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Kirtanman
USA
1651 Posts |
 Posted - Sep 28 2009 : 11:53:39 AM
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"Pre-PS" -- I was going to post this in Other Systems, but due to the amount of direct sexual reference, I felt it was better to post it here.
~KM
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Hey All,
The sexual symbolism and practices taught in the Kabbalah are amazingly similar to the original tantric practices and rituals taught in the Advaitic Shaivite (Shiva-worshipping) tantric schools of India.
In both cases, they are much more about the symbolism made available by maintaining awareness during the celebration of union of a loving couple (aka "lovemaking", "sexual intercourse").
And yes - much of this will likely seem very esoteric, and full of unfamiliar terms, for most readers; the point isn't so much the detail ... but that the general flow, focus and symbolism is essentially the same as yogic tantra *and* that the Kabbalah of Judaism even contains sexual symbolism, ritual and practices .... something most people don't know.
And, for those who are interesting in what is actually being said .... I've provided a bit of a symbolism key at the end of the post, mapping the terms in the quote below, with terms from the yogic traditions that will be more familiar (than the Kabbalistic terms) to most readers.
"In the text we are about to read—a work of Rabbi Moses Cordovero (1522-1570)—the bodies of the partners, down to each limb and organ, represent a parallel structure constituting the different attributes of the divine world of emanation:
“On the subject of the meditation in the course of the [sexual] act, it should be known that the male comprises 248 organs, so too in [the sefirah] Tiferet is the secret of the 248 organs on high.
They comprise the first three [sefirot] at the level of the head, and as many aspects (behinot) as the number of organs. The same at the level of the arms, [which represent the sefirot] Hessed and Gevurah and as many aspects as the number of organs.
And in the trunk:
Tiferet and as many aspects as the number of organs. So too in [the sefirot] Netsah, Hod, Yessod [which correspond] to the sides, to the foundation [i.e. the penis] and to the feet, in which the organs are as many aspects. This is the case likewise of the secret of the female: she has 248 organs...
When the male and the female below conjoin, they meditate on the liaison and the union of the Male and the Female on high: 248 [organs] joined to 248 [organs], as really the attachment of flesh to flesh.
One will thus meditate on the secret of the superior union. Here is its mystery and the meditation required with regard to it:
firstly one will wash one's hands at midnight or during the hours that follow and will purify one's consciousness and void the spirit of all evil thought; one could also meditate on the repenting of one's faults and prolong one's prayer according to one's force.
Then [the man] will gladden his wife with speech relating to the commandment [of sexual union], at the same time he will bring his awareness closer to the sacred.
He will conduct his meditation to the best, according to his force. Then he will undertake to meditate on the secret of the embrace: he is at the level of [the sefirah] Tiferet, she is at the level of [the sefirah] Malkhut; the man will thus embrace the head of the woman with his left arm which he will place beneath, meditating on the mystery of the {sefirah] Gevurah taking hold of the [sefirah] Malkhut, in the joyful mode in view of coupling and not in the mode of rigor (din).
Then with his right he will embrace the head from above, in order to include love in the right and the left. After which he will meditate on the union of the four faces, the two faces [of the face] of the female with the two faces [of the face] of the male, which are the four letters [of the divine name] YHVH.
The four arms are the four wings which are the name Adonay [Lord] and allude to the union (yihud) of the name YAHDONHY [the letters YHVH interlaced with the letters ADONY].
He will bear in mind that the secret of the head against the head [implies] that the first three sefirot which are in him [unite] with the first three sefirot which are in her [Keter, Hokhmah, Binah of the Male reunite with their homologue in the Female].
He will think that the arms, which are the [sefirot] Hessed and Gevurah which are in him [unite with the sefirot] Hessed and Gevurah [that is, the arms] which are in her.
He [will then be aware] that body in body, that is to say the six extremities [the six lower sefirot which are in him rejoin] the six extremities [which are in her], that the two thighs, i.e. [the sefirot] Netsah and Hod, the penis, i.e. [the sefirah] Yessod, [rejoin] the two thighs which are in her.
The secret of the Alliance is [the letter] Yod which links the secret of [the letter] Dalet (d) [to the word] Ehad (One), that is to say of the Brother (akh) with the Sister (ahot), which gives Ehad (One), and the trunk of the Yod found in [the letter] Dalet links the Brother (akh)—the nine upper sefirot—to [the sefirah] Malkhut [the Sister].
It is in this way that the man will cause Yessod to penetrate into the heart of the domain of Dalet, in order to complete it, for [the woman] does not possess the sign of the alliance.
The male completes her and this member is half included in her and half included in him: male and female unite in such a manner that in the Shiur Koma which is in him there are ten [sefirot] and in that which is in her there are ten.
This is the secret of: ‘Ten, ten, the bowl, following the shekel of the sanctuary’ (Num. 7:86). The ten belonging to her are oriented from below upwards in the field of the reparation (tikkun) of the body, and the ten belonging to him are orientated from on high downwards in the field of the reparation of the body.
He will meditate, during the seven kisses, on the secret of the union of the breaths, which constitute the interiority of the sefirot... The seven kisses are the seven sefirot which link and unite to the first three [sefirot], for they form the mouth of the head, i.e. the [sefirah] Malkhut, which is in the first three [sefirot].
Then he will meditate on the union of the eyes and the nose, those of one in those of the other. In his movement [of penetration] the man will meditate on the secret of the phase during which the [sefirah] Yessod gathers the semen and the light from the [sefirah] Hokhmah on high, it is on the latter that he will meditate with all his awareness in order that the Hokhmah sheds itself from the brain of the Arikh [Anpin] to the brain of the Zeir [Anpin], and from there towards the [sefirah] Binah, in accordance with the secret of the head ornaments, and from there, through the central column [the sefirah Tiferet], towards the two eggs of the male [the sefirot Netsah and Hod], which cook and prepare [the luminous semen] then give it to [the sefirah] Yessod, through which it passes and emerges from the secret of the Yod of the [divine] Name, the [sefirah Hokhmah] being the Yod of the name YHVH, in the direction of the Yod of the name Adonay, which is a drop including the ten [sefirot].
This happens at the moment of the donation of the drop coming from him to her, namely: ‘a tenth part of an ephah of fine flour’ (Lev. 5:11), without any waste, and it is ‘kneaded in oil’ (ibid. 2:5 et pass.) in conformity with the secret of the ‘crushing’ (Ex. 29:40 etc.) effectuated by the Yessod, as we have explained in regard to the movement [of penetration]. Then [the drop] is shed in the [sefirah] Malkhut...” (Tefillah le-Moshe, t. I, p. 213b). "
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Key to terms:
Sefirot, Sefira = Chakras, Chakra
Malkhut = Muladhara, Root Chakra. Also known in Kabbalah as "the kingdom of Heaven"; in the famous statement by Jesus Christ in the New Testament of the Christian Bible, the actual word for "Kingdom" (in Aramaic, in the original oral tradition, translated later into Latin, for compilation into book form) ... was "Malkhuta".
Yessod = Svadisthana, second chakra; also known as Foundation in Kabbalah.
Tiferet = Heart, Heart Chakra
Hokhmah, Binah = Ajna (Third Eye) - apparent duality, emanating from the unity of Keter, Crown. As in tantra, these also have "supernal" analogs; the three-in-one supernal center of awareness, above the head (which is how ten sefirot and seven chakras match up, actually ... most people don't know of the three supernal chakras, discussed at length in Kashmir Shaivism; mostly because, I suppose -- there's no real reason to know of them in advance ... when you get there ... they're there; it's A. obvious, and/or B. experienced as unified awareness --- thinking/experiencing them as distinct chakras isn't necessary; simply potentially useful symbolism, for some).
Keter = Crown
Zer Anpin, Arikh Anpin = roughly equivalent to saying "higher chakras" and "lower chakras" -- the division from primarily form-oriented that occurs below the heart chakra, to primarily non-form oriented, which occurs above the heart chakra.
Malkut is also the domain of Shekinah (Shakti), the Goddess -- just as all manifestation, including energies, are "Shakti" in the yogic traditions; the wife/woman in the ritual above symbolizes the Goddess/Shekinah/Shakti - as she does in tantric rituals.
Interestingly, it says that the "man completes the woman" -- whereas in tantra, it emphasizes that the woman completes the man --- both statements of course being true, on many levels ... understanding of course that there *are* many levels ... including the male-female energy polarities within consciousness itself (aka objectivity/subjectivity), and there within "each person" ... as well as between two people.
I'm guessing the "man completes the woman" statement was a later emphasis; original Kabbalah and original Tantra are both *very much* about honoring both the divine feminine and the divine masculine ... along with emphasizing that both aspects are essential to the fulfillment of consciousness (remembering that "fulfillment" refers to the unity of awareness resulting from the dropping of artificial conceptual divisions).
I find the Kabbalistic teachings that the chakras (sefirot) of the male and female align, harmonize and fulfill each other .... this is one of the reasons that sexual tantric practices can be so powerful, from an energetic standpoint.
I hope this is interesting/helpful.
Heart Is Where the ShalAUM Is,
Kirtanman |
Edited by - Kirtanman on Sep 28 2009 11:56:50 AM |
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vijikr
United Arab Emirates
413 Posts |
Posted - Nov 02 2009 : 11:38:15 AM
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Hi Kirtanman,
I really loved the comparison and woow its all the same after all.
Love and Light
Viji |
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stuball56
USA
1 Posts |
Posted - Sep 24 2010 : 5:43:37 PM
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I very much enjoyed reading your essay. Much of the kabbalistic literature is difficult to understand in its references. In my work of tantric kabbalah I focus on three main aspects which is realized through my mantra (http://stuartmarkberlin.com). The first part of my mantra involves the unification and integration of the fragmented masculine: Lecha Adonai HaGedulah ve HaGevurah ve HaTiferet ve HaNetzach le HaHod ve Yesod. In this way the six sefirot are integrated into the short face, or Greater Tiferet.
The second part of the mantra is the unification and integration of Greater Tiferet and the Schechinah:
Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Echad.
The third part of the mantra is in sanskrit and sends out the integrated and unified light of Tiferet and Schechinah out into the universe for healing:
Nama Kwan Shy Yin Pusa.
The integrated and unified light of TIferet and Schechinah travels out into the universe through the crown chakra of the female partner in sex magic as she experiences expanded orgasm.
love and light,
Stuart |
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sadhak
India
604 Posts |
Posted - Dec 22 2010 : 11:34:29 PM
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Thank you Kirtanman ... have recently begun studying Kabbalah, and tantra's also been coming up frequently on my radar ... and the two are coming together most beautifully in this post of yours. Will go through it once more, slowly. The sephirot and chakras equivalents are very revealing!
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Shanti
USA
4854 Posts |
Posted - Dec 23 2010 : 07:38:46 AM
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Sadhak!!!!!!!
So good to see you again!!!!
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Kirtanman
USA
1651 Posts |
Posted - Dec 24 2010 : 2:09:28 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by sadhak
Thank you Kirtanman ... have recently begun studying Kabbalah, and tantra's also been coming up frequently on my radar ... and the two are coming together most beautifully in this post of yours. Will go through it once more, slowly. The sephirot and chakras equivalents are very revealing!
Thanks for the kind words, Sadhak!
And yes, there are some amazing correspondences between Kabbalah and Tantra/Yoga) - and (knowing me ) I may well have some additional comments on that in the near future.
Wholeheartedly,
Kirtanman |
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Sexual Tantric Practices in Kabbalah
