Download or read book Ecstatic Kabbalah written by David A. Cooper and published by ReadHowYouWant.com. This book was released on 2010-10-29 with total page 130 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Kabbalah the secret is out! From Madonna's controversial conversion to the Dalai Lama's acknowledgment and support, this mystical tradition is gaining unprecedented recognition. But how do we put this powerful and esoteric worldview into practice? With The Ecstatic Kabbalah, Rabbi David Cooperauthor of God Is a Verb (100, 000 copies sold, Riverhead, 1958), and a renowned leader of the Jewish meditation movementprovides practical exercises on the path toward mending the soul, the fundamental Jewish experience that brings union with the Divine. With meditation techniques for both beginning and advanced practitioners, The Ecstatic Kabbalah guides listeners into awareness of the presence of light with experiential practices for touching the four worlds of mystical Judaism:
Download or read book Studies in Ecstatic Kabbalah written by Moshe Idel and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 2012-02-01 with total page 195 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book presents important topics regarding the more mystical trend of Kabbalah—the ecstatic Kabbalah. It includes the mystical union, the world of imagination, and concentration as a spiritual technique. The emphasis in the text is on the interaction between the "original" Spanish stage of Kabbalah and Muslim mysticism in the East, mainly in the Galilee. The influence of the Kabbalistic-Sufic synthesis on the later developments of Jewish mysticism is traced, thereby providing a more precise understanding of the history of Kabbalah as an interplay between the theosophical and ecstatic mystical experiences.
Download or read book The Mystical Experience in Abraham Abulafia written by Moshe Idel and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 2012-02-01 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book represents the first wide-scale presentation of a major Jewish mystic, the founder of the ecstatic Kabbalah. It includes a description of the techniques employed by his master, including the role of music. There is a discussion of the characteristics of his mystical experience and the erotic imagery by which it was expressed. Based on all the extant manuscript material of Abulafia, this book opens the way to a new understanding of Jewish mysticism. It points to the importance of the ecstatic Kabbalah for the later developments in mystical Judaism.
Download or read book Kabbalah written by Shahar Arzy and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2015-01-01 with total page 217 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "In this original study, Moshe Idel, an eminent scholar of Jewish mysticism and thought, and the cognitive neuroscientist and neurologist Shahar Arzy combine their considerable expertise to explore the mysteries of the Kabbalah from an entirely new perspective: that of the human brain. In lieu of the theological, sociological, and psychoanalytic approaches that have generally dominated the study of ecstatic mystical experiences, the authors endeavor to decode the brain mechanisms underlying these phenomena. Arzy and Idel analyze first-person descriptions to explore the Kabbalistic techniques employed by most prominent Jewish mystics to effect bodily reduplications, dissociations, and other phenomena, and compare them with recent neurological observationsand modern-day laboratory experiments. The resultant study offers readers a scientific, more brain-based understanding of how ecstatic Kabbalists achieved their most precious mystical experiences. The study further demonstrates how these Kabbalists have long functioned as pioneering investigators of the human self"--
Download or read book The Everything Kabbalah Book written by Mark Elber and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2011-12-15 with total page 418 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Furnishing an accessible introduction to the traditions and teachings of the Kabbalah, this informative volume discusses the origins, history, study, and trends of Jewish mysticism, covering such topics as meditation and mystical techniques, the Kabbalahistic theory of creation and the human role in the universe, Kabbalahistic philosophy, and more.
Download or read book Kabbalah written by Moshe Idel and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 1988-01-01 with total page 444 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this prizewinning new interpretation of Jewish mysticism, Moshe Idel emphasizes the need for a comparative and phenomenological approach to Kabbalah and its position in the history of religion. Idel provides fresh insights into the origins of Jewish mysticism, the relation between mystical and historical experience, and the impact of Jewish mysticism on western civilization. "Idel's book is studded with major insights, and innovative approaches to the entire history of Judaism, and mastery of it will be essential for all serious students of Jewish thought."--Arthur Green, New York Times Book Review "Moshe Idel's original, scholarly, and stimulating study of Kabbalah contains the promise of a masterwork."--Elie Wiesel "Moshe Idel's book can help the nonspecialized reader to reconsider the whole of Kabbalistic tradition in comparison with many aspects of contemporary thought."--Umberto Eco "There can be no dispute about the importance and originality of Idel's work. Offering a wealth of complementary insights to Gershom Scholem and his school, it will command a great deal of attention and serious discussion."--Alexander Altmann
Download or read book The Serpent Kills Or the Serpent Gives Life written by Robert Sagerman and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2011-01-07 with total page 399 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Representing a careful contextual study of the writings of the influential Jewish mystic Abraham Abulafia (1240 – c. 1291), this book demonstrates that an inner dynamic of attraction and revulsion toward Christianity shaped Abulafia’s mystical hermeneutic and meditative practice.
Download or read book Kabbalah in Italy 1280 1510 written by Moshe Idel and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2011-01-01 with total page 394 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This survey of the history of Kabbalah in Italy represents a major contribution from one of the world's foremost Kabbalah scholars. Idel charts the ways that Kabbalistic thought and literature developed in Italy and how its unique geographical situation facilitated the arrival of both Spanish and Byzantine Kabbalah.
Download or read book Zohar the Book of Enlightenment written by Daniel Chanan Matt and published by Paulist Press. This book was released on 1983 with total page 340 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the first translation with commentary of selections from The Zohar, the major text of the Kabbalah, the Jewish mystical tradition. This work was written in 13th-century Spain by Moses de Leon, a Spanish scholar.
Download or read book And They Shall Be One Flesh On The Language of Mystical Union in Judaism written by Adam Afterman and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2016-08-29 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In “And They Shall Be One Flesh”: On the Language of Mystical Union in Judaism, Adam Afterman offers an extensive study of mystical union and embodiment in Judaism. Afterman argues that Philo was the first to articulate the notion of unio mystica in Judaism and is the source of the henōsis mysticism in the later Neoplatonic tradition. The study provides a detailed analysis of the Jewish medieval trends that developed different forms of mystical union and mystical embodiment through the divine name and spirit. The book argues that the development of unitive mysticism in Judaism is the fruit of the creative synthesis of rabbinic Judaism and Hellenistic and Arab philosophy, and a natural outcome of the theological articulation of the idea of monotheism itself.
Download or read book Kabbalah A Guide for the Perplexed written by Pinchas Giller and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2011-10-27 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Kabbalah: A Guide for the Perplexed is a concise and accessible introduction to the major elements of the prevalent metaphysical system of Judaism, Kabbalah. The book covers the historical and theoretical essence of Kabbalah, offering a clear definition of the term and the limitations of what Kabbalah is and is not. Pinchas Giller provides an overview of the history of the movement, reflecting the sweep of Jewish history as a whole, and examines its metaphysical system, the advanced mythos of early and later Luria, doctrines of the soul, and the mysteries of Jewish religious practice and law. The book concludes with a summary of the contemporary kabbalistic phenomena, particularly in light of the notoriety of some modern purveyors of Kabbalah. As cogent and objective as possible, this is the ideal companion for those wishing to gain a sound understanding of this often perplexing mystical aspect of Judaism.
Download or read book Kabbalah written by Perle Epstein and published by Shambhala Publications. This book was released on 2001-02-13 with total page 193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Unraveling the web of ancient traditions hidden in such texts as the Sefer Yetzirah and the Zohar, this book traces history and offers an accessible introduction to understanding Kabbalah and its practices. Jewish mysticism has flourished—sometimes brilliantly, sometimes darkly—over five thousand years. This pioneering, popular text on Jewish mysticism was the first written for a general audience, and in it, Perle Besserman offers a lively and accessible introduction to the methods, schools, and practitioners of this intriguing world. She traces the history of Kabbalah through the lives of its illustrious scholars and saints and unravels the web of ancient traditions hidden in such texts as Sefer Yetzirah and the Zohar. Running through these pages are the words of the outstanding Kabbalists and mystics—including Simeon bar Yohai, Isaac Luria, Abraham Abulafia, and the Baal Shem Tov—giving instructions on practices ranging from contemplation of the Bible’s secret teachings to ritual, ecstatic prayer, and intensive meditation.
Download or read book Kabbalah written by Perle Besserman and published by Shambhala Publications. This book was released on 2018-08-21 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Unraveling the web of ancient traditions hidden in such texts as the Sefer Yetzirah and the Zohar, this book traces history and offers an accessible introduction to understanding Kabbalah and its practices. Jewish mysticism has flourished—sometimes brilliantly, sometimes darkly—over five thousand years. This pioneering, popular text on Jewish mysticism was the first written for a general audience, and in it, Perle Besserman offers a lively and accessible introduction to the methods, schools, and practitioners of this intriguing world. She traces the history of Kabbalah through the lives of its illustrious scholars and saints and unravels the web of ancient traditions hidden in such texts as Sefer Yetzirah and the Zohar. Running through these pages are the words of the outstanding Kabbalists and mystics—including Simeon bar Yohai, Isaac Luria, Abraham Abulafia, and the Baal Shem Tov—giving instructions on practices ranging from contemplation of the Bible’s secret teachings to ritual, ecstatic prayer, and intensive meditation.
Download or read book Absorbing Perfections written by Moshe Idel and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2008-10-01 with total page 686 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this wide-ranging discussion of Kabbalah—from the mystical trends of medieval Judaism to modern Hasidism—one of the world’s foremost scholars considers different visions of the nature of the sacred text and of the methods to interpret it. Moshe Idel takes as a starting point the fact that the postbiblical Jewish world lost its geographical center with the destruction of the temple and so was left with a textual center, the Holy Book. Idel argues that a text-oriented religion produced language-centered forms of mysticism. Against this background, the author demonstrates how various Jewish mystics amplified the content of the Scriptures so as to include everything: the world, or God, for example. Thus the text becomes a major realm for contemplation, and the interpretation of the text frequently becomes an encounter with the deepest realms of reality. Idel delineates the particular hermeneutics belonging to Jewish mysticism, investigates the progressive filling of the text with secrets and hidden levels of meaning, and considers in detail the various interpretive strategies needed to decodify the arcane dimensions of the text.
Download or read book God in Your Body written by Jay Michaelson and published by GodinYourBody.com. This book was released on 2007 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Your body is the place where heaven and earth meet. The greatest spiritual achievement is not transcending the body but joining body and spirit together. But to do this, you must break through assumptions that draw boundaries around the Infinite and wake up to the body as the site of holiness itself. This groundbreaking book is the first comprehensive treatment of the body in Jewish spiritual practice and an essential guide to the sacred. With meditation practices, physical exercises, visualizations and sacred text, you will learn how to experience the presence of the Divine in, and through, your body. And by cultivating an embodied spiritual practice, you will transform everyday activities--eating, walking, breathing, washing--into moments of deep spiritual realization, uniting sacred and sensual, mystical and mundane.
Download or read book Like Angels on Jacob s Ladder written by Harvey J. Hames and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 2012-02-01 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores the career of Abraham Abulafia (ca. 1240–1291), self-proclaimed Messiah and founder of the school of ecstatic Kabbalah. Active in southern Italy and Sicily where Franciscans had adopted the apocalyptic teachings of Joachim of Fiore, Abulafia believed the end of days was approaching and saw himself as chosen by God to reveal the Divine truth. He appropriated Joachite ideas, fusing them with his own revelations, to create an apocalyptic and messianic scenario that he was certain would attract his Jewish contemporaries and hoped would also convince Christians. From his focus on the centrality of the Tetragrammaton (the four letter ineffable Divine name) to the date of the expected redemption in 1290 and the coming together of Jews and Gentiles in the inclusiveness of the new age, Abulafia's engagement with the apocalyptic teachings of some of his Franciscan contemporaries enriched his own worldview. Though his messianic claims were a result of his revelatory experiences and hermeneutical reading of the Torah, they were, to no small extent, dependent on his historical circumstances and acculturation.
Download or read book The Kabbalah of Light written by Catherine Shainberg and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2022-06-28 with total page 495 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: • Shares 159 short exercises and practices to tap instantly into your subconscious mind and receive answers to your most important questions • Explains how to dialogue with and understand the imagery and metaphors that arise during these practices • Offers powerful practices to discover your areas of “stuckness” and quickly clear them, thus releasing past traumas and ancestral patterns and freeing the flow of the imagination for enhanced creativity and joy in life In this step-by-step guide to kabbalistic practices to connect with your natural inner genius and liberate the light within you, Catherine Shainberg reveals how to tap instantly into the subconscious and receive answers to urgent questions. This method, called the Kabbalah of Light, originated with Rabbi Isaac the Blind of Posquieres (1160-1235) and has been passed down by an ancient kabbalistic family, the Sheshet of Gerona, in an unbroken transmission spanning more than 800 years. The modern lineage holder of the Kabbalah of Light, Shainberg shares 159 short experiential exercises and practices to help you begin dialoguing with your subconscious through images. The images that pop up during these practices are unexpected and revelatory, and she discusses how to open them to greater understanding. At first, they may show you aspects of yourself you don’t like. But seeing them serves as both a diagnosis and a direct path to transformation. Fast and simple, the practices can help you discover your areas of “stuckness,” release past traumas and ancestral patterns, free the imagination, and open the way to the bliss promised us in the Garden of Eden. Beginning this fertile dialogue with your inner world leads you to uncover your soul’s purpose and manifest your dreams in this world. Once your inner dream world and outer reality have merged, you will be able to see your superconscious--your soul’s blueprint--and experience the ecstatic illumination of a heart-centered life.
