Table Of ContentN\EDITflTION
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Containing Relevant Texts from
The Grellter HekhRlot, Textbook of the Merkava School
The works of Abraham Abulafia
Joseph Gikatalia's Glltes of Light
The Glltes of Holiness
Gate of the Holy Spirit, Textbook of the Lurianic School
Hasidic Classics
BY
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WEISERBoOKS
Boston, MA/York Beach, ME
This book contains Divine Names.
Do not take it into the bathroom or any other unclean place.
First published in 1982 by
Red WheellWeiser. LLC
York BeaCh. ME
With offices at
368 Congress Street
Boston. MA 02210
www.redwheelweiser.COOI
First paperback edition. 1985
08 07 06 05
19 18 17 16 15 14
Copyright () 1982 Aryeh Kaplan
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means.
electronic or mechanical. including photocopying.
recording. or by any information storage and retrieval
system. without permission in writing from Red WheellWeiser.
Reviewen may quote brief passages.
library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 81-70150
ISBN 0-87728-616-7
BJ
Cover design by Bima Stagg
Printed in the United States of America
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements
of the American National Standard for Information Sciences
Permanence of Paper for Printed library Materials Z39.48-1984.
Contents
Introduction ................................................................................................... 1
MEDITATION .................................................................................. 5
The Schools .................................................................................................... 7
Methods ....................................................................................................... 11
Vocabulary ................................................................................................... 15
TALMUDIC MYSTICS .................................................................... 17
The Talmudists ............................................................................................ 19
The Zohar .................................................................................................... 28
The Hekhalot School ................................................................................... 35
The Hekhalot Text ....................................................................................... 41
RABBI ABRAHAM ABULAFIA ........................................................ 55
The Man ....................................................................................................... 57
Growth of a Prophet .................................................................................... 61
Writings ....................................................................................................... 72
Teachings ..................................................................................................... 76
The Hidden Eden ......................................................................................... 83
Light of the Intellect ..................................................................................... 87
Life of the Future World .............................................................................. 93
Gates of Righteousness .............................................................................. 107
The Ladder of Ascent ................................................................................. III
OTHER EARLY SCHOOLS ............................................................ 115
The Gate of Kavanah ................................................................................. 117
Gates of Light ............................................................................................. 125
Rabbi Isaac of Acco ................................................................................... 137
Publication of the Zohar ............................................................................ 147
Occult Schools ........................................................................................... 155
Magic Squares ........................................................................................... 158
SAFED .......................................................................................... 167
The Ramak ................................................................................................. 169
Colors ......................................................................................................... 179
Rabbi Chaim Vital ..................................................................................... 187
Gates of Holiness ....................................................................................... 190
THE ARI ....................................................................................... 199
A Human Angel ......................................................................................... 201
The System ................................................................................................. 210
Kavanot ...................................................................................................... 214
Yichudim .................................................................................................... 218
Gate of the Holy Spirit ............................................................................... 222
THE HASIDIM ............................................................................. 261
The Baal Shem Tov .................................................................................... 263
Meditation ................................................................................................. 274
A Yichud .................................................................................................... 276
States of Consciousness ............................................................................. 278
The Way of Prayer ..................................................................................... 283
Spiritual Ascent .......................................................................................... 293
Nothingness ............................................................................................... 299
Rabbi Nachman's Way .............................................................................. 307
NOTES ......................................................................................... 315
INDEX .......................................................................................... 343
With trepidation and love ...
By authority from my masters ...
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Dr. Perle Epstein.
Library of Jewish Theological Semi
nary of America, New York, New
York, particularly to Ms. Susan
Young and Mr. Micha Falk Oppen
heim.
Hebrew University Libraries, Jerusa
lem.
Bodleian Library, Oxford, England.
Biblioteque Nationale, Paris, France.
British Museum, London, England.
Biblioteca Apostolica Vatican, Vatican
City.
Columbia University Library, Manu
script Division, New York, New
York.
Lenin State Library, Guenzburg Col
lection, Moscow.
Introduction
It is with great trepidation that one begins to write a work
such as this, involving some of the most hidden mysteries of the
Kabbalah. Many would question the wisdom and propriety of placing
such information in a printed book, especially in an English translation.
But so much misinformation has already been published that it is
virtually imperative that an authentic, authoritative account be
published. It is for this reason, as well as other reasons which I am
bound by an oath to conceal, that the great living masters of Kabbalah
have voiced their approval that such a book be published.
The science of Kabbalah is divided into three basic areas: the
theoretical, the meditative, and the practical.
The theoretical deals with the form of the mysteries, teaching the
structure of the angelic domains as well as of the Sefirot, or Divine
Emanations. With great success, it deals with problems posed by the
many schools of philosophy, and it provides a conceptual framework
into which all theological ideas can be fitted. More important for the
discussion at hand, it also provides a framework through which the
mechanism of both the meditative and practical Kabbalah can be
understood.
Some three thousand Kabbalah texts exist in print, and, for the
most part, the vast majority deal with the theoretical Kabbalah. Falling
within this category are the best known Kabbalah works, such as the
Zohar and the Bahir, which are almost totally theoretical in their scope.
The same is true of the writings of Rabbi Isaac Luria, the Ari,
considered by many to have been the greatest of all Kabbalists. With
the passage of time, this school probed deeper and deeper into the
philosophical ramifications of the primary Kabbalistic concepts,
producing an extremely profound, self-consistent and satisfying
philosophical system.
1
2 I MEDITATION AND KABBALAH
The practical Kabbalah, on the other hand, was a kind of white
magic, dealing with the use of techniques that could evoke supernatural
powers. It involved the use of divine names and incantations, amulets
and talismans, as well as chiromancy, physiognomy and astrology.
Many theoretical Kabbalists, led by the Ari, frowned on the use of such
techniques, labeling them as dangerous and spiritually demeaning. As a
result, only a very small number of texts have survived at all, mostly in
manuscript form, and only a handful of the most innocuous of these
have been published.
It is significant to note that a number of techniques alluded to in
these fragments also appear to have been preserved among the non
Jewish school of magic in Europe. The relationship between the
practical Kabbalah and these magical schools would constitute an
interesting area of study.
The meditative Kabbalah stands between these two extremes.
Some of the earliest meditative methods border on the practical
Kabbalah, and their use is discouraged by the latter masters, especially
those of the Ari's school. Within this category are the few surviving
texts from the Talmudic period. The same is true of the teachings of the
Thirteenth Century master, Rabbi Abraham Abulafia, whose
meditative works have never been printed and survive only in
manuscript.
Most telling is a statement at the end of Shaarey Kedushah (Gates
of Holiness), which is essentially a meditative manual. The most
important and explicit part of this text is the fourth section, which
actually provides instructions in meditation. When this book was first
printed in 1715, the publisher omitted this last, most important section,
with the following note:
The printer declares that this fourth section is not to
be copied or printed since it consists entirely of divine
names, permutations and concealed mysteries, and it is
not proper to bring them on the altar of the printing
press.
Actually, upon examining this section, we find that" divine names
and permutations" playa relatively small role, and could easily have
been omitted. But besides this, the section in question also presents
explicit instructions for the various techniques of Kabbalah meditation,
and even this was considered too secret a doctrine to be published for
the masses.
Introduction I 3
The Ari himself also made use of a system of meditation involving
Yechudim (unifications), and this was included in the main body of his
writings, particularly in the Shaar Ruach HaKodesh (Gate of the Holy
Spirit). But even here, it is significant to note that, although the Ari
lived in the Sixteenth Century, this text was not printed until 1863. For
over three hundred years, it was available only in manuscript.
With the spread of the Hasidic movement in the Eighteenth
Century, a number of meditative techniques became more popular,
especially those centered around the formal prayer service. This
reached its zenith in the teachings of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov
(1772-1810), who discusses meditation in considerable length. He
developed a system that could be used by the masses, and it was
primarily for this reason that Rabbi Nachman's teachings met with
much harsh opposition.
One of the problems in discussing meditation, either in Hebrew or
in English, is the fact that there exists only a very limited vocabulary
with which to express the various " technical" terms. For the sake of
clarity, a number of such terms, such as "mantra" and "mandala" have
been borrowed from the various meditative systems of the East. This is
not meant in any way to imply that there is any connection or
relationship between these systems and the Kabbalah. Terms such as
these are used only because there are no Western equivalents. Since
they are familiar to most contemporary readers, they have the
advantage of making the text more readily understood.
Many people express surprise that the Jewish tradition contains a
formal meditative system, that, at least in its outward manifestations,
does resemble some of the Eastern systems. This resemblance was first
noted in the Zohar, which recognized the merit of the Eastern
systems, but warned against their use.
The fact that different systems resemble each other is only a
reflection on the veracity of the technique, which is primarily one of
spiritual liberation. The fact that other religions make use of it is of no
more consequence than the fact that they also engage in prayer and
worship. This does not make Jewish worship and prayer any less
meaningful or unique, and the same is true of meditation. It is basically
a technique for releasing oneself from the bonds of one's physical
nature. Where one goes from there depends very much on the system
used.
