I'm reading about the Kabbalah but I'm so horribly confused.
What IS kabbalah? Why did so many Christian philosophers fall in love with it? What influence did it have on secular 20th philosophy?
It's a mystical tradition that probably didn't begin with Adam
Christian philosophers fell in love with it because it seemed like it was *THE* hidden Jewish knowledge that unlocked the secrets of the divine energies governing the universe
From what I understand it influenced members of the Frankfurt school, but I'm not saying they were conspirators against the white race, only that some of them used kabbalistic principles in their work. This is widely documented b
>>437310
>From what I understand it influenced members of the Frankfurt school
WHAT? LOL No. Frankfurt's were influenced by Freud. Why would philosophers trying to analyze contemporary secular politics care about mysticism? Most of them were atheists and Kabbalahism is not compatible with atheism in anyway.
>It's a mystical tradition that probably didn't begin with Adam
No parts of the Christian religion texts are said to have been from Adam. The first 5 books of the bible are supposed to have been written by Moses and the other ones by various other authors.
Kabbalah is an oral tradition more than 2,000 years old.
>>437252
>What IS kabbalah
Jewish mystism. By doing certain rituals, having secret knowledge, and meditating you can connect directly with God. God has a symbotic relationship with humanity. You can become healthier by connecting to him but he's also connected to humans and his despostion will change based on the health humans. So if humans become more violent God becomes more violent.
Alot of the mystism has to do with reading the old testament in a special way or super-analyzing the text. It also has a lot of stuff about the secrets of angels, what heaven is like, etc.
>Why did so many Christian philosophers fall in love with it
It was mostly Protestants. Protestants had denied all spirtuality on earth, saying the holy spirit is not present in any rituals. So they had no way of connecting to God. Kabblah allowed them to do that.
Also Kabbahism comes from a time before Jesus. Christian teaching is that the Jews before Jesus were still 'chosen', still in God's favor, so these teachings were respected as being of great spiritual worth. Basically any Jews before the time of Jesus are prophets.
Kabbalah, Theosophy, Luciferianism..
It's all demonic shit.
>>437623
It's funny that most prot groups that break off from the main churches veer hard into spirituality. Pentacostals, mennonites and the like
Kabbalah is a mystical form of interpreting the Bible. The word "mystical" carries a lot of connotations in the modern day that it simply didn't back in 12th century Spain. So take whatever hippy-dippy new age mumbo jumbo that gets lumped in with Kabbalah with a grain of salt. Nothing against all that stuff, but it's perspective on Kabbalah has more in common with the new age neo-pagan perspectives than anything akin to the perspectives of the great Kabbalists, who were (largely) Jewish.
On why so many Christian philosophers have been enamored with it,-- without knowing who specifically you are talking about-- it is likely because there are central messianic-redeemer characters in the spontaneous appearances of Elijah or the angel Metatron (the name of Enoch). Both Enoch and Elijah were taken up (or "translated") into Heaven by God without having died. It has been speculated that Kabbalah in many ways was a reaction to various doctrines of the Christian church.
Kabbalah is a distinctly Jewish tradition, however non-Jews, unlike the fussier rites of some of the more orthodox, are allowed full participation.
If you want to read and learn more I would highly recommend just about any book by Gershom Scholem. I would also recommend avoiding the wishy-washy new age stuff.
>>437623
>Kabbalah is an oral tradition more than 2,000 years old.
Actually Kabbalah is only about 800. It *is* likely the descendant of an oral tradition that stretches back to what Scholem called "Merkabah (or Chariot) Mysticism". But Kabbalah as we know it was undeniably formed and spread, mostly from Spain, throughout the early middle - late middle ages
.
>>437787
New Age too. My father is a very devote Protestant but he somehow got into Astrology. They have to do it. Protestants are spirtually starving with no way to feel connected to anything mysterious or divine.
It's not just modern Protestants. Historical Protestants were really into Kabbalah and Hermetism (they justified being hermetists by saying he was a discipline of solemn, I've already said how they justify Kabbalah). Even during the very earliest years with Luther and Calvin they got into weird spirtual stuff, becoming obsessed with the book of revalations and trying to find signs of the secret prophecies being fufilled. It's a tradition that still continues to this day, in contrast the Orthodox and Catholics give very little attention to the book. They do not need to look for outside spiritualism because they have in abundance with the the holy spirit entering their bodies every week through their crackers and elaborate decorations and rituals.
>>437808
Can you fell the holy spirit yet?
>>437803
good info thanks!
>>438280
As I said there is literally nothing Kabbalish can offer that is comatable with Frankfurt philosophy. Kabbalah is all about connecting. The Frankfurts were fucking Marxists! Marxists think religion is a tool to control the masses. Karl Marx himself said Judaism had to be destroyed and that you're an idiot if you believe in God.
>He's friends with a guy so he must follow the beleifs of that guy
And Herbert Marcus's father was a Nazi-sympathizer, I guess that means there's a "connection" with Nazism and Frankfurt school.
Can I just post the Action Philosopher's comic on Kabbalah? It's short, easy to read, and seems pretty comprehensive as a brief overview. Though I know little myself, so I can't say for sure.
* I like the implications on this page that Kabbalism might be based entirely on a fake. Reminds me of the circle of Zerthimon from the Planescape rpg (if anyone played that). A fake religion that became real because, to make the forged teachings seem convincing, the lies was written with incredible wisdom.
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>>438406
I'd be careful about beleiving anything in these comics. I've read a few of them about philosophers I actually know and they tend to be get a lot of details wrong.
As its object of study, Kabbalah takes the only creation, the only thing that
exists besides the Creator—man’s self, or “I,” and researches it. This science breaks
down the self into parts, explains the structure and properties of each part, and
the purpose of its creation. Kabbalah explains how every part of man’s self, called
“the soul,” can be changed so that one would reach the goal of creation, the state
desired by both the Creator and man himself, provided he realizes it.
There is not a science in the world that can describe, either graphically or
analytically, through use of formulas, our sensations and desires, and how diverse
and multifaceted they are. That is how fickle, unpredictable, and absolutely
distinct they are in everyone. This is because our desires surface in our mind
and sensations in a gradual order, in a certain sequence, so we may acknowledge
and correct them.
Our self is our essence, the only thing that characterizes an individual.
However, it is ever-changing, and what remains is merely an external, animate
shell. This is why it is said that every moment man is born anew. Yet, if this is so,
how should we regard one another, and how should we perceive ourselves? How
can we possibly “stabilize” anything within and outside of us if we are constantly
changing, and all that we perceive is a function of our inner state?
The Creator is the source of Light (pleasure). Those who draw near Him
sense Him as such. Such people, who draw near the Creator and thereby sense
Him, are called Kabbalists (from the word Lekabel—to receive the Creator’s
Light). One can draw near the Creator only through equivalence of desires. The
Creator is incorporeal, and can only be sensed with our heart. Naturally, what
is meant by “heart” is not the pump that mobilizes blood through our veins, but
the center of man’s every sensation.
>>438472
However, one cannot sense the Creator with just his heart, but only with
a small point in it. And to feel this point, man must develop it himself. When
one develops and expands this point, the sensation of the Creator, His Light,
can enter it.
Our heart is the sum of our egoistic desires, and the small point within it
is part of the spiritual, altruistic desire implanted from Above by the Creator
Himself. It is our task to nurture this embryo of a spiritual desire to such an
extent that it (and not our egoistic nature) will determine all of our aspirations.
At the same time, the egoistic desire of the heart will surrender, contract, wither,
and diminish.
After being born in our world, one is obliged to change his heart from
egoistic to altruistic, while living in this world. This is the purpose of his life,
the reason behind his appearance in this world, and it is the goal of all creation.
A complete replacement of egoistic desires with altruistic ones is called “the
End of Correction.” Every individual and all of humanity must attain it in this
world together. Until one achieves this, he will continue to be born into this
world. The Torah and all the prophets speak exclusively of this. The method of
correction is called “Kabbalah.”
One can change his desires only if one wishes to change them. Man is created
an absolute egoist; he can neither adopt different desires from other people or
from the surrounding world—as his surroundings are just like him—nor does he
have any link to the spiritual worlds, since such a link is possible only through
mutual properties. The spiritual can only be perceived in altruistic desires.
Hence, an individual in our world has no chance of transcending the
boundaries of this world on his own. That is why we were given the Torah
and its most effective part, Kabbalah—to help man acquire the desires of the
spiritual worlds.
>>438473
In order to create man in remoteness to Himself, so that man would realize
his insignificance and would come independently to the desire to ascend, the
Creator created all creation as degrees descending from Him. The Creator’s
Light descended along these degrees, and at the lowest degree, created our world
and man in it. Having realized his insignificance and wishing to ascend to the
Creator, man (to the extent that he wishes to approach the Creator) ascends
along the same degrees by which his initial descent took place.
This is from this translation and commentary of the Zohar, pp. 42-43:
files.kabbalahmedia.info/files/eng_t_ml-sefer-zohar.pdf
>>437252
Kabbalah is a science.
Kabbalists say that Moses got it revealed by angels or directly by God himself.
It's main purpose is to assume things work from a certain perspective which was revealed to them and from that point use the bible as material for their research.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7DX2xKdArY
It's basically something funny to do in your free time and it has nothing to do with religion it's just explaining stuff using symbols.
>>437252
It's just an overly complex religious mambo jambo that Philosofags jerk off to
>>438653
>Kabbalah is a science.
>Kabbalists say that Moses got it revealed by angels or directly by God himself.
Pick one.
>>438716
>We must remember that the Torah speaks only of the spiritual worlds and their laws, which have no obvious consequences in our world. There is a cause-and-effect connection: whatever occurs in our world is a result of a Higher cause, but in no way is it vice versa, i.e., whatever is described in the Upper World does not necessarily need to manifest in ours. To consider the Torah a narrative about our world relegates the Torah of the world of Atzilut, the Creator’s holy names, the Creator’s Light, to the lowest level of creation, which is strictly forbidden: “Do not make an idol for yourself.”
p. 291 of the above source
>>437623
>>Jewish mystism. By doing certain rituals, having secret knowledge, and meditating you can connect directly with God.
this is what the theists believe.
there is no justification to call the first jhanas as the love of god
>them were atheists and Kabbalahism is not compatible with atheism in anyway.
You are a fucking idiot. Where do you think Benjamin came up with his terms for divine law, sacred law and aura? Please.
>>438716
Kabbalists consider it a science not a religion.
They accept the dual aspect of reality - spiritual/material.
