ‘Torah Observant’ before being able study Kabbalah. I was always taught that one must have an extensive background in Torah and Talmud before even contemplating Kabbalah. I always accepted this because I had always assumed Kabbalah was ‘only for Jews’, and further, only for ‘observant’ Jews.
Once I learned through Bnei Baruch that it is essential for all people to study Kabbalah, this discovery made me begin to question my preconceived ideas of prerequisites to Kabbalah study. And it was through Bnei Baruch that I came to understand that Torah, and perhaps to a ‘lesser’ extent, Talmud, can only be properly understood through a Kabbalistic lens. This allowed me to dispel all my previously held ideas and begin to Kabbalah study in earnest. Thank you!
Myth: Kabbalah Is a Religion
FROM THE BOOK: This is a common misunderstanding, and one worth addressing from the start. The wisdom of Kabbalah is related to no other religion or belief. It does not deal with meditations, prophecies, questions of religion, or even one’s mental state. Religions, however, are combinations of rituals designed by humans to support them in their earthly existence. While religions such as Judaism and Christianity have similar concepts of the Upper World (heaven, the afterlife, etc.), much of religion teaches how humans should exist in this temporal world.
Kabbalah, however, is better thought of as a science, not a religion. As such, Kabbalah studies and provides a way of understanding of the essential core of humanity, the Higher World, the entire universe, and the Creator. The outcome of that study is the discovery that humankind wishes to become like the Creator. The wisdom of Kabbalah is the science of the system of creation and its management.
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