The 72 Names of God
If you want to be inspired in a new way, read The 72 Names of God.
Like so many Christians, I have been completely unfamiliar with the Jewish faith and the study of Kabbalah. Then I found myself intrigued after reading The Spiritual Universe: One Physicist's Vision of Spirit, Soul, Matter and Self by Fred Alan Wolf.
Regarding Wolf's book: it was not easy going. Reading examples that demonstrate principles of quantum physics - and having trouble understanding them - made me feel senile.
While I know that age plays a big role in how open one's mind (and neural connectors) are to new thoughts and concepts, I was nevertheless shocked at the resistance my mind was giving me to understanding what I was reading.
[Note to self: read more books containing unfamiliar concepts and stretch your mind a bit more.]
Fortunately, most of The Spiritual Universe really was understandable. More importantly to me, it was exciting, for Wolf is a reputable physicist who has presented a quantum model that explains how the soul works and how spirit is the flip side of matter.
In addition, he gives a detailed history of how science has viewed God - being first reliant upon the idea of God and then moving into a purely materialistic perspective.
The animosity that has - mistakenly - arisen between religion and science has occurred at least partially because science cannot verify consciousness.
We know we're conscious, but, according to science - since consciousness can neither be located in space or time nor verified in experiments - for all intents and purposes, consciousness does not exist!
Clearly science can't provide all the answers through its current methodology. Yet neither can religion. We know the earth is billions of years old, not thousands.
In addition, science has provided us with miracles in medicine that we rely upon while, at the same time, disdaining science because it uses a methodology of reproducible results as its basis for research as opposed to "going on faith."
This is nonsense. Science cannot go on faith just as religion cannot be required to provide hard and reproducible proof to justify faith.
The truth is that science and religion must learn to compliment each other and work together, not invalidate each other. However, I digress.
What was most extraordinary for me is that Wolf has come to the conclusion - and he explains how this is a function of quantum physics - that there is only one mind and all our minds are part of it.
This is a relief, for it explains so much. It explains why Master Minding works, why prayer works and why the 100th monkey phenomena exists. It explains, perfectly, why Jesus taught: As you do unto others, so will it be done unto you.
Likewise, it gives credence to the idea - espoused by meditators and mystics of all religions - that as we calm our own minds - when we bring peace to our own inner selves and resolve our own inner conflicts - we actually create peace and resolve conflicts in society as a by-product.
While there is more I could write about Wolf's wonderful book, let me move on to The 72 Names of God.
Better yet, let me just give you the website: www.72.com.
Check it out and try a few meditations. I found them very inspiring.
Jewish traditions are rich and have much to offer everyone in the world, including Christians. Therefore, it is tragic that there are people who, after the Holocaust, continue to practice racism against Jews. It is vital that each of us take a stand against this racism and against every kind of intolerance.
To help combat anti-semitism, which is due to superstitious ignorance - if not just a mindless need to victimize somebody - check out The 72 Names of God for yourself. I'll be surprised if you are not inspired.
The Jews had light, and gladness, and joy, and honor. Esther 8:16
All scripture is given by inspiration of God. 2 Timothy 3:16
All these worketh that one and the self-same Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will. 1 Corinthians 12:11
posted by Clyo @ 2:14 AM
1 comments
1 Comments:
Hi, Clyo,
I dabbled a little in kabbalistic concepts a few years ago; they're interesting and do seem to have some similarity to modern physics (especially since some variants of the Tree of Life depict smaller trees within each sephira, a very fractal concept) but is more of a lesson in the importance of cultivating a psychological balance. What I liked about it was that, although it came from a Judeo-Christian viewpoint, the concepts apply equally, with minor changes, to almost any spiritual view. Their concepts of vibration reflect those seen at every level of the molecular universe. Their sephira reflect the innate sub-personalities everyone has, etc.
I've also read some of Wolf's work (specifically "The Eagle's Quest," linking modern physics with shamanism) & saw him in "What the Bleep Do We Know?" (a somewhat quirky but interesting film). With him and several other scientists, we're starting to explore the idea of "emergent properties;" the idea that some things happen as self-organizing effects of other "lower-level" forms of organization. Consciousness may well be one of those things; what we consider civilization may be another.
Thinking that way, god(s) might in fact be the creation of many sentient minds working together. Sometimes, I think that each species' unique DNA code acts somewhat like a tuning fork: because of the subtle differences in the molecules, each vibrates at a slightly different pitch, and all the members alive collectively provide the energy for a distinct god-form simply by existing. Yet because all Earth DNA is very similar (as opposed to the genetic code of some alien world), we can interact with and get valuable information from the god-forms of other species if we simply pay attention. Listening to those species will help us at least as much as cultivating peace within.
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