kaballah
thana ag
anathga at hotmail.com
Sun Dec 2 16:22:20 CST 2007
From: anathga at hotmail.com
To: adam at blatner.com
Subject: RE: kaballah
Date: Sun, 2 Dec 2007 22:20:35 +0000
Dear Adam,
Yes. I'd like to receive your files. The article circa 2006,i read, The one circa 1987 -do not remember.
1. The more I think about it the more impressed i am by the parsimony of defining the ego as a "desire to receive": All its fallible wonderfulness seems to be rooted in a desire to receive: Enthusiasm vs. depression. etc.Cut out the desire to receive-and what do you get?!
The name "kabballah" (yes under its many spellings) is derived from the root "kabel" ,which means to receive.
I actually mentioned it only b/c of your hypothesis of the receiving antenna....
2. 125: 5 olamot x 5partzufim (in each olam) x5 sefirot (in each). In case you give me grief ,b/c usually one counts . 10sefirot:5 are included in Zeir Anpin.
The source: Zohar,Baal Hasulam (Baal Hasulam's translation of Ari's Zohar)
3.Good story? Yeah. Thanks.
4. I love your enthusiasm and leap of joy.
anath
From: adam at blatner.com
To: anathga at hotmail.com
Subject: kaballah
Date: Sun, 2 Dec 2007 08:36:55 -0600
Dear Anath, wow!
You know I'm interested in Kabalah (Kabbala,
Kabbalah, Qabalah--- there are multiple spellings, just as there are for
Hanukah!)
And I have
written two (2) papers on the Kabbalistic Etz Khayyim Tree of Life and
psychodrama, published in our journal in 1987 and in 2006! Did you see the
last one!
1. Kabbalists' name for
ego is "the desire to receive" ,that is all we are,a bundle of desires to
receive.
Which resonates with your "antenna" hypothesis....
ab: thanks. One
reservation: I am wary about any statements that seem reductionistic... "all we
are" ---just, only, words like that get my back up. I guess because
I'm not sure what the boundaries and all the functions of ego are, and have more
respect for ego---not overwhelming reverence---it's a most fallible part of
us---but maybe also has its own wisdom operating at its own level.
2. In hebrew the word for world is "olam" which derives
from the root "to obscure","to hide". . What does it obscure ? The full
view of the universe. Ours is the lowest, the darkest of places,where we
receive a picture of reality based on our 5 senses. Those who use other
senses,more refined senses - will experience different worlds, or realities.
ab: I
love what you bring to this conversation. My son and Rabbi Ted Falcon wrote a
book in 2001 titled Judaism for Dummies. He loves the richness and evocative
nature of Hebrew, its word root dynamic, and how etymology is a lively part of
spiritual contemplation.
3. Kabballah has a whole method about reaching the full view: 125 steps to
be precise.
ab: I've
read about Kabbalah for 35 years and I've never encountered that idea. What's
your source? What are the first steps? That's a most intriguing claim!
(smile)
3a Kabballists were known to transcends the
boundaries of time and space, though I doubt they would use their abilities to
locate a missing harp...During Independence war in Israel apparently , the late
Rav Ashlag,the last great Kabbalist made his predictions about the outcome
of the war known to authorities. Could've that somehow affected the
outcome?! One could argue that point. The less anxiety
the more spontaneity etc .He also wanted kabballah to be taught in schools.:
unless we evolve as humans we are forever stuck in this dark,limited world that
we believe is all there ,sbecause our senses tell us so. Once we
changed our view-the view changes. good
story
4 ag:.I seem to find similarities between some of Moreno's
ideas,and the Kabballah : and leap with joy.
ab: me, too. see
beginning. Would you like me to send you files of the papers?
warmly,
adam
anath
From: adam at blatner.com
To: edwhug at verizon.net
Subject: Re:
bl2ed9407
Date: Fri, 30 Nov 2007 21:59:23 -0600
CC:
list at grouptalkweb.org
Dear Ed
& Grouptalk, I recently came upon the following book:
Mayer,
Elizabeth Lloyd. (2007). Extraordinary knowing: science, skepticism, and the
inexplicable powers of the human mind. New York: Bantam.
www.bantamdell.com This highly-reputed,
well-established psychoanalyst died, unfortunately, soon after writing this
book. It's surprisingly good---seems different from just another book on
parapsychology. Her depth psychology angle adds some depth, so I feel
drawn to read it out loud to my wife,
Allee.
If we concede that
a truly anomalous experience occurs not as a random event---this is where
the dynamics overlap with synchronicity---then we are invited to question
our entire paradigm of
causality.
By the way, I have a
hypothesis that explains all this: The mind is not a manufacturer and
transmitter, but rather an antenna, a receiver, especially of more refined
forms of knowledge. In its less-evolved functioning---reptilian and
mammalian brain, chronic defensiveness and simple limbic system functioning,
much of the mind's functioning is relatively rooted in more conventional
theories of reflex and child development, basic psychoanalysis, etc. When
the limbic system relaxes, though, opens to the neurocortex, not only
thinking can enter the picture (in the spirit of Goleman's Emotional
Intelligence book in 1995), but, I suggest (very tentatively), opens to
other dimensions that cannot be explained in terms of ordinary cognition.
The savant syndrome, related conditions with musical ability recently
described by Oliver Sacks, and many other phenomenon transcend any regular
paradigms of mind.
(I somehow see a
parallel with astronomy. In the last thirty years or so, evidence for dark
matter and then dark energy has accumulated. We don't know what these are,
but it seems that as far as the dark matter, it, or something, accounts for
95% of the mass in the cosmos; and in terms of the seeming acceleration of
distance, in its aggregate and
distance, dark energy may express perhaps
a quantity equal to or greater to the explainable types of energy. So more
folks are coming to a fresh start place after the period of the spread of
science and its extension into scientism between the mid-18th and early 21st
century: New frontiers of staggering degrees of mystery are coming to the
surface of our collective awareness.)
I envision many implications
here: What really is hypnosis? What if most kids in a generation or two are
taught self-hypnosis as a matter of course, like learning to read or write?
And also intuition training and related
skills?
What if we accept a
dimensional depth in our lives without having to presume to know what
it means---leaving it without dogma---but yet of course it becomes a
powerful question that shifts the nature of spirituality away from the
authority of an intermediate function (the clergy, the rituals), and towards
a more democratic, populist---I don't know the right words---reaching for
people to discover and explore the spiritual domains using their own symbol
systems?
What if therapy begins to shift toward acknowledging this
dimension?
Theory 2: Psychic phenomena increases with expectation,
meditation, relaxation, feeling safe, letting oneself go into
trance. We as therapists should talk about extraordinary knowing
in as matter-of-fact as taking a sexual history, or a spiritual history. We
might be surprised by the way people will talk about it nowadays, but only
if asked in a truly respectful manner. Well, I'm just warming up to all
this. Open to your comments. warmly, Adam
-----
Original Message -----
From:
Edward
Hug
To:
Adam Blatner
Sent:
Tuesday, September 04, 2007 6:38 AM
Subject:
Re: bl2ed9407
Ho Adam ...
I knew the elf was in there somewhere peeking
out. I look forward to your Christmas designs.
Yes, neuroscience cuts both ways. It is
reductive science, fragmentary and un-wholistic. But it is science, and so
gets the attention of the money people .. agencies and all. But it is also
supportive of more integrative, wholistic approaches .. psychotherapies,
pschoanalysis, even psychodrama. And actually, once you get into it, there
is a kind of Awe in it. Just read Oliver Sacks and you get that there is a
Ghost in the Machine. Reductionistic language and terms of reference in
service of that which is so obviously beyond it. The spiritual aspect
comes through without using the spiritualistic language (so common in New
Age blather). So yes, it is a bridge in this way too!
I guess you've seen Horvatin &
Schreiber's "Quintessential Zerka". I had a peek into it on Amazon.
Seems well written. Captivating. At $54 I'll wait for the paperback
though.
Is your latest paper on your website?
Cheers ... Ed
-----
Original Message -----
From:
Adam
Blatner
To:
Edward
Hug
Sent:
Monday, September 03, 2007 10:56 PM
Subject:
Re: bl2ed9407
Hi Ed, what fun. Well, I'm turning my
attention to a new game, mixing the kinds of drawings / cartoons I've
been putting on my Christmas Holiday letters for 27 years with the
emergent playful elf-based philosophy.
An activity of seeking a kind of wisdom within folly. So this comment
below seems particularly apropos.
EH: Ah yes ... that golden "10% ... where
is it to be found? Is it to be found somewhere OUTSIDE the folly, or is
it to be found WITHIN THE FOLLY ITSELF? My feeling is the latter. What
we CALL "folly" may be wisdom dressed up to fool us .. or rather, to
fool our rational way of thinking. Rather than "devaluing", I like to
think it useful to go exploring for wisdom within that which others
devalue. Nor do I feel pessimistic about all this. Funny thing is, I
think the Elf part of you already knows this!
As for the other things, well,
it sounds as if we are in pretty much agreement. The idea of using
neuroscience to bridge intrigues me. I think psychodrama is wilting ever
further. Did you hear the journal might be closed down and perhaps sold
from lack of contributions?
So my
latest paper says let's unpack Moreno's best ideas and see where they
can be useful.
Warmly,
Adam
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