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Tree of life (Kabbalah)

Part of a series on

Kabbalah

The Tree of Life, or  Etz haChayim ( ) in Hebrew, is a classic descriptive term for the central mystical

symbol used in the Kabbalah of esoteric Judaism, also known as the 10 Sephirot. The symbolic configuration of 10

spiritual principles (11 can be shown, of which - Keter and Da'at are interchangeable), arranged in 3 columns/pillars,describes the manner in which God creates existence ex nihilo, the nature of revealed divinity, the human soul, and

the spiritual path of ascent by man. In this way, Kabbalists developed the symbol into a full model of reality, using

the tree to depict a map of Creation.

Jewish Kabbalah usually refers to the symbol as the 10 Sephirot, while non-Jewish Christian Cabala and Hermetic

Qabalah generally terms it universally as the Cabalistic/Qabalistic Tree of Life. This metaphor derives from Judaic

Kabbalah, though is understood less universally. In the Jewish Kabbalist view, both of the two trees in the Biblical

Garden of Eden, the Tree of knowledge of good and evil and the Tree of Life were alternative perspectives of the

Sephirot: the full array of 10 as seen respectively from the last Sephirah Malkuth, and the middle Sephirah Tiferet. [1]

From the Renaissance onwards, the Jewish mystical concept was adopted by some esoterically inclined Christians as

well as some Hermeticists. Among the Christian Cabalists,Wikipedia:Avoid weasel words the sephirot were also

called Dignities, referred to by Latin, instead of Hebrew, names.[citation needed ]

Christian Cabala also places emphasis

on Christ as Sustainer and Preserver of the Universe, and the Malkuth of Jewish Kabbalah is absent, as it is

considered of a different order-of-being.[citation needed ] Hermetic Qabalah's use of the Tree continues as a

contemporary Western esotericism tradition, with alternative Esoteric Christian and Occultist emphases.

Jewish Kabbalah interpretations

The Sephirot in Jewish Kabbalah

Category:Sephirot

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Christian Cabala and Hermetic Qabalah interpretations

Kabbalists believe the Tree of Life to be a diagrammatic representation of the process by which the Universe came

into being. On the Tree of Life, the beginning of the Universe is placed at a space above the first sephira, named

Keter ("crown" in English). It is not always pictured in reproductions of the Tree of Life, but is referred to

universally as Ain Soph Aur (Ain - Without, Soph - End, Aur - Light).[citation needed ]

To kabbalists, it symbolizes that

point beyond which our comprehension of the origins of Being cannot go; it is considered to be an infinitenothingness out of which the first 'thing' (thought of in science and the Kabbalah to be energy) exploded to create a

Universe of multiple things.[2][3]

Kabbalists also do not envision time and space as pre-existing, and place them at the next three stages on the Tree of 

Life. First is Keter, which is thought of as the product of the contraction of Ain Soph Aur into a singularity of 

infinite energy or limitless light. In the Kabbalah, it is the primordial energy out of which all things are created. The

next stage is Chokmah, or Wisdom, which is considered to be a stage at which the infinitely hot and contracted

singularity expanded forth into space and time. It is often thought of as pure dynamic energy of an infinite intensity

forever propelled forth at a speed faster than light. Next comes Binah, or Understanding, which is thought of as the

primordial feminine energy, the Supernal Mother of the Universe which receives the energy of Chokmah, cooling

and nourishing it into the multitudinous forms present throughout the whole cosmos.[4] It is also seen as the

beginning of Time itself.

Numbers are very important to kabbalists, and the Hebrew letters of the alphabet also have a numerical value for the

kabbalists. Each stage of the emanation of the Universe on the Tree of Life is numbered meaningfully from one

(Keter) to ten (Malkuth). Each number is thought to express the nature of its sephira.[5]

The first three sephirot , called the Supernal Sephirot, are considered to be the primordial energies of the Universe.

The next stages of evolution on the Tree of Life are considered to exist beyond a space on the tree, called the Abyss,

between the Supernals and the other Sephiroth, because their levels of being are so distinct from each other that they

appear to exist in two totally different realities. The Supernal Sephiroth exist on a plane of divine energy. This is

why another correspondence for Binah is the idea of suffering, because the Supernal Maternal energy gives birth to aworld that is inherently excluded from that Divine Union. After Binah, the Universe gets down to the business of 

building the materials it will need to fulfill its evolution, and creating new combinations of those materials until it is

so dense that, by the stage of Malkuth, the initial pure limitless energy has 'solidified' into the physical Universe.

Since its energies are the basis of all Creation, the Tree of Life can potentially be applied to any area of life,

especially the inner world of Man, from the subconscious all the way to what Kabbalists call the higher self .

But the Tree of Life does not only speak of the origins of the physical Universe out of the unimaginable, but also of 

Man's place in the Universe. Since Man is invested with Mind, consciousness in the Kabbalah is thought of as the

fruit of the physical world, through whom the original infinite energy can experience and express itself as a finite

entity. After the energy of Creation has condensed into matter, it is thought to reverse its course back up the Tree

until it is once again united with its true nature. Thus, the kabbalist seeks to know himself and the Universe as an

expression of God, and to make the journey of Return by stages charted by the Sephiroth, until he has come to the

realisation he sought.

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Similarities to other traditions

The Tree of Life bears many similarities to the Christian Gnostic conception of the Pleroma, emanations from the

ineffable and self-originating Divine Parent that offer the best possible means of describing God. Each emanation in

the pleroma is born from a more complex emanation before it. Most notably between these two allegories is the final

sephira on the Tree, Malkuth, and the last emanation in the Pleroma, Sophia, whose fall resulted in the physical

world.

In the Bhagavad Gita[citation needed ]

there is a mention of Asvattha, tree of Life and Being, whose destruction alone

leads to immortality, is said in the Bhagavad Gita to grow with its roots above and its branches below. The roots

represent the Supreme Being, or First Cause, the LOGOS; but one has to go beyond those roots to unite oneself with

Krishna. The Vedas are its leaves. He only who goes beyond the roots shall never return, i.e., shall reincarnate no

more during this "age" of Brahma.

Image gallery

Tree of Life window 1 in the Jewish

Historical Museum Amsterdam

Tree of Life window 2 in the Jewish

Historical Museum Amsterdam

Tree of Life window 3 in the Jewish

Historical Museum Amsterdam

References

[1] The Tree of Life - Kuntres Etz HaChayim , A classic chassidic treatise on the mystic core of spiritual vitality by Rabbi Shalom DovBer

Schneersohn of Lubavitch, translated by Rabbi Eliyahu Touger, Kehot publications. Extensive comparison of the 10 Sephirot views of the two

trees

[2] Fortune, Dion. The Mystical Qabalah. York Beach, ME: Samuel Weiser, Inc. (2000) p. 30-33 ISBN 1-57863-150-5

[3] Malachi, Tau. Gnosis of the Cosmic Christ. A Gnostic Christian Kabbalah. St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn Publications. (2005) pp. 19-20. ISBN

0-7387-0591-8

[4] Regardie, Israel. The Tree of Life: An Illustrated Study in Magic. St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn Publications. (2000) pp. 49-54. ISBN

1-56718-132-5

[5] Encausse, Gerard (Papus). The Qabalah: Secret Tradition of the West. York Beach, ME: Samuel Weiser, Inc. (2000) pp. 83-4. ISBN

0-87728-936-0

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External links

• Uberglue.com (http:/   /  uberglue. com/  tree/  )

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Article Sources and Contributors 5

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