Quick comment on Laitman: he says, right off the bat, "The science of Kabbalah does not speak about our world." This is a silly, elitist statement, not a statement of fact (assuming he has even managed to peer beyond the veil he himself acknowledges has existed for 4000 years over the teaching).
Fulgour: I don't know about scrunching the Trees together the way you do, as it would seem to me that 4 in Asiyah would correspond to 4 in Yetzirah, and so on (not 4 to 7 and so on).
Now:
LittleBuddha said:
I suppose that what I am asking here, is does anybody want to join me on this path. Either as a beginner or a teacher that can assist with a helping hand. I joined a forum before, but it is not set out in as sophisticated manner as this one, and doesn't have sections for introductions etc. To be in there is like being dropped head first into the deep end of the swimming pool. Since I know people here, maybe a real 'beginner-style' study where we can ask questions, get it wrong on occasion and share our experiences would be more beneficial at this stage. I have read some stuff on Kabbalah but up until now, a lot of it has not 'gone in'. I think my study needs to be a little more interactive.
Although I may generally concentrate on espousing the bardic connexion to what I take to be the actual
whole Qabbalah underlying the 'Kabbalah' that survives today, I can on occasion take off my bardic mantle and concentrate just on the 'Kabbalah', although I will tend to offer explanations that pierce more deeply into the
origins of the teachings than is customary, apparently because these explanations are not commonly known. They involve the underlying
Hebrew basis on which 'Kabbalah' was constructed (albeit with the help of the kindred Brito-Irish bardic tradition where the letters were concerned), called Merkabah 'mysticism' (actually gnosis, not mysticism), and this survived I think clear to the time of Isaac Luria, whose teachings constitute much of 'Kabbalah' today.
I have been able in part to reconstruct those original Merkabah notions that give 'Kabbalah'
meaning. In short, if you do wish some interactive study, I am always open to feedback and love to teach what I know, which you are just as free to question or reject. But understanding the mechanism generating the picture surely simplifies the picture (as opposed to oversimplifying), making it more comprehensible.
I try to get online as much as I can of late and will be glad to shoot specific ideas back and forth or answer questions about the history and development of Kabbalah and so on, as I have studied this extensively. To get the greatest benefit, we would both profit from recruiting a Hebrew scholar (or at least speaker) to join us, as my approach has been through Scholem and Idel and Kaplan et al as well as the study of Hebrew letters in the close context of the other alphabets that are akin: runes, for example, betray a knowledge of the basics of Qabbalah itself, namely the 3 mother letters (alef-shin-mem) and both Hebrew and bardic numbering of the letters, both demonstrable by way of letter-sequence.
Indeed, the best way to avoid my getting into such seemingly controversial aspects is simply to agree to disagree where letters are concerned, if you choose to trust books over me (for which I cast no blame), and concentrate on the Sefirot. But if you want to really understand these, understand the mechanism generating them, then I will be glad to help with that (so that there might be someone else in the world who understands). The proof is in the pudding, as they say, so if what I say fails to make sense, nothing prevents you from turning elsewhere. I simply would like to help, if I can, as it is a profound subject and deserves to be aired. My ultimate sources are Kaplan's translation of the book
Bahir, several translations of (and Kaplan's and others' notes on)
Sefer Yetzirah, as much Scholem as I could get my hands on, and much concerning the dominant Lurianic strain of Kabbalah as it exists today. (In addition, I have studied 'comparative alphabetics' all my adult life, inspired in part by the field work in epigraphy of Barry Fell, as well as the Libyan scholars he inspired to extend their study of ancient Libyan inscriptions to the New World.)
I would even be willing to conform to a 'length limit' on posts, if you think that would help.
Ciao,
Gary
