Tikkun Olam is the phrase of Rabbi Isaac Luria, the renowned sixteenth century Kabbalist. It means repairing the world as part of the ongoing spiritualization of the cosmos.
“To contemplate and enter the process of tikkun olam, repairing or perfecting the world, we need to understand the concept of world. All the major religious traditions present a hierarchy of worlds or levels of being, from the one we ordinarily inhabit to the ultimate world of Divinity.
“In Kabbalah, for example, the worlds include Asiyah or Action, Yetzirah or Formation, Beriyah or Creation, and Atzilut or Emanation. Beyond and permeating all these is the Ein Sof, the One God, the Boundless and Unconditioned.
Each of the worlds corresponds to a progressively higher level of spiritual energy and will, and the related level of soul. The world of Action utilizes the sensitive energy, from which the nefesh soul forms. The world of Formation is built on the conscious energy, the basis of awareness, from which the ruach forms. The world of Creation and Light works with the creative energy, from which the neshama forms. The world of Emanation and Divine Presence brings the high energy of love, from which the chaya forms. And corresponding to the ultimate Ein Sof, touching the yechida soul, we have the transcendent energy.”
From the site The Inner Frontier by Joseph Naft, the son of Holocaust survivors.
My Comment
My understanding is that nephesh corresponds to the physical portion of the soul; ruach corresponds to the heart and emotions; and neshema corresponds to the mental world.
In the Hindu energetic system, that would roughly correspond to the muladhara chakra (root center), the anahatha chakra (heart center), and the ajna chakra (third-eye center).
The raising of the light would be equivalent to the raising of the serpent (the kundalini).
It’s interesting that in medieval texts the crucifixion is depicted as a serpent crucified, an image stemming from Kabbalistic correspondence: the Hebrew words NChSh, ‘serpent’, and MShICh,
‘Messiah’ having the same number value, 358.
The serpent was thus a short-cut to symbolize the redemptive act.
But I wonder if this is a medieval (and orthodox) gloss on the older tradition? The raised serpent, the spiritualizing of the cosmos, would be heretical, from an orthodox Christian view point.
On the other hand, maybe it’s just language that makes dialogue between these two visions of salvation as impossible as some say it is.
Can Lucifer (the serpent or the dragon) and St. Michael (the killer of the serpent) talk to each other?
Is Lucifer also sometimes St. Michael?
I wonder.
Hi again:
There are lots of works about the cults of the serpent connected to the early chthonic religions, which are matriarchal. With the rise of patriarchal religions, the hero/angel kills the serpent. That’s where the Bible comes in. All in all it’s our duality, the yin and the yang, we are all angel and devil in one. If you look at William Blake’s painting of Michael and Satan you’ll see it’s all yin and yang. Actually is my favorite on the subject.
Hi –
Yes, one of my favorite interests.
I used to teach it.
But very few societies were truly matriarchal.
Some were matrilinear…
Marija Gimbutas’ work on the subject is not convincing.
You taught that? My, oh my. You’re a box full of surprises. I read a lot about serpents because they’re sacred to Dionysus. By the way, Michael is my favorite archangel.
Yes – comparative religion was my first interest.
I am looking out at a statue of St. Michael.
Synchronicity.
Like Jung and the scarab beetle.
Perhaps you can help me settle an old debate. Which came first, zoroastrianism or judaism…or in other words, at Babylon, when Cyrus displaced Saddam’s hero Nebuchanezzar and liberated the captive jews, which culture influenced the other the most?
I am not a scholar in the field and don’t keep up with what’s happening there, but it’s hard to make a settled claim one way or other when the dating varies so much. Zoroaster is placed anywhere between 1600 (or so) BC and 500. Judaism would then either have developed contemporaneously or perhaps a little later. But Zoroastrianism was itself preceded by Indo-Iranian religions which preceded Judaism…
Hi, JC:
Lila is right. Zoroastrianism is the oldest Monotheism in the world.Judaism sprang from the cult of Aton, the second Monotheism, almost two centuries later in Egypt.So, Judaism is the third Monotheism, as far as I know.
Dion, thanks! That’s my argument as well, although I have no knowledge of Aton. The counter-argument is the claim that the Torah was compiled prior to the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem. My Persian friends have a saying that Iranians are “muslims by day, zorastrians by night.”
JC:
Oh, I forgot, Babylonian culture was quite different from the rest of Persian/Mede influence: they were very connected to astrology and divination. The priests were all powerful in Ancient Babylon. They were corrupt to the teeth and Alexander had to be very tough with them. This has little to do with today’s Irak, although Baghdad is known as the city of the stars. This I’m sure you know.
Yes, the Torah probably was compiled circa 600-550 BC, so there’s no counter argument there. The thing is you don’t know of Aton, there’s the confusion. Aton was a cult connected to one single faraoh Akenaton, the husband of Nefertiti. It was an heresy all and all, and it soon disappeared. Its followers were expelled from Egypt, circa 1200 BG, that’s the beginning of Judaism, although not the official history. It wasn’t a single people or tribe or race: it was a big mixture, all the heretics, that’s why they were divided into 12 tribes. This history is in itself heretic, mind you. You won’t find it in the Bible. I’m a big heretic myself and proud of it. – LOL
Yes – the Chaldeans were astrologers…
The worship of Aton is referenced in a famous (or notorious) vision described by the American psychic Jeanne Dixon, of a royal baby from the royal line of Amenhotep IV, fated to grow up to be an all powerful leader…the baby was said to be born in 1962. Various public figures have been identified with this person, none very convincingly.
Now Dixon was wrong on a number of her prophecies, (she got a few right) – so some wonder whether she was “used” in this way to pass out information that would gain resonance with the public through her status as a popular seer.
And “prepare” the public for accepting some kind of universal religion. This, depending on your view point, would be a terrible thing..or a good thing..
Born in 1962? No, it’s not me. People will be waiting for a Messiah until they rot. I guess prophecies and religion are well studied cases of mass control.But Lila is the expert there.
Okay you two, I’m out of my league here. Everything I know of religion I learned from The Davinci Code!..
Well the rise of Christian Zionism was deliberately fostered; Islamic extremism was also deliberately fostered (by the CIA). So, it makes sense that various “messiah” prophesies might be encouraged to prop up whatever mass movement needs to be fanned…
Guess you know what’s the meaning of the pentagram then, JC? The truth will set all of us free in the end, hopefully.
I’m off now. Dionysus is calling. Time to rave.
I’ll keep in touch, Lila.
It was a feeble attempt at humor, the “out of my league” comment however was sincere.
Do you know, I don’t know the book at all…considering my interest in such things, I don’t know why I’ve never got to it.
Lila, it’s an entertaining read, although his prior work “Angels and Demons” is a better one. Having some prior interest in the Gnostic texts due to some familiarity with the excavations from the late nineties at Sepphoris I was awaiting it and even went so far as to read a followup book, “Secrets of the Code” which is a compilation of essays written by religious scholars that addressed specific topics from the book. Their general consensus was that the further you went back in time, the more plausible were some of the issues raised.
You’re probably a fast reader so I’d wager you could stomp through the entire book in a couple of hours.
Hi again, people,
honestly, Lila, the book is crap.You’ll find more than one scholar explainig its weak points, being the deepest one the mixture between speculation and fact, including in the handling of sources misplaced in time. My interest in the Occult made me an expert in these and other subjects, like the history and myth of the Magdalen or the Illuminati, so I know what I’m talking about. So I would advise you against it, but you decide.Watch the film instead: it’s quicker, also crap, but you’ll save energy. “Angels and demons” is also crap and it doesnt have the atraction of the Holy Grail in it.The writer is obsessed with the Catholic Church. The good thing about that is that he got rich with it.
JC,for someone that interested in the Gnostics, I believe you’re reading the wrong books. The best studies are French and German.I mean studies, not fiction.
Anyway, I’m a bit worried about your friendship with Persians being you American and all. I wonder if the CIA already knows. – LOL
LOL Dion. I think you’re a bit too hard on Brown. Yes there is crap, but there is also truth. It is to the reader to separate the two, but when is this also not true? Both are also novels, not treatises *wink*
As for Persians, I knew many because when I was in college, the Shah was subsidizing the tuitions of middle class Iranians to study in the US, so there were many. Plus the revolution happened at that time. Very sad how it turned out, especially for Baha’i’s since that is one of the most enlightened faiths on the planet and is the one most persecuted. Despite the rhetoric, Jews are free in Iran to practice their traditions but Bahai’s are put to death upon discovery since they represent a heresy of islam.
I am not afraid of the CIA, lol. Homeland Security is another matter…
Anonymous I believe to be JC.
truth in Brown’s best-sellers? Can’t say I noticed it, because he makes a big pie with all kinds of errors, so the outcome has to be a lie, right? I’m not saying this to defend the tradition, quite the opposite. If you really want to know I believe Christianism is an invention from one end to the other. But I’m the heretic, remember?
As for the CIA, you don’t live abroad, so I believe it’s not that important to you. But outside the States, I can assure you the CIA is often the last protection people of the West have got against those who want to destroy them.
All of these entities (CIA, homeland security, FBI) all have different elements to them.
There are respectable parts to intelligence in any country (even if you think, as I do, that the collection of intelligence through covert means is itself highly dangerous to democratic practice and that actually really good analysis of public material is often far more useful).
Think of investigative journalism. How much of it ends up doing any real good, besides blowing the cover of a few assorted crooks? Most of the analysis we need for purposes of policy doesn’t require any kind of undercover work, ferreting out of secrets etc. etc. Understanding the system and how it works is enough. Get the broad trends right. Connect the dots from the public records. Support whistleblowers and truth tellers.
The rest ends up being gossip and yellow journalism – neither of which I have anything against. But life is short and one has only so much energy and time. You want the best return on them.
Dion, yes I was Anon. I find the idea that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married and produced offspring to be quite compelling and certainly within the Jewish tradition. Tell me that when Brown mentioned Mary as being depicted in DaVinci’s Last Supper you didn’t run to your art book and declare, “by god he’s right, that IS a woman!” (restorations even make this clearer).
On the other hand, the “sacred feminine” stuff is overblown, imo and the Priory of Sion is pure bullshit. Entertaining bullshit, though…at least I enjoyed it; the movie less so.
JC:
Sorry to disappoint you but I didn’t run, cause I already knew about it. In fact one of my fellow researchers in the university is an expert in the Magdalen. As for the marriage , if you believe Jesus was God, that’s exciting, because of the idea of many of us having divine blood is overwhelming. But if don’t believe that, and that’s the Jewish case, who cares?
Lila:
Investigating what? journalism? That’s Hollywwod stuff, not real at all. I know how the media works. 90% of the news come from the horse’s mouth. I laugh a lot when I read or hear the journos telling about the pains they went through “to get this to you”. One of the most repeated patterns has to do with the divorces of celebreties: first rumours appear; then proof of separation; finally the separation and divorce are confirmed. One of the spouses is doing it, sometimes to get money from the media with the story, sometimes to go public, thus telling the other spouse there’s no turning back, sometimes both. And in between, the most risible part of it all is that everybody involved in it is denying it.- LOL
Hi Dionysia –
Do you know Gary Webb’s work?
And the case I was looking into is obviously not something I want to put on my blog or I would have named it
Lila
PS: I made a new post about some thoughts about communicating – mostly directed toward me but maybe helpful to all.
Lila, calm down. I’m on your side.Can I ask you to delete your last comment and not posting this one? If I didn’t contact you by e-mail is because I’m afraid your mailbox is hacked. Can you contact me to the e-mail above, please? My problem right now is if your blog is also hacked.
I read it. Thank you, but please do as I asked before from a new e-mail in a public internet point. I’ll be in a one in one hour so I can reply to your message. I hope nobody read what you wrote and deleted, or my life can be in danger. If anyone reads this or the previous one I might be dead in a few hours. This is not a game, trust me. PLEASE!
Pingback: Please Cite If You Pick Up Leads From This Blog (Updated, April 7, 2011) | The Mind-Body Politic
Pingback: Readers Write In About IP | The Mind-Body Politic