Qabalah 102: Meditating on The Tree of Life
Jordan RiverAugust 20, 2017
In Qabalah 101 we discussed the history of the Qabalah, and the importance of the commitment to our spiritual journeys, and the path that we are following. If you haven’t read that article yet, you can do so here.
Continuing in this river of consciousness, as we continue in this series now we are going to observe a meditative practice that you can apply towards your experience not only in the Qabalah, but any other spiritual practices that you may find yourself moving into and exploring.
We wish to encourage you to not close off to all of the spiritual teachings that are available, but simply remain open and explorative until you find something that suits you and what you are looking for your journey.
Meditating on the Qabalah
Just knowing logically how the Qabalah is set up is only a tiny portion of the experience of the Tree. Therefore, in order to truly comprehend what this is all about, we must actively seek to experience the aspects of the tree internally, by meditating upon and tapping into the various representations and aspects of each unique place whether they are a Sephiroth or a pathway. It is only by doing so that we may tap into the pathways of energy that move through us, and connect with our spirit in a significant and life-changing way.
May it also be known that the Sephiroth themselves are not a unique experience unto themselves, but each heavily relate with each other in a very significant way. They are inextricably linked through the fabric of reality, and not isolated in any way. It is because of this that we must recognize that although in the beginning you will be asked to meditate upon each Sephirah individually, once you have done so you will be encouraged to meditate upon them in pairs, and then the triangles, and other various components together.
More often than not, a Sephiroth can only be understood in the relationship between it and its opposite. An example of this is the relationship between Netzach and Hod, which could very simply be described as “Feelings and Thoughts”. They go hand in hand with each other, and are not isolated. While you can look at your feelings individually, and your thoughts individually, it is only when perceived together do we find comprehension of why we believe what we believe, and how our personality develops as a result of the two.
Taking this concept further, when you introduce the pathway between these two Sephira you add an entirely new dimension to the experience. The Hebrew letter of this pathway is called “Peh”, which translates to Mouth, and relates to the formation of speech. Speech is very powerful, because it can be used to heal or to harm, to build or to topple, a bridge or a barrier.
Now there are 3 aspects by which you can meditate upon, and even more together. This does not even account for the added symbolism of the Tarot, of which The Tower sits upon this particular pathway, describing the destruction of the ego in revelation of higher truth. The Tower also stands for the tower of Babel, which was a biblical tale speaking of the language barrier among mankind; further adding to the role that speech plays in the connection between our thoughts and feelings.
This is of course, only one example of a long series of exploratory concepts for you to meditate upon, each of which is as rich and filled with wisdom so long as you are willing to strive for it. The meditational examples to follow are the blueprints on how to do just that.
Ultimately, nobody can make you do these meditations but yourself. What you put into it, is what you will get out of it. By pushing yourself and making certain that you do these meditations has the capacity to create tremendous shifts in your life, but only you can see to it that this transpires.
The Basic Meditation:
The simplest meditation that we encourage is for you to create a duration of time and space for yourself every day in an environment that you consider to be sacred, wherever that may be. This could be when you wake up in the morning, when you’re going to bed, or when you have an adequate time during the day for approximately 20 minutes or more of freedom from distractions.
Once you have created this space, review in your mind briefly the sephiroth, pathway, or other elements that you are presenting in this meditation, and think of the various components of them. You might use the article above as a reference point, and re-read the information about whichever sphere you are about to meditate upon. Gather the associated symbolism in your mind, and form an idea of what the sephiroth is about in your head, heart, feelings, and body.
This usually would only take a few moments. Then, set a timer for yourself, whether it’s on your phone or otherwise, for the time that you want to give yourself. If you’re more adept in meditation and have an open space, you can go without a timer; but we will presence that often a timer is quite helpful in grounding a tangible duration for yourself. Without one, you may find yourself wanting to quit early, but if you have a timer — it keeps you in the meditation for the duration of the period. If you have the feeling of desiring to get up sooner, you can insist to your body to stay in meditation until the timer rings.
Once the timer begins, begin to think about the sephiroth (or pathway/circuit/etc) that you are focused upon. Presence the name, repeat it over and over in your mind, visualize it on the tree, and think about the words that you just read. It is completely natural that your mind will begin to wander, and you should let it. You may find after a while that your mind has wandered to far, after which you may gently pull your thoughts back towards the visualization that you started with, and repeat. Oh — and don’t forget to breathe.
This is essentially the process of the meditation. It is incredibly simple, and yet incredibly powerful; for by continually visualizing such symbolism, thoughts, ideas, feelings, and so on — you will continue to form new neural and mental bridges in your mind, elevating your consciousness in ways that you had never even dreamed.
As presented in the Qabalah 101, the biggest ingredient here is your commitment. If you do this for 1 or 2 days and then stop because “nothing happened”, then so shall it be. This is the lackluster results that can be expected from lackluster effort. Only by the continual practice of meditation on a daily basis will you experience the transformative results that come from such a drive. We recently published Qabalah 103: The 10 Sephiroth which covers more information about each specific sphere which you can read to help deepen your understanding and take your meditations further!
Here is a brief list of one way that you could meditate upon these symbols, but feel free to explore then in any way that you should feel compelled.
Day 1 through 10 — Meditate upon each Sephiroth in sequential order
Day 11 through 32 — Meditate upon each Pathway in sequential order
Day 33 through 35 — Meditate upon each Pillar
Day 36 through 39 — Meditate upon each Triangle
Day 40 — Meditate upon the “Quaternary of Form”, which is the bottommost triangle with the addition of Malkuth
Day 41 — Meditate upon the entire tree from Tiphareth and up, excluding the lower 4 Sephiroth
Day 42 — Meditate upon the entire tree
Enjoy!
