What is Kabbalah?

As we begin 2012 we continued to see and hear things about the end of the world It is talked about in the Bible and in Jewish Mysticism known as Kaballah. It seems that such stars as Madonna, Elizabeth Taylor, Winona Ryder, Jeff Goldblum, Courtney Love and Roseanne Barr were all the latest devotees to Kaballah. However, how many of us really know anything about Kaballah? For those of you that don't have a clue, here's a very brief introduction.

Kaballah is based on an ancient book called The Zohar which predates the birth of Christ. A matter of fact, many scholars believe that Jesus was a student of Kabbalah, and he drew many of his teachings from its wisdom. Basically, Kabbalists believe that everything was created from energy referred to as The Light. The Light constantly filters down to man at the lowest level through Sefirot, or attributes of the Light.

Kabbalah in its simplest form teaches that the Light is in each and every man and woman, or in other words, God is in each one of us. We were created so that the Light could share, but in receiving endless Light, mankind (the vessel of receiving) wanted to give back in the likeness of the Light. The Light's sole desire is to fill the vessel with endless Light. Mankind, the vessel, needed to feel a lack or desire in order to be filled up. Thus, man was given his ego. The ego is the key to all desire.

Now, here's the key. Man was given free will in order to give back in the likeness of the Light. Each of us can choose to receive the Light in order to fulfill our own ego or in order to share in the likeness of the Light. Basically, Kabbalah teaches that mankind must exercise restriction. Each of us must stop and think what we want to do with the endless Light as we receive it. It is our choice to use the Light for the selfish desires of the ego or for sharing with others.

Here's a great way to think about this in simple terms. Picture each person (the vessel) as a light bulb. Energy has a negative charge and a positive charge. If the two are restricted from meeting through the filament of the light bulb, the result is light. However, if there is no restriction between the positive and negatively charged energy, the result is that the bulb blows out causing it to turn black, prohibiting the light. Kabbalah teaches that there is positive energy flowing into our right side and negative energy flowing into our left side. It is our choice to use restriction in the center by choosing how to use this energy.

The bottom line is that this energy of creation flowing through every atom is Love. Kabbalah, the ancient wisdom that has lately been attracting stars and average folk alike, in its simplest form teaches us that the world can be changed if each and every one of us chooses to use The Light (God's Love) to share with each other rather than for our own selfish desires of the ego. Want to change the world? Then reject the selfish desires of your ego, and love your fellow man. That's Kabbalah's most basic teaching. Of course, there's a lot more that can be learned and thousands of books on the subject. If you're intereted, www.kabbalah.com is a great place to start.