Kabbalah and the turning towards that which is not yet here

 


In the winter of 2021 I got an impuls to get a seven-armed candlestick, a menora. I searched online markets, found a beautiful menora, and purchased it. I still remember the excitement I felt. I usually dont like shopping stuff at all, but this felt different and important somehow. I wanted to light the candlestick and put it in the window so it became visible to everybody.

To understand why this felt so significant to me, I started to explore the meaning of the menora. In jewish and christian faith it is interpreted in many different ways - in one perspective the menora is a symbol of the wholeness of everything. This spoke to me. The insight I received is that the menora is a symbol of the living universe, and we are all parts of it. If we hold ourselves back and suppress our expression in the world, we hold back and suppress a part of the universe. We should light our candle and not hide it, but put it in the window so the light is visible and can impact the world.

In Kabbalah, the traditions of jewish mysticism, it is emphasized how wisdom may appear spontaneously, unprecedented, taking you by surprise. The world is seen as something which is constantly coming, constantly flowing, immersed in a timeless dimension of reality available right here and now, if one is receptive. According to Kabbalah, every human action here on earth affects the divine realm, because God is not a static being, but a dynamic becoming. Then it becomes up to us humans to actualize the divine potential in the world.  

This focus on the possibility of the coming of the radically new, on bold innovation or even anarchy and rebellion towards traditional structures of power and rules, is a common feature of many mystical traditions, and the reason why many mystics through the ages were prosecuted and even executed. This emphasis on cocreating, and the range of human agency and the possibility of change, expresses however a deep hope for humanity and the potential of human dignity and freedom. 

The question to me is, how do we access the potential in every situation, how do we listen for the new and unknown which wants to emerge, instead of habitually repeating the same?  How do we interact with something which is not yet here, a space which is not yet formed, the infinite richness of the unborn? Many traditions will point to the significance of being present in the now and silencing the mind, let go of the thoughts about what is already defined and known, and turn our attention towards a place beyond concepts and categories, the unknown.

In the state of awareness of the unknown, trusting what wants to unfold and be cocreated without needing to grasp or control, it becomes possible to perceive differently, to carry life forward in a new way. Life is no longer something we alone direct or construct, but a listening and a receiving, allowing life to create its own continuation. Turning towards that which is not yet here implies a deep trust in allowing the new which wants to emerge and be manifested. The possibility is that the light of the new is put in the window and made visible for the world.


More:
Matt, Daniel C. (1994): The essential Kabbalah. The heart of Jewish mysticism.

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