The first half of this post is a summary of the traditions pertaining to the Name of God that is inscribed on/in the stone. The second half of this post will show how it is inscribed and provide models to demonstrate that every aspect of the Name(s) including their gematriot are indeed fully inscribed in the (geometry of the) stone as asserted by the sages of Israel.
Please read this post very carefully. It is the first time this knowledge has been brought down as a garment that can be worn by men (clothed in the primal context of its mathematic properties). It should be read at least twice, like the stones that were brought down twice by Moshe; like the megilla heard twice on Purim. The first time it should be read quickly in order to get an overview. The second time it should be read slowly with considerable thought given to each concept.
In the book of Ecclesiastes it is said: “He hath made everything beautiful in its time, also he hath set the world in their heart (the illusion of the physical universe) so that men cannot find out the work that God hath done from the beginning even to the end.” The Aramaic translator adds: “this hints of the Divine Name in [the geometry of] the foundation stone”1.
"The Divine Name was engraved in the foundation stone, and the Lord guarded it in great secrecy, so as not to arouse the ‘evil inclination’ in the hearts of men, who would desire to know, with its help, all that shall come to pass in the end of time, until eternity.”1
"When King David dug the foundation for the Temple, he found a stone resting on ‘the mouth of the abyss’ with the Divine Name on it" (He perceived the link between the 'stone' and the letters of the Name that were inscribed in its geometry). This was the primordial torah that God 'looked into,' a stone having a specific 'measure' (a mathematic system) bound together with the letters of His Name. The stone was then divided (duality was established) and it was brought down (a physical world was created) according to its measured geometry, brought down from its place above 'at the mouth of the abyss.' Math and geometry exist apart from any physical reality, thus this system (contained within the measured geometry of the stone) pre-existed the universe. He put the [physically divided counterpart of the] stone into the Holy of Holy's of the Temple (the luchot were in the ark) 1&4.
The sages of Israel began to fear, lest some young men might learn the Divine Name and destroy the world. To prevent this, they made two brazen lions which they placed on iron pillars by the door of the Holy of Holy's, one on the right and the other on the left5. From this, we learn they understood the significance of "the Name in (the geometry) of the [two halves of the] stone."
It is thus written: "When the Holy One, Blessed be He, was about to create the world, He detached one 'stone' from underneath His throne of glory and plunged it into the abyss. One end of it remained fastened [below] whilst the other end remained above, out of which the world started, spreading itself to the right and to the left1. That 'stone' is called in Hebrew "shetiyah" or "foundation"6. What exactly does all this mean?
In order to clarify: "When the Holy One, Blessed be He, was about to create the world, He detached [the sapphire] 'stone' from underneath His throne of glory and plunged it into the abyss [it was 'brought down' (by Moshe) into the physical universe]. One end of it remained fastened [to the world below (the tablets that were 'received')] whilst the other end remained above [the knowledge that was 'withheld' and an understanding of its divine source in the letters of the Name]. Out of [these letters (the yud and the heh) Sefer Yetzirah 1:1] the world started, spreading itself to the right and to the left (a continuum of one dimension having two directions). He then expanded this one-dimensional universe "into all (6) directions" using the additional letters "yud-key-vav-key" [the 6 letters together creating the 6 directions of this three-dimensional space]. The nature of this progression and the mathematic system behind it, is covered in the post on "The Seven Eyes of God" and expanded upon in "The Story of the Cubit-Cubed." That 'stone' is called in Hebrew "shetiyah" or "foundation"6 [the foundation of the universe being the mathematic/geometric system giving rise to its creation].
The system defined by the measured geometry of the stone includes not only the design of the physical universe, but its past, present and future as well. Hence, "the sages of Israel began to fear, lest some young men might learn the Divine Name [as it pertains to the geometry of the system] and destroy the world." This fear arose from a realization that its letters were quite literally 'inscribed' in the stone. The two lions guarding the Holy of Holies and knowledge of God's Name mentioned above (the gematria of the word lion/aryeh is 216 like the volumetric measure of the two halves which are also 216 in cubic handbreadths) along with other measures like each half being 108 cubic handbreadths and the gematria of the word "half" being 108, serve to show that the Hebrew letters are connected to the physical properties of the stone, but how far does this connection go?
To give the reader a glimpse of the extent of this connection, and how it correlates with the Name inscribed in the geometry, consider the gematria for the four expansions of the Tetragrammaton: the Havayah of Ayin-Bet with a gematria (geometry) of 72, the Havayah of Samech-Gimel with a gematria of 63, the Havayah of Mem-Heh with a gematria of 45, and the Havayah of Bet-Nun with a gematria of 52. We have modeled below the connection between the gematria of the letters and their counterparts which are hidden in the geometry of the foundation stone.
Before we look at these models, please note that each represents the view of an "observer" who is located at one position in time and space (a person can only be in one place at one time). This is due to the limitation of four-dimensional space-time. For example, a cube-shaped object may have six sides, but we can only observe three of those sides at any one time. If the observer moves, the elements of the geometry may appear to be slightly different depending his or her exact position, but the math and geometry of those three visible sides always remain the same. We'll explain why the gematria of these Names pertains only to the visible sides in a moment. In the meantime, what you are about to see should be carefully contemplated.
We'll start with the Havayah of MAH (mem-heh) because it has the smallest gematriot of the Names (45). If you examine the visible borders of either tablet (the borders of a tablet are outlined in bright blue below) you will find it has a total measure of 45 linear handbreadths ((3 x 6) + (3 x 6) + (3 x 3) = 45). This holds true from any one position in time and space, and it is just one example of 'the 45' embedded in the basic geometry of the luchot. Is this just a coincidence? We'll provide additional examples in the next post on "the Supernal Stream."
The previous example above (the Havayah of MAH) involved the one-dimensional geometry of each linear handbreadth. The next example involves the points of intersection between linear handbreadths (these 'points' have zero-dimensionality).
The gematria for the Havayah of BEN (bet-nun) is 52. If you examine the number of points on both of the small visible sides, you will find there are 52 points of intersection. Surely this must be a coincidence too!
The next Name is the Havayah of SAG (samech-gimmel). It has a gematria of 63. Measure the total maximum number of contiguous linear handbreadths attributable to any given small face in combination with any given large face, and you will find exactly 63 linear handbreadths (outlined in bright blue below).
Finally, the largest of the gematriot is that pertaining to the Havayah of AB (ayin-bet) which is 72. This is often referred to as the "Name of 72" because of its gematria, not to be confused with the Triad Havayah of 72, which consists of 72 triplets (72 groups of three letters) which can be found elsewhere in the geometry.
Examine the tablet below and you will see 72 square handbreadths. As in the case of the above examples, these are the elements of its geometry that are visible from any one position in time and space.
18 + 18 + 36 = 72
Why are these examples "limited" to the three visible sides? It is just like our perception of God which is limited to what we can "see" in this physical universe. That is why knowledge of God's Name is paramount if mankind is to survive.
These Name(s) are four of the seven Names in "the supernal stream" (the ARI) and they are but a few examples. Your homework is to find additional examples of the 45, 52, 63 and 72 in the geometry of the luchot, and then the remaining three (of seven) Names which are the expansions of Ehyeh, having the gematria of 143, 151, and 161. Do this and amazing things will open to you.
One final point. The ARI mentions the universe of "bonds, dots and stripes," without much elaboration. Lurianic kabbalah is steeped in math and geometry, and not just letters. Even the vowels possess their own unique geometry. You may have noticed that the shape and orientation of the vowels (as various combinations of dots and lines) are identical to combinations of geometric elements found in the stones (like the lines of vertical and horizontal linear handbreadths and each point of intersection between handbreadths). In the kabbalah of the ARI, the dot (in a vowel) is like a yud, and a horizontal line is like a vav. The yud is the smallest of letters and the line is shaped like the letter vav, so the anology is logical, but it goes far beyond this.
The yud is like a point. Any point in five-dimensional space has ten vectors. What is the gematria of the yud? Ten! The vav is like a line. When you look at the lines emanating from the points in the geometry of the stones, you will see six lines (the six vectors of euclidean space). What is the gematria of the vav? Six! How many measured handbreadths (lines) in any give dimension of the stone? Six! The physical and mathematic properties of letters and vowels are the mirror image of their counterparts in the geometry of the stones. These parallels are particularly pronounced in letters.
The four gutteral letters, for example, plus the four palatal letters, have a gematria (minus the kolel) of 216 (3 x 72) which is the volumetric measure of the stones. It is said that their gematria of 3 x 72 is what gives rise to the remaining 3 phonetic groups (the balance of the letters). We'll let the reader ponder the many implications, but either way, the letters, the vowels, and the Explicit Name, along with it's various forms (consisting of these letters and punctuated with these vowels) are hidden throughout the measure and the geometry of the foundation stone which is the design template for the entire universe (see the post on the primordial torah for specific examples if you've not already done so) and once again, each paragraph and each model of this post should be carefully contemplated. God's Name (inscribed in the foundation stone) is quite literally the template for every aspect of creation: the Name thus "rules" the universe.
One final example, the Tetragrammaton itself (yud-key-vav-key / YHWH) has a gematria of 26. The yud is 10, the heh is 5, the vav is 6, and the final heh is 5 (10 + 5 + 6 + 5 = 26). How many elements are there in the geometry of a cube? There are 8 points, 6 faces, and 12 lines, for a total of 26 geometric elements (8 + 6 + 12 = 26). These parallel facets of geometry allude to the bond between the Name of the Creator and the mathematic system attached to the measured properties of the foundation stone, the primordial template by which the universe is measured.
The pinnacle of human consciousness is a knowledge of God's Name.
If this is the first time you've read this page, please re-read it before progressing to the next construct on "The Supernal Stream" which will provide answers to the homework questions asked above.
_______
Footnote 1 - Source for some of the above text is from Z. Vilnay's "Legends of Jerusalem" Sefer v'Sefel Publishing, Jerusalem, quoting: Abbott de-Rabbi Nathan (1) 36. Pesikta de-Rab Kahana 148a. Ecclesiastes 3:11, and the Aramaic translation (Targum Yerushalami) to Exodus 28:30.
Footnote 2 - The stated prohibition (of pronouncing the Name letter for letter) and its consequences are time-related and context-specific. It was known among the sages of Israel, when and under what circumstances it would be appropriate. Later kabbalists contend that we are no longer able to purify ourselves as required (absent the parah adumah) and that it is sufficient to 'know' how to move and pronounce.
Footnote 3 - The foundation stone is the "cube" [of creation] or combined cubic form of the luchot mentioned in the post on the primordial torah, with its unique geometry that results in a volumetric measure of 216 cubic handbreadths. The (216) letters are thus 'inscribed [in the geometry] of the stone (along with each of the other Names).
Footnote 4 - This refers to the divided state of "the foundation stone" in the form of two tablets that were placed in the ark, which was in the temple.
Footnote 5 - The two (brazen) lions alludes to the two camps of angels known as the 216 lions, with 108 in each camp (see the post on VaYishlach and the explanation of the twin camps). It also alludes to the 'waters' that rose up to the right, and to the left, when the sea of reeds was parted (by use of this Name) at the time of the exodus (see the post on BeShalach). The gematria of the Hebrew phrase HaEvanim ("the stones" referring to the shnei luchot) is the volumetric measure of each stone (108 cubic handbreadths) the two being 2 x 108 cubic handbreadths in volume (2 x 108 = 216).
Footnote 6: The Zohar, II, 1867, pg 222; III, pg 131
No comments:
Post a Comment