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Prayer has always been an ‘issue’ for me. I never really felt comfortable engaging in a ritual that seemed mechanical, if you follow me. My life’s approach to prayer came from the words of Jesus who suggested that we “pray continuously”, therefore my prayers have always been something of a causal conversation with my Creator. I could also pray in this way where ever I was and when ever, so I found after a while I was always having these, conversations (prayers) with my creator, all the time.
Then of course there is the idea of humility in the form of kneeling or prostration which for me has always been difficult to do as it always made me feel inferior and I didn’t like that considering I am supposed to be a son of God, umm why would my father require my prostrations to prove my love, etc…
I do like the idea that we can communicate in some way with this creative being and I have always desired that level of relationship, however at this point in my life I can honestly say I have no idea how to pray and would like it very much if someone could offer some ideas about it from the Kabbalah perspective.
Thank you
Phil
Hello, question please,
Would it be detrimental to my progress in this course if I were to also study other courses available on the website such as the VOD and others? My mind works quickly and I have an excellent memory but I do not wish to cut corners of bite off more than can be chewed as it were? It may be worth noting that I have been studying ‘Gnostic writings’ for most of my life and feel I am prepared well enough to dive into the deep end. 🙂
Thank You
Phil Wallace
Yukon, Territory
Canada
Hello everyone, happy to be with you all. Just some thoughts to share, please reply if you like as I am always open for a bit of conversation 🙂
I was amazed to learn that Kabbalah quietly removed itself from the world when it’s population began to explore and develop ideas of Religion, Philosophy and Natural Science. That, as a result people became more interested in and felt they needed something more than Kabbalah.
I had always believed that Science was always a part of any study in truth, that it was a natural part of the body of knowledge being studied. Religion as I understand the word, is derived from the Latin word Religare which translates into English as ‘to re-unite or to unify’ as in re-uniting a human soul back to their creator. Yoga from the Sanskrit ‘Yug’ translates as ‘to yoke together’ again implying a reunification to ones creator. Therefor the purpose of Religion is or was to be a reunification of our soul with that of our creator.
I was taught that Philosophy is a combination word arrived at through the merger of Philios and Sophia. Philios means Love and Sophia meaning Wisdom, so we get Philosophy or the Love of Wisdom. Wisdom iirc is part of the First Logos or Kether on the tree of life, associated with the Creator. So Philosophers would study the Wisdom of God in the effort to understand oneself and our relationship to the Creator and it’s creation, to reunite with this being.
Gnostics concern themselves with all of the above, including Kabbalah which holds a special place in the hearts of Gnostics and they tend to boil this all down into Pyschology, teaching that we study these Gnostic traditions in order to understand our personal inner pyschology with the purpose of exposing and eliminating Ego and all that within which prevents us from reunification with our creator.
whew, my head hurts hahaha
Hello friends, another question please.
In the reading from Attaining the Worlds beyond, ‘how to read the text’ I want to ask if this suggests we do some form of meditation or contemplation? Do you think that these activities would be useful in studying Kabbalah?
Thank you
Phil Wallace
Hello, I have another question please.
Concerning Kabbalah, Then and Now (this weeks reading),
Johannes Reuchlin, a humanist, classics scholar, and expert in ancient languages and traditions, writes in his book, De Arte Cabbalistica:
“My teacher, Pythagoras, the father of philosophy, took his teaching from Kabbalists … He was the first to translate the word, Kabbalah, unknown to his contemporaries, to the Greek word philosophy… Kabbalah does not let us live our lives in the dust, but elevates our mind to the height of knowledge.”Interesting to learn that Pythagoras translated Kabbalah as “Philosophy” in the Greek, which I had learned was broken down like this; Philios or Love and Sophia or wisdom, hence the word philosophy is, Love of Wisdom. Kabbalah translates as “to Receive” so I wonder just what Pythagoras was thinking, because it seems to me to be entirely different. However, personally I like the thought of studying Kabbalah, being motivated by philosophy.
Also since I personally have an interest in words and what they are, what they mean and what power they have my question then is, “is it incorrect to think of Kabbalah as Philosophy?, or is the translation of Pythagoras correct?
Thank you
Phil Wallace
