The Essential Works of Kabbalah. Bernhard Pick

from out of the mazes of this labyrinthine subject of Kabbalah, the question may be asked, how is it that a work like The Zohar has been suffered to drop out of popular notice so as to become comparatively unknown, except to a few ardent and zealous students. During the last century a great amount of interest was exhibited by savants and scholars in the science of comparative Religion and the sacred books of all nations, especially those of ancient Persia, Egypt, and India, were subjects of profound researches and investigations by learned Orientalists such as Max Muller, Whitney, and a host of others, all noted for their philosophical and literary attainments. But The Zohar, the Book of Light, has been passed by, ignored and unappreciated, so that its existence is scarcely known. What is the reason for such neglect, so strange and anomalous? Among the many reasons that may be advanced in explanation of this universal neglect is the fact that the study and comprehension of this book demand, from students in general qualifications they do not possess, viz., a knowledge of occultism and an acquaintance with those correspondences and analogies which are an essential sine qua non in the acquisition of spiritual science and learning. The natural man, as St. Paul observed centuries ago, however learned and advanced in art and science, cannot understand the things of the spirit, nay, he will frequently have to quit or rid himself of many preconceived notions and prejudices, the result of his learning, and become as teachable as a little child ere he eau take a single step or advance in spiritual science and philosophy. The majority of students in public colleges and institutions, imbued with the commercial spirit of the age, are actuated in their labors and studies greatly by motives of gain, and the acquisition of wealth and position, are content and willing to follow in the world's train instead of becoming its leaders, its guides, and directors to a higher and truer knowledge of the philosophy of human life and existence. It has not always been so. Great and learned and true men there have been, who in the study of The Zohar found a philosophy which expanded their minds and purified their natures from the defilement of those mercenary motives, which are at the present time so rampant and prevalent in all classes and grades of society. There are, however, looming up in the mental horizon of the world, indications of a deep and earnest desire and craving after a learning that shall ennoble human nature and not lead it into bypaths of error and illusion. Men are observing and detecting in the study of past systems of religion and philosophy something that was true, and therefore worth retaining and cherishing, and also recognizing that the end, the aim, and object of all of them, was the renovation and purification of human nature and its exaltation to a higher plane of thought and experience. This was their chief raison d’etre as formulated and expressed in The Zohar. In it, as in a deep mine, are to be found embedded veins and nuggets of valuable truths more precious than gold or rubies, but which must he delved for and excavated as miners toil and delve for gold and other minerals. All knowledge that is worth having, that which enriches and endows us with a wealth of power and strength to conquer nature and attain the goal of our destiny, implies labor and toil protracted and ofttimes wearying; involves self-sacrifice and self-denial, frequently painful and trying, but when acquired, gives us the right to take of "the tree of life" whose fruits and leaves in the symbolic words of the Apocalypse are for the healing of the nations. This knowledge it is that frees us from the trammels and bondage of sensual desire and indulgence and brings in its train self-conquest, the greatest of all victories, the noblest of all human achievements. Some years ago, a great general lay mortally wounded on his pallet bed within his tent, surrounded by brother officers and comrades on many a hard fought field of battle. The sands of life were fast running out. To cheer his last moments some one whispered, "Bring the record of his victories and read it to him ere he leaves us." It was brought and read. Scarcely was it finished when the departing warrior with a painful effort raised himself up on his elbow and said:

      "There is one victory unrecorded."

      And to their questions of astonishment, when and where it occurred, he replied: "On such a day I conquered myself," and with these words, the last he uttered, that great soul entered into the rest that remaineth for all of us who achieve the victory over Self. Let this be realized, then commences the true life within us, the great object of all our incarnations. May we learn the "open sesame" of the higher life, which is the ultimate heritage and acquisition to be enjoyed by all mankind. 'The struggle to attain to it is arduous and attended with conflicts of inward anguish and pain known only to the combatant. It is, however, a struggle that ennobles and strengthens us to hear and suffer, silently and uncomplaining, life's heavy burden of sorrows, and disappointments, to stand calm, steadfast and unmoved amidst the debris and wreckage of hopes blighted and withered, of fairy visions dispelled and faded away, of aspirations, desires, longings and anticipations unrealized, for the gold law, or, in other words, the divine is with us and in us, teaching us, educating us, preparing and qualifying us all for something better and grander, something more enduring and lasting than the fleeting hopes and dreams of the past, a something which in the words of the saintly Spinoza is the enjoyment and participation of the "One true, and immutable life," man's highest happiness and the source of that tranquility of mind and soul which springs from the. intuitive knowledge and perception of the divine in nature as' also in ourselves.

      Then is it that old things pass away and all things become new, and to us again the words of that wonderful and occult book, the Apocalypse, or the Book of Revelation, there is for us no more death, and sorrow and crying no more, for the tabernacle of the divine life is within us, transforming us into children of Zohar, or Light, that shall never become dimmed throughout all Lyons of time, then also, even in our present incarnation,

      "Though too weak to tread the ways of truth

      This age fall back to old idolatry,

      Though men return to servitude a fact

      As the tide ebbs, to ignominy and shame

      By nations sink together, we shall still

      Find solace--knowing what we have learned to know

      Rich in true happiness, if allowed to be

      Faithful alike in forwarding a day

      Of greater Light, joint laborers in the work

      Of their deliverance, surely yet to come,

      Prophets of Nature, we to them will speak

      A lasting inspiration, sanctified

      By reason, blest by faith; what we know and love

      Others will love, and we will teach them how;

      Instruct them how the soul of man becomes

      A thousand times more beautiful than the earth

      On which we live and dwell above this frame of things

      In light and beauty exalted, as it is itself

      Of quality and fabric more divine."

      End of Introduction.

      Introduction.

      The Lily

       Table of Contents

      THE students of Rabbi Simeon were assembled together and sitting in silence, waiting for the master to begin his discourse. At length Rabbi Simeon spake, and said: "As a lily amongst the thorns." (Cant. 2:2) This word lily, what doth it mean and symbolize? It symbolizes the congregation of Israel; and as lilies are either red or white in color, so the members of this congregation are divided into two classes, distinguished by their rigorous justice and uprightness, or by their gentleness, kindness and compassion. These are environed about with thirteen ways or degrees of mercy, as the lily has thirteen leaves surrounding it on all sides. Furthermore, intervening between the first and second Elohim or Alhim, mentioned in Genesis, are thirteen words corresponding to these thirteen leaves of the lily and the degrees of mercy surrounding the congregation of Israel. The divine name Alhim is mentioned again, and wherefore? In order to show the symbolic meaning of the five strong leaves which surround the lily, the occult meaning of which has reference to the five ways of salvation, corresponding to five gates of mercy. Respecting this mystery of five, it is written: "I will take the cup of salvation," (Ps. 116:13) which is the cup of blessing, and which must stand or repose upon five fingers only, similar to the lily supported