kaballah

Mon Jan 21 22:08:26 CST 2008

Dear Adam,Thanks for sending me your article.The reason "the tree" is upside down,is because it shows the descending of the spirit,the dimming of the light. When a man starts his ascension, or correction he climbs from roots up., from bottom to top. But Kabballah describes only the decadence,because it is a process common to all creation. The ascension is individual,therefore there will be individual nuances.,but the general direction will be from lower to higher.  As for the discussion about fear producing messages etc. According to Kaballah we evolve in two ways:,through suffering and fear of more suffering(that is the way of the masses),or via love (something like Moreno' speech a therapeutic agent to another. the hebrew term for it is "arvut") .The second possibility is something one chooses,or not. 
I think every psychodramatist,sociodramatist etc,  committed to  revealing "truth" ,and helping others to tune to their inner voice  -does  a bit of that job.
The goal; no less than all of the humankind.   anath

From: anathga at hotmail.comTo: adam at blatner.comSubject: RE: kaballahDate: Tue, 22 Jan 2008 03:52:09 +0000

Dear Adam,Thanks for sending me your article.The reason "the tree" is upside down,is because it shows the descending of the spirit,the dimming of the light. When a man starts his ascension, or correction he climbs from roots up., from bottom to top. But Kabballah describes only the descendence,because it is a process common to all creation. The ascension is individual,therefore there will be individual nuances.,but the general direction will be from lower to higher.  anath

From: adam at blatner.comTo: anathga at hotmail.comSubject: Re: kaballahDate: Fri, 4 Jan 2008 20:23:42 -0600

----- Original Message ----- 
From: thana ag 
To: Adam Blatner 
Sent: Sunday, December 02, 2007 4:20 PM
Subject: RE: kaballah
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.comTo: anathga at hotmail.comSubject: kaballahDate: 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, adamanath

From: adam at blatner.comTo: edwhug at verizon.netSubject: Re: bl2ed9407Date: Fri, 30 Nov 2007 21:59:23 -0600CC: 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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