Monday, November 21, 2005

Regarding Kabbalah and Healing

Eliyahu ben Avraham vaSarah brought-up an interesting piece of dialogue in the comment section of my last post. I thought I'd place it here where everyone can view it and give your opinion on where you think healing should begin. Topics can range from healing the body, mind, spirit, individual or world.

Where does healing begin? (Dialogue start-up is below.)
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Eliyahu ben Avraham vaSarah said...
The first question that pops to mind is where did the quote come from? There is no single work known as "The Kabbalah." Kabbalah is a mystic tradition that includes numerous texts and teachings. Not saying anything about the quality of the quoted material, but the citation set my alarms off. And with the recent facination with Pop-Kabbalah (which is mostly garbage) I'm always a bit on guard about such things. I do agree with the sentiment expressed in the piece you quote. Although I would argue that healing the world will help heal all of us.

Stacey said...
Eliyahu ben Avraham vaSarah, Thanks for your concern. Perhaps I was a little negligent in my quote. I should have stated that it came from the doctrine known as the Kabbalah. The quote itself says,"As the ancient mystical doctrine, the Cabala, says, we receive light and then we impart it... and thus we repair the world." (page xii)This comes from the book "Handbook for the Soul", edited by Richard Carlsen & Benjamin Shield.I like to look at it this way. If the world is filled with war and hate, it is probably because the world is filled with unconscious people. These people need to first be made conscious and aware. Start small and progress in stages until the world has become healed.However, were the world as a whole to be miraculously cured of evil and hate, it would follow that individuals would be cured.It's like a disease. First, find out what causes the entire body to be sick. Cure that one particular illness, and in return the entire body will be healthy.
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The latter is of course just my opinion so feel free to jump-in with your opinion! I'm off the soap-box now so it's your turn. :)

9 comments:

Red Bark said...

Healing and transformation are two different processes. Healing means to restore something to its normal functionality. If you heal your body then you still have the same body.

Spiritual work is transforming one kind of material into another kind of material. In this case the material is awareness.

Red Bark said...

It seems to me that when transformation takes place in an individual then the world automatically changes for him in the same way that when we finish watching a movie we no longer hate the villian. We simply realize that he/it is not real and that there is nothing to fix.

I am speaking on the scale of complete awakening, but in my experience even a small personal transformation seems to change the world. If one hates less then the world seems to hate less. I guess I can not say whether this is merely a perception or an actual mystical change. I am inclined to believe the later. Anyone else have a take on this?

Anonymous said...

Funny, healing and transformation seem to have been wiped out of my vocabulary. I don't know why.
The more I bloghop, the emptier and quieter my mind seems to become.
Could it be that I am realizing something?
The last time I had any contact with the "supernatural" I became disillusioned and skeptical about it. The people I ran around with were people who emphasized healing
and spiritual gifts, but seemed to be lacking in sincerity and humility. After awhile I became a bit mediumistic by falling in trances; that's when I thought I came to have made contact with some angel or archangel called Michael, who was supposed to be Jesus himself as an angelic being. Being very frightened and confused I didn't want to go along with his plan, and chose to leave the group.
Being fascinated by heavenly beings I tried to find out what other books besides the Bible had anything to say about angels. To my surprise I found out that I was right about the names of the archangels I kept mentioning to people. Later on I got myself a copy of the Kabbalah, thinking it might illuminate me. But unfortunately, I didn't find it so interesting after all. The book is lying boxed somewhere in the attic, and I am not a bit interested in studying its content.
Somehow I have come to believe that all these ideas and stories about angels are just a product of man's unbridled imagination.

Red Bark said...

Hello Castor,

I do not know for sure whether there are angels or not but I find it convienient to take the attitude that there could be.

This alone is quite satisfying at times. Just the possiblity, just the concept of higher beings is a comfort to me. What a role model?

On the other hand there is little reason to believe that those who claim to know angels actually do.

This is subjective, but I sometimes have the feeling that there is some intelligence greater than my own interacting with all of us.

Malcolm R. Campbell said...

Hi Stacey,

I'm glad you posted a Qabalistic quote, for it has paved the way to some interesting comments here.

One can look at a variety of "healing systems" from Christian Scientist to Reiki to Qabalah to Rosicrucian and find a great similarity of intent: the sharing and channeling of energy from outside oneself to an individual who is willing to receive it. Each act of healing, like every other good act and thought, improves the whole for all of us.

Personally, I highly approve of what Madonna is doing, not so much because she is providing us with a perfect path to follow, but because she is focusing light on Qabalistic cosmology and belief. While many of those talking about the red string and other buzz-word concepts don't have the concepts right, they are nonetheless opening doors for seekers who will travel deep into the Zohar and other writings to discover the deeper truths for themselves.

--Malcolm

Sophia said...

Kathy,

You are right. The want and will have to be there, first. And since life is short and fleeting, as stated in your comment, I hope others will soon come to recognize that need within themselves! I'm sure many if not most go throughout life without even thinking about it. I know I did for quite some time.

Sophia said...

Beard,

I have noticed that since I've begun to "heal" myself, the world has seemed to somehow improve. It's probably just my perception of the world, though.

Sophia said...

Castor,

Bloghopping does seem to somehow quiet the mind. :) I had so much mind-chatter going on in my head before I started this blog. But after I created the blog, I had a place to put all that mind chatter, and even better, people who would respond and voice their cares and thoughts. I think it was that I was feeling spiritually alone.

Sophia said...

Hi Malcom,

I suppose I was worried about Madonna because it seemed as though it were creating a trend, like with Brittney Spears and other stars. It just seemed like high-school. The popular girl buys a certain brand of jeans so then everyone else goes out and does it. I just hope that those who are following that path do it because their hearts are into it, not just because Madonna is doing it.

By the way, I've been interested in learning more about the Rosicrucians. I'm glad you've mentioned it in your comment. It reminded me of my interest. I remember researching it earlier, thinking I'd like to join, but that it is expensive and I hate paying money to be a member of something.

Now that we're mentioning it, I think sometime in my next few posts I'll bring-up the Rosicrucians.

Hope you had a wonderful holiday!