KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY Becoming One With God NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ Translated by IGOR SOLUNAC Protean Media To my parents. Your suffering led me to this quest. Thank you for your unconditional love and the time we shared on this planet. CON TEN TS Introduction Foreword vii ix PART I THE MYSTICAL FOUNDATIONS OF FREEMASONRY 1. The Essence of Freemasonry 2. Ancient Mysteries 3. Masonic Ritual from 1717 to 1813 CE 4. Expectations of Esoteric Freemasons in the Twenty-First 3 8 12 20 century PART II KABBALAH 5. What is Kabbalah? 6. The Zohar 7. The Tree of Life 8. Sefirot as Creative Forces In the Development of the World 9. Human Consciousness and the Tree of Life 10. The Hebrew Alphabet and Names of God 11. Isaac Luria Ari 25 40 46 55 63 72 85 PART III KABBALAH & FREEMASONRY 12. Know Thyself 13. Silence and Speech 14. The Great Architect of the Universe 15. Soul 16. Brotherly Love and Giving 17. The Lost Word 18. King Solomon: The First and the Second Temple 93 104 115 129 146 158 170 PART IV ENLIGHTENMENT 19. Back to the Beginning 20. What is Enlightenment 21. Prophecy 189 191 198 Afterword Acknowledgments Bibliography Notes 203 205 207 211 INTRODUCTION One lifetime is not enough to study Kabbalah and Freemasonry. A purely intellectual approach to this wisdom has no merit unless we apply what we have learnt in everyday life. The purpose is to live Kabbalah and Freemasonry and, in doing so, move toward the goal intended for us all—unity with God. This book is not meant to explain the deepest concepts, nor is it intended for those Brethren who have seriously studied Kabbalah for a long time. It is supposed to be merely an introduction and, for those who get interested, a potential handbook and guidepost for further research. My goal was to point out an unbreakable bond between Kabbalah and Freemasonry, as well as to tickle the imagination of those Freemasons who have an affinity for the more esoteric aspects of their Order. Every Freemason should at least have some basic knowledge about Ancient Mysteries whose teachings present the essence of Freemasonry—teachings that had been completely neglected over the centuries. Kabbalah is most certainly the spiritual heritage of mankind that Freemasonry ought to be keeper of, and possibly its largest representative in history. It is up to Brethren to assess how much Freemasonry has succeeded in it, as well as which vii INTRODUCTION road it is planning on taking in the future, so that the flame that has existed since the dawn of time would continue burning and being passed on until the ultimate completion of man’s spiritual development that God had in mind when creating the world. viii FOREWORD Freemasons BELIEVE in the existence of the Supreme Being; Kabbalists KNOW that He exists. In the beginning there was only God and His endless Light. Then God had a CREATION THOUGHT. To create Creation and give it fulfillment of every kind. MAN is the ultimate goal of creation that God had in mind when He decided to create the world. The spiritual and material worlds are there to help and serve man. There was no plan for man to suffer in any way. Death was not part of the plan either. This is how it was with the first man, Adam. He had direct contact with God. He was happy and fulfilled. He was just like his Creator. Then Adam sinned in Eden, thus breaking the covenant with God and the time of suffering and death ensued. The FALL OF MAN took place. ix FOREWORD God hid Himself from the direct human understanding by placing veils between Himself and them. The purpose of life is to renew the state we once had. TO BECOME LIKE GOD AGAIN. To gradually remove the veils that separate us. That implies a complete change in human nature, from the selfish toward a giving and altruistic one. Only then will we correct and free the Soul. The Human Soul is a REAL ENTITY. It is our true BEING. The material body only serves as the means for correction of the Soul, so it would go back to its source and BECOME ONE WITH GOD AGAIN. This requires several reincarnations, but in the end, everyone will accomplish it and all human Souls will become one again, as they had been from the outset. Every event in our lives is a lesson sent directly by God for the purpose of improving our personality and correction of our Souls. The spiritual path is raising of consciousness, recognition of these lessons and the knowledge of things that we must correct in ourselves. The Path to Light is daily training and exercise. It is hard to walk it alone. There are tools to help us on the way. HAPPINESS is the basic parameter of whether we are on the right path. EVERY HUMAN BEING can become COMPLETELY FULFILLED, spiritually, health-wise, emotionally and materially in every way. x FOREWORD This is not a New Age text. These are ancient pearls of wisdom that have been around since the dawn of time. xi PART I THE MYSTICAL FOUNDATIONS OF FREEMASONRY CHAPTER 1 THE ESSENCE OF FREEMASONRY W hen the Premier Grand Lodge was founded in London in 1717, which marked the official beginning of Freemasonry, hardly anybody could anticipate just how much the project was to develop. The speed of expansion and scope of membership have exceeded any other form of organization that had been seen until that point. Today, the Masonic Fraternity is the most numerous fraternity in history. It is present in almost all countries on the planet, with millions of members, whose exact number is impossible to determine. In its three centuries of existence, the magnetic pull of the Order brought together the most intelligent people, genius artists and scientists, as well as those who ruled the planet in the ages they lived in, from kings to politicians. The unavoidable question is: what is the magic of Freemasonry all about? What is the essence that for centuries held together so many renowned people, freethinkers of pure hearts and wise heads? The answer is still not entirely clear, although countless Masonic researchers are struggling to find it in many works and analyses. Tens of thousands of papers on Freemasonry are thought to have been 3 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ published so far, but answers to many questions are still sought and it is uncertain whether they will ever be found. That is probably what the unknown founders of Freemasonry wanted. The wise minds, whose identity has never been revealed, had set the course with almost divine wisdom and then withdrew into the shadows of anonymity, much like true adepts from the dawn of time have always done. We are still putting in a lot of effort to understand at least a fraction of their true intentions and scratch the surface of ancient wisdom that they had left for us to inherit. I will try to offer a few possible answers to the question by following the guidelines that had been set out by the great Masonic thinker and writer Walter Leslie Wilmshurst (1867-1939). First of all, Freemasonry offers great possibilities to fulfill social ambitions and affinities toward belonging and joining forces with a multitude of renowned people who had become members of the Fraternity. From the point of view of someone who has similar needs, this answer could be perfectly satisfactory. However, from the founders’ point of view, it is completely irrelevant and pointless. Would the adepts create such an organization merely to fulfill a social and status component? Such a reply would only devolve the value of a huge, wise project and make the entire experiment completely banal. Another possibility would be that Freemasonry is a channel for performing acts of charity, which is undoubtedly one of its activities. It would be more appropriate to say that this is only a secondary product of the main idea, which grossly surpasses exclusively philanthropic activities of its members. There are many organizations in the world that have identical goals, but to obtain membership in them, it is not necessary to undergo any form of initiation, nor do they offer any deeper insights or truths apart from pure charity. The conclusion is that this reasoning does not justify the need for creation of Freemasonry, either. 4 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY The Masonic Order can be characterized as a school of morals and ethical principles which the members are taught. One could claim again that this would be too simple a quality and reason for the birth of our Fraternity. If we accept the grandiosity and genius of the way in which Freemasonry is woven together, this postulate as a foundation of everything must be fully rejected, too, as ethics and morals are taught in all educational institutions. Could it be even conceivable that the greatest minds of our civilization would be joining a fraternity for three centuries, one where they have had to make very serious vows just so they would sit and listen about the basic moral precepts? Maybe the whole idea was grounded in a desire to use Freemasonry as an instrument for quickly attracting membership in order to surpass the number of those who were not members of the order, for the sole purpose of accomplishing political goals and some form of global leadership. Such an idea is most often used as a means of attacking the Fraternity, but it is so superficial and profane—what Freemasonry offers is far more than such banal material benefits. The objective of Freemasonry is the exact opposite of the lowest urges of the human ego, and it represents a teaching on how to conquer those. When each of these offered suggestions is discarded, the solution presents itself. The magic of Freemasonry is contained in its ritual which convey teachings on the essence of existence, present from the beginning of the Universe, wrapped in allegory and legend, and illustrated by symbols. Even though a huge percentage of the Masonic Fraternity is unaware of this fact, the Brethren still feel pulsations that stem from the ritual and understand, albeit only on a subconscious level, that they are in the presence of something deep, which touches the very core of their being. For more than two centuries, the Masonic researchers have had the same unchained interests when it comes to the rituals. What did they originally look like and what kind of lessons were they conveying? 5 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ Since when have they retained their present-day form? Who are the authors? Do they carry a great mystery of life? The answers could be divided into two groups. The first one advocates a stance supporting their existence since the dawn of time, as certain forefathers of the Masonic thought and literature used to say, geniuses and tireless seekers of the ancient knowledge woven into the Masonic teachings. The second appeared in the first half of the twentieth century and its conclusions are exclusively based on historical facts and available proof. It is advocated by the contemporary Masonic researchers who follow a scientific methodology, and not on speculations and legends. Among the greatest Masonic researchers of old times—such as W. Preston, A. Pike, A. G. Mackey, G. Oliver, R. F. Goulde, A. E. Waite, C. Vail and W. L. Wilmshurst—there is not a trace of doubt that the goal of establishing Freemasonry was to institutionalize the teachings of Ancient Mysteries. However, as this hypothesis is not supported by verifiable historic evidence, it must be approached intuitively and not in a strictly scientific way. The contemporary researchers insist on there being firm evidence for every stated fact concerning many doubts about the origins, goals, founders and many other subjects in Freemasonry. Some of them negate any sort of esoteric in the ritual and look with disdain on the works of the above-mentioned giants of the Masonic thought, even calling them naive! However, when joining the Fraternity and during the Initiation, it is said that the new Brother will receive the secrets of Ancient Mysteries. This fact has been neglected to such a degree that most Freemasons do not even try to learn about the basics of these teachings, nor to gain information about their essence. The Masonic instructions per se rarely reveal the essence in an explicit manner, so each individual Brother is left to search and form his own conclusions. 6 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY I would like to quote Brother Albert Pike, who had devoted his life to the search of ancient knowledge, study of mysteries, their symbols and rituals, and then looked for a connection with the beginnings of Freemasonry, trying to weave them back into the Freemasons’ rites. In his book Morals and Dogma, he states: Through the veil of a! the hieratic and mystic a!egories of the ancient dogmas, under the seal of a! the sacred writings, in the ruins of Nineveh or Thebes, on the worn stones of the ancient temples, and on the blackened face of the sphinx of Assyria or Egypt, in the monstrous or marvelous pictures which the sacred pages of the Vedas translate for the believers of India, in the strange emblems of our old books of alchemy, in the ceremonies of reception practiced by a! the mysterious Societies, we find the traces of a doctrine, everywhere the same, and everywhere carefu!y concealed. The occult philosophy seems to have been the nurse or the godmother of a! religions, the secret lever of a! the inte!ectual forces, the key of a! divine obscurities, and the absolute Queen of Society, in the ages when it was exclusively reserved for the education of the Priests and Kings. 7 CHAPTER 2 ANCIENT MYSTERIES T he term Ancient Mysteries is relatively new and denotes all mystery systems that had existed in ancient times in all parts of the world. What they have in common, regardless of the epoch or region where they existed, is that they all conveyed the same Secret Tradition or Ancient Wisdom. The Secret Tradition is also a relatively new concept introduced in Theosophy, and it is used to denote a teaching on loss that befell the original mankind with memories of that loss that are present in the form of various symbols, as well as a way of regeneration and renewal of the mankind which will surely happen and compensate for that which had been lost. The loss refers to the so-called Fall of Man and Adam’s sin in the Garden of Eden. The direct relationship between mankind and God had been broken and the humans became unaware of their Souls and God’s existence. Instead of a life filled with blessings, an age of death, suffering, pain and wars began. However, the so-called regeneration of man that the Ancient Mysteries had taught would inevitably happen, and different systems of mysteries gave a systematic and methodologically structured way to it. 1 8 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY And that is the very topic of this book. Ancient Mysteries were present in all parts of the world and they were all a channel of conveying the same science. The knowledge about them was fairly scarce, as the main characteristic of all these systems was utmost secrecy. SUBJECT OF STUDY There are various theories about the origin of this ancient science. One of them states that it came directly from God who had handed it to a selected group of angels in Paradise, after which it was carefully given to a few chosen and initiated humans. In any case, the subject of study of the mystery systems is a teaching about God and methods to make contact with Him, the human Soul, order of the Universe, immaterial world, and acquiring knowledge that is unavailable to our comprehension using human senses alone. For this reason, the emphasis of such a teaching is on the expansion of human consciousness above the limitations on the physical level to gain perception of higher knowledge and insights unattainable to profane people. Mystery institutions could, in contemporary terminology, be called special academies and boot camps for teaching and improvement. Access through mandatory initiation was given only to the selected, most spiritual representatives of their time, initiates ready for great sacrifices and complete separation from material values. The acts of initiation were quite cruel, so much so that often the very lives of neophytes were in danger. The qualities asked of them were temperance, humility, altruism, purity of thought and body, as well as rule over one’s own nature and passions. It took years of hard work for purification of candidates alone; the degree of their progress was constantly assessed, rigorous selection process applied, and only a select few got the opportunity to reach the end—the highest secrets and knowledge. It implied that they had acquired qualities of super-humans, who could 9 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ get to know the spiritual world directly and be in communication with it through meditation and contemplation. The precondition to ruling over the laws of nature is for the devotee to conquer himself. In the end, man becomes like God, which is defined as true deification or apotheosis. The essence of the teaching of the Ancient Mysteries is that man possesses certain qualities that through effort and dedication make it possible for him to completely purify the Soul, overcome his material nature, achieve serenity and fulfillment and already in this life get in touch with God or the Divine Spark within. Hermes said that knowledge was the virtue of the Soul and ignorance its own worst enemy. By purifying the Soul and with the help and nurturing virtues in man, one achieves well-being already in this life. In that way, man finds it easier to overcome problems of material existence such as suffering, fear, anxiety, illness, aggression, and everything that is a normal part of human life. Also, he becomes ready for a life that awaits after death, when his Soul becomes one with its Divine root. Every man is on a different spiritual level and therefore not all initiates can count on the highest spiritual achievements. The greatest sages and teachers throughout history had stepped through the door of initiation into the knowledge of mysteries. They chose their followers carefully, as well as those who were to take the role of further instruction. MODES OF LEARNING AND ESOTERIC APPROACH The need for secrecy regarding the acquired information was demanded from all members of the mystery systems. They were taught wisdom and the art of silence, so sometimes they had to spend years in contemplation and observation. All ancient teachers were aware that the Secret Tradition carried enormous power and therefore temptation to be used in a selfish way, so the breach of the oath of silence was punishable by death. That was why knowledge was passed on esoteri10 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY cally, so it would be protected from the profane world. The other reason was the difference in the level of spiritual growth amongst people and the inability of the majority to receive the teaching in the right way. Jesus said: Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you. Throughout history, all teachers found ways to protect the teaching using different veils, and yet they always gave it to the ones it was intended for. They used symbols, numerical values for letters, geometric shapes and myths that allegorically spoke about the fall of the human Soul and its reincarnation to the moment when it would be ready to fully come back home, into the Divine World. 11 CHAPTER 3 MASONIC RITUAL FROM 1717 TO 1813 CE A lthough I am deeply convinced that Freemasons and their ilk are guardians and bearers of the torch of knowledge and wisdom since the start of the civilization, in this book I will also convey the stance based on pure facts. I would like to give a brief account of the ritual development since the foundation of the Premier Grand Lodge of England (PGLE) in 1717 and until 1813, and formation of the United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE) when the essence and content of the ritual as it is today—to a greater or lesser extent—was established. The hypothesis is that from the very outset ritual had carried a mystical character and that, with time, they were only fine-tuned and expanded for the same purpose. 1 In the Constitution of UGLE it is said that “pure and ancient Freemasonry consists of three degrees only… including the Royal Arch”. Holding on to this fact, no other form of higher degrees will be described in this book, even though there are numerous different Rites in Freemasonry today. 12 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY The current position, based on the available data, is that at the time of foundation of PGLE in 1717, the ritual had two degrees. The third degree with the legend of Hiram was then introduced around 1725, and the degree of the Holy Royal Arch was introduced around 1730 by the Ancient Grand Lodge, wherefore through the unification of the Moderns and Ancients in 1813, the current form that can be found today in the Constitution of the UGLE was accepted. Most of the data that we possess on the Masonic ritual before 1740s came as a manuscript with catechism. Catechism is a dialog in the form of questions and answers that has been preserved until today in the practice of Freemasons’ lodges. However, whereas catechisms are nowadays used for candidate proficiencies, in the eighteenth century they had a much more important role. At the time, they represented the most basic form of the Masonic teaching and were an integral part of every gathering at the Lodge which in those days were typically in the “table lodge” format. They are considered to be the original form of the ritual performed at the time of the official birth of Freemasonry. The starting point for researching historical bases of the Masonic ritual is a book titled Early Masonic Catechisms, written by Masonic historians Knoop, Jones and Hamer in 1943, revised and updated in 1963, with the work of another acknowledged author, Harry Carr, in a book titled An Examination of the Early Masonic Catechisms. The book describes sixteen oldest saved manuscripts, some of which were private notes of Freemasons of the day, designed to help with memorizing the ritual. Others were published openly, and the Masonic researchers accept them as a reliable source, noting that they should still be taken with caution. The earliest manuscript described in the above-mentioned book is Edinburgh Register House Manuscript dating back to 1696, which was discovered in 1808 in Scotland. That is the oldest surviving document on Masonic ritual and degrees. It is followed by Chetwode Crawley MS 13 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ from 1700, found in Ireland around 1900; Sloan MS and Dum!ies No4 MS from 1710; Kevan MS from 1715, discovered in 1954 in Scotland. They are all from a period of close formation of PGLE and have mainly Scottish origin. A special place is reserved for the famous Pritchard’s anti-Masonic pamphlet Masonry Dissected from 1730, also described in Early Masonic Catechisms. This is one of the most famous anti-Masonic texts in which Freemasonry is exposed as one of the greatest frauds in history and which warns of its threat. For the very first time it mentions the third degree and legend of Hiram Abiff. The book achieved great success and several editions in a short period of time. It was bought by Freemasons and fierce opponents of Freemasonry alike. As a historical document, it has an immeasurable importance because it details all three degrees of Freemasonry present at that time. For decades, it presented an unofficial Masonic ritual in writing and it can be said that it had contributed to the stability of the ritual. The form of questions and answers as structure of the ritual was described in detail. The accuracy of Pritchard’s claims was verified in that the Grand Lodge changed the secret words of the Apprentice and Fellowcraft degrees. This has greatly contributed to Irish Masons’ inability to access the English Lodge, and it is quite possible that this was exactly the goal. The ultimate consequence was the formation of the Antient Grand Lodge, which will be discussed below. Of the earliest manuscripts that H. Carr analyzes in detail in his book, Kabbalah is mentioned in only one. However, the author himself claims that he had “ignored parts of manuscripts that have nothing to do with Pritchard’s pamphlet nor the current form of ritual, and which mention Kabalistic points”. It is a very old document from 1726 titled Grand Mystery Laid Open. However, another Masonic author, W. K. MacNulty, gives an overview of this document where it reads: 14 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY How many signs has a true Freemason? Nine, which are distinguish’d into Spiritual and Temporal... Have the six Spiritual Signs any names? Yes, but those are not divulged to any new admitted member, because they are Cabalistical. Later in the text, in a section concerning the Sacred Word, it is written: …What is it? It is a Cabalistical Word… We should not draw conclusions based on one document alone, but it is important for it to be cited as a very old historical document that connects Kabbalah and Freemasonry. Perhaps the most complete text about the connection of two sciences is MacNulty’s essay Kabbalah and Freemasonry. However, it requires a significant level of understanding both of Masonic symbols, as well as Kabbalah. ANCIENTS AND MODERNS In 1740’s the creation of a parallel Grand Lodge was started, which had great historical significance in forming the final shape of the ritual. Just as when discussing the question of PGLE, there are also many doubts surrounding the origin of the Ancient Grand Lodge, as the new Lodge was named. Most likely it was founded by Irish Freemasons who had not been received into any of the Lodges under the auspices of PGLE, either because of their origin or the difference in ritual. From that moment on, PGLE was called “the Moderns”, even though it had been founded decades before “the Antients”. The moniker was given to them on account of the innovations that the Moderns had brought 15 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ into the traditional ritual. It is not quite clear which innovations the Antients objected to, though they did claim that PGLE had moved away from the Antient Landmarks of Freemasonry and that they had neglected mystical and esoteric teachings. The Antients expanded quickly and soon became a competitor to the Moderns. Very soon, the fourth degree, the Holy Royal Arch, appeared in the Antient Grand Lodge. The Moderns insisted that Freemasonry had consisted of three degrees and would not accept the Royal Arch for almost seventy years, although it should be said that some of their own lodges did practice it. The Royal Arch possesses a mystical quality, something that is recognized even by those Masonic authors who absolutely negate existence of any mystical content in the first three degrees. Its creation within the Antient Grand Lodge speaks volumes about their understanding of Freemasonry. They had insisted that the essence of the Order lies neither in physical construction nor natural laws, but rather in the Royal Art that had been given to Adam by God and preserved until the appearance of Freemasonry. The document that confirms this unambiguously is Ahiman Rezon, the Book of Constitutions of the Antient Grand Lodge. This is where a clear distinction is made before the Operative Masonry and the Royal Art, and where the succession of how this Divine Science was passed from God, through Adam and Noah, until modern times, can be found. That is also the key difference between Moderns and Antients that marked the second half of the eighteenth century and different evolutions of the ritual, based on the insistence of Antients on the mystical essence of Freemasonry opposed by the stubborn refusal of Moderns to recognize the degree of the Royal Arch. 16 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY WILLIAM PRESTON To write such an overview of the ritual development in the eighteenth century without mentioning William Preston (1742–1818) would be incomplete. Preston is probably one of the most significant people in the threecentury long history of Freemasonry. The great reformer and highest authority on Freemasonry of his day, he was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. In his youth he moved to London and was initiated into a Lodge working under Antient Grand Lodge in 1763. The following year he joined a Lodge working under the PGLE, which was perfectly normal in those days—one could belong to several Lodges at the same time. The key moment in his life was when he became Master of his Lodge. It was then that, as he put it himself, he decided that he should learn everything he possibly could about Freemasonry. He began his tireless work, research and started a very fruitful collaboration with Brethren all over England. Preston was extremely displeased with the state of Masonic teachings of the day. He called them crude and imperfect, which in his opinion was a consequence of the ignorance of those who had formulated them. He truly believed in the antiqueness and wisdom of original Freemasonry that had been suppressed through sheer stupidity of the members. Having discovered old documents to support his claim, he started building them into a system that he had formed himself. In doing so, he did not think for a moment that he was creating something new; instead, he believed he was restoring and redeeming something that had existed and was now lost. This is how the first Lecture of the Apprentice degree came about, which was received exceptionally well by the Grand Lodge. Preston then moved on to revise the other two degrees and his book I"ustrations of Masonry is possibly the most important book in the history of 17 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ Freemasonry that deals with the topic of Masonic education. Only in England twenty editions were published. He is considered father of Masonic education in the United States, where his lectures had served as a basis for Thomas Smith Webb’s education system on American soil. Preston did keep the catechistic form, while questions served as a basis for detailed clarifications of different Masonic topics. He transformed the form of presentations, so that instead of the former gatherings around the table in taverns, he would organize two or three welltrained lecturers who would stand in as overseers in the Lodge and pass on the knowledge. He paid for them out of his own pocket to travel around the country and raise the level of knowledge among members of the Fraternity. At first, Preston’s lectures were based on moral and ethical lessons, and in the later works he shifted attention to topics of mysteries, based on Solomon’s Temple that he had considered to be the Masonic University. He studied Plato’s works as well as Kabbalah, which is another reason why he deserves to be mentioned here. Skirmishes between Antients and Moderns continued until the end of the eighteenth century, only for them to be united on December 27, 1813, on St. John’s Day. The unification was greatly aided by the fact that the Lodges were chaired by two cousins—Moderns were led by the Duke of Sussex, and Antients by the Duke of Kent. The energetic and intelligent Duke of Sussex became the Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge. He was especially devoted to Freemasonry and got personally involved in restructuring the new United Grand Lodge, thus leading the Fraternity until 1843. The problem of recognizing the Holy Royal Arch was resolved through a compromise. The new Constitution proclaimed Freemasonry “consists of but three degrees […] including the Supreme Order of the Holy Royal Arch”. Thus, the Royal Arch did not get classified as a separate 18 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY degree, but it was nevertheless accepted by the Moderns, thereby becoming part of the United Grand Lodge’s ritual. That was when the Lodge of Reconciliation, consisting of members of both Antient and Modern Lodges was created, and its task was creation of a new ritual. There are no written records on the work of this Lodge, but the results of its endeavors and form of new ritual became visible already around 1816 through a series of presentations given within the United Grand Lodge. The Duke of Sussex is considered to have been a solid connection between Freemasonry and Kabbalah. He had been of poor health and suffered from asthma as a child, so his family sent him to Germany due to more favorable climate. It was there he got acquainted with the Hebrew tradition. He actively spoke, read and wrote Hebrew. He also had an impressive collection of literature in Hebrew—including several books on Kabbalah—which found a place in his library. There is no proof about any direct involvement in the work of the Lodge of Reconciliation but judging by his title of Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge, it is hard to imagine that he had not influenced creation and shaping new ritual with his own active understanding of Kabbalah. 19 CHAPTER 4 EXPECTATIONS OF ESOTERIC FREEMASONS IN THE TWENTYFIRST CENTURY T he Fraternity of Freemasons in the twenty-first century is numerous and diverse when taking into account affinities and interests of its members. Based on those, Brethren Burkle and Pratt created a classification which puts each Brother in one of the following groups: Historian, Socialite, Ritualist, Philosopher, Specialist in Masonic law, Symbolist, Collector, Philanthropist. An Esoteric Mason can belong to a category of a Historian, Ritualist, Philosopher, and Symbolist. However, each initiated member is a potential Esotericist, since we all seek enlightenment in the act of initiation. Still, it needs to be pointed out that Esoteric Freemasonry is 20 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY not for everyone, nor should we expect each member of the Fraternity to understand the mystical character of the rites. The end of the twentieth century was marked by a very fast development of the Internet. Lots of data and information on spiritual development is at the disposal of anyone who wishes to go down that road. It is difficult to be certain of the validity of one’s choice and people want something they can believe in without questioning and hence follow the spiritual path without any doubts. As the oldest and most numerous Fraternity in the modern world, Freemasonry has the credibility one should fully trust. If for no other reason, then because of the names and authority of great men who had followed the path of Freemasonry for centuries. However, it all looks quite different in reality. What Brethren should expect from the Fraternity is a methodologically structured education. This is something that is seldom obtained and only if they are lucky enough to have a spiritually formed and learned Brother who wants to direct them down that path. The result of such a state is quick disappointment of those Brethren who had most eagerly joined Freemasonry with one goal alone—to spiritually advance themselves. They often leave the Fraternity, deeply disappointed and in search for knowledge elsewhere. Sadly, one can say with certainty that there are far more esoteric experts in the profane world today than in Freemasonry. It is obvious that contemporary Freemasonry is gasping for a new William Preston who would reform Masonic education on the global level and would not only prevent departure of the best but also turn Freemasonry into a magnet for attracting the most spiritual people of the twenty-first century. Anything less than that means a failed mission of our Fraternity. This is also reflected in words of our great Brethren who had devoted their lives to this mission. 21 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ Albert Pike: … [Masonry] is so in this qualified sense; that it presents but an imperfect image of their (Ancient Mysteries) brilliancy; the ruins only of their grandeur, and a system that has experienced progressive alterations, the fruits of social events and political circumstances and the ambitious imbecility of its improvers. Dr. George Oliver: There can be no rational doubt, however, but the moral influence of Masonry would be much more powerful and efficient – its funds would be increased, and its charities better supported, if the sources of intelligence amongst the fraternity were augmented, and a higher grade of science substituted for a meagre outline which at present prevails in our lodges. Walter L. Wilmshurst: It may be urged that we have our great charity system and that the social side of our proceedings is a valuable and humanizing asset. Granted, but other people and other societies are philanthropic and social as well as we; and a secret society is not necessary to promote such ends, which are merely supplemental to the original purpose of the Order. [...] The work of the Order is to initiate into certain secrets and mysteries, and obviously if the Order fails to expound its own secrets and mysteries... it is not fulfilling its original purpose whatever other incidental good it may be doing. 22 PART II KABBALAH CHAPTER 5 WHAT IS KABBAL AH? K abbalah is very hard to define. Most often it is said to be a mystical tradition of Judaism. However, it is older than any religion and overcomes limitations of any nation and race so that it represents spiritual heritage of the entire mankind. Kabbalah is an ancient teaching that helps understand God, the process of world creation, relationship between God and man, essence of existence, understanding the secret to and meaning of life, comprehension of the order that exists in the Universe and God’s Providence in every aspect of reality. Through Kabbalah, one gets to understand the existence of purpose in every thought, with every uttered word, performed action, every kind of energy that we infuse into life we sow the seed of our reality. The final goal is reaching fulfillment of life, tranquility and happiness that every human being deserves, and that God had envisaged in His original plan for us. The teachings of Kabbalah do not have a religious form. It does not use fear of punishment as an incentive for spiritual growth and righteous living, and it is not a literal interpretation of the Holy Scriptures 25 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ and God’s commandments. On the other hand, it cannot be said that it employs a strictly rational way of thinking. Unlike those teachings which use only ecstatic methods of spiritual insights, logic is the key aspect in teaching Kabbalah. Much like in genetics or quantum physics, Kabbalistic conclusions are often paradoxical. A neat comparison of Kabbalah with contemporary sciences is the example of the position of an electron as given in quantum physics, which claims that it can be found in two places at the same time, even in two different parts of the Universe. Or regenerative medicine, which can use an extracted tooth to create heart or brain tissue. Kabbalah demands the identical level of acceptance of things that seem conflicted or impossible at first glance. Perhaps it would be most practical to see it as a guide, handbook or collection of tools that enable elevation of consciousness, spiritual advancement and realization of truths unattainable to human senses. By overcoming limitations imposed on us by the senses and through development of consciousness, a person determines their own life and becomes a cause and not effect of other people, region, time and circumstances where they live. Through gradual learning of Kabbalistic tools and their daily application, starting with the thoughts and feelings we have and the smallest activities we perform, we approach harmony with God or, to be more precise, becoming one with Him. Kabbalistic methodology is based on creating parallels between the hidden and revealed aspects of reality. According to Kabbalah, the material or physical world is not a world of causes but of consequences, and it represents only one percent of reality. It is the Lower, or Nether World. The Upper or Causal World makes up ninety nine percent of reality. Using our senses, we are completely unable to perceive the spiritual plane of existence where there is no time or space. Reality is whole and unique regardless of our perception, and it is divided into five worlds which are, in fact, different levels of consciousness. Human beings do not have perception of where they truly live, what they are 26 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY made of, where they come from or which way they are heading. Kabbalah offers a practical method of reaching the Upper World and the source of our existence. Through understanding the true meaning of life, man gains perfection, tranquility, unlimited pleasure and the ability to overcome limitations of time and space, even while living in this world. The world of today is defined in Kabbalah as chaos. Death, illness, suffering, wars, and hatred are not what God had foreseen when He created the world. They are consequences of the temptations that the first man had succumbed to and fell into a world completely different to the one which had been intended for him. Spiritual sciences call this the Fall of Man, and the purpose of human life is return to the original state and elimination of pain and suffering. Freemasonry calls it the Masonic quest. The return to Paradise is something that every person is entitled to by birth. It should be emphasized from the outset that Kabbalah does not tie that only to the Jews. All people who feel the need to can study Kabbalah—regardless of their gender, age, race, or faith. WHY KABBALAH RIGHT NOW? It took two millennia for Kabbalah to become available to anyone who has the need and desire to study it. It can be said that its popularity reached a proper expansion phase toward the end of the twentieth century. It came to life 4,000 years ago, and then it was freely passed until the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 CE. The events surrounding the start of the Christian era and destruction of the Temple led to it being taught only within a small circle. The start of it opening up is usually tied to Rabbi Isaac Luria, or the Holy Ari, the greatest Kabbalist of the modern age. In the sixteenth 27 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ century, he stated that the Messianic Age was at hand and stressed the need to spread Kabbalah. It was said that the time would come when even children would be able to understand the most complex bits of Kabbalistic wisdom. To comprehend why Kabbalah “opened its doors”, we need to understand how the evolutionary cycle of the mankind lasting around 6,000 years is explained in it. Forces of development that lead the evolution of mankind follow the evolution of human desires. In the beginning, there was a desire to persist and survive, manifested by the search for food and reproduction. After that came the desire for possessions and wealth. It was no longer good enough to merely satisfy the basic needs, but also to stock material possessions. When man conquered that, the desire and search for power appeared, which did not bring fulfillment and happiness. The evolutionary advancement led to the desire for knowledge, so within a short period of time it led to a huge technological advancement, as well as progress in all other fields. Centuries of suffering, fear, rage, wars and insecurity led to the final realization that nothing material could ever satisfy man. The ultimate desire—desire above all desires—thus appeared: search for spirituality. This is happening now and that is why the Kabbalistic knowledge is spreading with such speed. In Kabbalah man finds answers to the questions that bother him and starts to understand the purpose of his own existence. Thanks to the incredible energy of the great twentieth century Kabbalist Rabbi Ashlag, many Kabbalistic works were translated into English language. Rabbi Ashlag himself worked on the comments of the Zohar and teachings of Isaac Luria, and thus helped understanding and reception of Kabbalah in wider circles. Even though he was severely tormented by arthritis, he worked day and night, writing and printing on his own so he could leave as many Kabbalistic writings as he could to his successors. 28 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY Some of them continue this hard work, so The Kabbalah Centre was founded, within which there is Kabbalah University as well. They offer a possibility to receive many of the Kabbalistic teachings, from the most basic to the more advanced ones, without being physically present, over the Internet. Also, there are numerous websites that are good starting points, but it is worth pointing out that one should be very careful when choosing the source for gaining the most basic knowledge. THE TERM AND GOAL OF STUDY The term Kabbalah appeared in the twelfth century and has been used for a great amount of spiritual wisdom, teaching and practice. It is a Hebrew word that means “to receive” and denotes received tradition or received wisdom, passed from a teacher to a very small number of carefully chosen disciples. This teaching used to be called “mysteries of the Torah”, “internal wisdom”, “concealed wisdom”, “wisdom of truth” or “Workings of the Chariot” (Maasech Merkavah), a term that will be explained later. The purpose of studying Kabbalah is constant perfection of oneself. The Kabbalistic motto is: learn, change, correct. If a person could be divided into two parts, one would be a part coming from God—the Divine Spark or Soul in each and every one of us—while the other part would be our earthly personality. The fundamental change is for the selfish part of our personality, which is characteristic of the material world, to be corrected into an altruistic one, turned to giving and wellbeing of others, which is the main quality of God. The desire to receive for oneself alone must be transformed into the desire to give. The ultimate goal is becoming one with God or—to put it more correctly—becoming like God in this life. In order to attain spiritual perfection, many reincarnations are needed, while Kabbalah makes it possible to finish the process in this life. The moment in which our 29 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ civilization is at present surpasses all previous ones in a sense of spiritual advancement and change. This is the main reason why after two millennia Kabbalah opened up to the world. However, as the wide range of Kabbalistic knowledge covers the whole of reality, every contemporary student of Kabbalah can set smaller goals that are more suited to his needs. Some might be interested in achieving peace in everyday life using Kabbalistic meditation. Others might want to study written Kabbalah and the Hebrew alphabet. Other disciples might want to study God’s emanations or the Tree of Life. Many are attracted to practical Kabbalah, making talismans and invoking different spiritual entities, which turns into a misuse. Kabbalah can also be used to comprehend the structure of reality, from God to the material world, different worlds and spiritual entities, angels and archangels. Through daily work and training we can understand why certain things are happening to us in life and what sort of messages from God each and every particular occurrence on a daily level brings us. We can also analyze our own personality, understand which qualities we have to correct in the context of Soul’s level and reincarnation. Possibilities are endless. However, we should keep in mind that the degree of spiritual advancement is directly proportionate to the true desire and effort to achieve that. There are certain lessons which heighten that desire and commitment. The Kabbalists call that the “Vessel for Receiving Light”. The more we progress spiritually, the more we are ready to receive greater knowledge. We ourselves are that Vessel and the Light is, simply put, God’s energy. We increase the volume and the Light is always there, ready to come in and help us reach the final frontiers, which is getting closer to God and becoming one with Him in the end. 30 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY THE HISTORY OF KABBALAH Kabbalah starts with Abraham some four thousand years ago, who was a biblical patriarch and forefather of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. He was deeply committed to establishing and developing contact with God, and God spoke to him directly and revealed the mystery of Kabbalah. Sefer Yetzirah, or The Book of Creation, was the first Kabbalistic book whose authorship is assigned to Abraham. It is one of the most mystical texts in the human history where the complete creation of the world is described in a few pages. Understanding of this book is possible to only a small number of adepts. Over the last few decades, there appeared interpretations and comments in English, and a special place among these has a book of one of the greatest experts on Kabbalah, Aryeh Kaplan 1. Abraham passed on the knowledge he had received to his son Isaac, and Isaac to his son Jacob. Seven generations after Abraham, God revealed the deepest of mysteries to Moses and he passed them on to prophets and priests. There were no Kabbalistic writings before the destruction of the Second Temple. It was then that Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, with the permission from the upper worlds, wrote the Zohar. For the next thousand years, the Zohar was passed on in secrecy, from masters to select disciples of whom there were only a few in each generation. Only in the thirteenth century it became public in Spain, brought into the light by Rabbi Moses De León. However, until Isaac Luria or Ari, in the sixteenth century, no Soul was on the level high enough to interpret the Zohar. He opened an entirely new chapter in development of Kabbalah, gave a detailed interpretation of the Zohar and passed it on to the next generations. Kabbalah as studied today is almost entirely based on the foundations of Ari’s teachings. He gave instructions at the time that, as the Messianic age was approaching, Kabbalah should open up so that as many people as possible could participate in its study. At the beginning of the twentieth century the expansion of 31 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ Kabbalah reached all four corners of the world. The ancient Hebrew writings were eventually translated and a full translation of the Zohar into English in over twenty volumes is now available. Today, Kabbalah is studied on all continents, by both genders, all races and religions. A great expert and writer of the first book on Kabbalah in English in the nineteenth century, Dr. Christian Ginsburg, gave a looser interpretation of its origin. According to him, God had given Kabbalah to a group of angels in Paradise. After Adam’s fall, the angels shared their knowledge with him for correction and reinstating man into his original state. From Adam, Kabbalah was passed on to Noah, and then to Abraham. The teaching of Kabbalah came to Egypt and from there spread toward the East, where the mysterious knowledge was woven into the existing philosophical systems. THE CHRISTIAN KABBALAH The entrance of Kabbalah into the Christian world paved the way for it to influence Freemasonry. 2 As a source, the book used in this is Kabbalah, by perhaps the best contemporary expert on this subject, Gershom Scholem. 3 Part of it is published on the Jewish Virtual Library website. From the end of the fifteenth century onward, a movement began to develop in certain Christian circles of mystical and theosophical conviction, with an aim to harmonize the Kabbalistic doctrine with Christianity and, above all, to show that the true hidden meaning of Kabbalah is directed toward Christianity. Of course, this was not met with friendly approval among the Kabbalists. They were mocking such claims and ignorance that the Christian Kabbalah was full of. However, without any doubt, it attracted much attention in spiritual circles in the Western world. I will only give a chronological overview of prominent individuals and 32 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY their basic contributions, and anyone who wants to do their own search on the Internet, can do so without too much effort because information on each of these people is also available on Wikipedia. Picco della Mirandola (1463–1494), known as “the Florentine Prodigy”, was the founder of the Christian Kabbalah and the first to present Kabbalah to the Western world. Johannes Reuchlin (1455–1522) wrote De Arte Cabalistica and presented the Kabbalistic doctrine of God’s Names to the Christian world. He also focused his attention to practical Kabbalah. Cornelius Agrippa (1486–1535) wrote a book that encompassed the entire occult knowledge of that period, De Occulta Philosophia, with an emphasis on practical Kabbalah. Francesco Giorgio (1460–1540) presented the teachings of the Zohar to the Christian world. Guillaume Postel (1510–1581) translated parts of the Zohar and Sepher Yetzirah into Latin. Christian Knorr von Rosenroth (1677–1684) wrote Kabbala Denudata, a work of exceptional importance, with translated parts of the Zohar and Lurianic Kabala. Henry More (1614–1687), a representative of Platonism from Cambridge, who used Kabbalah in his philosophical speculations. Robert Fludd (1574–1637) and Thomas Vaughan (1622-1666), whose influence on Freemasonry is frequently quoted. Georg Von Welling (1655–1727) was, as the previous two, a representative of German school of thought only, with enormous influence on Hegel and Schelling. He wrote Opus Mago-Cabbalisticum et Theosophicum. Martines de Pasqualy (1727–1774) was a teacher from the late period 33 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ of the Christian Kabbalah. He taught the famous mystic Claude de St. Martin. Franz Josef Molitor (1779–1861) discovered and demonstrated extraordinary knowledge of Kabbalistic doctrine, superior to even most of the Jewish scholars of that period. We can therefore conclude that the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries saw a veritable bloom of Kabbalah among Christian thinkers. Therein, they found the answers they had been looking for a long time, the depth of depths, connection between the spiritual and the material, and a considerable number of them were fascinated by practical Kabbalah, so they headed off in the direction of researching magic. A man worth mentioning in the history of Freemasonry is perhaps the most famous mystic of the nineteenth century, Eliphas Levi (1810– 1875), a French occultist and a great expert of Kabbalah, who had a tremendous impact on Albert Pike. Some chapters from Pike’s Morals and Dogma were basically direct quotes of Levi’s work. In 1855, Levi wrote a book Dogma and Ritual of High Magic, which, much like his other books, would inspire the occultists such as S. L. MacGregor Mathers and Aleister Crowley, and contribute to revitalization of magic and the occult in the second half of the nineteenth century. In 1861, Levi joined the Freemasonry. TEACHINGS OF KABBALAH Essentially, Kabbalah reveals the deepest secrets of the Torah, both written and those transmitted as oral tradition. The Torah, or the Old Testament, is a Hebrew holy book. On the Mount of Sinai, as the Hebrew people returned to the Holy Land from a centuries-long exile in Egypt, God spoke to Moses who led them and gave him the Book of Law. The mystical knowledge contained in the 34 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY Torah was exclusively passed on to priests and prophets as oral tradition and that is Kabbalah, which is said to represent the Soul of the Torah. It is “the hidden Torah”. Laws, or the discovered Torah, are called “the body”, and these two parts cannot be viewed separately, but the hidden and revealed Torah constitute unity. Dr. Ginsburg attempts to systematize the areas in which Kabbalistic teaching gives answers: On the nature of God, On creation of the Universe, On creation of angels and men, On creation of the world by God’s free will, On the fate of man and the Universe, On spiritual essence of the Universe, On creating man according to God’s image. In one sentence, it could be said that Kabbalah is a teaching about God. Students of Kabbalah first try to grasp the Creator’s properties intellectually so that they can imitate them, thus drawing closer to him and eventually becoming one with him. Kabbalah received answers to the questions asked in two ways: through prophecy and through wisdom, thus representing their mixture. The origin and development of Kabbalah rests on the spirit of prophecy, which is most often vulgarized and identified with predicting future. However, the gift of prophecy is on the highest spiritual level, greater than enlightenment, and through it one comes into direct contact with God, and that is the way God sends his messages to the material world. Not even the extraordinary effort to reach this level is enough. For someone to get the gift of prophecy, they need direct help from God, so it goes beyond the earthly efforts in the form of learning, purification, and so forth. It existed from the period of Abraham to 35 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ the Second Temple, about a millennium and a half. After that, contact with God was established by the wisdom of rabbinic knowledge manifested through the oral teachings of the Torah. Unlike prophecy, wisdom is acquired by human effort, work on oneself, and development of a rational mind. Those who make a tremendous effort in that direction will surely be rewarded with wisdom and in the end get far more than they expected. Prophecy surpasses reason; it is sent from God. Kabbalah is a combination of the rational mind—wisdom of the oral Torah—and the supra-rational spirit of prophecy. The only man who ever combined these two on the highest level was Moses. He was the greatest prophet who has ever lived. On the other hand, he developed enormous wisdom through the development of his intellectual and meditative capacities. DIVISION OF KABBALAH Depending on the way in which it answers questions, Kabbalah can be divided into three basic branches: theoretical, meditative, and practical. They are not strictly separated but intertwined, and Kabbalists usually do not consider themselves to belong to any single movement. Theoretical Kabbalah—or as some call it, theosophical Kabbalah— deals with questions posed by almost all philosophical movements in history and uses intellect and contemplation as methodology. Over time, it has evolved into a self-leveling philosophical system, and it can be said that it represents the most prolific Kabbalistic branch without understanding of which it would be impossible to engage in practicing the meditative and practical Kabbalah. It is believed that there are about three thousand Kabbalistic writings and books at present, and the vast majority of them deal with the topics of theoretical Kabbalah. These include the most important works of the Zohar and Bahir, which 36 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY are almost completely in the theoretical domain. Also, the most prevalent Kabbalistic movement set by Isaac Luria in the sixteenth century is almost entirely theoretical, but it should be said that the Lurianic Kabbalah is also committed to the study of meditative techniques. The greatest number of Masonic seekers who intensively study Kabbalah focus on its theoretical branch. Meditative Kabbalah has been revealed only in the last hundred years or so. It was little known, even among the Jews, that meditation had almost always been part of their tradition, so many Jews turned to Eastern meditative techniques. The roots of meditation come from the times of biblical prophets and patriarchs who in this way came to direct knowledge and insights. Toward the end of the Talmudic period, meditation became restricted, as well as Kabbalah itself, to a few very small closed secret societies, so even the lexicon relating to meditative terms was lost. It was only in the last hundred years or so, through the intense work of Jewish and Kabbalistic scholars, that we have received translations of original Aramaic and Hebrew terms relating to meditation. In that way it was understood that meditation was deeply present both in the Bible and in many other religious and Kabbalistic texts. The purpose of meditation is to free oneself from physical limitations, get in touch with the deepest levels of one’s own Being and to connect with the higher worlds, and ultimately—through prophecy—with God Himself. Different techniques have been used throughout history and depending on them, the levels of acquired knowledge were also different. In meditative states, the prophets received their insights and, until recently, it was even thought that they succeeded by using various chemical stimuli. Modern translations of ancient writings slowly reveal that is completely incorrect. Meditation was and remains one of the basic tools of the spiritual path. The highest spiritual levels, enlightenment and prophecy, are achieved after years of diligent work primarily on the improvement of human qualities and the purification of the 37 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ Soul following the laws of God, and then with the help of very complex meditative techniques. Now it is possible to find translations of descriptions of these techniques, which until recently was inconceivable. Most of the texts are still in the form of records and are either in private collections or in libraries, waiting for someone to discover them and bring them to the light of day. Techniques for achieving the deepest states of consciousness and cognition were not even to be recorded, so their existence can sometimes only be seen dimly. Practical Kabbalah is probably what mostly tickles imagination of people who are not engaged in actively studying this science. Many identify the practical branch with the entire Kabbalah, and when the term “Kabbalah” is mentioned, the first association is magic. Unlike theoretical and meditative branches of Kabbalah that are directed toward the rise from this lower world to higher worlds and states of consciousness, to God and angels, practical Kabbalah goes in the opposite direction. Its goal is to use the powers of the higher worlds to cause changes in our world. To achieve this goal, different names of God are used, as well as formulae, talismans, and amulets. The influence of practical Kabbalah on numerous European systems of magic is enormous and essential, but that is not the subject of this book. The greatest Kabbalists, including Isaac Luria himself, forbade the use of practical Kabbalah, as they considered it dangerous and spiritually humiliating. Ari believed that with the destruction of Solomon’s Temple the possibility of a complete cleansing of man was lost, and that was the only permissible way to deal with this branch of Kabbalah. In fact, it stems from the rituals performed at the First Jerusalem Temple in which the High Priest had direct contact with God. The use of the Ineffable Name of God was permitted only once a year in the service of the Temple, on the Day of Atonement. The other holy names of God were also exclusively used in the service of the Temple, and only by the purest and most spiritually advanced individuals. As 38 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY the Second Temple collapsed, the priests feared the abuse of the ritual and concealed pronunciation of the names of God, so that they would be deliberately “forgotten” after the demolition of the Temple, and the execution of the rituals of practical Kabbalah were forbidden. Nevertheless, some of the most famous Kabbalists throughout history had not given up on this practice, but on the contrary, they intensely practiced it. However, just as with the meditative Kabbalah, the written records on the techniques used are scarce. Those that were preserved are brief, yet they were later used for creation of entire systems of magic and occult societies across non-Jewish communities. Today it could be said that this is the most widespread branch of Kabbalah. As the joke goes: for each rabbi seriously studying this wisdom, there must be hundreds of people making different amulets, talismans and protective pendants, both for personal use and as part of a profitable activity. 39 CHAPTER 6 THE ZOHAR T he Zohar or “the Book of Splendor” is a foundational Kabbalistic manuscript, the essence of Kabbalah itself, and some people say Kabbalah is in fact the Zohar. It is almost impossible to define it clearly. It explains secrets of the Torah, Universe and, in general, every aspect of life and existence. It could also be said that it is a guide to the lost divine nature of our Souls. It consists of 23 books, written in a metaphorical, encrypted language, through the dialogues of the sages. However, looking at the Zohar through a physical prism only is completely wrong. It is a source and direct channel of divine energy, so that its power goes beyond the material world. Only observing the Aramaic letters in the Zohar has a metaphysical dimension that brings the state of peace, fulfillment, has the power of healing and protection, so for a long time the Zohar was considered to be a magical text by laymen, although such an interpretation is superficial and ridiculous. It is obtained through Divine Providence, as well as the Torah itself, so it pervades and explains the deepest secrets hidden in this sacred book. The Torah is a holy book of the Jews and represents the fundamental 40 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY scriptures of Judaism. It is considered to be the literal Word of God as handed over to Moses on Mount Sinai in 1280 BCE. The word “Torah” means learning, teaching, doctrine, or law. It consists of five books, also referred to as “The Old Testament”, “Law of Moses”, “Five Books of Moses”, or “Pentateuch”. The Torah contains the laws of God according to which Jews must live, both in the domain of religion and in ordinary, everyday life. In addition to the written Torah, there is also oral Torah, which was passed on through generations. It took five hundred years to write it down and about 2,500 rabbis worked on it. The writing was completed around 400 CE and is called the Talmud. Just as with the written Torah, the oral tradition was also received by Moses and passed on to Joshua, and he passed it on to the oldest Jews, who then kept handing it over through generations. The Talmud is a sacred book for Jews and contains both the religious teaching of Jews, as well as civil laws, private, family, and criminal law. It is believed that the Torah is more than a religion or a mere history. It is neither a legal nor a religious source, but something that surpasses all of those. It is a description of the relationship between God and man, indicator of the meaning and purpose of that relationship. The writer of the Zohar was the greatest Kabbalist in history, Shimon bar Yochai, who lived in the second and third centuries CE. Although there are still debates about the authorship, the Kabbalists have never had a dilemma that the creator of such a work and the channel of the Divine energy could only be the Soul of a righteous, and that the only such person was Shimon bar Yochai. After the Roman conquest of the Holy Land under the guidance of cruel Hadrian, terrible massacre of the Jewish people, destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, and death sentence for the religious leaders, Shimon bar Yochai, as one of the greatest rabbis of the day, was sentenced to death. He escaped with his son and hid in a secluded cave for thirteen full years. They spent time studying the Torah, so this kind of separation from the material 41 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ world led to great spiritual purification. Shimon bar Yochai became worthy of being a direct channel of Divine energy and to contact the higher worlds and Souls of the deceased righteous. According to tradition, the Souls of Moses and prophet Elijah helped him in creation of the Zohar. After many years of isolation and having left the cave, Rabbi Shimon dictated the Zohar to another rabbi who had an extraordinary talent for writing in metaphors and allegories, so that the essence was hidden under the veils that only the privileged ones could understand. It was written in the ancient Aramaic language, one of the oldest known languages, spoken also by Jesus. In writing, it exists since the first appearance of alphabet, and it is thought that in the oral form it has existed since the beginning of the human civilization itself. It is believed that this language was chosen for the Zohar because it is resistant to negative angelic influences and that when God addresses people, He uses the Aramaic language because it provides direct contact with the Creator. For this reason, the letters of the Hebrew and Aramaic alphabets are not only the tools for writing, but special energetic channels to the higher worlds. The further fate of the Zohar was mystical as much as its contents. For centuries, the manuscript had been hidden because humanity was not spiritually ready for its discovery. It had been said that the Zohar would appear 1,200 years after the destruction of the Second Temple (70 CE), a hundred years for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. Rabbi Shimon believed that the time would come when even six-year-olds would be able to understand the Zohar. The prophecy of the discovery of the Zohar has been fulfilled. It appeared around 1270 CE with the great Spanish Kabbalist Moses de León, who is still considered by many to be the actual author. How the Zohar came into his hands is a great mystery. One assumption is that Rabbi Ramban from Israel had sent the book on a ship to Spain to his 42 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY son, but the ship went off course and the book somehow found its way to Moses de León. Another assumption is that the manuscript was found by the King of Arabia who sent it to Toledo, Spain for translation. In any case, around 1300 CE, Moses de León began to distribute the Zohar brochure, and that is how it found its way into the world after more than a millennium—when the world was finally ready for it. The further influence of the Zohar on the greatest minds and sages who lived after that period was incredible. The entire Kabbalistic world, regardless of the geographical region, was obsessed with studying these writings and trying to decipher and understand them. In any case, no one had any doubts that it was the most valuable record that humanity had ever seen. However, until Rabbi Isaac Luria appeared in the sixteenth century, no one had been able to understand the essence of the Zohar. Ari was the greatest Kabbalist of the new era and the only one whose spiritual development was on such a high level that he could interpret the secrets of the Zohar. Even today, five hundred years after Ari, his interpretations remain unfathomable and incomprehensible to the modern man. Only with the development of quantum physics can such phenomena as parallel universes, string theory, etc. be understood, if not merely glimpsed. Already then Ari had explained the Big Bang theory of the creation of the Universe, several centuries before the official science. In addition to Kabbalistic sages, the Zohar had been an obsession of the greatest Christian thinkers and scientists for centuries. The credit for presenting it to the Christian world belongs to the Florentine Count, Giovanni Pico della Mirandola in the fifteenth century, who was considered to have included the Zohar and Kabbalah into the very core of the Renaissance thought. In the period that followed, the list of famous minds studying this paper was endless and I will mention only a few. Isaac Newton learned the Hebrew language so he could study Kabbalah for years, and his translation of the Zohar still stands on display in the Cambridge Library today. Paracelsus, the father of 43 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ alchemy, claimed that his work was based on Kabbalah. Columbus studied Zohar, as well as John Dee, one of the most brilliant minds of the sixteenth century, and the great philosopher Gottfried Leibniz. Carl Jung was astounded by Kabbalah and much of his teaching was under its influence. And then there was Albert Pike, arguably the most famous Freemason in history. We could go on and on forever. The Zohar was first printed in 1559 and translated into Latin in 1684. In the twentieth century, a great merit for the complete opening of Kabbalah and the Zohar belongs to Rabbi Ashlag who had devoted his life to making Kabbalah and its wisdom accessible to entire civilization, because the moment had finally come. Twenty-three volume of translations into English were done by Michael Berg, who devoted ten years of his life to the job. It is believed that millions of copies are currently in circulation around the globe, and this is the moment of Kabbalah’s fastest expansion in history. What is it that makes the Zohar’s magic almost epidemic, enabling it to spread across the planet at this moment, enchanting people of all races and regions? It is impossible to imagine today that a modern man would sit down and explore 23 thick volumes. There are abbreviated forms of the Zohar, commentaries and introductory books, and there are even pocket editions in Hebrew. Whatever version we choose, regardless of the level of knowledge of Kabbalah, the serenity one feels while reading is incredible. It is not a book to read in one go, it cannot be read for hours, but simply grips you because of the feeling it brings. Even the knowledge you acquire comes second to that. Because of this, the Zohar is the strongest tool in Kabbalah and in spiritual progress, in addition to the Hebrew alphabet, prayer, meditation, acts of sharing and proactive contemplation. What I am certain of, to quote Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, is that the time will come when even children will feel the power of this book. 44 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY For those of my Brethren who have the desire to at least crack the door to the Zohar open, I would like to recommend a book by Philip Berg, the founder of The Kabbalah Centre, Essential Zohar. The book is short with a suitable selection of excerpts from the Zohar, containing appropriate comments and explanations. It is an excellent first step, and even if one’s study of the Zohar ends with it, it provides a lot of information about the essence of Kabbalah and conveys the basic wisdom of this beautiful science. 45 CHAPTER 7 THE TREE OF LIFE T he concept of the Tree of Life and ten sefirot it consists of, is a basic Kabbalistic concept and it is said to be the essence of Kabbalah. It is even claimed that its understanding is the key to the universal understanding. There is no Masonic rite that does not point to the Tree of Life, but there is very little awareness of it among the Brethren. The Tree of Life serves as a model for presenting the whole of reality and explains all the states, actions, and attributes of everything that exists; starting with God and his attributes, to the material world, the interlinear relationships between them and the complicated correlations that connect them into one whole. Generally speaking, there are three main contexts in which the Tree of Life is used. The first signifies the specific attributes of God through which He manifests and shows Himself in the world. Only in this way can we try to perceive the Creator, although His essence is absolutely inconceivable and cannot be described by thoughts, words, and emotions. The other serves to describe qualities of the human Soul. 46 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY The third shows the ten structural forces of nature and the five worlds that make up the whole reality. They should not be understood in the context of space and time, but as different levels of consciousness development that exist between God and his Creation. The basic Kabbalistic view is that the world is created and maintained by means of ten channels of Divine energy or “Divine abundance”. These are the ten sefirot that make up the Tree of Life and represent the ten forces through which God created the world and through which the world operates. Each of the sefirot has multiple meanings and is marked differently in various Kabbalistic texts. Some places they are represented with numbers, and the Zohar uses terms forces, channels and lights. In other instances, they are connected with ten words or utterances by which the world was created. Most often they are called emanations, creatures of God, which denote His specific qualities. 47 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ The Tree of Life GOD Although the Kabbalistic view of God will be discussed in detail in one 48 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY of the following chapters, prior to the explanation of the Tree of Life, at least some basic concepts about God which Kabbalah teaches must be mentioned. God is everything, there is nothing that is not God, and everything happens because God so wishes. When referring to God, Kabbalah uses the term Ain Sof, which means literally “the One without end or limit”. He cannot be comprehended, described or imagined, nor can He be linked to any other concept used in the material world. The only way we can try to get to know Him is through the reality He has created. As God is infinite, He cannot be restricted, but He has, within His infinity, created a finite creation with the sole aim of giving it unlimited love, mercy, goodness and abundance. Man was the ultimate goal God imagined before the creation of the world began. CREATION OF THE WORLD In Kabbalah, great attention is devoted to the study of the process of the world creation, both material and spiritual. 1 Before the creation began, there had been only God’s infinite Light. 2 At the beginning of the process, the Thought of Creation emerged, and God decided to make the Creation so that He could bestow His boundless love upon it. Creation is a term used in Kabbalah as a synonym for everything that is created, starting with man, as well as material and immaterial worlds. The second name for the creation used in Kabbalah is the Vessel for Receiving Light. It was the second step after the Thought of Creation. God made a Vessel that would receive His Light. How did it happen? In the infinity of His Light, God performed “Contraction of Light” in one point and pulled the light out of it to make room for Creation. The point then expanded, and God began to let 49 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ Light into it. There was a gradual creation of the ten levels of Light that were the image of God. These creations are called emanations, and the process of their creation is emanation. These are the terms most commonly used when referring to sefirot. That is the Tree of Life representing the Primordial Man, or the primordial Adam. At one point, the Vessel could not withstand such intensity of Light and it cracked. That was a big Kabbalistic moment called Tzimtzum. Then a material world emerged from the broken parts of the vessel and that is what modern science calls the Big Bang theory, which Isaac Luria gave in the sixteenth century. It is very difficult to accept and understand this process using the “logic” of today’s modern man, but it does represent the essence of Kabbalah. It appears in every Kabbalistic book and the abovementioned terms are inevitable in the teaching of Kabbalah. The process in which God created the material world, according to Kabbalah, did not happen in one act, but through a series of successive and gradual events and took place in four phases. It is very important that Kabbalah sees the process of creation as a two-way road, and the reunion of Creation and God in which man participates through building and improving himself is also part of creation, so that every moment of human life is a lesson of spiritual development and represents creation. God creates the world over and over again through each moment. If He would stop sending His energy through the ten sefirot for just a moment, the world would disappear. The purpose of continuous creation is to give goodness to the world in order to correct it. Everything that happens is a consequence of God’s will, from the movement of planets, to the swaying of grass in the wind. God is like a huge computer processor that is capable of processing billions and billions of data points at once and at all times. Suffering, happiness, pleasure, 50 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY pain, sorrow, absolutely everything comes from God. Even though sometimes we think that things are going the wrong way, it is because we cannot objectively interpret the message behind it in a given moment. Kabbalists believe that with hard work on improving oneself, through learning, proper behavior and with the help of Kabbalistic tools, a person can bring themselves to a state of complete understanding of the importance of each moment. One of the foundational paradoxes in Kabbalah is that everything happens because God had preordained it that way, and on the other hand man has free will to decide on his actions at all times! God sends His energy through the ten channels, and man takes over and combines different sefirot; that is how communication between people and God takes place. THE PURPOSE OF STUDYING THE TREE OF LIFE The word sefirah, of which the plural is sefirot, is multifaceted, but is generally translated as “sapphire” and is probably the most famous Hebrew word Kabbalah introduced into the non-Hebrew world. The objective of studying the Tree of Life is to first recognize these ten forces, then to observe reality through the prism of their function, and in the end to properly use their energy. Kabbalah teaches us how to become channels for transmission of divine energy into the material world by changing ourselves, and how we can bridge the upper and the lower through the energy magic of the sefirot. The world as it currently exists is not a world of harmony. Therefore, it is a task of every person to correct the energy of the Tree of Life by correcting themselves first, and thereby contribute to improvement and progress of the whole planet. 51 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ THE APPEARANCE AND STRUCTURE OF THE TREE OF LIFE The Tree of Life consists of ten sefirot arranged in three parallel columns: the right, the left, and the middle one. The right column is altruistic, giving, expansive, and male. The left column is feminine, and features the qualities of receiving, judging, strength, and shrinking. The middle column harmonizes these two and brings them into balance. Freemasonry has three pillars—Wisdom, Strength, and Beauty —which fully correspond to the structure of the Life of Life. Unlike trees in the material world, the root of the Tree of Life is at the top, represented by the highest sefirah, Keter or “Crown”, while the tree and its branches are turned downward. As root derives nutrients, so the Crown receives and arises directly from the infinite Divine Light, carrying its energy downward. The sefirot are interconnected and affect one another in very complex ways. These are dynamic systems that are part of the creation process, as well as independent metaphysical entities contained in every form of existence. Each sefirah has its own characteristics that must be mastered and perfected in our spiritual development. 3 It sounds extremely complicated and it is, but without knowing this Kabbalistic concept one cannot enter a deeper understanding and analysis of the whole of reality. 52 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY The Pi!ars of Judgement, Balance, and Mercy The Tree of Life can be divided into three upper sefirot—Keter, 53 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ Chochmah, and Binah—then six sefirot—Chesed, Gevurah, Tiferet, Netzach, Hod, and Yesod—which are commonly called Zeir Anpin, and the tenth sefirah, which shows the material world and is called Malchut. 54 CHAPTER 8 SEFIROT AS CREATIVE FORCES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE WORLD T he first three sefirot on the Tree of Life are called the inte!ectual sefirot. KETER (CROWN) Keter is the first and highest sefirah and represents the absolute rule and authority of God over all creation forces. It is located on the top of the Tree of Life and the central column at the same time, and thus paradoxically represents both the crown and root of the Tree of Life. Through it, Divine energy is directed to the other sefirot. Keter manifests the incomprehensible essence of the Creator, the dazzling intellectual energy, and the entry into what Kabbalah calls The Endless World. This dimension is completely incomprehensible to the human mind. The level of Keter is the level of the Primary Cause that precedes the beginning of the creation process. It represents the will of God, a very complex Kabbalistic concept. Why did God want to create the world and man at all? Did He have a need for that? The answer to these questions is the answer to the purpose of existence, and it is 55 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ God’s will to make the Creation, bestow it with infinite love and goodness, and fill it with abundance. Keter is also said to be The World of Mercy. Through him God can guide the world without judgement, which with mercy represents the model of God’s punishment and reward. However, Kabbalists say that Keter precedes all the laws created by God. Keter is beyond any logic available to the human mind, and it contains the source of repentance, which also precedes the creation of the world. That is why such a power lies in the act of repentance and there is no sin that cannot be reversed by sincere repentance. Then comes the supreme mercy, which stems from the same source. On the human body, the Crown is identified with the skull. The next two sefirot correspond to the left and right brain hemispheres and are responsible for mental activity. Together they are called “hidden things” because they correspond to thought processes that become manifest only through physical activity. This physical activity consists of the seven lower sefirot, each of which denotes one day in the creation of the world. Chochmah and Binah precede the very act of creation and as the Old Testament says: The LORD by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he established the heavens. CHOCHMAH ( WISDOM) Chochmah is the highest right-hand column sefirah, the original fatherly principle, the point from which the creation process begins. The light that comes from God and is directed by Keter, first comes into this sefirah that transforms it into pure intellect. It represents infinite Divine wisdom. It gives rise to the whole of reality and represents the beginning of mental activity. 56 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY Chochmah contains all the natural laws that define the world and lead creation, while the next sefirah, Binah, is a system that connects these laws. That is why Kabbalists say that Chochmah’s light permeates the whole creation to the nethermost and final levels. The sefirah of Wisdom contains a scheme through which God created spiritual and material worlds, and also represents an active intellect which God uses to rule the world. At the end of creation, God assigned man a similar intellect, through which he will be able to understand the principles underlying the process of creation. It is intuitive, innate wisdom, through which man takes things in an intuitive way. In the human body, Chochmah represents the right brain hemisphere. BINAH (UNDERSTANDING) This sefirah is located at the top of the left column, represents a universal maternal figure and the quality of understanding. By complementing itself with the sefirah of Wisdom, the Thought of Creation becomes manifest, to be actualized. Binah is a reservoir of total energy of existence that moves everything from human activities to planetary and galaxy movements. This sefirah also represents the ability of logical analysis. The sefirah of Wisdom is an intuitive part of the intellect complemented by the sefirah of Understanding, which processes and analyzes that which comes from Wisdom. Together they make a couple, father and mother, who give offspring and from whom the sefirot below them come. In the human body it is manifested by the left hemisphere of the brain. The next three are the emotional sefirot. 57 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ CHESED (MERCY, LOVING-KINDNESS) Chesed is the fourth sefirah, located in the right column below Wisdom and carries the energy of mercy, loving-kindness, and unlimited desire for giving. This is the first of the three emotional sefirot. When viewed from the perspective of the attributes of God manifested in the world through the Tree of Life, mercy is one of the basic qualities of God and how He relates to man. He has incredible understanding for all our sins, bad actions and deeds. Unlike people who constantly evaluate, criticize, gossip, and condemn each other, God is ABUNDANTLY MERCIFUL. Kabbalists say that the world would be destroyed in a nanosecond if God were to judge us in the way we judge each other. The creation of the world starts with this sefirah and it represents the first day of creation or, as the Bible says, Day One, when the light was created. The right hand is the equivalent of Chesed. GEVURAH ( JUDGEMENT, RESTRAINT) On the opposite side of Chesed, the fifth sefirah, Gevurah, considers our works and bears the possibility of judging the actions, balancing out the generosity of the previous sefirah. Together, the two of them carry two important attributes of God. On the one hand, unlimited goodness and giving to His Creation, and on the other hand evaluation, judgment, and condemnation if necessary. Gevurah is the first block of the enormous energy of Light that would destroy the material world if there were no limits. Also, the process of differentiation into physical things begins from this sefirah. It represents the second day of creation in which God created the 58 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY heavens and “parted the water under the vault from the water above the vault”. On the human body, Gevurah is the left hand. TIFERET (BEAUTY ) The sixth sefirah is located in the central column, represents the energy of love, and is considered to be the heart of the Tree of Life. In it, the energies of Mercy and Judgement are sustained in perfect balance and harmony. Through Tiferet, Divine Light descends downward, and spiritual aspirations of people rise to higher spheres. Kabbalists consider this sefirah a symbol of the Torah. The perfect harmony between the two previous sefirot is extremely important for the proper conduct of life. Boundless love, giving and goodness must be balanced with certain limitations and rigor. A good example is upbringing of children, where the presence of sefirah of unlimited love is necessary, but also the setting of certain limits. On the human body, Tiferet is the torso, and on the third day God created the land. The next three belong to a group of active and manifested sefirot. NETZACH (VICTORY ) The seventh sefirah is located in the right column and just like Chesed, which is above it, it spreads the enormous energy of giving, which through this sefirah penetrates into the physical world and receives in it manifestation and actualization. Netzach is eternity and continuity, it is the male principle, which when creating a union with a woman 59 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ from the left column creates a new being. It is also linked to the right side of the brain that controls involuntary processes. It is also the energy of artists and dreamers. It corresponds to the fourth day of creation when God made the Sun, Moon and stars. In everyday life, it is a deep urge to do something. A negative aspect of this energy can be excessive and obsessive work, when this energy pulls out of control. Also, Netzach in itself carries the desire for conquest. Netzach is the right leg on the body. HOD (SPLENDOR) Hod represents the opposite of Netzach and is located in the left column. It is a female, manifesting principle, which enables the potential of the male principles of Chesed and Netzach to turn into reality. It controls the activity of the left brain hemisphere in which centers of voluntary processes are located. This sefirah is responsible for prophecy, which was lost after the destruction of the Temple. Prior to that, Hod had been preserved and a great number of prophets had lived. The quality of this sefirah is persistence and endurance. The enormous desire to start something that emanates from Netzach has to be supplemented by the persistence of Hod to bring a certain task to completion. Netzach imagines and has a huge desire to win the mountain peak, but it is Hod that persists and ends this venture. Hod is the left leg on the body and the fifth day of creation of the world, when the living creatures in the waters and in the sky were created. 60 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY YESOD (FOUNDATION) The ninth sefirah is located in the central column and represents the foundation of the Tree of Life. It serves as a huge reservoir into which the other spheres pour their qualities. In Yesod, they mix, harmonize and become ready for channeling into the material world. Although the lowest of all sefirot that are beyond the physical level of existence, it is still inconceivable for humans and the development of our perception through the five senses. Yesod is energy for making contacts and connections. It is also a balance between Netzach and Hod, and it is manifested on the human body by a male reproductive organ. It is a symbol of the sixth day of creation when God created man and living beings on earth. MALCHUT (KINGDOM) The tenth and lowest sefirah is the world of the material Universe. It is the world we live in, the one we can perceive and which we most often think is the only one that exists. A good description that Kabbalists use to describe Malchut’s relationship with other sefirot is through the metaphor of a house. Malchut is a house conceived by the wisdom of sefirah Chochmah, and the energy for its construction was provided by Binah. The desire to build the house with love is given by Chesed, and Gevurah performs all measurements and evaluations. The beauty of the building is given and designed by Tiferet. Netzach provides a palette of colors, and Hod supplies building materials. The foundation of the house is Yesod. This is a rough example of the material world coming into being through the process of Divine Creation by the levels of energy that each participates with in the building in their own domain. Malchut is the feet on the human body. 61 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ Human Body and the Sefirot 62 CHAPTER 9 HUMAN CONSCIOUSNESS AND THE TREE OF LIFE T he practical importance of the study of the Tree of Life is not intellectual understanding, but the acceptance of the wisdom and energy of the sefirot in everyday life, in order to increase the possibility of connecting with God. Our strongest weapon is our consciousness, and each sefirah represents a certain level, so by associating with them we gradually raise awareness, approaching God and ending Tikkun—correction of our Soul. Through time, exercise and daily work on ourselves, we can almost always recognize which sefirah within us is active, which we are currently connected with, where we are wrong and how to correct ourselves. MALCHUT (KINGDOM) The consciousness of the material world is, as Kabbalists say, completely without Light. This means complete separation from God and spiritual levels. It is selfish self-consciousness, reactive, which means it is conditioned by things, people, and events—awareness determined by space and time. Man is thus not a cause but a consequence, does not control his life, is not fulfilled, but mostly goes 63 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ through pain and suffering, completely contrary to what God had intended for him. The start to overcoming this state and mastery of the material world begins by becoming aware of the existence of God, and then we try to establish contact with him by gradually understanding the messages that he sends us through various situations in life. This is called the awe of God—a term that can often be heard in Freemasonry, but taken lightly. In Kabbalah, this is a very important concept from which everything originates, and which develops gradually toward the love for God, which is the ultimate degree of development of our relationship with the Creator. And that is the essence of the entire Kabbalistic philosophy. The way of connecting with the ninety-nine percent of reality is the development of consciousness about the constant presence of God in every thought, word, and event. The second step is to conquer reactive consciousness and develop proactive behavior, whereby man becomes the cause, not the consequence of his life. The most important part is developing the giving side of our nature and the suppression of selfish desires directed merely to ourselves. YESOD (FOUNDATION) This sefirah represents the entrance into the spiritual dimension and access to higher levels of consciousness. It cannot be skipped, but first it must be connected with the Yesod consciousness in order to go upward, to the other sefirot. This is why this level is called “the Foundation” and is the first step of the Zeir Anpin, a group of six sefirot. The key to opening the door of Yesod leads through the awe of God. The consciousness associated with this level is the consciousness of flexibility, adaptability to different situations and events. It is the consciousness when we do not allow things, people and events to affect 64 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY us, but we accept everything with ease and consciousness that everything is good because it comes from God for the purpose of our progress. It is movement through life, adaptation and acceptance. If we are stuck and easily vulnerable, it is the Malchut consciousness. Although it represents the first spiritual level, very few people reach it. There are many locks on the gates of Yesod; each is more difficult to unlock than the previous one and they represent the supreme spiritual reach and correction of the Soul. The light of Yesod is mostly blocked by the abuse of sexual energy and inadequate disposition and attitude toward money. This is the level of the righteous; it is said that they live in Yesod. According to Kabbalah, it is sufficient that one man only has such a high level of consciousness for him to enlighten all mankind and eliminate darkness of the entire world. HOD (GLORY ) Hod is a spiritual level at which you only see good in all people and things. This implies that one of the most difficult spiritual lessons— acceptance—has been conquered. It is related to prophecy and prediction of future. If we have visions, dreams, intuition—it is our Hod. We see the future and only do things that are good for us. In order to connect with Hod, every day in everything we need to see good and feel pleasure. Only in this way can we achieve clairvoyance. The impossibility of prophecy was caused by the demolition of Jerusalem’s Temples that were direct contact with God. Their existence was the reason for a great number of prophets in that period. Prophecy in everyday life means developing the ability to properly perceive the present moment and predict how we should act. It is an 65 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ acceptance that everything is a lesson, every day, every event in life is a message that we need to interpret in the right way and act accordingly. In this way, we develop constant communication with the higher worlds and God. NETZACH (VICTORY ) Connecting with the energy of Netzach allows us to connect with the root of our Soul. The structure of the Soul is very complex and will be discussed in detail in one of the following chapters. For now, we just have to say that it exists within us and outside us—in the higher worlds, and from there it affects our lives. We can spiritually make progress only if we can connect with the place where our Soul comes from, the place where its root lies. This is made possible through the power of Netzach, and it is represented by Moses, the most spiritually advanced man who has ever lived. By connecting with the energy of Netzach, we connect with and use Moses’ Soul for our own progress. The qualities of Moses that Kabbalists describe are precisely those that form the essence of the moral teachings in Freemasonry: tolerance, respect for others, understanding, perseverance, patience, modesty, and love. TIFERET (BEAUTY ) The energy of Tiferet is the middle column in the Tree of Life—the energy of balance and harmony. In order to connect with it, we first need to be aware of all our good and bad traits. We can work on our correction, only when we realize what should be rectified within us and when we bring it to the surface of our consciousness. Staying on the level of Tiferet is daily work and training. If we are sad, that means we are in the left column. Then we have to add the energy of the right column—e.g. consciously giving to others—in order to 66 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY move to the middle column. When someone praises us and we feel ecstatic, then we are in the right column, which is also not good. Then we should remind ourselves how many negative features we possess and return to the central column. Likewise, when we experience criticism or humiliation from other people, we should recall our qualities and that we bear the Divine Spark within us, which brings us back to Tiferet. After a lot of effort and hard work, we will be able to correctly determine every time whether we are in the left or right column and what we can do to restore the balance. And then no event or person can disturb us. GEVURAH ( JUDGEMENT) The energy and consciousness associated with this sefirah is judgement, whether we assess and judge other people, or whether God judges us. A great obstacle to spiritual advancement is the human characteristic of constantly finding negative traits in others. As long as one is not completely free from this habit, there can be no progress. We make so many mistakes in a day— within an hour, too. By doing negative things, we plant seeds whose fruit and consequences sometimes we can feel very quickly, and sometimes perhaps in the next life. One of the most important traits of God is mercy, and it gives us the opportunity to correct ourselves, thereby wiping out negative works and avoiding judgement. This is an extensive Kabbalistic concept, and all that needs to be briefly said is that we get tried three times. In the evening before sleep for the works done that day, and so the next day is determined. On the Kabbalistic New Year, when what will happen the following year is decided. The final trial is after death, when the whole life is judged and on the basis of that, the next incarnation is determined. 67 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ A very important Kabbalistic tool to avoid judgement is sincere repentance. There is an accurate methodology for it, the essence is that it comes from the true awareness of mistakes and comes from the heart. This is an action that we should perform every night before bedtime, when analyzing the previous day. In that way we work on ourselves and find weak points, revisiting the given situations again, but now we go through them in a different, proactive way. We repent with deep awareness and sincerity that comes straight from the heart. CHESED (MERCY, LOVING-KINDNESS) Chesed is the energy of total giving and sharing, of compassion and mercy. According to Kabbalah, mercy means the ability to merge and unite things that are separated, such as aligning attitudes, thinking and merging opposing people. Divergence in any way, shape or form leads to the loss of connection with the Light. It is the energy of destruction, while unification sustains the world and leads it forward. Grace and mercy are Masonic poles, while Kabbalah explains their spiritual energy. Being connected with Chesed means that we must overcome every form of division in ourselves. If there is but one man with whom we have a problem of separation, in terms of conflict, intolerance, avoidance, then we cannot be a pure channel for the energy of Chesed. This requires a lot of work on oneself. The ultimate result is the complete destruction of one’s own ego, which is the core of separation and destruction in the world. BINAH (UNDERSTANDING) Binah is the first of the three upper sefirot, when consciousness is lifted from man to God. The upper triad does not belong to the material world, and no man has ever managed to be a clean channel on this level. Simply put, one cannot be in a human body and possess these 68 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY levels of consciousness. Intellectually, we cannot get to know the highest three sefirot, nor can we permanently consciously stay in them. We can draw energy from them in a moment of enlightenment, as a spark that helps our spiritual advancement. Of all the three upper sefirot, Binah is the most important one for a man. We receive energy, wisdom and intelligence from it. Connecting with this level is necessary in order to connect with the spiritual aspect of existence and overcome material limitations. The methodology is explained in Kabbalah and implies the transformation of personality from reactive to proactive and the use of a primary Kabbalistic tool— restriction—which will be discussed in the next chapters. In short, it implies such personality development that at any moment we limit our nature which is otherwise turned to purely physical needs and selfishness. In every act of constraint, man raises his awareness to sefirah Binah and from there gets the intelligence needed to solve each individual situation. Whether it is a business move, emotional relationship, regular shopping in a shopping mall, or something else, it is important not to react immediately and hastily, to become aware in that moment, wait a bit, and in that way allow the right consciousness and decision to make an appearance. This technique requires a detailed explanation because it represents the key in personality transformation and spiritual ascent. CHOCHMAH ( WISDOM) Chochmah is a pure channel of Light, without any desire to receive. No man has ever been on this level, as it is impossible to be in the physical body and not want anything. However, it is possible to connect with Chochmah and draw energy from it. It is the supreme wisdom that is used in the moments of total destruction of the ego. Most often these are extremely difficult situations, when we need great 69 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ and immediate help. Then man connects with Chochmah for a short time and gets so much wisdom to see the future clearly and knows exactly what to do. These are mostly situations in which a person or an event seriously hurts us and when we feel completely shattered. At the moment of connecting with Chochmah, the ego is ruined while the Soul is shining, and the solution and wisdom are present at the moment because there is awareness that everything is right. A good comparison is when we return from an intense physical training, e.g. from the gym, when the whole body and each muscle are aching. We have no strength to do anything, everything hurts, but we feel good and know that we have done something for ourselves and have the awareness that such training will bring benefits and wellbeing. KETER (CROWN) Keter is the seed of our consciousness, the basic power that man possesses. It is the strongest tool in the world, for even when everything else falls, we remain conscious. On the Tree of Life, branches are works or actions, the tree is the emotions that condition those actions, and the basic level of all that comes from it is seed, or consciousness. It determines the reality we live in and that is Keter. Just like there is the awareness of lacking—the Malchut consciousness, sometimes also referred to as the consciousness of Satan—the Keter consciousness represents the consciousness of Light, God, and abundance. It depends on us; at every point of life we decide what we want to be: Keter or Malchut. In order to complete the process of creation, correcting of Soul, and becoming one with God, we need to constantly master the spiritual levels that are delivered to us as lessons through various situations in life. Every day we feel them as pressure and exit from the comfort zone. Those lessons come from Keter. It constantly pushes us toward perfection, a complete destruction of the ego and transformation of 70 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY selfish nature. In the end, we will all become perfect “giving” beings, we will become equal with God, and the role of Keter’s energy is directed toward this goal. The question is how many incarnations are needed, but each man has the potential within himself and will inevitably finish correction of the Soul. The highest level of consciousness is the realization of such a relationship with God when we are all working for the purpose of giving, because in that way we fulfill the ultimate plan of creation: complete annihilation of the desire to receive. That is also the key to happiness and love for oneself. 71 CHAPTER 10 THE HEBREW ALPHABET AND NAMES OF GOD T he Hebrew alphabet is one of the basic Kabbalistic tools for showing and explaining the origin of the universe, its structure, hierarchy, forces, and laws that govern it. It also explains the microcosm because the alphabet helps us understand ourselves and serves as a means of re-establishing the broken connections between the material and the higher worlds. The study of Kabbalah, even at the most basic level, requires knowledge of the alphabet. When this area is considered, our consciousness must again be raised above the frame of the five senses, and we need to remind ourselves of the Kabbalistic teaching that we are limited to perception of only one percent of the reality. Otherwise, the entire purpose of studying the alphabet would be meaningless, because it has nothing to do with the understanding of the world in the way it is currently accepted. The oldest and one of the most important Kabbalistic books, Sefer Yetzirah, or The Book of Creation, states that God had created a complete universe using 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. They contain the entire energy of creation and letters are the building blocks by which God created the world “through uttering words”. The combination and 72 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY permutation of the letters contains all creative forces within itself. As creation is a two-way process, from God to us and back again, from man to God, the letters also contain all the necessary spiritual conditions that man passes in his climbing the ladder toward the Creator. Seeing that everything in Kabbalah is represented through the most diverse relationships, the letters are also connected with the attributes of God, the Tree of Life, the five worlds, the parts of the human body, and the qualities of man. Since this is the most basic text about the alphabet, a deeper analysis is not the purpose of this book, and anyone who feels the attraction of this magical energy can peel off layers of veils that cover letters and their energy in various Kabbalistic books. The Hebrew Alphabet 73 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ The Hebrew alphabet consists of 22 letters, all of which are consonants, written from right to left, and the name comes from the first two letters, Alef and Bet (A and B). Vowels are marked with special characters that stand above, below or next to the letters. Each letter carries a certain spiritual energy, with vertical lines denoting the Light that goes from God downward, and the horizontal tells us that this energy covers everything that exists. Square and compasses, Masonic tools, carry a similar symbolism in them. The shape of each letter has a specific purpose and explanation. The complexity and versatility of the letters will be explained briefly on the example of the first letter Alef (A). Each Freemason will recognize in this analysis the search for different meanings of each symbol and ritual in the Royal Art. ALEF (‫)א‬ Whatever aspect of the structure of this letter is being analyzed, it is understood that the absolute Divine design is meant to teach us something. Alef is in fact a combination of three letters: the diagonally set letter ‫( ו‬Vav, V), and two letters of ‫( י‬You, Y), below and above the diagonal. The upper Yod represents God, whose essence we cannot comprehended in any way. The lower Yod, which symbolizes a dot (period) as well, represents people who are only dots in relation to God. Only when we accept that we can begin to receive His wisdom. The way of connecting with God is through unlimited faith, represented by the diagonal letter Vav, which in some interpretations also represents the Volume of the Sacred Law. Let us recall the Three Great Lights of Freemasonry—the Compasses, the Square, and the Volume of the Sacred Law—which connect God and man in a similar fashion. The prerequisite for establishing any relationship with God and for a minimum understanding of its essence is that man should be modest and humble. These two traits are essential to any spiritual advancement and are often ignored and misunderstood. 74 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY The next level of interpretation is numerical, using Gematria, a Kabbalistic discipline that deals with the analysis of the numerical value of letters. The numerical value of Alef is one, which symbolically represents unity with God. A slightly more complex analysis is the sum of the three letters that create Alef. Yod has ten and Vav six, so the sum of these three letters is 26. The most sacred, Essential Name of God, which is yet to be discussed is YHVH, whose Gematria is also 26, from which the analogy between the first letter of the alphabet and God is derived. However, this is not the end. Alef has three meanings: “lord”, “teacher”, and “marvelous”. Lord signifies God as the Creator of the Universe, the Eye that sees, and the Ear that hears, the Creator who created something out of nothing, the Lord of the Universe. Teacher also refers to God, only in this case he gave the Torah with all the commandments and teachings to men and the mystical, most important and essential part of the Torah is Kabbalah. Therefore, the term marvelous is intended for it. The analysis of just one letter of the alphabet, in the most superficial way possible indicates how much wisdom and energy we are talking about, and how much knowledge and contemplation is needed to master one single Kabbalistic aspect. Every Freemason should at least have the awareness of it, because the Hebrew alphabet is present in many Masonic symbols, regalia, and rituals. All mystical, esoteric, and magical teachings in themselves contain some symbolism or the direct presence of these Divine letters. GEMATRIA As already pointed out, each letter has a certain numerical value. By adding up numbers of each letter, a word gets its own numerical value which denotes a certain spiritual energy, and words, sentences and phrases with identical values ​have the same spiritual meaning. The 75 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ basic assumption is that these equations are not accidental, but that they carry equal energies and creative forces in themselves. In this way, it is possible to establish connections between different Kabbalistic concepts, between the sefirot and the worlds, between God and nature, between all aspects of reality in general. The entire science within Kabala, which in a very complicated way deals with this subject, is called Gematria and is one of the cornerstones of Kabbalistic teaching. There are several types of Gematria, but it would require an entire book to explain them all. The Torah is also written in the encrypted language, which Gematria translates into numbers in mystical and core interpretations. I will mention only a few examples to show how it works. The word Kabbalah written in Hebrew alphabet has a numerical value of 137. When adding up values ​for wisdom (73) and prophecy (64), you also get 137. The Kabbalah was created through a combination of wisdom and prophecy, and this is confirmed through use of Gematria. The different Names of God, which will be mentioned, have special characteristics and are used in specific contexts. The word nature and one of the Names of God, Elohim, have identical numerical values. This equality is particularly important because Elohim is the name used in the Bible to describe God as the Creator. Furthermore, this Name appears exactly 32 times in the story of the six days of creation, which again indicates the 32 ways of wisdom by which God created the world, as stated in The Book of Creation. Kabbalists translate almost all comparisons, make analogies into numerical terms and draw conclusions based on numerical values. It requires extraordinary skill, language competency, and great wisdom to use this technique. There were Kabbalists who devoted their entire life to studying Torah by Gematria and left its true and mystical meaning to humanity. 76 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY THE NAMES OF GOD Through the millennia, the Names of God were the most carefully guarded secret of the Kabbalah. They were transferred from teachers to the strictly chosen disciples, starting with Moses to whom God gave and revealed them. In different historical epochs, depending on the degree of spirituality present in the human civilization, the prophets and saints kept them, discovered them, or completely withdrew from use. For the uninitiated, the Names of God had no meaning, they only represented a set of letters often unspeakable and unreadable. However, nothing could be further from the truth. They carry an enormous spiritual energy, unimaginable to the human mind. Through proper use by the chosen and worthy, well-prepared people, they activate very precise spiritual forces, transferring from the higher worlds to the material world abundance !om above, as Kabbalists say. One of the key misconceptions was that the sole knowledge of the correct pronunciation of a particular name was needed to get the effect. But it is not that simple at all. They could be used only by those who had reached a high degree of connection with God. This person, through hard work, renunciation, and dedication, reached the spiritual level called Ruach HaKodesh—enlightenment or the Holy Spirit. The greater the level of enlightenment, the greater is the power of the Name, with the holy people using it solely for the glory of God and fulfillment of His will. The Talmud says that the Names of God are revealed only to modest and humble people in the second half of their lives. Those people do not drink, do not succumb to anger, and do not insist that they always get it their way. It is a very specific and wise selection of traits. Furthermore, it is said that the one who knows this Name, uses it carefully, and keeps it pure. Such a person is loved both on earth and in 77 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ heaven, people feel awe toward him, and he will inherit both worlds, This One and the One To Come. Before pronouncing the Names, great preparation was needed for the purpose of purification through meditation. God has determined that the Name has an effect only if it is spoken in the right way and in the right place. In that moment, man is free from limitations of the physical world. The power possessed by each Name is not absolute, but limited by certain framework, and God can prevent the emanation of force at any moment for the reasons known only to Him, so there is no guarantee of success in their use. Furthermore, each Name was needed to be used in a specific context. Great caution was necessary in order not to achieve a completely opposite effect, which does not come from God, but stems directly from the sources of evil, which occasionally resulted in death. The way and methods of using the Names of God are very strict. They are most often used in the form of mantras, a large number of repetitions. Sometimes they combine with certain letters, and sometimes they connect and combine several different Names. Also, the site of the invocation plays an extraordinary role, so for centuries the Temple in Jerusalem was a place for the use of the Names of God. THE EFFECTS OF USING THE NAMES OF GOD The greatest effect is the attainment of enlightenment and prophetic visions. These are the highest levels of spiritual achievement that overcome limitations of the material world, open doors to the higher worlds and receive direct knowledge about them. Furthermore, this brought about coming into contact with spiritual beings who would transmit information about spiritual spheres. One would learn about the structure and connection of the higher worlds. 78 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY The Names of God were also used to achieve mystical and meditative states. By using their energy, the Soul is purified. However, this requires a prior change in consciousness and transformation of the personality in a spiritual sense. Although Kabbalah has its doors wide open, it is not enough to just observe and meditate on the Name of God for miracles to take place. The Great Work on oneself is a precondition to get even the smallest benefits from the secrets that had been kept hidden for centuries. NAMES OF GOD AND TREE OF LIFE God has decided that man should call Him by His Name. In this way, he can turn to Him through prayer, invoke him, and the chosen ones can connect with Him directly. God introduced Himself to Moses using the most holy Name of YHVH, saying unto him: “This is my Name forever”. Similar to the Tree of Life, the Names of God denote His special qualities. However, there is also a significant difference because the sefirot represent emanations, creatures created by God, while His Names are the very essence of the Divine Being. The difference between the sefirot and Names can best be understood in the context of prayer, which is one of the basic Kabbalistic tools. We can turn to God through prayer only through His Names. In this way, they enable us to approach Him. When God is portrayed to people and manifested in reality, the way He can be perceived is with the help of the sefirot, His emanations. Therefore, they are representations of God in man. A good example by Rabbi Ginsburgh is a Kabbalistic prayer for health. In it man addresses God and He is the only one who answers our requests and brings healing. However, this happens through mediators— doctors, or through saints and sefirot. Man asks, God gives. Therefore, the sefirot and Names of God are a two-way road. Isaac Luria considered the knowledge of God’s Names and their mean79 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ ings essential to perform specific Kabbalistic prayers with mystical goals. Unlike him, another major Kabbalist, Ba’al Shem Tov, the founder of Hasidism, considered that the basic prerequisite for a successful prayer is sincerity from the heart. In any case, knowing the Names of God is essential for the study of Kabbalah, and some of them are very present and play a major role in Freemasonry. THE INEFFABLE NAME OF GOD Generally, God’s Names can be divided into four groups according to Rabbi Ginsburgh in his book What You Need To Know About Kabbalah: 1. Essential, Ineffable, or the Most Holy Name; 2. Holy Names, which must not be deleted once they are written; 3. Connotations, or wider meanings of God’s Names, which are associated with certain sefirot; 4. The interpretation that every word in the Torah is related to God. The Essential Name will be described in greater detail, both because of its importance, as well as connection with Freemasonry. It is necessary to have at least basic knowledge about the most common contemplative Kabbalistic principle. The Essential Name reflects the very essence of God. The term also used is Tetragrammaton, or the word with four letters YHVH (‫)יה ו ה‬. Because of its holiness, it must never be uttered. This was allowed only to the High Priest in the Tabernacle during the return from Egypt to the Holy Land, and later in the Jerusalem Temple on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, the holiest day of the year. After hearing the priest pronounce that name, people would prostrate themselves on the ground. At that moment everyone present would have canceled their individuality, aware that they did not exist apart from God. Today, the 80 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY correct pronunciation is no longer known, nor is it stated anywhere in the Kabbalistic books. Usually, the term Shem is used as a substitute, which simply means “the Name”, or one of the twelve possible fourletter permutations, HVJH, HaVaYaH. The Essential Name of God (Tetragrammaton) The most sacred Name of God is without question the most important name in the Torah, where it is mentioned exactly 1,820 times. There is no way for people to understand its transcendental meaning, just as they cannot comprehend the essence of God either. However, the manifestation of this Name through the concept of creation can be grasped. It denotes the character of God as the Creator and can mean the One Who Constantly Creates. As the entire process of the world’s Creation takes place in four phases, each letter denotes a single phase and the letters are connected with the sefirot, parts of the human body, and the five worlds that make up the whole of reality. The first letter, Yod (Y) is connected with the first stage of creation, then the sefirah of Wisdom, and as this letter is the structural basis of all other letters, in the human organism it represents the bone skeleton. The highest sefirah, Keter, is marked with the tip of the letter Yod. He (H), corresponds to the second stage of Creation, the Binah sefirah and, inside the body, the system of blood vessels. 81 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ Vav (V) is represented by the six sefirot that make Zeir Anpin and muscles in the human body. The second He is referring to the sefirah of the Kingdom, our material world and the skin that covers the entire body. THE INEFFABLE NAME AND CREATION OF THE WORLD It is very similar to the concept of Masonic philosophy, from the surface to the greater depths, from banality to the very essence of hidden meanings and messages. Kabbalah constantly uses the connection of the basic concepts, the Tree of Life with the Alphabet, the Names of God with the sefirot, the numbers with all other concepts, and thus connects higher and hidden worlds with the material world in which we live. This is a manner of Kabbalistic teaching, and as the Names of God have long been the best kept Kabbalistic secret. This is the right moment for an example of how Kabbalah actually works. The Essential Name of God is the most sacred Kabbalistic word. As already stated, it signifies the very essence of God, and that is his permanent Creation of the world. This process takes place with the help of sefirot. The beginning of creation of the world took place through four phases: contraction, growth, expansion, and, finally, repeated growth, which translated the energy of God into the created reality. All this Kabbalah can explain and link with only four letters that the Ineffable Name consists of. The letter Yod (‫)י‬, the first letter of the Name is the building element of all the other letters of the alphabet, and in Kabbalah it is considered a dot, but a dot with a certain form. It is linked to the first phase of creation, contraction, when God decided to create emptiness in a single point of the infinity of Light, contract the Light and thus start His Creation, by making room for it. Yod conceptually represents the sefirah of Wisdom, Chochmah, which is the place through which the 82 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY Light enters reality and the point through which intellectual energy enters the human brain. That is the primordial father, the seed of all creation. The letter He (‫ )ה‬consists of three lines, which carry the energy of creation from the initial point into three spatial energies and this is the second phase of creation, the phase of growth. The sefirah of Understanding, Binah, symbolizes this letter and phase, and its task is to receive Wisdom, the seed of the father, because it is a mother. The fetus grows until a child is born. We move on to the next phase, represented by the letter Vav (‫)ו‬, which, by its verticality, brings the energy of creation down to the lower levels and manifests itself with the six sefirot, commonly called Zeir Anpin. Vav is a son, born of a mother who had received Wisdom from her father, allowed it to grow and let it spread to the world. The numerical value of the letter Vav is six, and those are the six spheres from Chesed to Yesod. The last letter of the Primary Name is another Hei, ‫ה‬, which now spreads the hidden energy of the first Hei into the material world and makes it manifest and visible. This does not cover the first sefirah, Crown or Keter. It represents the tip of the letter Yod, which in Kabbalah is called an unformed point and represents God, who makes a trinity of creation with the mother and father. How much analogy, connection, wisdom, and explanation is present in these passages! This is why theoretical Kabbalah is a very demanding and difficult science, which gives us insights into the deepest secrets and mysteries, only if we are ready to search and if the Divine Spark of Spirituality is lit up in us. 83 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ 72 NAMES OF GOD Running away from the Pharaoh and the Egyptian army when returning to the Holy Land, the people of Israel stood in front of an insurmountable barrier, the Red Sea. Moses miraculously divided the sea, the Israelites crossed safely, and Pharaoh’s army drowned. In the Old Testament this is described in the Book of Exodus in three verses. The Zohar explains it with the magic formula that Moses knew. Each of these three verses contain 72 letters. By combining them we get 72 three-letter words which are called 72 Names of God. Each of them carries enormous spiritual energy and through the millennia were the best guarded Kabbalistic secret. Now they are available to everyone. By meditating on these Names, one connects with the energy they carry. It is one of the strongest Kabbalistic tools for correcting the Soul. By using it one can overcome the Ego in its most diverse manifestations. These Names bring blessings in all aspects of life. Of course, the procedure is not at all simple and implies working on oneself for the sake of spiritual change. Furthermore, one must unconditionally believe in the dominance of the spirit over matter, which the Names certainly prove. If I had to recommend one area and one book to an absolute beginner in the study of Kabbalah, it would be 72 Names of God and the book by the same title by Yehuda Berg. I do not think there is a better example of understanding the power of Kabbalah and comprehending the benefits that studying it brings. Also, 72 energies make up the list of obstacles that stand on our spiritual path, which we are very often unaware of. The opponent, Ego, is within us with its many faces, but we also hold a solution. Our Soul has the capacity to peel the layers that cover it and do not allow it to fully shine. Using the help of God’s Names, we can cross that thorny path much more easily. 84 CHAPTER 11 ISAAC LURIA ARI F rom time to time, giant Souls appear on this earth, those who are so much higher above the rest of humanity that they seem unreal. Among them surely was Rabbi Isaac Luria, or Ari. To write about Kabbalah and not to have a look at his life and legacy even briefly, would make this book incomplete. He is the best example of the spiritual path and possibilities available to man in order to become like God. He is a sign pointing to the path of enlightenment and image of the ultimate goal that every Masonic or Kabbalistic student should have before his eyes. Isaac Luria was born in 1534 in Jerusalem, and to this day has remained known among Kabbalists as the Holy Ari. Ari is an acronym from the Divine Isaac Luria, with no sage or saint having received the title Divine, whether before or after him, which indicates to us how he was perceived. He was considered to be a Human Angel by his contemporaries, many of whom were great Kabbalists themselves. Very early in life he was understood to be a special child. At the age of eight, Ari knew the Talmud so well that he was considered to be the greatest expert in Jerusalem! His father had died very early, so he 85 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ moved with his mother to live with a rich uncle in Egypt. His teacher was a great Kabbalist of that time, Rabbi Bezalel Ashkenazi. As his special talents were quickly recognized in Egypt, the Chief Rabbi of Cairo began to teach him. At the age of fifteen, Ari’s knowledge of the Talmud was greater than that of all the sages in Egypt and that year he married his uncle’s daughter. He was introduced to the Zohar at the age of seventeen and he completely devoted himself to its study. In addition, Ari was a great expert of the Torah, Midrash, and the teachings of Merkava. The greatest significance in his spiritual advancement was fifteen-year long meditation. For seven years he worked with his teacher, and for six years he was alone. In order to achieve complete purification, after those thirteen years he withdrew into isolation in a hut on the Nile. He had not spoken to people there for two years, so that the words would not make him unclean. He would come home to Shabbat, before sunset, where he also did not speak with the people, unless it was absolutely necessary, and he only used the Hebrew language. His incredible asceticism, meditation, and continuous learning, led him to the level of purification whereby he deserved Ruach HaKodesh. This is the term that denotes the highest level of enlightenment. At night, the spirit of the prophet Elijah would visit him and teach him the secrets of the Torah. Every night his Soul rose to higher worlds, where angels would lead him to various heavenly academies, such as the Academy of Ancient Prophets, Shimon bar Yochai (the writer of the Zohar), and the old Kabbalists. It was there he received direct knowledge and understanding of both the higher worlds and the earthly secrets and wisdom. After two years of isolation, he decided to move to Safed, a city in Israel, which was then the center of Kabbalah, and where the greatest Kabbalists of that time lived. The school in Safed left an immeasurable trail in the development of Kabbalah and is one of the largest centers 86 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY in history. As Ari was quickly recognized as an undeniable authority, the masters of Kabbalah wanted to become his students. It was a rare occurrence that a sage acquired undivided admiration of his contemporaries and that his teaching was accepted without any hesitation. Ari gathered a small group of selected followers in Safed, and he taught them during his short 38-year long life. He spent only two years in Safed, but that time was enough to pass on his knowledge to his students. He named Rabbi Chaim Vital for his successor, who had been one of the greatest authorities before Ari arrived in Safed. Ari himself did not leave any records, but Chaim Vital wrote his wisdom every day, leaving thousands of pages of Ari’s teachings behind. They were later edited by his son, because Chaim Vital did not allow them to be published while he was alive. According to the testimonies of his followers, Ari possessed superhuman abilities. He could talk with the trees and birds, he spoke the language of the angels, and he could read the human faces in the manner described in the Zohar. He foresaw the future of the people, and he knew their past, read their thoughts, and possessed the quality that was said to belong to a Holy Child. This means that only based on the human scent he knew the complete past of that person. He also knew the reincarnations, so he could say who was on earth for the first time, who had lived before, he was in contact with the Souls of the righteous who had died in the near past or very long ago. He could read miraculous things from the flames of a candle or fire. He was aware of everything that happened on earth and what was decided in heaven. All that Ari could do whenever he wished, without going into a meditative or ecstatic state, and without using practical Kabbalah. He also banned his students from using it because he thought that it was only pure Souls who were allowed to use it, and that since the destruction of the Temple and the lack of powder of the Golden Calf, the complete 87 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ purification on earth was lost. Unprecedented miracles, not seen since the time of Shimon bar Yochai, the writer of the Zohar, Ari had deserved through complete asceticism, purity, continuous learning and constant elevation in holiness. Ari’s Kabbalah system is called the Lurianic Kabbalah and is still one of the most complex Kabbalistic routes, although it has been five hundred years since its establishment. Thousands of pages of Ari’s successor have remained as a legacy, and these include almost every aspect of human thought, form of existence, and organization of the Universe. Already then, he explained every detail of the Big Bang theory and the emergence of not only the material Universe, but also the higher, spiritual levels of existence. The Lurianic Kabbalah is the basis of the so-called Theosophical Kabbalah, and the main areas are the teaching of the Ten Sefirot, five levels of the Soul and existence of five worlds. However, the greatest legacy of Ari’s is the exegesis of Zohar that had escaped everyone since its creation. It is believed that Ari was the reincarnation of his creator Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. He spent days, sometimes weeks, thinking and meditating about only one passage from the Zohar, until he would clarify it and get directly connected with the energy of that meaning. In addition to theoretical work, Ari dedicated much of his short life to practicing and explaining meditation. It was an integral part of the way to enlightenment, so Ari introduced a special system of meditation, Kavanot, which represented special actions during everyday life that would lead to a meditative state. In addition, the highest and most complex form of meditative technique was a combination of different Names of God in order to achieve high levels of consciousness and ecstatic states that would elevate him into the higher worlds. This required a very high level of preparation and purification, so Ari did not allow them to be practiced even by some of his most advanced followers, because these techniques carried great danger if the candidate was not fully prepared. 88 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY In the end, it should be repeated that Ari was a giant Soul, an example that in every generation God does not leave humanity “without the ladder that leads directly to Him”. There is currently a number of Freemasons around the world who are seriously engaged in the study of Lurianic Kabbalah and who find the deepest bonds between these two kinds of wisdom. It should be said that monitoring their work is extremely difficult without a good understanding of Kabbalah and that for an average Masonic researcher this can be quite frustrating, but ultimately it is also unnecessary. This can only be achieved by people who are driven by great curiosity and passion for getting to know the deepest secrets. 89 PART III KABBALAH & FREEMASONRY CHAPTER 12 KNOW THYSELF T his chapter perhaps contains the core of the idea that led me to write this book. In it I would like to move from the theory to the practical application of the teachings of Freemasonry and Kabbalah, as I think that is the essence of both sciences. They have to be lived and practiced daily, painstakingly, and often with sacrifices, much like a top athlete works out hard and pushes his body to the limit. Many believe that Freemasons and Kabbalists are secret rulers of the world who conceal their work and possess numerous secret and magical formulae. Nothing could be further from the truth than this huge misconception. There are no secrets—at least not anymore—in a century of almost instantaneous exchange of data and information. In contrast to Freemasonry, which has retained the mode of transmission of teachings in the form of allegories, hidden guidelines and symbols, Kabbalah has transformed itself greatly in terms of adapting to the modern man. It finds ways to follow the rhythm of modern life and leads to the Light in a comprehensible and acceptable way. On the other hand, Freemasonry remains rigidly set on the course that was established three or four centuries ago, so the great wisdom contained 93 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ in rituals remains hidden for most members. Even the highest-ranking Brethren hardly understand a fraction of the eternal truths that should be preserved in the greatest Fraternity in history. The fact that the modern man is different from that of the Enlightenment is not embraced, and therefore the opportunity for such a massive movement to get acquainted with the ancient wisdom and actively contribute to a much-desired change on the planet is missed. The goal of both sciences is the same, that the entire mankind becomes better, ultimately perfect, to realize the ultimate plan of creation and unite with God. They give guidance on this, and Kabbalah even explicitly reveals the way to go. In any case, there are no secrets. It is possible to make a comparison with Novak Đoković, one of the best tennis players of all times. Everyone can get a detailed plan of his training, diet, daily routine—no secrets. Does that mean that it is enough for every man to become Novak? Of course not. It takes extraordinary strength, will to live and sacrifice as he does, immense talent, love for beauty of the sport he enjoys and great wisdom for all of it to merge so he could remain at the top for so many years. It is identical with Kabbalah and Freemasonry. We have all the information we need, and it is up to us how far we will go to change and improve ourselves, how much we will climb the spiritual ladder. This chapter contains instructions that the two spiritual doctrines provide and I will try to be as clear as possible in describing the path to the Light. One human life for us, average people, is generally not sufficient to complete this path, but for the rare righteous ones that appear from time to time on this planet, it is. What we can all do is to at least try to use this incarnation in the best possible way and reduce future “study material” as much as possible. Let’s start from the beginning. KNOW THYSELF is one of the first instructions Freemasonry gives 94 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY to a new member. Perhaps the most difficult task in the whole human life, which requires everyday work, reflection, discovery and to plunge into the greatest depths of our very being. WHAT EXACTLY IS REALITY In order to get to know ourselves first, we need to get to know the whole of reality. I must remind you that Kabbalah states our five senses perceive only one percent of reality, and ninety nine percent is separate from us. In Freemasonry this is often allegorically presented in a saying: I do not even know how to read or write. Very nicely and wisely put. We cannot even read the messages and signals that come to us every day from the higher worlds, let alone write something and create messages that could go to these higher dimensions. The founders of Freemasonry used incredible talent to wrap up the greatest wisdom into individual sentences and essential postulates of existence into allegories. So, the reality in which we live is only the world of consequence, not the world of causes. The material level is the lowest of all that lead away from God, but it is necessary in the plan of Divine creation. The roots are, paradoxically, in the higher worlds, as the Tree of Life shows, and we are the branches that lead them. Only when we put this in our consciousness we can move on, because the very consciousness we form about reality determines further perception and spiritual advancement. THE PURPOSE OF LIFE Once we have accepted this, we can ask the essential question which we have all faced at one time or another: what is the purpose of life? This should be a question that brings a man to the Fraternity of Freemasons where he expects to get the answer. This mystery and not status privi95 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ leges, socializing with other well-known people, or pursuing any personal gain, is the true essence of the existence and survival of Freemasonry for over three centuries. The question of the purpose and the meaning of life is a question above all others, it has troubled the greatest minds from the dawn of time to this day, and the answer was given only to the chosen ones. It is believed that mankind is now ready and that is why Kabbalah opened up to the world in the last century. Is it possible that life is just passing through pain and suffering from birth to death with only small intervals of true happiness and complete fulfillment, which is rarely felt? Is the faith in the existence of the World to come and the reward that is awaiting us worth all the human troubles, wars, hatred and destruction that have been going on for centuries, and now with the development of technology threatens to completely destroy the planet? Everything is actually completely the opposite, although it does not look that way. God created man with enormous love, in order to give him fulfillment in every way; we are the beginning and the end of His idea of ​creation and grace. The reason why in practice this is not the case is that man has cut off ties and connections with the source of happiness in the higher worlds, and the purpose of Kabbalah and Freemasonry is for them to be restored and that all mankind may receive that which was intended for it. The path to it is a complete transformation of human nature. From selfish beings, as we currently are, focused on ourselves and fulfilling only our lowest inclinations, we must become beings that give, altruistic and focused on others, beings of love—we simply need to become identical with God. This is absolutely possible, and many righteous people have achieved it. To understand this hypothesis which is hard to accept, we need to get back to the beginning. So, how did it all start? 96 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY The only axiom in Kabbalah is the existence of God or Light, which is an infinite source of goodness, grace, and giving. At one time, the Light decided to make its Creation, someone who would receive this infinite goodness and Kabbalah called it the Vessel for Receiving Light. In the chapter on God, the very process of creation is explained in detail, and at this point I would just remind you that until Adam’s fall, unlimited grace and blessings were available to man. From that moment on, after the Fall of Man—as it has been called by mystery systems throughout history—everything has changed. The world of chaos has emerged and instead of the Tree of Life, the human race lives in a reality determined by the so-called Tree of Knowledge. With great effort, mankind will return to the Garden of Eden, through pain and suffering, but the ultimate goal is final reunion with Light and it will surely be fulfilled. This is a story that Freemasonry tells through rituals of birth, life, physical death, and resurrection. The goal of Kabbalah is to help each and every one of us perfect ourselves in an easier and faster way. The reason we have no fulfillment is that we are not connected to our real possibilities and potentials. Kabbalah offers tools that help us approach and connect with the unlimited potentials which everyone possesses, and to achieve this absolute and lasting fulfillment that we seek and consciously or unconsciously yearn for. It teaches that the more people succeed in self-realization, the more it will have a collective role to the whole world in the removal of pain and suffering on the earth and bringing human life to completion. EGO In the realization of one’s own Being, it is first necessary to explain obstacles that prevent man in achieving that. Kabbalah calls them the Opponent, Satan, or Ego. It is part of a human being, a force within us that could be called our personality for ease of understanding. So, the 97 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ man is made up of a Soul, which has an insignificant role in everyday life, and Ego, which keeps us away from the Light. As in any fight, the game of life is to overcome the Opponent and every day wage war with him. The greater part of our being is placed under the influence of the Soul, and the more we reduce the influence of Ego, we get closer to the Light. How does the Satan or Opponent work and manifest himself? Why did God even create him? Before answering this question, it is necessary to explain the concept of great importance in Kabbalah, one that is called the bread of shame. It is an ancient term used for anything obtained but not deserved. Embarrassment in itself has a special spiritual significance in Kabbalah and is explained as something terrible that we experience when meeting God after death. Then our Soul, freed from the body, experiences its entire material life through the spiritual prism and becomes aware of all its sins. While standing naked in front of God, without the body’s covering, it becomes aware of the mistakes it has made during its physical life and feels incredible shame that constitutes punishment and real hell. The bread of shame is the Light that he would receive, and that he had not earned through his works. A nice comparison would be a golf player who got a magic stick hitting a hole with each impact. How much fun would it be for such a player to win tournaments? Certainly not for long, because it would not be the result of training and the efforts of the finally rewarded title. Another example is a child who inherits a great fortune at birth. He would never appreciate it as someone who worked hard and toiled in life and got rewarded as a result of it. Therefore, God, the source of constant goodness and Light, cast the Opponent into the game of life. The greater the challenge, the greater the pleasure and reward after each victory. The Opponent, Satan, or Ego functions within us through something called reactive behavior. 98 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY Getting to know yourself practically means discovering this kind of behavior on a daily basis, overcoming individual challenges, and making spiritual progress day in and day out. PROACTIVE AND REACTIVE BEHAVIOR What does that look like in practice? Our separation from the Light leads us to assume the attitude and formation of reactive consciousness, that we are a consequence rather than a cause. We do not realize our life is completely in our hands, that we receive messages from the Light at any time, and have the free will to choose our actions. The course of our lives depends on our choices; we choose which way we will go, but all scenarios are already written. There are countless parallel universes, and from one moment to the next, from decision to decision, we direct our lives toward the already written script, we just choose which one to follow. Reactive behavior leads us to the position of the victim, we blame the circumstances, people and events around us, unconscious that they are not the essence. Our awareness of them is most important. Transformation of consciousness lies at the center of spiritual advancement. Every moment is a lesson that comes with love from the Light and has the sole aim of sending us a message that we must learn to read. We have to become proactive, which is the opposite of reactive behavior. We ourselves are the cause, not the victim or consequence. The following example will show what it looks like in practice. We come home from work, having worked all day. In the house we find absolute chaos that the children had made. Reactive behavior would be an instant reaction of anger. I shout at the kids and argue with my wife. Is this what I deserve? I work all day, and this is waiting for me? What have I achieved by that course of action? The children are afraid of me, and I had an argument with my wife. Proactive behavior implies that when we encounter such a situation, we should stop. We 99 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ say to ourselves that this is a lesson, too. We think about what we want to achieve. We explain to our children that such behavior is unacceptable. If necessary, we can be strict and come up with a punishment, but not in rage. The goal will be achieved, the children will learn the lesson, and we will learn it too. Every time we need to stop, think, become aware of the message that is sent to us, and only then react. TIKKUN: CORRECTION OF THE SOUL Each of us is born with a certain set of traits and challenges that must be corrected in this life. They are caused by former lives and represent the path to perfection, the road that we must travel to become equal with and one with God. These are lessons that we had not mastered in previous lives, so each human life is an exam, taking and mastering of which leads to the rise on the spiritual ladder. This group of challenges in Kabbalah is called tikkun, or correction of the Soul. We were born in a country that is ideal for solving our tikkun, we selected parents who serve the same goal, the complete setting of our lives is created to overcome the challenges that are just ours. Here we come to the essence: KNOW THYSELF. This means that we must become aware of our tikkun and work on its daily correction. It can be fear, anger, jealousy… The list is huge. As we discover one challenge after another and solve it, it will no longer appear in our lives, but we will move on to the next level. When we overcome fears, life will make us scenarios for dealing with sadness. When we get rid of sadness, something new will emerge. The essence is to become aware that ALL IS GOOD, and that every moment, no matter how difficult it may seem, is sent to our life by the Light with grace and enormous love in order to correct our Soul. This is very difficult, requires constant exercise, everyday analysis of events from that day and clarification of hidden messages. In this way, 100 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY according to Kabbalah, the Sixth Sense is developed, and we learn to communicate with the higher worlds, the worlds of causes of all events. We come to another important concept that Kabbalah calls absolute certainty. This means that we must transform consciousness to the level that we have no doubt that every event, however painful it is, is a direct message from the Light. “I’ll believe it when I see it” must be replaced with “I’ll see it when I believe”. However, when tough moments in life occur, a man starts to doubt, loses strength, and re-examines the existence of God, Light, lessons and everything. I am telling this from my own experience, with life challenges being so painful that the struggle with absolute certainty was conducted every day in the cruelest possible way. In moments of strength, everything gets meaning, every event becomes a lesson given by the best lecturer, and then everything is elevated to even harder and harder levels. Falls are inevitable, as well as the question: “How much longer?” Confidence and certainty are not that we wi! get what we want (calm, tranquility, happiness, complete fulfillment), but that we have already received what we need for our spiritual growth. In all segments of life, the duration of pain and chaos is proportionate to the degree of our uncertainty and disbelief. When this is overcome, there are major changes in life in all fields: health, tranquility, emotions, and business. Perhaps all this sounds like some sort of a New Age text, but it should not be forgotten that millennia of wisdom stand behind Kabbalistic lessons, only they are now simplified and reduced to the language of the twenty-first century man. Challenges never stop, but only their form change and are directed to the next level that needs to be recognized. There are very few righteous ones in history who have mastered all the lessons, became Saints, and ended their material existence. I would only mention some of the reactive behaviors that we must recognize in ourselves and transform them into proactive: 101 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ Worry, Doubt, Constant complaining, Proving that we are right, Attempts to prove and impose our views, Staying in the comfort zone, Seeking confirmation for our good deeds, Desire for immediate solutions to the problem, Primary concern for ourselves, Anger, Acting out of one’s own insecurity, A sense of emptiness A secret desire that people should know about our qualities, Impatience, The need to have everything done our way, Always having answers to everything, Always wanting to solve other people’s problems, Celebrating each time something good happens, Falling into a bad mood every time something bad happens… The list goes on and on. The spiritual path, realization of oneself, implies discovery of our faults, becoming aware of them, recognition of those moments in which they manifest themselves and their correction. Training is daily. Kabbalistic methodology is to separate a few minutes before going to bed every night, go over the past day and locate such moments. Then, with full consciousness, we go through the same event, only instead of reactive behavior we apply proactive one, consider what the right reaction to a given lesson and the situation should be. The more we throw out our garbage to the surface, the more we are spiritually advanced. In terminology of Freemasonry, a rough ashlar is gradually being processed and the more it is worked on, the more perfect it becomes, until it is completely ready for building into the Temple. 102 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY The safest tools Kabbalah proposes for transformation of consciousness and correction of the Soul are sharing and giving. Accessing these principles with full awareness of their importance makes us similar to the Light on the spiritual plane. In this way, according to the Law of Attraction, by doing the right things, we draw more and more Light into our lives. As Kabbalists say, in that way we increase our Vessel for Receiving Light and climbing spiritual ladders. Reading and studying the Zohar, meditation over 72 Names of God and prayer, are also tools that Kabbalists use on a daily basis as a means of helping on the spiritual path. 103 CHAPTER 13 SILENCE AND SPEECH E very Freemason starts on the road to the Light by learning the art of silence. From Ancient Mysteries to this day, all initiatory systems require neophytes to take an oath through which they commit to keeping a secret of the learned. However, much deeper mysterious and esoteric meanings lie below this top layer. What are the secrets of Freemasonry in the twenty-first century? The age of Internet and information technology has led to incredible data and information exchange, so that practically means there is nothing more about Freemasonry today that cannot be discovered with a few keystrokes on the computer keyboard. However, the knowledge of something and its understanding and putting into practice are completely different things. Skills cannot be mastered by knowing about their existence only; they require painstaking and devoted work. This is exactly the case with silence. We often wonder why of all virtues and wisdom, such as humility, honesty, courage, love and altruism, it was silence that was chosen as the first thing to master in grinding a rough ashlar. What is underneath this? Kabbalah gives the deepest answers about this wisdom, removing veil 104 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY after veil to the very essence. Through the millennia, it was Kabbalah itself that was the most secluded and secretive system, passed on exclusively by oral tradition, and only to a few selected people in each generation. If someone knows the reasons for silence and secrecy that has been applied successfully for centuries, it is certainly Kabbalists. In the Talmud, the central text of Rabbinic Judaism, it is said that the purpose of life is to master silence and become silent as a dumb man. The wisest of all people and a great Kabbalist King Solomon was intensively engaged in the study and explanation of silence. He said that even a fool can look like a sage if he keeps quiet. SPEECH The beginning of the Kabbalistic analysis is in the understanding of speech. In order to know why it is important to master silence, we need to get into the secrets of speech. The cosmic power of speech is best understood by reminding ourselves that the world according to the Bible was created by the ten utterances of God. Before them, there was nothing but infinite and undifferentiated Divine Nothingness, as Kabbalah explains God as a creative principle. Then the Will of God appeared for the creation of a world materialized through speech. “And God said, Let there be light: and there was light...” And so it was ten times. Thus, behind the entire cosmic creation stands the creative energy of speech. Kabbalah does not perceive the creation of the world as a process that happened once and ended in one act. It continues from one moment to another; the creative energy of God constantly creates the world. If God “kept quiet” just for a moment, the world would disappear. As man is the only being who is God’s partner in this creation, with the role of purifying and perfecting his Soul, God has given only to him this fantastic creative tool, the power of speech. Every word spoken by 105 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ people carries with it enormous creative energy, equivalent to the cosmic force that created the world. Knowing the details of all these processes, Kabbalists pay great attention to speech and silence. They analyzed and explained each segment, from the beginning to the very essence. The most superficial layer is understanding the importance of the mouth itself. The Kabbalah sees mouth as a completely separate spiritual entity and it attaches great importance to them, both physically and spiritually. It is an organ that provides life. We take food and breathe through it. If there were no mouth, there would be no body, and the Soul could not exist without it in the physical world. Words and mouth create and destroy things and the entire worlds around us. Most of the chaos and negativity that we have in life happen because of what we do or not do with our mouth. Ivo Andrić, a Serbian Nobel Prize winner and Freemason, said: All of us, both men and women, should pay more attention to what we say because we never know for how long and with what consequences every word we said can live in another man. SPEECH AND THE TREE OF LIFE Everything we say represents a certain energy. As the Kabbalists say, our every thought, word, and action creates angels. The mouth produces three types of energy that come from different levels of the higher worlds. Those are breath, sound, and words. The breath comes from the highest spiritual levels, from Binah, the sefirah of Understanding. It is the third sefirah in sequence and is the source of total energy of the material world—from the movement of planets in the universe to the pounding of the heart. Whenever we feel love, satisfaction, fulfillment, the feeling that we have accomplished something, that energy comes from Binah. Our Soul originates from it, as Binah is 106 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY the energy of the Soul. It is interesting to note that because of this, Kabbalists consider a kiss to be an exchange of breath or energies of the Soul, and for this reason it has more relevance than sexual intercourse that is purely a physical act. The breath turns into sound, which is connected to the six following sefirot, commonly referred to as Zeir Anpin. This level is our higher world, we strive to connect with it. As the sound is not as pure as breath, nor as clear as words, it is something between the physical world and sefirah Binah. The energy chain ends in our material world where the breath, through sound, in sefirah Malkuth, the sefirah of the Kingdom of the material world, turns into words. So, the words are the lowest level of the manifestation of the energy of the Soul. They are not just ordinary sound frequencies, but the materialization of very high spiritual levels in the physical world, making the final part of an uninterrupted chain. The essence is that we have CONSCIOUSNESS that words are not just ordinary sound vibrations that we create, but also contain Divine energy from the highest levels. It serves to energize other people with positive energy or return to higher spiritual levels if properly used. People feel the connection of words with their energy level, and they listen to the simple meaning to a lesser extent. The meaningless use of speech has a complete counter-effect. It feeds the negative part of the reality, which aims to block spiritual progress. For this reason, it is necessary to be very careful when speaking that we do not energize the part of us that is connected with the Ego, our greatest enemy. Kabbalah analyzes another level at the time of inception of words. During speech, the tongue touches the palate, and, in that way, certain sounds are formed. The tongue represents the lowest spiritual level in the mouth, sefirah Malchut, which communicates with the other 107 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ sefirot while we speak, and that contact is identified by Kabbalists with sexual intercourse, which as a result has the creation of offspring, or in this case—words. Kabbalah deals in detail with the analysis of sexual relations at different levels and in different ways. They are always associated with the higher worlds and their significance is studied in every aspect of reality, both physically and on the highest level, Divine. Thus, the relationship that arises in forming words from sounds is approached the same way. As children should not be born unplanned, accidentally, and unknowingly, words should not be pronounced without prior thought and attention. Consequences stretch high into the spiritual world. WORDS AND ANGELS Another level of understanding words as such is what happens in the angelic realm during speech. Ari said that the words are an altar on which the Divine energy and prophecy would be seated. If a person is on a good spiritual journey, then they must have the right awareness during speech. It is a skill that is practiced and adopted for years to become more alert to what is being pronounced and to realize that these are not just ordinary words. If there is awareness of the constant presence of God’s Light, we realize that the words we say before they reach another person become the place where the angels, enlightenment and prophecy dwell. What a powerful statement! The point is that we never say the words on our own. If we are only thinking about ourselves, isolated from God, it is the Ego talking. When we have the awareness that it is something above us, which has to do with angels and enlightenment waiting to connect with the spoken words, then the words have true strength. It is very difficult to maintain such consciousness constantly. The ancient sages were aware of this, so Aristotle answered the question of what was most difficult for him and said that it was silence. 108 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY Pythagorean school attendants had to practice silence for five years before they were initiated. Ari spent seven years in isolation without exchanging a word with other people to remain pure, protect the Soul and isolate the Ego. Having awareness of where the words come from, what they are related to and what kind of power a positive fear wakes in us, about which Kabbalists often speak. It implies a very high spiritual level in which a person is constantly aware of God’s presence and has developed a sense of awe toward Him. This is a special Kabbalistic topic. The term awe of the Great Architect is often used in Freemasonry. The point is to perfect the skill of silence to such a degree, that every time we talk, we lose the feeling of ourselves to reach the consciousness of connection with the Soul and with God, and to break the influence of the Ego. Then other people will hear us, feel correctness of our energy, even if we did not use the most adequate words. If we have the right awareness, the effect of the words will be right. KABBALISTIC PRAYER Kabbalists use extraordinary power of words and speech in the form of prayer as one of the basic tools for spiritual advancement and connection with the Light. Although prayer is an integral part of all religions, Kabbalistic prayer is something special. It allows us to overcome limitations of the material world, leads to a change in the consciousness of Kabbalists themselves, but it also causes changes in their surroundings. Through prayer, they become a direct channel of the Light and enable constant God’s presence in the material world. Kabbalists use it daily, many times during the day, so in addition to studying the Zohar, charity and meditation, prayer is an integral part of a Kabbalist’s life. There are about a hundred blessings and prayers that a true Kabbalist says in one day, they begin and finish the day with prayer, and before each meal they have blessings for certain foods. The most important thing 109 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ is to keep awareness of God’s omnipresence and the unity of all that exists and God in the course of the day. The words of prayer are the means for this. Prayer in Hebrew is called tefi!ah, which means to connect, unite. It connects man with God, unites it with the essence of everything that exists. It represents a direct, uninterrupted contact and connection, which brings God’s blessings into the material world. Kabbalists experience prayer and consecrate themselves to it in a special way. For prayer to be heard, it is necessary to approach it with a pure and open heart, with immense love for God and a special state of consciousness and mind. It requires full concentration and is not performed as a regular mental exercise. The term for this is kavanah, which is a special Kabbalistic concept. It signifies complete commitment, sincere and true intent, purification of heart, emptying the mind of all thoughts and visualizing yourself as you stand before God while you are speaking to Him. Anything less than that is not a true Kabbalistic prayer and diminishes miraculous effects that can be obtained in this way, which is the direct connection of the Divine in man with the higher worlds. However, the use of words and verbalization is necessary in order for the right thoughts and adequate consciousness to materialize. ANA B’KOAH Of the many varied prayers used by Kabbalists, the most famous and powerful is Ana B’Koah, or as it is also called, “The Forty-Two Names of God”. It captures great attention and interest. This prayer shows all the complexity and power of Kabbalah, the correspondence it uses, and in the best way the proper use and power of words and speech. Kabbalists use it every day, most often in the morning, but it can be used several times a day, whenever the Kabbalist 110 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY feels there is a need for it. Ana B’Koah has countless effects. The most important is the complete transformation of the Kabbalist’s energetic aura, overcoming restrictions of the physical world, connection with higher dimensions of consciousness, and rise into higher worlds. It sounds incredible, as many things in Kabbalah do when they are viewed through the prism of ordinary people. The structure of this prayer is specific. It consists of forty-two words, each of which represents a huge force of energy. By connecting with each of them through speech and proper concentration, miracles can happen not only to the Kabbalist who is using them, but also to his surroundings. The words are divided into seven lines, six words in each. Seven lines denote the seven days of creation, so the pronunciation of a word from each line connects us with the beginning of the whole existence and each problem solves and balances out at its inception. Also, each line is connected with a sefirah, from Chesed to Malkuth, so Kabbalists balances with energies of all spiritual levels that have an impact on the material world. The three upper sefirot are related to the spiritual levels that transcend the level of human existence and are not included in this prayer. The practical effect of this prayer is even more fascinating. The Kabbalist gets connected with angels, in this case with the seraphim. I would remind the reader to open up their consciousness and accept the existence of a vast part of reality that we are not aware of—in this case, angels—which quite certainly exists outside of human perception. The seraphim have six wings, which correspond to six words in each line. Two wings cover their faces, two cover their legs, and two they use for flying. Six wings correspond to East, West, North, South, Up, and Down—six directions that determine the linear dimension of physical existence. They have the ability to control all six dimensions and by connecting with them, Kabbalists rise to the reality of harmony and spirituality. 111 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ Words are spoken in pairs. The first pair of each line generates energetic protection from the influence of the outside world, events, people, emotions, which disturb the harmony of people. In this way, the Kabbalist is resistant to any challenges that the physical world imposes upon him and accepts it with peace. The second pair of words balances the inner, spiritual, aspect of man, not allowing him to slip on the road toward the Light but aligns progress in the precisely determined rhythm that belongs to the Kabbalist at that moment. The third pair of words elevates him to the higher levels of consciousness where he should be and from where he can further progress. The effects of this prayer are miraculous. Every time during every day, when they find themselves stuck in a situation or need an answer to a question, Kabbalists use Ana B’Koah, performing, as they say, miracles in their lives. 1 PRACTICAL KABBALAH AND WORDS The most tangible example of power and energy is practical Kabbalah. While theoretical Kabbalah aims at approaching God and obtaining direct knowledge of the higher worlds, practical Kabbalah uses forces from higher worlds to bring about a change in the material world. The basic tool for manipulating these forces are words. Solomon’s Temple and King Solomon himself can be considered the beginning of practical Kabbalah. The sacred place where God was dwelling was the center of metaphysical phenomena that are inconceivable to today’s mind. Solomon was one of the greatest Kabbalists ever, to whom God directly conveyed mystical knowledge and enabled him to rule over all creatures of the material and spiritual world. This was the main reason for the great power and wisdom he possessed. He managed to conquer all spirits of the higher world, master them, and use to do his bidding. The precondition for everything is that it is in the service of God and for a good purpose. In his book The Key of 112 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY Solomon, he outlined detailed ways of using words for magical purposes. While Kabbalists themselves do not use the term “magic”, the creation of many a non-Jewish, Western occult system mostly rests on practical Kabbalah. After destruction of the Temples in Jerusalem and cessation of God’s presence on earth, the conditions for practicing practical Kabbalah were lost. The reason was the impossibility of purification, because anyone involved in this activity had to be completely pure, spiritually and physically. Ari personally forbade his students to practice it. However, despite everything, practical Kabbalah never disappeared. At different times and ages, the general attitude of the Jewish community toward it changed. What remained unchanged is that practical Kabbalah could only be practiced by the chosen ones. They had a title ˝Master of the Name˝ (Ba’al Shem), or “Master of the Divine Name” (Ba’al ShemTov), because the miracles were caused mainly through the use of different Names of God. These were exceptional personalities, extremely pious, mostly religiously educated, stable in their faith, and of firm and upright character, who lived nurturing virtues, had secret knowledge, and knew angels and demons. The use of and appeal to the various Names of God activated energies and forces associated with them and led to changes in the material world. Great limitations existed in terms of the use of these Holy Names only for good and in special cases. To be successful, The Master of the Name had to prepare for days. This meant several days of fasting and meditation for the purpose of purification, the use of certain periods during the day when their effect was the greatest and many other things. In any case, great caution was always necessary because the effect could have been catastrophic and sometimes led to the death of Kabbalists. The same epilogue occurred even when the energy of the Name of God was used for selfish and erroneous purposes. Different miracles took place, completely incomprehensible to a 113 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ rational mind. Evil spirits were cast out of people, the dead would return to life, there was walking on water, teleportation, mind-reading, and the knowledge of former reincarnations was revealed. A special topic in Kabbalah is making of a Golem, living creature from inanimate matter, clay or earth, using a certain procedure and the Names of God. The fundamental difference between Kabbalah and magic is that practical Kabbalah uses Divine energy for purely noble purposes. God is the one that leads to change, and the Kabbalist is just a mediator who deserves a blessing because of his virtues. It is an exalted activity which, because of the lack of correct information, is treated as banal. The best example of the power of words is an indicator that the frequency of speech is the universal creative Divine energy. In one Masonic story, it is noted that when we finally come to God, we are judged for every action and every word that we have spoken during our lifetime. If we could put the true meaning of words into our consciousness, there would be less evil in the world and mankind would make a huge spiritual advance. 114 CHAPTER 14 THE GREAT ARCHITECT OF THE UNIVERSE F or the modern man, the concept and understanding of God are quite vague. Scientific theories about the origin and develop- ment of the world put God in an almost virtual position, except in cases of true believers, whose number in the Fraternity of Freemasons is diminishing. Freemasonry is neither a religious nor a dogmatic organization. Again, the prerequisite for admission is faith in the Supreme Being, which in the Craft is called Great Architect, or the Great Architect of the Universe. However, this faith is a flexible notion, so you can get the most diverse answers from the members of the Fraternity about their understanding of God, and this is approached with great flexibility. The oath is given over the Volume of Sacred Law—the Bible, the Koran, or the Torah—which is opened in the Lodge at a precisely defined page for the duration of the ritual. Also, we are constantly addressing the Great Architect of the Universe, seeking His blessing, or expressing our awe and faith in Him. All this points to an extremely great importance that the founders of Freemasonry had given to God. The Great Architect and the Volume 115 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ of Sacred Law are the very essence of Masonic thinking and philosophy, but much like Freemasonry itself, they are wrapped in veils of allegories that need to be removed to get to the basic messages and understanding that Freemasonry provides. However, this is left to the individual effort, will and vocation that each Mason feels toward the Divine, as well as the power to search for the essential truth. Freemasonry gives indications, and hardly provides any direct instructions and information, thus leaving the possibility of completely slipping off the real path of knowledge. In contemporary Fraternity, hardly anyone really searches for answers to questions about why he had to initially profess faith in God and why the Volume of Sacred Law is the Great Light of Freemasonry. This is taken for granted, so in most cases the understanding of God by the members of the Fraternity does not differ from the understanding of God by the profane world. This is a problem that has tormented the greatest Masonic minds for centuries and ever since the inception of Freemasonry, they have raised their voices against such darkness, but not only has nothing changed, the passage of time has made the essence increasingly blurred, and the social aspects and belonging to an “elitist association” have assumed the leading role. With Kabbalists, the story is completely different. The question of intellectual consideration of God and his existence is a non-Kabbalistic question. They never had a dilemma of that type. Kabbalah has been passed on for centuries from teachers to disciples, and as they were mainly rabbis, their faith and knowledge of God was present from the earliest childhood. What Kabbalah deals with is “true knowledge”, or a direct, experiential relationship with God, which can be established in this earthly life. There is an interesting story about a philosopher who came to a rabbi. The philosopher claimed that he absolutely did not believe in the existence of God and that it was impossible for one being to create something as perfect and complex as the world. His claim was that the 116 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY world had come into being on its own. The rabbi remained silent. After a few days, he visited the philosopher and brought him a beautiful song, written in the finest handwriting. Inspired, the philosopher asked, “Who is this poet who wrote such fantastic verses? And who is the scribe who wrote them with such beautiful handwriting?” The rabbi replied: “There is no poet nor a scribe; the ink from the bottle has spilled out, and these verses came about.” The philosopher jumped on it saying that was impossible, that such perfection could not arise of itself, and that there had to be someone who created it. Rabbi simply nodded and walked out. AIN SOF As already pointed out, man can only perceive the surface of reality with his five senses—as Kabbalah states, one percent of reality. The current human level of consciousness considers people to be separated from one another, seeing us as separate beings. However, when you understand the concept of the world creation, you reach a different viewpoint. The whole universe came into being as a result of the will of God and is made up of Divine energy only. The separation we perceive is only the illusion of reality. There is no separation between man, stars in the sky, plants, rocks, and everything present in existence. All is part of God and all is God, or as Kabbalah calls him Ain Sof, which means literally “The One without end or limit”. We cannot say that it is a stone or a star in the sky, or a plant or animal, and not God. In everything there is a Divine Spark, which represents the inner dimension of reality, while the Universe and its parts are only a robe for the Divine energy. The almost identical interpretation of God is presented in Masonic tracing boards, which was beautifully explained by the contemporary Masonic author W. Kirk MacNulty in his work Kabbalah and Freemasonry. According to Kabbalists, everything that can be said about God is that 117 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ He exists—we can say no more. People cannot understand Him, He cannot be described by words, nor is there a concept that could explain God. God is one, there are no limits or boundaries. He created the world guided solely by his goodness and love. The ultimate goal of this creation is man, and everything else is created to allow a person to know God and eventually become one with Him. During this time, God is hidden from man. We can describe God only by using attributes and qualities of created things woven by Divine energy. These are the ways God portrays the world and these are the ten sefirot. When we say for God that He is gracious, strict, full of love, wise or reasonable, we use qualities that are close to the human mind, not the real qualities of God. Kabbalists say that God is simple, unique and undifferentiated, so the ways in which we describe him are by no means His real traits, which are completely beyond the ability of human understanding. Everything in the world is happening because God so wishes, from the simplest to the most complex of things. That is God’s Providence. From the blowing of the wind, functioning of living organisms and the movement of planets. Freemasonry uses symbols of All-seeing Eye and Blazing Star and thus in a beautiful way represents the omnipresence of the Creator. To control the events in the material world, God created the spiritual dimension, which lies between Him and the physical world. This spiritual dimension can be looked at as a powerful computer capable of carrying out the will of God in the Universe to the smallest detail. The difference is that the spiritual world consists of sensitive, living and spiritual beings. Kabbalah is about explaining the structure and dynamics in the spiritual world whose knowledge is necessary to understand the complicated relationship between God and man. Knowing the laws which govern the spiritual dimension, where there is 118 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY neither time nor space, makes it easier for man to rise to higher worlds and achieve the ultimate goal of creation—the union of man and God. WORLDS When talking about God, Freemasonry uses the term the Great Architect of the Universe. How many times have we really asked ourselves about the essence of this term and what this Universe looks like? Kabbalah answers this question and provides teaching about the existence of several different levels of spiritual worlds, their origin, role, structure and connectivity. It divides the whole reality into five worlds. They stem from God, who is not part of the division, and end with the last in a row, the material world. They were created to serve man as a means of gradually approaching and ultimately merging with God. The worlds are set in a falling series of discoveries of God’s Light and each of them serves as a sort of filter through which the lower intensity of the Light is passed to the next level. 119 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ Worlds in Kabbalah In the physical world, the Light is almost completely hidden, and moving from man to God, each successive world enables the gradual discovery of an ever-increasing amount of Light, and thus a gradual 120 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY approach to God. Otherwise, exposure to a huge amount of God’s Light would lead to the destruction of man. The Kabbalistic concept of reality is very complicated to understand. It originates from prophetic visions, with the prophets having access to different worlds or heavens, and from there revealing and conveying the reality as God ordered them. The most profound vision was with Moses, who made direct contact with God, while the prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel prophesied from the lower worlds but with very detailed and clear knowledge. The hierarchy of the worlds and the way they function can be explained and simplified using an example of a fashion designer. It is a bit banal, but useful and understandable. The first world, the one closest to God, is the desire to create a new dress. In the second step, the whole process is devised, which materials will be used, what the dress will look like, on what occasions it will be worn, and that is the part that takes place in the mind. Then, in the third world, the creator creates, so that in the world of creation, the fourth in line, his instruction is passed on to the tailor. The original idea is ultimately materialized, and a dress is finished, and this is man in the material world. ADAM KADMON: THE PRIMEVAL MAN Before the worlds were created, there had only been infinite Light. The beginning of creation had to start with the desire of God for Creation, and that was the beginning of anything that is not God. The desire for creation is the world of Adam Kadmon. Inextricably connected with God, it represents the bond of Infinite with the Finite. It is also called Nothingness, but not as a lack, only as something completely incomprehensible to human perception. The name reveals the idea behind the process of creation, the creation of man, which is the basic purpose of the whole Creation. It is the 121 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ beginning of everything—the will of God to create man and give him unlimited love and fulfillment. Adam Kadmon means Primeval Man. In Kabbalah, this is a broad and complex subject, it requires a great deal of knowledge and effort to penetrate its core. It is very difficult to understand the world of Adam Kadmon and the will of God. It takes years of study of Kabbalah to get there. When reading The Tree of Life: The Palace of Adam Kadmon, written by Hayyim Vital, 1 the main student of Isaac Luria, in which the essence of the Lurianic Kabala is presented, everything is so abstract that you always have the impression that you will never understand it. ATZILUT: THE WORLD OF CLOSENESS Atzilut receives its existence and Light through the world of Adam Kadmon, only in lesser intensity. He is still very close to God and completely drowned in God’s Nothingness, so this world does not function separately. That’s why it is called The World of Closeness. It is difficult to define it by any concept related to the material world, but it could be compared to the mind. It can be said that it is a reality that does not yet exist. In the case of a fashion designer, it is a dress that is fully conceived, it exists in the mind of the creator, but it is not yet manifested in reality. Unlike the physical level where everything is related to time and space, it is not so in the Divine domain, and even though Atzilut still does not exist at the present moment, it is a real entity from the perspective of the higher worlds and reality. This is the domain of sefirot. After God’s desire for creation emerged, He used Wisdom, Understanding, Love, Judgement, and Mercy to create and maintain the world. These are the primary forces and attributes of God that He employs in creation and which will be an integral part of the future creation. However, at the level of Atzilut, the sefirot are not yet manifested. Just as the fashion designer knows in his mind which materials he will use, they will become apparent only when the 122 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY production process begins and when the dress is made. That is why it is said for the sefirot in Atzilut that they are Ten Ineffable Sefirot, or Ten Sefirot of Nothingness. BERIYAH: THE WORLD OF CREATION This world receives the Light of even lower intensity through Atzilut and thereby maintains its existence. For the first time, Creation on this level is separated from God and begins to exist separately from him. The idea came out of the mind of the creator and the process of creating a dress begins. However, unlike the material world, on the level called Beriyah there is a consciousness about the existence of God. The creation came out of Nothingness, creation ex nihilo, something from nothing, completely new and different from its Source. This is the world of thought. The Soul exists in man, and beyond man and the material world, influencing the part that is connected to the body. Every level of existence, every world, is characterized by a certain level of the Soul. On the level of the World of Creation, for the first time the Soul separates itself from God as independent but with a distinct awareness of the existence and closeness of God, which is not the case with the lowest level of the Soul that is connected to the body. Beriyah is also called the World of Throne. The biblical concept according to which God sits on a throne, allegorically signifies the descent of God into the lower worlds in order for Him to be closer to His ultimate Creation. The descent occurs in this world and from this level God expresses His concern and contact with man which is called God’s Providence. 123 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ YETZIRAH: THE WORLD OF FORMATION Yetzirah is the world located directly above the material one and serves to transmit information from God to the lowest world. The designer presented his idea through the creation and told the tailor. It represents the world of speech and the world of angels. It is said that every time God speaks, angels are created. It is in fact a form of communication between God and the physical domain, and spiritual forces that transmit information are called angels. The Hebrew word for angels means messengers. In the vision of the prophets, they went up and down through the World of Formation connecting the world of giving instructions, or World of Creation, with the world of receiving orders, the material world, or World of Making. Although the concept of angels connects with the three worlds —Beriyah, Yetzirah, and Asiyah—Yetzirah is called the world of angels. This world represents the creation of “something out of something”, the emergence of speech from thought. The higher world, Beriyah, is a world created by the principle “something out of nothing”, meaning the thought originated from Nothingness. These are important Kabbalistic concepts related to the emergence of Light and Darkness. ASIYAH: MATERIAL WORLD, THE WORLD OF MAKING The material world is the world of final actions and the completion of the creation process which goes through the previous four worlds and ends here. The result is the emergence of a world in which the spiritual is in contact with the physical, and which represents the final Vessel for Receiving the Light of God. This world is a stage where the scene is set for man who was the first Thought of Creation. He is the ultimate Creation, totally opposite from God, which can be united with the Creator by doing good and 124 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY choosing Light, not Darkness. It is right here that the concept of good and evil, or Light and Darkness, should be explained. The black and white floor in the Masonic lodges symbolically represents this dualism on the physical plane of existence. Only in the material world good and evil can co-exist together, and man approaches God by choosing Light instead of Darkness, choosing good instead of evil. Before the creation began, there had been only God’s infinite Light. By contraction of the Light in one point of Infinity, God made space for making the final Creation, and at the site of contraction darkness arose, something completely contrary to God. Darkness was created by the principle something out of nothing while the final product of creation, man, was created in the final act by the principle something out of something. He is the complete opposite of God. A being turned only to receiving, only for himself, selfishly, unlike its Creator who is complete giving, pure altruism. Darkness and evil have arisen for one reason, so man could change his nature by overcoming them and in that way become similar to God. Through this struggle he reaches peace and unites himself and the entire creation with the Creator. Asiyah is the World of Making and Yetzirah—World of Formation. When a candidate is initiated into the Fraternity of Freemasons, in the ritual of initiation Worshipful Master says: “I create you, I form you and I receive you...” It is the same as in the process of the world’s creation, according to Kabbalah, except that “I create, form, and receive” sometimes seems confusing if the sequence of the origin of the world in which we live is not known. GETTING TO KNOW GOD The primary goal of studying Kabbalah is the direct realization of God. There are various ways in which this can be achieved and different methods that Kabbalah uses. If someone expects to get a chemical 125 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ formula or some kind of algorithm to complete the job, they are mistaken, because if it were that easy, it would be discovered all over the world. What theoretical or theosophical Kabbalah teaches is to get to know God through the ways in which He manifests Himself in the material world. It is the Kabbalah of the sefirot, or God’s emanations. Since the Kabbalistic explanation of the Supreme Being differs from the established ones, modern Kabbalists use the term God less and less, but as a synonym have the term Light, which is also used in Masonic terminology. Between us and the Light there are ten sefirot, ten colored glass divisions that let the Light pass in varying degrees. By the time it comes to the material world, the Light is almost totally hidden. In order to overcome these obstacles, we need to change our personality. By learning Kabbalah, we transform ourselves from a selfish being, turned to ourselves and for ourselves, and gradually acquire God’s, altruistic qualities—qualities of giving. So, identical to the teaching of Freemasonry. Kabbalah, unlike Freemasonry, explicitly points the way to the Light, provides guidelines and tools for that path, but very few come to the end. By studying the Zohar and other Kabbalistic texts, consciousness gradually expands, in every event, thought and word, God’s messages and lessons are found, and spiritual elevation is established. This is not about secrets, but specific instructions for everyday life that help people change. Ego must be defeated, a term that, according to Kabbalah, marks a set of obstacles that stand on the path to Light and the greatest enemy of man. He is within us and represents the opposite side of the human Soul, which is the part of man directly related to God. Ego implies selfishness, rage, fears, jealousy, aggression, depression and much more, while the Soul is the part of us that radiates love, tolerance, giving, tranquility. There were giants in the human history who fully overcame the Ego and these Righteous men reached the end of the road. 126 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY The meditative Kabbalah with long-term exercise and progression leads to the highest levels of cognition. It is enlightenment and prophecy, or gaining direct insights into higher worlds, and those most advanced in history had both cognition and direct contact with God. Unlike theoretical, meditative Kabbalah is less engaged in theory, although it requires a broad and deep knowledge of basic Kabbalistic concepts, and more with practical techniques for releasing the Soul from physical limitations and thus getting spiritual experiences. According to Kabbalah, the end of the road is to become like God and unite with Him. Each of us, that is, every human Soul, has the ability to do it, it is just a matter of how many reincarnations it needs. To become a Being who only gives, and does not receive anything for himself, means to become identical to God. This is an explanation of the biblical claim that man was made in the image of God, and not an attribution of physical human traits to God. Wrapped in veils of allegory and symbols, Freemasonry offers the same truth. There is a picture before the eyes of the whole world of the most famous Freemason in history, George Washington, painted in 1865 on the U. S. Capitol Rotunda. He is seated in heaven, to where he ascended and became God. His apotheosis, a transformation into Deity, should be the goal of every Freemason. However, it is uncommon for novice Freemasons to have this idea when entering the Fraternity, nor is it presented to them the right way, and many Freemasons spend their entire lives without understanding the smallest part of the essence of the organization they had joined, claiming to believe in the Supreme Being. 127 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ The Apotheosis of Washington in the rotunda of the United States Capitol Building (Photo: C. Brumidi, CC BY-SA 3.0) 128 CHAPTER 15 SOUL T he question of Soul is one of the basic topics of Freemasonry and Kabbalah. Unlike Kabbalah, which ever since its opening up to the world offers explicit answers to all questions about the human Soul, Freemasonry still covers everything with multilayered allegories, giving only clues for further search. THREE GREAT LIGHTS OF MASONRY Every Freemason knows about the Three Great Lights of Freemasonry. The Internet is full of texts about them, and just as nothing about Freemasonry is not really a secret anymore, it is well known that the three largest symbols are the Square, Compass, and Volume of the Sacred Law. If in most of the lodges in world we would ask Brethren for a deeper explanation of why these three symbols are called the Three Great Lights of Freemasonry, we would hardly obtain satisfactory answers to the myriad of questions that are hidden behind them. In short, Square is the body, Compass is the Soul, the Volume of the Sacred Law is opened on a strictly defined page and then what? These are followed by a journey that leads from the beginning of the world 129 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ creation, through the many lives of the human Soul in the body, to the ultimate perfection and becoming one with God. A long journey that carries many secrets and mysteries. THE RELATION OF SOUL AND GOD In this consideration, one has to start from God and belief in the existence of the Supreme Being. If this premise is not satisfied, it is no longer possible to ask any questions about the human Soul. When one believes that the world originated and evolved by simple evolution from lower to more developed life forms, then it is difficult to assume that the Soul originated from an evolutionary lower entity. It must be accepted that the origin of the Soul leads from God, otherwise the meaning of existence is lost. The theory of evolution leaves the question of the purpose of existence aside, and the struggle for survival in different temporal epochs and natural circumstances is essential. There is no place for Soul there. However, since each Freemason, at the beginning of his journey, confirmed the belief in the existence of the Great Architect of All the Worlds, to him further discussion of metaphysical issues must make sense. The basic problem is how to believe in the existence of something that no one has ever met or seen? We have complete awareness of our body, about what it does or does not like, whether we are healthy or sick, weak or strong. If the Soul really exists, what is the benefit from it if we are not aware of it? The believers will immediately react to this and say that the Soul represents us in eternal life, and that body is the transient part. Does this answer satisfy us? How can something that has no contact with our everyday life, does not have our personality, does not share our memories, represent us in the eternal life? 130 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY FREE WILL We can believe in the existence of an entity which we are not aware of, but some tangible evidence would benefit us. We can start with the assertion that God has for good reason created people in such a way that they are unconscious of Him and their Souls. In this way we are left to perform every action, thought, and word by free will, which is a very important topic in Kabbalah. Man is the only being to whom God has given free will. The angels do not have it. This gives man the possibility of a spiritual ascent, depending on the person’s development. In this way, we have the opportunity to finally unite with the Creator, which the angels, again, cannot do. It sounds complex, but for now it remains only a claim that will be explained later. Free will is also emphasized in Freemasonry as the first question to the candidate on reception into the Fraternity. It speaks volumes on application of important cosmic premise and the place assigned to it. This is usually bypassed as the most ordinary question, and Freemasonry never emphasizes the significance of this topic, but it is again left to be answered by intuition or personal pursuit. The candidate is literally asked whether his accession to the Fraternity is an expression of his own free will. Why is free will so significant? As a sign of great mercy, love and goodness, God gave man the freedom of choice. Otherwise, we would be like robots who are being managed and, in this way, we could never feel the satisfaction of what we have done and achieved. On the other hand, independent decisions carry responsibility and consequences according to the choice made. The deepest level of free will is the very essence of creation, which is that God created man in His own image. This does not mean we were given anthropomorphic characteristics 131 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ but that, just as God decided to create the world, without any interruption in decision-making and choice, it is also given to man to act. The ultimate goal is that man alone can choose good or evil. Choosing good is a great achievement. By doing so we are approaching God and become like Him. It is not about approaching in the physical sense because there is no space in the spiritual world, but by imitating God, doing good, we become spiritually similar to Him, and therefore we are heading toward the goal, the ultimate merging with the Great Architect of All the Worlds. In this way, we have the possibility that in the material world, by feeling satisfied because of acting and choosing good works, we feel the presence of the Creator. He cannot be met in any other way because it is beyond our intellectual abilities, neither by thinking about Him nor with meditation, but simply doing what He is doing. We are blessed with this gift. The extent of its significance, it can be best explained on the example of angels who represent the primordial spiritual beings. From this we can also understand the necessity of the existence of the material world. As spiritual beings only, angels do not have the ability to unite opposites in themselves, they have no free will, they cannot have two tasks, nor can two angels share the same task. They are identified by binding to physical forms and by the tasks they perform here. The prophets described them as static beings. This means that they do not have the possibility of spiritual advancement, but they are related to the spiritual level they belong to. Man’s free will and doing good deeds bring him closer to God through climbing spiritual levels, which is impossible for angels. From this we conclude how great the Creator’s grace was when He created man, and what the ultimate thought about creation of the physical world is. The Creator knows that man cannot be aware of his Soul, so He has given him the Volume of the Sacred Law. In Kabbalah this is the Old Testament or the Torah, according to which man will live as a spiritual, 132 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY not a material being. Therefore, the Volume of the Sacred Law could be simply called Instructions for Using the Soul. What does that mean in practice? As we know very well what we should do with our bodies so that they are healthy and strong, so the Soul feels things that please it, empower it, make it healthier, and allow it to climb the spiritual ladder. By acting in accordance with the instructions from the Volume of the Sacred Law, we change our Souls. By perfecting ourselves as moral beings, we turn more and more into spiritual beings who are approaching the end of the path, to become like God. Kabbalah teaches that we will all eventually get there, as this is the ultimate goal of God’s Plan, it is just a matter of how much time we will need. On the other hand, if we regress and not follow the path to the Light, the Soul and the body are weakened. At the beginning and end of our material existence, the human Soul has different qualities. It shines even more brightly, or it is weakened and darkened. There is not one thing that we do, no thought we think, no word we say, that does not directly affect our Soul. This means that it does have a significant role in material life. Our free will guides us through life and the decisions we make, and the Soul responds positively or negatively to them. This brings us to the next great question: if the Soul is our representative in the Eternal Life, and if the sole purpose of material existence is correction of the Soul, why did God create a material body at all? To understand the answer to this question, one should explain the difference between the material and the spiritual. But before this, it is necessary to give a Kabbalistic explanation of the two levels of existence of a human being, with the many times repeated ultimate goal of Creation, which is union with God, by making each man like Him. Two levels of existence require two different environments. In the first instance, man must earn Creator’s goodness in This 133 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ World, which the Kabbalah calls Olam Ha-Ba. The second level is The World To Come, Olam Ha-Ze, and in it you get reward and enjoyment for all that we have earned in This Life. The first level implies unconsciousness of God’s existence, great temptations and difficulties, as well as unconsciousness of the direct relationship between God and our good deeds. If it were not hidden, the sense of free will and free choice, by which we choose our actions and our life course, would be lost. The complete opposite is the next level, the World to Come, in which there is complete closeness with God, absolute awareness of His existence, as well as the awareness of the connection of all good with God, where, depending on our decisions in the material world, we now receive a spiritual reward or punishment. We return to the question of the difference between the material and the spiritual. The essential difference is in the existence of space that is present on the physical plane and does not exist on the spiritual plane. The space introduces completely different functioning of these levels and the application of different laws. In the material world, we learn with the five senses, get to know different things by physically approaching them. There is no such thing in the spiritual world, because opposites cannot be united on a spiritual plane. The synonym for learning is to become like it. Man and God are as distant as earth and heavens in the material world, so there is no possibility of becoming one at that level. The material world is full of contrast: light and dark, good and evil, warm and cold, nice and ugly. That is why it was created as a world in which opposites can exist together, as they can approach each other. By changing, man can reach the highest levels of spirituality, be more and more victorious over his selfish nature, becoming the Being who gives and has the chance to be like God. However, the essence of the material world is the possibility of common existence of good and evil. In the spiritual world, they cannot 134 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY possibly get so close to each other so that good can overcome evil. In the material world this is possible and the basic goal of creating the physical level of existence is the final victory of good over evil, as Kabbalists say—overthrowing of Darkness by Light. Now, this is a clear answer to why the material world exists. Only through works in the material world, one can rise to the highest spiritual levels. It should be noted that there are many levels of spiritual existence, and the symbolism of the ladder that appeared in Jacob’s dream is one of the basic Kabbalistic and Freemasonic symbols. Steps are symbols of different spiritual levels, which are connected by a vertical part that is set up on the ground. Jacob said that he saw ladders climb into the heavens, which was set up on the earth. Such a man, primarily depending on the power of desire for spiritual progress, according to Kabbalah, can reach the goal in this life and climb to the top of the stairs and reaches the highest level, but only through the works done in the material world. Soul without the body cannot achieve it. That is why this lowest level of existence, the material world, no matter how primitive and meaningless, is in fact the only way to God. Now that we have clarified significance of the existence of the material world in correction of the Soul, we should briefly define the structure and nature of the Soul itself, which is a very complex entity. STRUCTURE OF THE SOUL In order to understand the complex structure of the human Soul, we must look at the very process of creating the world and the structure of reality, which cannot be perceived by senses. The specific position of man in that whole reality and all that exists therein is precisely the existence and possession of the Soul. It was the first thought of God when He decided to create the world, and it is 135 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ also the ultimate goal of creation. The Soul is closer to God than everything created and originates from the deepest spheres of the Divine. That is why the Zohar calls it the breath of God. The Book of Genesis states: And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. It can therefore be said that one human Soul is more important to God and greater than even the entire material universe. The complexity of structure of the Soul follows the structure of reality, which goes from God to this material world. There are worlds that we are not aware of, in which there are various parts of our Soul. In the spiritual worlds, time and space do not exist, so this problem should be approached with raised awareness and an attempt to leave sensory perception aside. The reality of Kabbalah, as it has been said in the previous chapters, consists of five worlds: Adam Kadmon, Atzilut, Beriyah, Yetzirah and Asiyah. The last is our material world, and between them there are curtains that separate the worlds and prevent us from direct realization of God. The essence of spiritual elevation is advancement through the worlds, until the ultimate reunion with the Creator. Kabbalah explains this process in a simple way. The essential difference between the level of reality is in relation of the desire to give and the desire to receive. Higher levels are complete givers, and us at the bottom are beings guided by our own desires and receiving satisfaction only for ourselves. At the top is God, who is the ultimate good and exclusive provider of goodness and grace. The more human nature is transformed in an altruistic direction, so much more successful is getting closer to God. Let us start from the highest world, Adam Kadmon, the Primeval Man. As already said, it is the world of God’s will to begin creation, a very 136 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY complex Kabbalistic concept. The human Soul is already at this level and is called Yechidah, in translation a Unique Essence. The best analogy for the human Soul that simplifies this topic is with a glass blower (Aryeh Kaplan, Inner Space). In the world Adam Kadmon, the human Soul is a blower’s desire and a decision to make a beautiful glass vessel. In the next world, the Soul is the wind blower before he starts to blow and the air in his lungs. The next step is breath. It leaves his Creator to travel through the pipe to the final creation. It stays in the glass, shapes it and that is where the process ends. That is the Soul in the material world. From thoughts and decisions about creation, to materialization and beautiful creation. Below Adam Kadmon, we can find Atzilut, the World of Emanation or the World of Sefirot. This is the initial level of creation in which God separated the necessary energy for the entire process, the air in the lungs of the blower. At this stage, the Creation is not separated, but a complete plan has been made, with the ultimate goal of creating man. Man is the basis of the Divine creation plan and the center of the physical and spiritual Universe. A fine comparison of this stage is also a painter who has an image of his masterpiece in his head, completely, to the smallest detail. For the outer world it does not yet exist, but for him everything is ready, the idea is fully formed, but the Creation has not yet come into the world; it has not detached itself from him. God devoted two levels of energy at the beginning, one for the creation of man, and the other for creation of everything else. The entire universe serves to provide a working and living space for us, in order to achieve the ultimate goal of creation and receive all the goodness that the Creator had intended for us. Man already exists on this level but completely bound to God, as a congregation of all Souls, and not as an individual. All Souls that will ever exist from the beginning to the end of time, at this stage are merged. This is the essence of spiritual development, the awareness that we are all one Soul and that love must lead to the transformation of our consciousness, so we would love 137 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ others as ourselves, because in essence we are all one, we come from the common and complete Soul. In this world, it is called Chayah or Living Essence. In the next phase, the first curtain descends, which separates the World of Emanation from the next level, World of Creation, Beriyah. Creation separates itself from its Creator, the air in the lungs becomes a breath, for the first time Souls become individuals, but still aware of the inextricable relationship with God, which means that Beriyah is a very high spiritual level. Creation has separated from the Creator through speech and therefore this level is considered the level of words and speech. At this stage, man is called Neshamah or Breath or Pneuma. He cannot imagine his existence outside of God, does not have free will yet, has no evil intentions, and men and women at this stage are not separated. In the next phase, a new curtain was lowered and Yetzirah, the World of Formation, was created, the level of creative thought where a person gets free will, is divided into male and female and from this level a connection with the material world is established. The Soul is called Ruach, or a pure Spirit, and it is connected to both the upper level and the part of the Soul that is in the material world. Ruach is the blower’s breath that has detached from him and travels through the tube to the heated glass. The lowest level of existence, and yet absolutely necessary, is the level of the material world, Asiyah, in which the Soul is called Nefesh, which in translation means Soul. The air from the lungs has stopped in a glass bowl. It is related to the body, and this relationship is complex and therefore more difficult to explain. As stated earlier, the material level of existence is only a small percentage of the overall reality necessary to fulfill the goal of creation. Thus, by moving the creative Divine energy away from its source, the last curtain is lowered, and behind it is a man with a body and in an environment that he is aware of and 138 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY which he perceives with his senses. What is above the curtain is pure mystery to us. Since the Soul is also present on the material plane, it is tied to the body even though the person is not aware. This is the continuation and ultimate part of the Soul from the higher worlds that comes directly from God. The Soul on this level is composed of two parts: The Divine Soul, which is related to Ruach or Spirit from the higher world, and Life Soul, which gives energy to the body, makes it a living and real connection between the physical body of man and his spiritual part that represents the Divine Spark in man. The Life Soul wraps the Divine Soul, and the latter is constantly associated with the Spirit and has the tendency to separate the spiritual from the material part and exit the body. Therefore, we are constantly in an existential conflict, without even being aware of it. The reversed direction of the movement of the Soul, from the physical body to God, represents a spiritual exaltation. Separated by curtains, man lives in complete darkness of unconscious higher worlds, of God, even of the essence of his own Being, his Soul. That is how God ordained it. At some point, the Divine Spark fires up in us, and the desire for knowledge and a spiritual way are awakened. That is Nefesh, the lowest level of the Soul. It is in charge of this first step, the awareness. In order for this to happen, the storms and disturbances of the material world must be silenced, so Nefesh is considered to be the quiet and peaceful part of the Soul. Then there is great spiritual work and renunciation, guided by the great desire for getting to know God. We are slowly merging with Ruach. When this happens, a man, or now a Saint, gets higher awareness. He comes in contact with spiritual beings, gets visions, his personality has been completely changed, he turns into a being guided by the Soul, not by material desires. The highest level is joining with Neshamah. At that level of awareness, rare righteous men through history have become aware and 139 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ have felt the closeness of God. They approached him as much as possible while still in the human body. So, there is an inseparable bond between man and God, unbroken chains of the human Soul, which we are climbing in changing our nature. Parts of the Soul in the two highest worlds cannot be reached in this life, but in the World to Come. A more detailed study of the human Soul is complex, implies inclusion of the ten sefirot into each level and is difficult to understand even for experienced Kabbalists. Isaac Luria wrote about this topic in detail. In his prophecies he understood and succinctly explained both the structure and the roots and paths of the Soul, which is a topic in itself. I would not get into more detailed explanations here but would just say that for anyone who feels the need to fully delve into the details of this issue, the path of knowledge is open and there is a lot of Kabbalistic literature available, which in the last half of the century has been translated into English as well. REINCARNATION This is a very important topic in Kabbalah. The Kabbalists do not believe in the reincarnation of the Soul, they KNOW that the Soul returns into the material world and leaves it again. Isaac Luria explained the whole process in detail. He could tell his interlocutors exactly how many times they had been on earth. In The Meaning of Masonry, W. L. Wilmshurst gives a good Masonic explanation of reincarnation. He compares the works in the Lodge with the dwelling of the Soul on the earth and in the material body. The works are followed by the Festive Board, the rest of the Soul in the heavens, in order to return to the Lodge again for painstaking work, until purification and becoming one with God. According to Kabbalah, the Soul reincarnates until complete correc140 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY tion and attainment of perfection. Depending on the tasks to be performed, it chooses the appropriate environment in terms of climate, state, parents, physical appearance, and everything else. In this way, an ideal scene for a certain act is formed. Nothing is accidental, and everything works for the purpose of the ultimate goal. How many incarnations are allowed? As many as are needed for complete correction. There is an exception, and if the Soul does not make any progress in three consecutive lives, it does not return anymore. Also, there is a possibility of complete annihilation of the Soul, Karet. It is a punishment for the most severe sins, and those Souls do not return but are destroyed. Kabbalah also speaks about the help of the Righteous Souls, which is necessary for spiritual development. It is called Ibur. Without this act it is impossible to make serious spiritual progress. It implies the entry of the Souls that are at a higher level than ours into our body. These Souls have solved the problems that we are facing and help us to overcome them ourselves. Kabbalists constantly pray that the Souls of Saints help them, otherwise they cannot expect to achieve great progress. It is said that it is possible for ten auxiliary Souls to be in one body at once. The easiest way to lose them is through an act of great anger. All of this sounds extremely strange, at the very least. To everyone interested in this topic, I warmly recommend a book by a contemporary psychotherapist, Dr. Michael Newton, Journey of Souls. Using a special method of hypnosis, he brought tens of thousands of patients into a state to talk about their Souls. A similar topic is dealt with by Dolores Cannon, who devised her method of hypnotherapy in order to return to past lives. People in the state of hypnosis talk about former lives and find causes of current problems. The stories of these therapists’ patients are very interesting, and they speak of the abandonment 141 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ of the material body, movement of the Soul in spiritual dimensions, and various topics that may be a great introduction to the acceptance of Kabbalistic teachings. RESURRECTION One of the basic postulates of Kabbalah and Freemasonry is a faith in resurrection. Freemasonry dedicates an entire ritual to it and, as in everything else, through the ritual and the plethora of allegories, gives clues to the Brother rising to the level of Master, pointing to the existence of resurrection. However, it is difficult to find a Freemason who honestly and without doubts believes in the revival of the dead, union of Soul and body, and rising from the grave. Of all the postulates in Freemasonry, this one is the most difficult to unconditionally accept. Somehow, we can believe in the existence of the Supreme Being, the existence of the Soul, but to believe that the dead one day will rise from their graves demands true believers of which there are few among the contemporary members of the Fraternity. In its resolution to make available to the world the secrets that had been kept for millennia, Kabbalah gave detailed answers to all questions concerning resurrection. Behind all this lies the Kabbalistic consciousness that modern humanity is ready to receive longkept secrets, and the Zohar says that the time will come when the dead will rise from the grave and when Soul and body will reunite. Resurrection is the first step toward the world to come, which will also be physical. The resurrected will no longer return to dust, and this will be a lasting state. At the end of time, determined by the Creator, the Soul and body will be judged as a whole being. Although the Soul separated from the body is capable of a deeper knowledge of God, without the body it is not complete. The physical level of the World to Come brings a lot of confusion, but it is necessary to repeat its necessity for man to be connected 142 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY with God. Divine commandments, performed through a physical act, are part of God’s will. In order for man to be connected with God, they must share a common physical act, which in a purely spiritual world is not possible. Therefore, the world of the final reward for the righteous must be physical, and Kabbalah says there is no rest for the righteous, neither in This World, nor in the World to Come. As belief in the resurrection itself is very difficult, the pure manner of resurrection carries with it many misgivings and disagreements. The description of this in the Masonic ritual, and the reference which Kabbalah makes, is the vision of the prophet Ezekiel, because it truly is a miracle of miracles. The thirty-seventh chapter of the Book of the Prophet of Ezekiel gives an amazing description: The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a va"ey; it was fu" of bones. He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the va"ey, bones that were very dry. He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I wi" make breath enter you, and you wi" come to life. I wi" attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I wi" put breath in you, and you wi" come to life. Then you wi" know that I am the Lord.” So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, breath, #om the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’” So 143 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army. Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up #om them; I wi" bring you back to the land of Israel. Then you, my people, wi" know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up #om them. I wi" put my Spirit in you and you wi" live, and I wi" settle you in your own land. Then you wi" know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.’” Kabbalah studies the words of the prophet Ezekiel in detail and gives explanations for each part. It should be emphasized that the resurrected will finally be able to recognize God, as it is stated in the vision, and the act of resurrection is really an entrance and a beginning of the World to Come, in which the righteous will receive the final reward, be aware of the divine origin of their works and, unlike in this world, they will know God. The Masonic ritual uses similar terms as the prophet, and the ritual itself can seem very strange without knowledge of the source. Kabbalah goes even further and gives a methodological description of creation of the body from bone residue, imparting Soul into the body, and the importance of prophesying in the act of resurrection. Contemporary Kabbalistic teachers connect the latest scientific methods with ancient teachings. The development of genetics, knowledge of stem cells and cloning techniques can fit nicely into the description of the vision of the prophet, while Kabbalah in no way denies the possible role of modern scientific achievements in the act of resurrection. As with the Big Bang theory and creation of the Universe, ancient Kabbal- 144 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY ists possessed knowledge which science only confirmed many millennia later. At the end of this chapter, I would like to recommend to everyone who is interested in the subject of human Soul to read a book by a contemporary spiritual teacher Gary Zukav entitled The Seat of the Soul. It is an incredible book, written in a comprehensible language, and is a very good starting point for deeper study. It has completely changed my own perception, and in many ways determined the path of future research. 145 CHAPTER 16 BROTHERLY LOVE AND GIVING B rotherly love and relief are the pillars and basic postulates of Freemasonry. At the end of the Masonic Decalogue, as the greatest Masonic commandment, Albert Pike stated: A new commandment I give unto you: that ye love one another! He that saith he is in the Light, and hateth his Brother, remaineth sti! in the darkness. He pointed to this in particular as the essence of Masonic quest and development. Bearing in mind his profound knowledge of Kabbalah, it is clear why he singled out this commandment. According to Kabbalists, it is the essence of Creation of the world, the essence of life and the ultimate goal of the spiritual path. The Zohar puts it another way: “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.” This sentence is ascribed to Rabbi Akiba, one of the greatest and last Kabbalists of the first century of the new era, whom the Romans killed in greatest of torments. This concept could be looked at on three levels. The first is the most superficial, as a social category, where tolerance, 146 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY respect for others, charity and philanthropic work, are the hallmarks of good people with good reputation. Observed in this way, they fulfill the task that Freemasonry has in order to spread love and peace in the world. It could be said that this is a Masonic approach which is perfectly fine, but without the essential, spiritual dimension. Charity is perhaps one of the most recognizable activities of Freemasonry in the modern world. However, this cannot be the purpose of its existence because in this way it is equalized with many philanthropic organizations. The expansion of the teaching of Ancient Mysteries is why Freemasonry was founded and why it should exist. When the veils are removed from the Masonic postulates, all the beauty and wisdom on which our Fraternity rests open up. The basics of the very origin and purpose of life are understood, it is associated with the essence of metaphysical learning, and the wisdom of Ancient Mysteries is revealed. The same is the case with the command from the Masonic Decalogue. Kabbalah provides a detailed analysis and insights into the spiritual essence of the concept. The deeper understanding of giving is part of everyday routine in a Kabbalist’s life. They treat giving as one of the tools that serves spiritual development, along with prayers, study of the Zohar, the Names of God and meditation. It is an activity with a specific goal of transforming one’s own personality. Giving with conscious love for all people. Ba’al Shem Tov said it was the gate into God’s yard. The third level is essential. That is a condition that Kabbalah calls kamoha. It implies complete cancellation of one’s own needs for the purpose of giving to others. To love others more than ourselves. Give first to others and then, if something is left, take it for yourself. When we say that we want something, the state of kamoha practically means that what I want, I will not give to myself but to someone else. Is it possible to cancel the ego to such an extent and to set up physical, 147 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ emotional and every other need of other people before your own? In any case, the ultimate goal of the Kabbalist’s spiritual path is to move toward the state of kamoha. All this can be understood and gain sense only when consciousness is raised above the material and observes reality through a higher, spiritual level of existence. Just as Kabbalah presents and explains it. CREATION OF THE WORLD Receiving and giving are the two forces on which the formation and maintenance of the Universe rests, these are the two fundamental differences between the spiritual and the material world and between God and man. We would not be wrong to say that the relationship between them is the core of reality and existence. At different stages of creation, this relationship changed, a complex process developed in which only giving and receiving took part. From the perspective of an ordinary man, who would even guess that they are of such significance? To understand this, we must start from the way Kabbalah explains the creation of the Universe. Long before the Big Bang, which signifies the emergence of the material world that Ari explained as early as the sixteenth century, the immaterial or spiritual world had arisen. Everything started with God’s Thought of Creation. God has decided to create Creation with one goal, to fulfill it with unlimited enjoyment and joy. It is the main force that leads the evolution of man! We are created with the basic reason to achieve a perfect and infinite state. The comprehension of the world’s creation to us who are limited by perception of senses is quite difficult. Kabbalists say that, in spite of this, the sole effort invested in learning and the attempt to overcome these limitations leads to spiritual progress. For this reason, the Kabbalistic theory of creation from the perspective of giving and 148 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY receiving will be explained in basic terms. This may be the most abstract part of the book, so anyone who is too tired can read it without too much effort, with the hope that they have at least received something along the spiritual path. That is what Kabbalists say. In any case, it is a true indicator of the complexity of Kabbalistic teaching. 1 The process of creation is related to the Tree of Life and the ten sefirot. Only the tenth sefirah, Malchut, belongs to the material world that we can perceive, and the nine higher sefirot are in the spiritual world, incomprehensible and unknown to us. Kabbalah uses the term of one percent of the reality we live in. In the whole creation, the developmental force rests on two desires: one belongs to God and it is the desire for giving, and the other belongs to His Creation, and this is the desire to receive. The beginning of creation, phase zero, is called Behina Shoresh in Hebrew. It is the Creation Thought that came to the Creator. Make Creation and give it unlimited joy. Thus, the world was made so God could GIVE His infinite love and kindness. Almost at the same time as the thought came to him, God created a Vessel for Receiving that Light, the Creation. This term has already been mentioned in the previous chapters. This is the first phase, Behina Alef. Alef is the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet and has a numeric value of one according to Kabbalah. These two phases are completely intertwined and make up two poles of one whole, with one half of the desire for giving—God—and another desire to receive—Creation. At this moment, the Vessel is fully filled with joy because of the Light it received. The zero phase is sefirah Keter, or the Crown, and the other is Chochma, or Wisdom. For this reason, this Light, which Creation initially received, is called the Light of Wisdom, Or Chochma. In the next stage, the Creation feels that there is a Provider of Light and wants to feel the satisfaction of giving, following its nature of 149 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ receiving satisfaction. It desires to feel the quality or trait of the Creator. However, as it was created only for receiving, it cannot give; the only thing it can do is refuse the Light, and this is the second phase, Behina Bet. Bet is the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet with the numerical value of two. The sefirah that corresponds to this phase is Binah, which, in addition to the meaning of Understanding, can also mean Noticing. Here, the trait of the Creator is noticed, i.e. giving, and the rejected Light is the Light of Mercy, Or Hasadim, which the Creation does not want to receive. All this leads to a new phase in which the Creation realizes that it has not been made to be a giver and decides to receive one part of the Light, and one to emit; it is the so-called receiving for the purpose of giving, which reveals great Kabbalistic philosophy and wisdom. Therefore, this phase is dual, it is called Behina Gimel, the third letter of alphabet, with a value of three. It includes several sefirot, which are together called Zeir Anpin and contain Chesed, Gevurah, Tiferet, Netzach, Hod and Yesod. After this, the Creation recognizes another feature of the Light, which is the Thought of Creation, to make the Creation and fulfill it with unlimited pleasure. Then comes the fourth phase, or Behina Dalet, the fourth letter of the alphabet, in which the Creation decides to receive complete Light and reach the so-called equality of form with the Thought of Creation. Sefirah Malchut, or Kingdom, signifies this phase. Malchut is man, our world also belongs to the fourth stage of creation. It contains the previous stages of development, but it is also completely different from them because Creation wants ultimate satisfaction, which is to become identical with the Creator. It does not want only to repeat His actions but to know why the Creator does what He does, why giving is a source of so much satisfaction. Understanding Thought of Creation in Kabbalah represents the highest level of awareness and is called achievement. The desire for this is the strongest force in all creation and leads the entire evolution; it is 150 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY deeply ingrained in us, whether we are aware of it or not, and until we get to the answer, we will not achieve calm. At this stage everything changes: the Creation decides to overcome the desire to receive just for itself, an independent process of new creation begins, in which an ascending, return path is created in which the Creation will be united with the Creator and with the Thought of Creation. THE CREATION OF SOUL AND MATERIAL WORLD In order for Creation to achieve the goal and finish the process by becoming one with the Creator again, it is necessary to have appropriate environment that will help it do so. Therefore, the fourth phase is divided into creating outer and inner space. The outside space consists of five worlds and the Soul represents inner space. Essentially, it is again the desire to receive for oneself and the desire for giving. The worlds are not physical entities but are made up of desires that the Creation is able to receive in order to give it to the Creator. They are a perfect environment for correction of individual desires, so here we are talking about different levels of altruism and the desire to give. The higher world is working on the correction of higher desires and vice versa. We have knowledge about this from the Kabbalists who lived in these worlds, depending on their spiritual level and who described those worlds for us, either verbally or through Kabbalistic books. In the fourth phase, the outer part, i.e. the worlds Adam Kadmon, Atzilut, Beriyah, Yetzirah, and Asiyah were formed first, and after that God created the original complete Soul, which is called Adam Ha Rishon, or the Common Soul. It quickly rose to the highest world, Adam Kadmon, after which it sinned and fell through five worlds and 125 steps into the material world, separated from the spiritual world by barrier or border. Then the Soul dispersed into 600,000 pieces, and each of these parts of the complete Soul has 613 egotistic desires. In the material world, 151 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ the consciousness about the integrity of the Soul is lost, and people, instead of communion, equality, and love, feel repulsion toward one another, hatred, and need for mutual oppression. The path to reunification of all 600,000 parts leads through correction of the 613 desires to receive for oneself alone, i.e. correction of the Ego into total altruism and desire for giving. This Fall of Man is spoken of in all Ancient Mystery teachings. A. E. Waite, a great Masonic author, believes that Freemasonry was created in order to preserve the memory of this event, introduce the Masonic quest for restoration of man, and is convinced that the basics of Masonic thinking are precisely in Kabbalistic learning. Another Masonic author who dealt with this subject, C. H. Vail, in his work Freemasonry and Ancient Mysteries, speaks in detail about the Fall of Man and states this as the essence of all mystery teachings that Freemasonry, in his opinion, is heir to. According to Kabbalah, evolution in the material world is guided by development of human desires and removal of the sense of lack and fulfillment in man. The first group of wishes were the most basic desires for survival: food, sex, and shelter. Through their fulfillment came a feeling of lack, of accumulation and possession of material things. It was replaced by the desire for power. When he got power, he felt the need for knowledge, which also did not fill the void and bring peace and happiness. Then, in the human heart, there arose an ultimate desire for a spiritual path, for merging with the Creator. At that moment, all the changing, unconscious evolution that characterized the development of the first four desires, gives way to the conscious progress of man up the ladder toward the Light. THE PATH OF SPIRITUAL RISING Kabbalah describes a descending path into the material world, explaining the way in which we have come into being. However, it also 152 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY gives a detailed scheme of the upward path, phases and states of human development, that leads to the spiritual worlds and God. It shows us the root, purpose and places along the way. This is what the Creation starts doing once it restricts only receiving for oneself alone; it begins to rise through the system of spiritual worlds to reach the Thought of Creation and become equal to the Creator. Again, this is a complex relationship between giving and receiving. Kabbalah teaches that each of the 125 steps in the fall of the complete Soul is remembered within us as part of the spiritual genetics, in which each point at which the egotistic nature of the desire to receive increased is recorded. The occurrence of a desire in the heart for the spiritual path represents the embryo, rebirth of spirituality and connection with the spiritual gene chain (Reshimot or memories) that lead the same way only in the upward direction. When a point in the heart appears, man receives help from God in proportion to the desire and need to reuniting with ninety-nine percent of reality. The upward path had been foreseen by the plan of creation and civilization can go as before, through a more difficult, unconscious path, through wars, suffering, hatred, chaotic, or consciously through the Torah and Mitzvot. The Torah means instruction from the Light, and Mitzvot is the transformation of each of the 613 egotistic desires into an altruistic one. Human life is so programmed that every event in it is a possibility for correction and learning. Behind it all is God’s Providence, and if we consciously start correcting intentions, thoughts and actions, we can skip the whole range of reincarnations of the Soul and in this life reconnect with the Light. The whole life is a great lesson, every single event and feeling are lessons God sends us, no matter how hard and painful they sometimes may seem. By working on ourselves, analyzing each situation through the prism of the lesson, and by understanding that behind everything lies the Creation Thought, which is pure love, we rise spiritually. The change in the desire to receive just 153 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ for oneself reflects much broader, to our environment and the entire human population, so that each person has a much greater role and responsibility in the evolution and realization of the second phase of the creation plan. SIXTH SENSE The fact is that man is not able to understand and come into contact with the higher reality or spiritual world using his five senses. The personality of man has a totally different program from what is there, and that program is called egotism. Kabbalah uses this term for everything that prevents and stops us in our spiritual development, and behind everything is the question: “What is in there for me?” This question, consciously or unconsciously, guides all our actions and feelings, it is our nature, that is how the Creator made us—our lives are governed by the desire to receive. Fear, suffering, anger, hatred, sorrow, egotism, aggression, pride. All these are states unknown to the spiritual world, they are qualities of the one percent of reality in which we live. The program that leads the higher reality is a desire for giving, the complete opposite of the material world. In order to get in touch with the spiritual world, we need to develop what Kabbalah calls an additional, sixth sense, which functions according to the principles of the spiritual world. It then becomes the primary means by which we move upward, on the path of merging with the Creator. Here we come to the essence of the chapter. The sixth sense is based on GIVING. So, the entire spiritual path and development depend on the complete change of human nature, from egotistic to altruistic. We must master the tools that lead us upward, whereby we can use only what the Creator gave us, which is the desire to receive. It must be slowly transformed into receiving for the purpose of giving. The very word Kabbalah means receiving, or, more precisely, the right way of receiving. 154 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY This is the true example of paradox that can be found at every step in Kabbalah. In order to build ourselves as totally different, giving personalities, we can only use receiving nature we currently possess. The concept of giving for the purpose of receiving is extremely complex and important in the Kabbalah. The easiest way to explain it is by example of a mother’s love for her child. This love is completely pure and unconditional. When a mother feeds her child, she GIVES food to the child, and essentially RECEIVES enormous pleasure when the child accepts it. If the child is consciously aware of it, by taking food the child actually gives to the mother, so feeding becomes receiving for the purpose of giving. By developing and practicing this quality we get to the point where constant giving to others leads to the greatest abundance. When the final task is achieved, the equality of form with the Creator, the Creation has created its own Thought of Creation! THE CONCEPT AND SIGNIFICANCE OF BROTHERLY LOVE According to Kabbalah, the twenty-first century is the beginning of the final phase in the development of human civilization. The emergence of a desire for the spiritual path, point in the heart, took place at the time of Ari in the sixteenth century and now this process is being rounded up. More and more people around the planet feel the need for spirituality and the ultimate goal of creation will take place by correcting wishes of all people and by unifying 600,000 parts of the united Soul of the Primeval Man. Only then will it be possible to reunite with God. For this to happen, in order for people to become completely altruistic, they must become aware that we are all really one and that we have to love each other as ourselves. It is the only way of feeling sincere excitement in giving to another. 155 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ As already mentioned, Kabbalah gives numerical values to letters and words, so that different words that have the same numerical value have the same meaning. When you look at the word “love” in Hebrew (ahawa), its numerical value is 13, the same as in the word “one” (ehad). In accordance with that, the Zohar explains that the word “one” and the word “love” have the same essence, and that the separation of people is a pure illusion. Kabbalah teaches that this illusion must be overcome for us to return to the state of unity. Part of the Soul in the material world, Nefesh, consists of two bits. One is the Divine Soul that is connected with the parts of the Soul in the higher worlds, which make an uninterrupted chain all the way to God. The other is connected with the body, and in fact connects the body with the higher parts of the Soul. The Divine Soul connects all human Souls on the planet and together they make God’s presence in this world, which in Hebrew is called Shekhinah. In this way, all people are connected to one another and at the same time connected with God. We are all one and we are one with God. In order to understand, accept and apply this, a person must attain a high spiritual level. Then the perception of reality is completely changed, and we treat other people differently. That is enlightenment! It is the level of saints and prophets. Then we act according to the criteria of the Soul and God, and not the material world and the human personality guided by egotistic intentions. TIME AND SPACE Another postulate of Kabbalah is the relativity of time and space. Quantum physics has the same viewpoint. When the consciousness of man is elevated and when he accepts that there is no time, he returns where we all were one Soul. Consequently, love for others does not exist only as a social category but is essential understanding that we are all one. By loving others unreservedly, we actually love ourselves. The 156 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY illusion of space leads us to a state of separation from anything that is physically not us. Our Soul, on the other hand, knows that we are all connected and that we are one. The illusion of physical space is therefore one of the causes of selfishness. The material state and physical space are forces that limit us to understand the ninety nine percent of reality and connect with it. This is where we return to the concept of giving and receiving. When we sincerely love someone, the desire to give is honest. Then giving becomes receiving and, as already mentioned, this is the essence of existence. If we give to our child and the child feels good, it is the natural reception of pleasure for ourselves. The conclusion is self-evident, which is that giving, charity, and Brotherly love have the deepest spiritual significance. They represent the essence of creation and existence, convey the wisdom of Kabbalah and show in the best possible way layers and veils that mark the Masonic teaching. It is up to us to explore, work and contribute to the fulfillment of God’s idea. One of the goals in writing this book, in addition to educating and deepening knowledge, is to point out for the Brethren the enormous importance that Freemasonry can have in completing correction of the human Soul and becoming one with God. Our multitude and connectedness must be used for this highest goal, and in no way for the commodity and material needs. That is why we were created, and it is up to us to fulfill the task or completely degenerate. 157 CHAPTER 17 THE LOST WORD In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. A! things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. —The Bible, the Holy Gospel of John T his is the very passage where the Bible is opened during ritual at the Masonic Lodge, which clearly speaks of the importance that Freemasonry dedicates to these verses. The Symbolic Word contains in itself the entire philosophy of Freema- sonry, and its loss and restoration is the central mystery of it. 158 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY The first association that the term Freemasonry provokes is secrecy. What is the secret of Freemasonry in the twenty-first century? In addition to thousands of published books and countless Internet websites, one can freely say that everything about Freemasonry is fully accessible. The only secret is the inner spiritual experience, which is different for every Brother. It is something that cannot be put into words or described. Therein lies the symbolism of the Word, the truth about the Divine Spark awakened in a Freemason, the one which profane people cannot understand even if they try to describe this experience using earthly, material words and comparisons. The most important ritual in the life of each Brother, the ritual of the third degree in which one becomes Master Mason, is about hiding and losing the Word. The essential quest in Freemasonry, as already mentioned, is left to each individual member to be led by his own feelings. In Secret Tradition in Freemasonry, A. E. Waite writes: The mystery of Freemasonry is a hidden mystery of the Word. For this Word, the other symbolic systems claim that it contains everything, the essence of the Secret Doctrine and the secret of life leading to a! truths. Just as the goal of the mystery systems is, the essence of the Word is not what it shows on the surface. Its inner meaning is the way in which Divine Science manifests through the experience of the Holy Spirit in every human being. This Word has the same meaning as the fact that everything created, spiritual and material, comes #om God’s Word. THE LOST WORD In The Symbolism of Freemasonry another Masonic giant, A. G. Mackey, says: The mythical history of Freemasonry informs us that there once 159 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ existed a Word of surpassing value, and claiming a profound veneration; that this Word was known to but few; that it was at length lost; and that a temporary substitute for it was adopted. But as the very philosophy of Freemasonry teaches us that there can be no death without a resurrection—no decay without a subsequent restoration—on the same principle it fo!ows that the loss of the Word must suppose its eventual recovery. Let us start with what happens in the ritual of the third degree. The plot of the ritual is placed at the time of the completion of Solomon’s Temple. The hero of the story is Hiram Abiff, son of a widow, an ingenious builder. Three Fellow Crafts organize a plot to get the hidden Master’s Word from Master Hiram. They hit him three times, and the Great Master dies from the third blow, without revealing what was asked of him. From that moment on, the Word is lost. The Masonic Brethren are left with a millennial search for its restoration. The ritual of the third degree symbolically tells us first about the loss, and then quest for a state in which the original man, Adam, had once been, and which he lost carried by his passions. It was a state of direct contact and connection with God, a state of blessing and abundance of every kind, in which the man was aware of his Soul and its relationship with God. The loss of the Holy Word is the depiction of the loss of humanity, withdrawal of God, His breaking off contact with man, and the beginning of the time of pain and suffering. Man loses consciousness about the existence of the Soul and God. However, there is an indication of the beginning of a quest for the restoration of what had been lost. The whole essence and mystery of Freemasonry is presented here symbolically, which has always been a feature of mystery systems. As much as I tried to describe the deep symbolism of this legend, I would always find myself returning to W.L. Wilmshurst. Here is what this mystic and the true adept of Freemasonry says on the subject in The Meaning of Freemasonry: 160 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY Examination of the text of the opening and closing of the Lodge in the Third Degree discloses the whole of the philosophy upon which the Masonic system is reared. It indicates that the human Soul has originated in the eternal East—that “East” being referable to the world of Spirit and not to any geographical direction—and that thence it has directed its course toward the “West”—the material world which is the antipodes of the spiritual and into which the Soul has wandered. Its purpose in so journeying #om spiritual to physical conditions is declared to be the quest and recovery of something it has lost, but which by its own industry and suitable instruction it hopes to find. From this it fo!ows that the loss itself occurred prior to its descent into this world, otherwise that descent would not have been necessary. What it is that has been lost is not explicitly declared, but is implied and is stated to form “the genuine secrets of a Master Mason.”It is the loss of a word, or rather of The Word, the Divine Logos, or basic root and essence of our own being. In other words the Soul of man has ceased to be God-conscious and has degenerated into the limited terrestrial consciousness of the ordinary human being. It is in the condition spoken of in the cosmic parable of Adam when extruded #om Eden, an exile #om the Divine Presence and condemned to toil and trouble. Yet there remains a way of regaining consciousness of that higher world and life. It is by bringing into function a now dormant and submerged faculty resident at the depth and centre of his being. That dormant faculty is the Vital and Immortal Principle which exists as the central point of the circle of his individuality. Recover contact with that central Divine Principle by a voluntary renunciation of the intervening obstructions and inharmonious elements in oneself, and man at once ceases to be merely the rationalized animal he now is and becomes gra%ed upon a new and Divine life-principle, a sharer of Omniscience and a co-operator with Deity. He recovers the lost and genuine 161 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ secrets of his own being and has for ever finished with substitutions, shadows and simulacra of Reality. He reaches a point and lives #om a centre #om which no Master Mason can ever err or wi! ever again desire to err, for it is the end, object and goal of his existence. An absolutely ingenious description that I have nothing to add to, except that this is identical to Kabbalistic teaching. RESTORATION OF THE WORD If we view Freemasonry as a modern bearer of the torch of Ancient Wisdom—which this book aims, among other things, to confirm— then, in addition to remembering the Fall of Man, as the Ancient Mysteries call Adam’s sin, it must also bear the method and methodology of restoring that which is lost. Wilmshurst unambiguously shows that in the quoted paragraph. The Restoration of the Word is displayed in Freemasonry in the Royal Arch Degree. It can be found in different forms and under different jurisdictions. It exists within the English Constitution, which states that Freemasonry consists of three degrees and Royal Arch. It also exists in the form of the American York Rite, and in the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite; lessons of this degree are present in the Lodge of Perfection, which includes degrees from the fourth to the fourteenth. It is common for all of them to show the restoration of the lost Master’s Word, which is shown in the third degree ritual and the murder of Hiram Abiff. Three degrees of Craft Masonry take place before the end of reconstruction of Solomon’s Temple. The Royal Arch Degree is about building the Second Temple after the return of the Jews from slavery in Babylon. After five centuries of existence, Solomon’s Temple was run down to the ground by the Babylonians, and the Jews were killed and 162 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY massacred. The survivors were taken into exile in Babylon. After seventy years of exile, by decision of the Persian King Cyrus who conquered Babylon, they were liberated from slavery and returned to Jerusalem in groups. The great King Cyrus actually issued a decree on the restoration of the Temple in Jerusalem and, together with the Jewish people, returned the looted relics from the first Temple and provided significant financial resources for the reconstruction. The first group was led by King Zerubbabel, High Priest Joshua, and prophet Haggai. Their primary task was to build a new Temple on the ruins of Solomon’s Temple. I would like to remind of the period of formation of the Holy Royal Arch, because all forms today originate from the same root, and also, it has significance for the connection between Kabbalah and Masonry. It is a proven fact that during the period of establishment of the Premier Great Lodge of England in 1717, Freemasonry had two degrees. The third degree with Hiram Abiff was introduced in the 1720s, and there is no evidence of its creators and the exact date. The Royal Arch degree originated somewhere between 1737 and 1740, within the Lodge of the Antients. The period of the second half of the eighteenth century was marked by the conflict between Antients and Moderns. The Moderns did not recognize the Royal Arch Degree, and Antients blamed Moderns for deviating from the principles on which Freemasonry originated. This was so until the reconciliation of 1813 and the formation of the United Grand Lodge, when it was stated that Freemasonry consisted of three degrees and the Holy Royal Arch, which was not the fourth degree but a continuation and rounding up of the third. The rediscovery of the Lost Master’s Word in the Royal Arch degree was presented symbolically in various ways in the ritual under the English Constitution, York, and the Scottish Rite. It is not the purpose of this chapter to enter into details and describe individual rituals. Anyone who has the desire to learn more about the symbolic restora163 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ tion of the Word must read an exceptional work of Arturo de Hoyos The Mystery of the Royal Arch Word which is published in the Scottish Rite Journal and can be freely downloaded from the Internet. It contains legends on which these rituals are based, as well as a detailed explanation of the return of the Word in the York Rite, the Scottish Rite, and the Royal Arch under the English Constitution. According to the Masonic legend, the lost Word was found on a gold plate in the secret chambers that were found in the ruins of Solomon’s Temple. This word represents the Jewish Ineffable Name of God. It is related to the equilateral triangle, the ancient symbol of the Deity. Its restoration was necessary to revive the new Temple by God’s Presence. Freemasonry under the English Constitution is different from the American York Rite and the Scottish Rite. In the American York Rite it is represented as the Compound Word consisting of three different syllables, each of which is simultaneously pronounced by one Brother, standing in a certain position. The individual syllable is the Name of God in three languages ​connected with three journeys of the Jewish people: returning to the Holy Land from Egypt, then traveling to Babylon after the destruction of Jerusalem and the First Temple, and the third journey was the return to Jerusalem after the exile in Babylon. However, the interpretations differ. De Hoyos says that the Names of God in the Compound Name are in Syrian, Chaldean, and Hebrew languages. In Capital Development Course of the York Rite, the Names of God are said to be in Egyptian, Chaldean, and Syrian. In any case, this Name is pronounced in three syllables simultaneously, and these are Yah-Bel-On. Different variations of these syllables exist (Yah-BaalOn, Yahabulum, Yah-Bale-Aum, etc.), suggested by various authors, and this all causes great confusion and leads to the question of whether Freemasonry actually wants to invoke its own Deity? And if so, whether it is a biblical God, or is it about mixing YHVH with pagan gods, as De Hoyos wonders. 164 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY There is no Compound Word in the English Royal Arch, but three Hebrew letters are placed on the sides of the equilateral triangle, the combination of which can be used to form various words associated with God. These are Alef (A), Bet (B), and Lamed (L). AB is father, AL is word, LAB is heart or spirit, BAL is translated as Lord. This technique of permutation of letters in words is known in Kabala as Temurah. Collectively, the Father, Lord; Word, Lord; Spirit, Lord. I would not like to comment on the interpretation of the Hebrew language and the ideas behind the different views of the Restored Word. I would like to look at the symbolism, which is the essence of the Royal Arch and which carries the highest instruction that a person can get. That is why this degree is sometimes called exalted. The beauty of Freemasonry is precisely in the fact that anyone can freely interpret the rituals and lessons they carry. So there are some explanations that the Holy Royal Arch talks about life after death and introduces us to what it looks like. That death is not the end, and that there must surely exist a life after death in which the Soul is united with God. Then the secrets and truths of the essence of existence are revealed. The second interpretation of the Holy Royal Arch is through the prism of present life. Kabbalah also teaches that everyone has the potential to awaken the Divine Spark within and connect with God even while they are in the material body. For the Soul to conquer the earthly person. To gradually remove the layers which blur the glow of the Soul through hard work and sacrifice, cultivating virtue, modesty, mercy, humility and awe of God. These layers of impurities originate from this and previous lives, and only rare people manage to completely remove them. This also means rejection of everything that carries the selfish material world and the beginning of life according to the criteria of the spiritual world. It is the renewal of the lost Master Word. Again, I would leave the explanation of the Royal Arch symbolism to 165 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ someone who was a true mystic, who knew the mystery of the Word, W. L. Wilmshurst: The fontal source of a! consciousness has descended into the very chequer-work material of his transient physical organism, not merely permeating it temporarily with light, but taking root and becoming gra%ed there substantia!y and permanently. In theological language, God has become man, and man has become divinized, in virtue of this descent and union. In Masonic terms, the Vital and Immortal Principle resident in the candidate has at last superseded his temporal life-principle and established him upon a new centre of incorruptible life. Now, and perhaps only now, becomes thoroughly appreciable the necessity for the earlier purifications, discipline, self-crucifixion and death of a! the lower nature. How could the purity of the Divine Essence tabernacle in the coarse body of the sensualist? How could the Eternal Wisdom unfold its treasures in a mind benighted or caring for nothing but base metals and material pursuits? How could the Universal Wi! cooperate with and function through the man whose petty personal wi! blocks its channel, antagonizing it at every turn with his selfish preferences and disordered desires? A Master Mason, then, in the fu! sense of the term, is no longer an ordinary man, but a divinized man; one in whom the Universal and the personal consciousness have come into union. Obviously the quality of life and consciousness of such an one must differ vastly #om that of other men. His whole being is differently qualitated and geared upon another centre. That new centre is described as the Grand Geometrician of man’s personal universe. Beautiful! Every sentence is wisdom in itself! Although there is no reliable knowledge that Wilmshurst studied 166 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY Kabbalah, it should be noted that the Universal Will he mentioned is the first sefirah on the Kabbalistic Tree of Life, Keter, and the Eternal Wisdom is Chochma, the second sefirah. An absolute match between Kabbalistic teaching and Freemasonry. KABBALAH AND THE LOST WORD As already mentioned, the lost Word in Masonry is identical to the Holy Name of God present in the Jewish tradition, which is one of the basic Kabbalistic concepts. In Kabbalah, this Name is related to the Tree of Life, the stages of creation of the world, parts of the human organism and spiritual worlds. Everything that exists is contained in the Ineffable Name, it is the very essence of God. Albert G. Mackey in An Encyclopedia Of Freemasonry writes: Jehovah is, of a! the significant words of Freemasonry, by far the most important. Reghe!ini very properly ca!s it “the basis of our dogma and of our mysteries.” The history of the introduction of this word into the ritualism of Freemasonry would be highly interesting, were it not so obscure. Being in almost a! respects an esoteric symbol that this name, in its mystical use, was not unknown to the medieval Freemasons there can be no doubt... It is now conceded, #om indisputable evidence, that the holy name was, in the earlier years, and, up to the middle of the eighteenth century, attached to the Third Degree, and then ca!ed the Master’s Word. ...the Third Degree refers to “the mystic word, the Tetragrammaton.” 1 This is about the Essential or the Ineffable Name of God. This Word is written in four letters of the Hebrew alphabet YHVH. The word is never written in Kabbalistic books, but is replaced with HaShem, meaning the Name, or the English word Tetragrammaton, or the word 167 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ derived from the permutation of letters, HaVaYah, or it is replaced by other Hebrew names of God, such as Adonai. It must be repeated that the Names of God were the longest concealed Kabbalistic secret. They were only transferred from generation to generation, starting with Moses, through the prophets and high priests. They are written with a combination of letters that are often impossible to utter and do not reveal absolutely anything to the uninformed. The Names were invented by God himself, linking each one with His specific quality and spiritual power, so that the use of the Name activates great spiritual energy. It is said that the Soul of every letter in God’s name represents the materialization of the sefirot. Their proper use is the key to enlightenment and prophecy. However, the abuse of these Names by the unworthy is punished by death, as recorded in the Talmud. Also, one of the penalties that accompanies the use of the Names is that one achieves enlightenment from unwanted spiritual levels. The most powerful and Essential Name of God YHVH contains all other Names in it; it is the Name that expresses the very essence of God as Creator. This is the most important word in the Torah, where it is mentioned exactly 1,820 times. The Old Testament states that God directly communicated this Name to Moses through a burning bush and told him that this was His special name that could only be pronounced by the chosen ones. He said to him: Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto a! generations. 168 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY It was the first time that God introduced himself with this name. Earlier, to the biblical patriarchs He presented Himself as Elohim or the Most High, in the first chapter of the Book of Genesis. This Name was used exclusively in the Tent of Congregation, The Tabernacle, during the return from Egyptian slavery to the Holy Land and later to the Temple in Jerusalem because, as the Talmud says, God thus decreed: To put His Name there. It was the time of God’s dwelling on earth. The Ineffable Name of God was used once a year at the largest Jewish feast, Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Then the High Priest would enter the Holy of Holies, after special preparations, pronounced this name, and people would prostrate themselves. One of the miracles of the Temple at the time of pronouncing the Name was creation of enough space for all present to lie down on the ground, although the Temple was full of people who stood there. Literally, the Temple area would expand. A moment of pronunciation was critical because it could lead to death of the High Priest if impure thoughts accidentally came into his brain or if he would approach the prayer insufficiently purified. The pronunciation of the Name connected the earth and heaven, as Kabbalists say earth and heavens shook. The Ineffable name was used until destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans in 70 CE and has since that time been completely withdrawn and to date the exact pronunciation is not known. People were simply no longer worthy of using it. God withdrew Himself! 169 CHAPTER 18 KING SOLOMON: THE FIRST AND THE SECOND TEMPLE T he central legend of Freemasonry is a legend about the construction of Solomon’s Temple. The creators of Freema- sonry chose to pass on their teaching allegorically, using a symbolic process of building and masonry tools to convey moral and mystery lessons. The candidate himself is a stone of certain finesse, depending on the level of spiritual progress. The appearance of a Masonic Lodge is a model of Solomon’s Temple. The spiritual elevation of a candidate is passing through various parts of the Temple, and Tracing Boards, as the basic means of displaying the Masonic symbolism, at different degrees, depict individual parts of the Temple. The three levels of the Blue Lodge are connected with the First or Solomon’s Temple, while the Royal Arch is symbolically linked to the restoration of what was lost, and its rituals, ceremonies and lessons are based on the Second Temple. A large fraction of the Fraternity, although constantly in touch with the legend of their Order, has no knowledge of historical and biblical information about the Jerusalem Temples, their appearance, origin and disappearance, and the spiritual significance of these sacred places. 170 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY The Temples, much like King Solomon, are of great importance in Kabbalistic teaching, especially in the context of the relationship between God and man. The theme is extremely broad, and it is very difficult to conceive a disposition that would be interesting to the Brethren and serve as an incentive for individual research. The question that the Brethren set at the beginning of a personal quest is why the greatest Fraternity in the history of mankind chose to connect its complete teaching to Solomon’s Temple? The simplest answer lies in the fact that it is the only building in which God was present among people—according to Kabbalah, truly, physically present, and not just metaphorically. Freemasonry celebrates the very act of construction, mentions the three Great Masters, King Solomon, King Hiram of Tyre, and the brilliant architect Hiram Abiff. Unlike the first two, the last is the central figure of the Masonic legend. However, the essence of building the Temple, which is to store the Ark of the Covenant and the presence of God on earth, remain in the shadow. DIRECT CONTACT OF GOD WITH PEOPLE At first, God was in direct contact with Adam in the Garden of Eden. After sin and expulsion from paradise, God spoke to Adam and made a certain kind of alliance with man, promising Adam that their relationship would be restored if people acted according to His laws. Then God addressed the Biblical patriarch Abraham, telling him that He would give Israelites a land in Palestine if they celebrated and respected Him as the only God, and if they eliminated idolatry. At the time of God’s first address, Abraham was seventy years old and was asked to leave his father’s land and go on a journey to the Holy Land where the chosen people of God would reside. The patriarchs of the Bible, when narrowly defined, are Abraham, his son Isaac, and his grandson Jacob. The significance of the patriarchs is quite important in Kabbalah, and Freemasonry at least symbolically 171 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ comes into contact with them. The best example is Jacob’s ladder, which is an important symbol of Freemasonry. Kabbalah presents the patriarchs as real, historical characters, just like Adam, with an enormous role for the whole of mankind. Each of them was Tzadik, a saint, who by his nature and deeds enabled spiritual advancement of the entire human population, approaching God through a certain sefirah on the Tree of Life. After Adam’s sin and breaking off of the relationship between man and God, ten energetic curtains or sefirot were drawn, which separated people and God. The re-connection of the broken threads was possible because the saints who are carriers of enormous spiritual energy, removed the veils, one by one, opening the path of reunification to mankind. Thus, Abraham was pure energy of the sefirah of Mercy, Isaac of Judgement, and Jacob was the balance between these two, leading to, as Freemasonry says, the Rule of Three that governs the universe, and symbolized Tiferet, a sefirah of harmony and love. Thanks to them, each person can use the energy of these levels in their spiritual life, they have opened it and it is up to us to connect with it. During Abraham’s travel to the Holy Land, God repeatedly addressed him several times, testing his faithfulness to see if he was worthy of the grace of God. The confirmation of the new covenant of God and man was the act of Abraham’s circumcision. One of the most impressive biblical stories is the so-called tying of Isaac, when God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son, whom he had received by the grace of God when he was a hundred years old. A special Kabbalistic story develops here. Seeing the boundless faith and willingness of Abraham to obey, God ordered that Isaac should be spared. At that moment, a huge energetic connection between the upper and lower worlds was opened. Sparing of Isaac allowed for another Tzadik to be born—Isaac’s son Jacob—who would lead the Israelite people into exile in Egypt, which lasted over four hundred years. 172 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY THE TABERNACLE The next contact was during the exodus of Jews from Egypt under Moses’ leadership, about 1440 BC, when six hundred thousand people heard God directly and a new covenant was made with the holy people. The so-called Mosaic covenant (named after Moses) was extended in relation to the one God had made with Abraham. Kabballah considers Moses to be one of the spiritually most advanced people who have ever lived. In the Tree of Life he represents Netzach, the sefirah of victory and perseverance. During the second year of his exodus from Egypt on the Mount of Sinai, Moses separated himself from his people twice for forty days. At that time, God often spoke directly to him and gave him the Torah or the Old Testament and determined the strict rules of the new covenant. The obedience of Jews was to be rewarded with the advancement and God’s protection, while disobedience was to be punished by scarcity, starvation, disease, and finally destruction. Two tablets with written orders were handed to Moses as a symbol of the new covenant. In addition to the Law, God then provided Moses with precise plans for construction of God’s dwelling place on earth with dimensions, materials, and even constructors who would build the sanctuary. As the Israelites then lived in nomadic tents returning from Egypt, the first building in which God had dwelt among them was Tabernacle or the Tent of Meeting between God and people, a mobile sanctuary that followed the Jewish people during their long journey to the Holy Land. The tent was located in a fenced courtyard measuring 150 × 75 ft (46 × 23 m), while the dimensions of the tent itself were 45 × 15 ft (13.7 x 4.6 m), and it was 15 ft (4.6 m) high. Everyone was allowed to enter the courtyard, and only priests had access to the tent. It was divided into two parts, with an entrance on the east. It had a roof made of boards, covered with four layers of linen and leather. The first part was called Holy Place or Hekal and there was a table with twelve unleavened 173 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ breads and altar for incense, while the space was illuminated by a large seven-lamp candlestick, menorah, forged from one piece of gold. The bread symbolized dedication of the twelve Israelite tribes to serve God. This part was separated by a curtain from the other, western part. On large tricolor curtains in red, blue and violet, giant cherubim were embroidered—beings that consisted of man’s head and lion’s body. The cherubim guarded the western part of the tent, which was called the Holy of Holies or Debir and the most sacred object of the tent, the Ark of the Covenant, was placed there, containing the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments. The sacred Ark was made of acacia wood, 44 in (112 cm) long, 26 in (68 cm) wide, and of the same height. It was completely coated with sheets of gold. The lid, called the Mercy Seat, had two golden cherubim on it, facing each other with open wings. The space between them was God’s throne where God manifested Himself. At the corners of the ark, there were rings through which gold-plated wooden handles were carried. After the completion of the tent construction, the priests performed the first ritual sacrifice of animals. According to the Old Testament, God responded in recognition of acceptance of His place of residence on earth. The fire from the sky burned the sacrificial animals, the cloud covered the entire tent, and God’s glory filled the tabernacle. During the trip, only priests could carry the Ark, to which numerous miracles were attributed. Sparks from the two cherubim killed scorpions and snakes in the desert, the river Jordan dried up when the priests carrying the Ark stepped into it and continued their journey to the Holy Land. In The Epistle to the Hebrews it is stated that, besides the tablets with God’s commandments that the Ark contained, there was also a golden pot with manna, the bread of wheat grains which the Jews had eaten during their journey through the wilderness, as well as the rod of High Priest Aron, Moses’ brother, which plays a significant role in the events described in the Old Testament. 174 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY Only the High Priest could enter the Holy of Holies once a year, during the feast of the Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur. On that day, God was asked for forgiveness of sins through offered sacrifice of animals in exchange for the punishment for sins. God’s presence was manifested by the appearance of a pillar of fire and the cloud that floated above the Tent. The Tabernacle remained in use long after the Israelites had arrived into Canaan or the Holy Land. In Jerusalem, King David built a new tent and moved the Ark of the Covenant, and the original Tabernacle was until the time of Solomon in another city, with a bronze sacrificial altar used in worship. The Tent of the Covenant plan was copied on enlarged blueprints during construction of Solomon’s Temple. SOLOMON’S TEMPLE When Saul, the first King of Israel, died about 1010 BCE, David, the legendary king who defeated Goliath in the famous battle, came to the throne. He is said to have been the most honest of all the kings of Israel, a great poet and military leader, and shortly after the beginning of his rule, he united his leadership over the northern kingdom of Israel and southern Judah, where Jerusalem was. He decided to build the Temple to God, saying: “I dwell in a house of cedar, but the Ark of God dwells within tent curtains.” However, God told him that there was too much blood on his hands and that his son would have to build the Temple. David designated Mount Moriah for the Temple, later called the Temple Mount, the place where Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son Isaac, the place where Adam was born, and where his grave is located, where the upper world separated from the chaos of the lower one. He collected huge fortune and material for the Temple, and made an agreement with his friend Hiram, King of Tyre, to perform the works. After David’s death, Solomon came to the throne. In the fourth year of 175 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ his reign, the construction of the Temple began, around 968 BCE. The construction lasted for seven years, and Solomon continued his cooperation with his father’s friend, Hiram, King of Tyre. A grand project was carried out by 180,000 people, Israelites and foreigners alike, and huge resources were spent for this purpose. As the Israelites were not great builders, the people of Tyre had the main role. In return, Solomon committed to sending 4,400 tons of ground wheat, 4,400 tons of barley, 116,236 gallons (440,000 l) of wine and 116,236 gallons of oil to Tyre each year. In the end, the costs accumulated, and the resources emptied, so Solomon had to give King of Tyre twenty cities in Galilee for debt repayment. According to the legend, the supervisor of the works was an ingenious architect Hiram Abiff, son of a widow, whom Freemasonry celebrates. The Temple was smaller in size than the Egyptian ones, but its grandeur, detail, and richness of materials used surpassed all the existing buildings. It was located within the upper courtyard, surrounded by outer walls and a 196 yard-long (180-meter) long courtyard. At the entrance to the Temple, on the east side, there were two bronze pillars, Jachin and Boaz, which were 26 ft (8.2 m) high. It is said that they were a reflection of Hiram Abiff ’s ingenuity and that in such a magnificent building they were the greatest pearl. Through them one entered into the entrance hall of the temple, Ulam, which was not part of the Temple premises and had dimensions of 29 × 29 ft (9 × 9 m). The double door with beautiful carvings and golden ornaments led to the central part of the Temple or the Holy Place, Hekal. It contained twelve golden candlesticks, menorot, which symbolize the twelve tribes of Israel, the altar of incense, and ten tables with unleavened bread. Dimensions of the Holy Place were 60 × 30 ft (18 × 9 m). On the west side of the Temple, separated by an olive tree door from 176 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY Hekal, there stood the Holy of Holies, Sanctum Sanctorum or Debir, the room in which the Ark of the Covenant was placed. In addition to the Ark, there were two huge cherubim, 15 ft (4.6 m) high, which covered the Ark with their wings spread wide. They were made of wood and covered with gold, with the inner tip of their wings they touched the Ark, while the outer parts touched the walls. The room was a perfect cube of 30 ft (9 m) and was erected on the podium, so that the ceiling was level with the rest of the Temple. All the walls were covered with wood, over which gold plates were lined, hammered in with golden nails. Otherwise, throughout the whole interior of the Temple there was no sight of stone, but all the walls were covered with wood that was again decorated with beautiful carvings and decorations of pure gold. Around the Temple, on three sides—west, south and north—a threestory building with rooms for priests was erected, ten steps elevated from its surroundings. On the second floor, there was a famous Masonic Middle Chamber, which could be reached by following a set of winding stairs that ran from the south-eastern part of the Temple. The central lounge and stairs appeared on the Tracing Boards and were part of Masonic rituals. They also carry great Masonic and Kabbalistic symbolism. In front of the Temple there was an inner or upper courtyard in which there stood an altar, a large pool for ritual ablutions of priests, and ten smaller vessels filled with water that were also used in the rituals. The entire complex was surrounded by an outer or lower courtyard, and in order to reach the upper courtyard it was necessary to go eight steps, and the large courtyard was seven steps above the surroundings. Different levels and numbers of stairs carry the correct symbolism and are used in Masonic rituals. It is interesting to note that Moses ordered the builders not to use metal tools—hammer, chisel or ax—during construction of the 177 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ Temple. He left them a magic shamir, a tool that could handle the hardest materials. Shamir was not to be kept in metal containers, because it would melt them, but was wrapped in a woolen cloth and placed in a lead box filled with barley bran. Tradition states that within hollow pillars there was a manuscript on the secret of the magic shamir and a list of its properties. After the completion of construction works, Solomon organized the greatest ceremony ever held under the rules of the Holy Law. At this point it is necessary to point out the time setting of the Masonic degrees. Three basic degrees take place in the period around the end of the construction of the Temple. The Royal Arch is set some four hundred years later, during construction of the Second Temple. However, there was a void that represents the very completion of the Temple and its consecration. The Master Degree ends with the death of Hiram Abiff and loss of the Holy Word, while the most significant event in the ritual of the Royal Arch is the restoration of the Lost Word. Consecration of Solomon’s Temple was the missing link because a process of spiritual and material construction was not officially completed in the rituals. The degree that precedes the one of the Royal Arch in the York Rite describes the Temple’s refreshment through a beautiful ritual. Perhaps one of the most impressive events in Masonic history took place precisely during initiation of the candidates to this degree in 1922 in Kansas City, USA. At the magnificent festivity attended by 8,000 Brethren, a thousand candidates were elevated to the Most Excellent Master Degree at the ceremony that presented completion of the construction of the Temple. The choir that complemented the event numbered 150 singers, followed by an orchestra of 72 instruments. The Old Testament description of the Temple consecration states that after the prayer of King Solomon and setting of the Ark of the Covenant, after Solomon’s accession, God seized his throne, and the cloud filled the inside of the Temple. In his speech at the ceremony, 178 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY Solomon suggested that God should stay on his throne in the heavens, but that His Holy Name should reside in the Temple. Those who seek God, could find Him in the Temple and invoke His Name. During Solomon’s reign, the country was booming in every way, rich and powerful. However, Solomon experienced a complete transformation, transforming himself from the greatest sage into a great sinner. God warned him that he would be punished and that his country would disappear. After Solomon’s death, Rehoboam, his son, failed to preserve the kingdom, and the ten northern tribes separated themselves, forming the kingdom of Israel, while the southern part with Jerusalem became the kingdom of Judah. For the next 400 years, the Temple survived, until it was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon. Prior to this, God had warned the Jews, sending messages through the prophets, to pull themselves together and adhere to the commandments or they would be severely punished. This happened in 587 BCE, when the Babylonians completely destroyed Jerusalem, razed the Temple to the ground, and killed nearly a million Jews. The rest were taken to exile in Babylon, where they spent about seventy years. Demolition of the First Temple, in addition to all other important features, has an enormous Kabbalistic significance. The act of destruction ended the era of prophets that had lasted for almost a millennium and a half, starting with Abraham (some 2,000 years BCE). Prophecy is the way in which God revealed Himself and His will to people through the mediators—the prophets. Kabbalistic knowledge is a mixture of prophecy and wisdom, and these two cognitive ways are completely different. Wisdom is acquired by diligent learning and work on oneself, while prophecy must be initiated !om above. The prophets were given direct knowledge of the higher worlds, which they presented to other people. In any case, although the spirit of prophecy still lives in the Jewish nation in one form or another, this period gave way to the period of 179 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ rabbinic knowledge. The Rabbinic period begins during the exile in Babylon, when it was understood that the secret knowledge that God had given to Moses would be completely lost, if there was no way to preserve it. This would result in writing of the Talmud, which lasted for hundreds of years, involving thousands of rabbis, as well as creation of the super-hidden Kabbalah, which preserved those deepest truths in the narrowest circles in the next millennia. THE SECOND TEMPLE When King Cyrus of Persia conquered Babylon, he issued a decree on liberation of the Jews and their gradual return to Jerusalem. The return in groups lasted several decades, and a total of about 40,000 people returned. The first group was led by Zerubbabel and immediately after the return, plans for the restoration of the Temple began. Only thanks to the great energy of the priesthood, headed by Joshua, they managed to complete the construction twenty years from the arrival of the first group of exiles, and long before the definitive return of the entire population. The means of building were small and limited, so the Second Temple could not be compared in grandeur to Solomon’s Temple. There is no accurate data on the appearance of the Temple. However, we know that instead of the richly decorated doors at the entrances to the hall and the Holy of Holies, there were curtains, that only one menorah illuminated the space, and there was only one table for bread. Regardless of modesty in appearance, the Second Temple survived longer than any other temple in Jerusalem, for almost half a century. Upon arrival of Herod the Great in Jerusalem, a grand new Temple was built. Reconstruction was done partially so as not to interrupt the rituals. The space in the Temple was twice the size of Zerubbabel’s temple. At one point, even 1,000 priests were trained to do master works. The Romans burned Herod’s Temple in 70 CE, and all the valuables 180 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY were stolen and taken to Rome. This period is very significant in the history of Kabbalah. By entering Jerusalem, the Roman army began persecution of Jewish spiritual leaders. They committed a true massacre, and one of the few great Kabbalists who managed to escape the tragic fate was Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. He hid in a cave with his son and spent thirteen years in isolation and meditation. Separation from the material world further purified him and brought him into constant contact with the higher worlds. In this way, through prophetic visions, he received knowledge which, after leaving the isolation and with the help of his followers he passed on in the form of the Zohar. KING SOLOMON: A GREAT SAGE AND KABBALIST Solomon was the third Jewish king, the son of David, regarded as the wisest man who had ever lived; a prophet, builder, poet, one of the greatest Kabbalists, a statesman, lover, capable businessman, and, finally, a great sinner. We learn about him from the Old Testament in Chronicles and Kings, less from some other biblical scriptures. He is also spoken of in the Quran, where his name is Sulayman. Names Solomon and Sulayman mean peace-loving, and he was said to have been given a name from God even before his birth—Yedidiah, which means Beloved of God. His father, King David, married Solomon’s mother Bathsheba, by ordering the death of her first husband. That is why God took their firstborn child, which is one of the reasons why he was not allowed to build the Temple. Solomon came to the throne, even though he was not the eldest son, with the help of the mother and prophet Nathan, who considered him to be chosen for the Israelite throne. From his father he inherited a united kingdom, the northern part of Israel and southern Judah, a state organized and regulated, and it is thought that he came to the throne when he was thirteen or fourteen years old. 181 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ The central event that marked his life was when God addressed Him directly when he was a very young man, and Solomon asked God only to give him wisdom. God described this as an extraordinary modesty because he had not asked for wealth, long life, or power over the enemy. Because of this, he granted Solomon the wisdom so far unseen on earth, as well as the power over all living beings, spirits, and demons. Although very young, the new king of Israel improved the country inherited from his father in every aspect: military, economic, territorial, cultural, and an excellent legislative system was put in place. He made economic cooperation with neighboring countries, making Israel a trading center, and these ties strengthened by taking wives from each of the surrounding dynasties. With Tyre, Egypt and Arabia, he achieved land economic ties, and with Spain, India and the coast of Africa maritime ones. He built the Temple, royal palace, system for supplying Jerusalem with water, building up the whole country in a constructive manner. It is said that he had 700 women and 300 concubines. People from all over the world came to Israel to enjoy luxuries and wealth, and to hear the wisdom of an ingenious ruler. A special chapter in the biblical narrative is the visit of Makeda, the Queen of Sheba, territory of modern-day Ethiopia. She went home and “got everything she came for”. The descendants of Solomon and the Queen, Menelik I, became the first Ethiopian king. It should be noted that Solomon is the subject of many stories and legends in the Arabian tradition. He is attributed the role of God’s messenger, and his glory in the Arab world by far exceeds the glory of his father, the great king David. Solomon is considered a kind of predecessor to Muhammad, and many Arab kings are named after him. During his reign, the Israelite state experienced abundance of every kind. However, Solomon began to slip into sin. The greatest one was disrespect for the only Hebrew God and conversion to idolatry. He 182 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY began to glorify gods of his wives and build their temples. God warned the prophet to stop doing it, to “stop piling up gold, women and horses”. As Solomon did not pay any attention to it, God promised that his kingdom would be destroyed after his death. He spared the kingdom during Solomon’s life only out of respect for King David and his relationship with God. When Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, came to the throne, the northern kingdom of Israel broke away from the ten tribes, and the united kingdom of King David thus fell apart. There are critics who see Solomon solely in a negative context, as an authoritarian ruler, who had burdened the people with huge taxes in order to satisfy his megalomaniac demands. They scold him for not building the Temple out of great love for the Hebrew God, as he built similar buildings to satisfy the wishes of his many wives and lovers because he sank into human vices and idolatry. However, looking at both sides of the medal, one cannot overlook all the good that Solomon did for his people, as well as his enormous influence on the entire human civilization that is present up to this day. A whole book about King Solomon and his life would not be enough. The Kabbalistic and magical aspects of Solomon’s life had great influence on a whole series of European occult and esoteric societies, which again strongly influenced the formation of the Craft. In addition to the Bible, there are many works associated with Solomon that originate from other sources. They are largely derived from Arabic literature, and it is interesting that a large number of works attributed to Solomon are in Arabic. The explanation is that the wise king in this way wanted to make the rulers of the non-Hebrew speaking regions acquainted with this work. And so they were later translated into Latin in the Middle Ages, and there are also translations into Hebrew. Solomon is credited with authorship of many works and books from different areas, and a special place have works about 183 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ magic. It is believed that he also wrote many works related to medicine, astrology, mathematics and theology. The Zohar mentions The Book of Wisdom of King Solomon. The Book of Magic that Asmodeus taught Solomon is in Hebrew, then Book of Medicine given by the Armenian king to Pope Clement VII, claiming that medicine practiced in his country was much better than in Europe, and it was left to Armenians by King Solomon himself. King Solomon is considered by many to be the first Kabbalist. According to the tradition, he possessed supernatural powers, and in Arabic literature is described as a great sorcerer. It is said that God gave Solomon the power to expel demons and perform exorcism. Solomon’s magic is the basis of European ceremonial magic, which in fact represents practical Kabbalah. The most important book of magic is generally attributed to Solomon himself and is called The Key of Solomon. It has had a tremendous impact on the European occult and esoteric systems that once again had an impact on the formation of Freemasonry. Perhaps the most famous magician in Europe, Eliphas Levi, used as the basis and guide for his experiments precisely The Key of Solomon. Levi’s influence on the work of Albert Pike who, when writing Morals and Dogma seemed to take almost entire chapters from the work of Eliphas Levi. Solomon’s magic is the basis of the study of hermetic orders, such as Golden Dawn, or Ordo Templi Orientis. In the introduction to this book, King Solomon addresses his son Rehoboam and leaves him a manuscript with all the knowledge he possessed, which he received directly from God. Solomon says that during one of the meditations, God addressed him through archangel Michael and told him that He would give him anything he asked for. Solomon sought only wisdom that would grant him righteous rule, and God gave him knowledge of all Sciences and Arts of the higher and lower worlds. Thus, Solomon became ruler of all beings on earth (ruler 184 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY of humans, birds, beasts, water and air), as well as spirits of the higher world. It was this power that enabled him to succeed, because he could invoke and use the forces of demons and spirits for his own purposes. It is said that Solomon knew signatures and invocations of the 72 spirits who controlled various areas of total existence, from the movement of planets, to earthly things, that he closed them all in a brass bowl, and commanded them as needed. He initiated his son into these secrets and swore to never use them for any other purposes, except for good works and service to God. He also ordered him to make an ivory chest and put the sacred handwriting in it, and after his death, to place it with him into the tomb. When the Babylonians decided to restore the tomb of the great King Solomon, they found the chest, the contents of which were written in an occult language and completely incomprehensible. However, one of them was worthy of God giving him the code with an oath to never let this knowledge come to the hands of the sinful. The rabbis kept the secret through centuries and in this way practical Kabbalah arrived to Europe in the Middle Ages. Even today, Solomon’s magic is a source and inspiration for many students of this art above all arts. Next to The Key of Solomon one should also mention a book Lesser Key of Solomon, which he did not write, but it contains the secrets of his magic with the descriptions of the 72 spirits he ruled, with complete invocations and seals, and also a textbook of practical Kabbalah and ceremonial magic. These books also contain sermons, prayers and invocations that Solomon used in the Temple addressing God directly, so I would strongly recommend for each Brother to read them to gain insight into events in the Temple, which is the central part and primary legend of our Fraternity. 185 PART IV ENLIGHTENMENT CHAPTER 19 BACK TO THE BEGINNING D ear Brethren, I’d like to finish this book by reminding you of the beginning of our journey. When we first entered the Lodge in the holy ritual of Initiation, we all remember well what we asked for. Light! It is constantly mentioned, we invoke and desire it, and it remains an imaginary concept towards which we strive. Do we really know what enlightenment means in practical terms? Is it something achievable? Does it say that the end of the Masonic journey is to become a saint? Are we, as Freemasons, instructed to seek isolation and a monastery cell? Of course not. We need to stay in the world and improve others by improving ourselves. But is the goal of holiness unattainable for us? Again, of course it is not. The Masonic Way is an individual quest, everyone is treading the path which the Soul leads him to take. More and more Brethren in the twenty-first century want a true mystical explanation of enlightenment, and many of us are ready to move on with this thorny path of total denial and sacrifice. Kabbalah gives those answers. In a simplified way, the Kabbalistic 189 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ paths that Kabbalists have taken for millennia will be presented, especially their ultimate goal and the end of the road they hope to reach. 190 CHAPTER 20 WHAT IS ENLIGHTENMEN T K abbalah calls it Ruach HaKodesh or the Holy Spirit. In order to reach it, the chains of the material world must be broken, and we need to pass through the doors that lead to the ninety nine percent of reality that a common man is not aware of. This requires a person to be enlightened or, in plain language, to become a saint and get out of the crowd that stumbles through this life with closed eyes. First, I would like to remind us of the structure of the whole reality and of the human Soul. There are five worlds that lead from God to man: Adam Kadmon, Atzilut, Beriyah, Yetzirah, and Asiyah. Adam Kadmon is the very Thought of Creation, Atzilut is the closest to God, and it is the world of the Tree of Life, the ten God’s emanations or the sefirot. The human Soul is present in all worlds and consists of five parts, two of which are not achievable in physical life. Let us remember the analogy with a glass blower. He decided to make a beautiful glass bowl (world of Adam Kadmon and part of the Soul Yechidah), the blower and the air in his lungs are in the next world, the world of the Tree of Life, still connected with God, as well as that part of the Soul, Chayah. 191 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ Yechidah and Chayah are not related to the material level of existence. Then the breath of the wind blows and that part of the Soul, Neshamah, is for the first time separated from God. Through the tube the blower’s breath becomes like the wind, Ruach, Spirit, and comes into the melted glass and Nefesh arises. Nefesh is the part of the Soul that is present in the material world, connected with the human body. God has separated Neshamah and breathed it into a physical body using Ruach. In simple terms, of course. So, the human Soul makes an unbroken chain that connects man directly with God, his mind and breath, the deepest parts of God’s being. When God sends direct messages and light to people, he sends them through the Spirit, Ruach. Therefore, enlightenment is called Ruach HaKodesh and in order to connect with this part of our Soul, it is necessary to cross the path of ten sefirot of which the lowest part, Neshamah, consists. We are then in contact with the immaterial world or the heavens, in which we also reside through the Soul, and are not aware of it. This path is laborious, hard, full of renunciation and, above all, man must possess great willingness to walk it, guided by love of God and desire to unite with Him. WHAT ENLIGHTENMENT PRACTICALLY MEANS Throughout the whole book, there was talk of raising awareness, so that we would understand every life situation as a lesson that comes from God in order to correct our Soul. The more we progress spiritually, the clearer the messages that arrive from heaven are. Sometimes we interpret them well, sometimes we do not. Enlightened man understands absolutely everything. His personality has changed. He is focused on the heights and events in the material world are crystal clear through the prism of the higher worlds. His perception is sharpened and he can predict the future. Things relating to the physical plane of existence are irrelevant to him. Ego, wealth, suffering, 192 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY pain, glory, hatred—none of it exists for him. He is directly connected with the heavens and communicates with the spiritual beings who send messages to him, gradually revealing mysteries of the higher worlds and gaining more and more knowledge about them and life wisdom. Is this achievable for every human being? Yes. The words of Prophet Elijah are most often quoted in many spiritual books as a confirmation of this claim: I call on heaven and earth to testify that to every man, whether he is a Jew, or not, a man or a woman, slave or free, if he acts justly, Ruach HaKodesh will descend on them. HOW TO ACHIEVE ENLIGHTENMENT With great devotion, a person can come to possess great knowledge. However, there is something called granted enlightenment. It is enlightenment in which God has judged that a man deserves His help because of his deeds, and God sends the wisdom, knowledge, and mysteries of the higher worlds using messengers who may be different. These are either angelic beings, Souls of deceased saints and prophets or, in the purest form, the Light received directly when the Soul connects with its roots in the heavens. To do this, decades of hard work and preparation are needed. An Ironman Triathlon is a sporting competition that tests human body to the limit. It includes 2.4 mi (3.86 km) of swimming, a bicycle ride of 112 mi (180.25 km), and a marathon of 26.22 mi (42 km). All this without a break, with only 16 hours and 50 minutes at your disposal. Every year, many men and women manage to finish it, and the world record is less than eight hours! We can only imagine what sort of sacri193 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ fice is needed in order to prepare and execute this superhuman undertaking. A commitment to Ironman is child’s play in relation to Ruach HaKodesh! We know the physical body, its needs and physiology, while in the purification of the Soul we should work on something we are not aware of. I would give only a small indicator. Early Kabbalistic saints performed the ritual of meditation three times a day. An hour of preparation, hour of meditation, an hour to recover. Three times a day, every day for nine hours. It is one kind of training the Soul, in order to gradually perfect concentration and so that the Soul can overcome the physical body. Here comes a practical description of the path to enlightenment. The first step is immense love and awe for God that leads to readiness for enormous denials in order to become one with Him. This is a prerequisite. Then there is sincere repentance for all the sins committed that led to the Soul being stained, with the oath that none of them would be repeated. The next step is purification of the Soul. This implies everyday work for many decades and dedication that lasts all day and relates to every aspect of life, from purity of thought, prayer and blessing, to meditation. It is essential to strictly adhere to God’s commandments in everyday life and to avoid what God has banned. Time to study the Torah must be set aside, and every night after midnight, Kabbalists wake up to learn. Celebrating Shabbat is their life routine. It is necessary to avoid excessive words and talk as little as possible. One should take particular care not to gossip or judge other people, it is terrible impurity for the Soul. One must isolate oneself as often as possible from the environment and other people. Food must be reduced to a minimum. Behavior must be modest and humble. One must not have 194 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY outbursts of anger, and depression and dissatisfaction have been defeated. Love for the life partner is demanded, as well as strictly avoiding even impure glances toward other members of the opposite sex. And so on, indefinitely. All this belongs to the technology and physiology of the Soul. In Talmud, this is defined in precise order, and the great Kabbalist Moshe Chaim Luzzato (1707-1747) translated it into a book Path of the Just, which is a practical guide to enlightenment. The steps are as follows: Learning, Attentiveness, Diligence, Purity, Restraint, Purification, Devotion, Humility, Fear of sin, Enlightenment. Each detail is carefully explained, as well as potential difficulties, but also the ways to overcome them. When a man behaves in this way for years, his personality completely changes. Material wealth does not interest him, his Soul is pure, and turned to the heavens and God. He is ready for enlightenment. THE ACT OF ENLIGHTENMENT Ruach HaKodesh does not happen in one act. Inflows from above occur gradually. In the beginning, messages and knowledge are 195 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ simpler, in order to discover the ever-increasing mysteries of the higher worlds. On the day of enlightenment, which is performed around midnight, the Saint is fully devoted to the study of the Torah and meditation. In the end, ritual bathing is performed as an act of purification, one gets dressed in white clothes and isolates oneself from other people. The act of enlightenment itself takes place through meditation, whose significance is essential and represents a special topic for a whole book. Different techniques have been used at different times, and the use of God’s names in meditation is one of the basic and strongest ones. The Saint gradually separates thoughts from all earthly and material and directs his consciousness to the higher worlds. Years of practice allow his Soul to overcome the material world during meditation. The moment of enlightenment itself and the entry of the Holy Spirit are, it is said, clearly felt. The message and the information received are also crystal clear. There are several levels of this act. The strongest and purest is when the Soul manages to rise through several worlds to its root. The pure and supreme Light then passes through to the Soul of the Saint, and he receives unexpected wisdom and knowledge of the secrets and mysteries of the heavens. The second level is when the spirit of prophet Elijah starts speaking to him and gives him the knowledge. Shimon bar Yochai was thus acquainted with the writing of the Zohar because this prophet spoke to him every day. It is possible to establish contact with the Souls of deceased saints, who then serve as teachers. The lowest level of enlightenment is reached when only the ability to predict the future is obtained. 196 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY At the end of this act, after termination of contact and interruption of meditation, the received messages remain permanently in the consciousness and mind. In the subsequent acts of enlightenment, knowledge becomes deeper. They say that Ari was in constant contact with the heavens. 197 CHAPTER 21 PROPHECY T here was an enlightenment that was at a much higher level than Ruach HaKodesh, and it was prophecy. The prophets established direct contact with God himself and received messages from him. They were considered God’s messengers, but they also had the ability to direct spiritual energy from God into the material world. After the exile and demolition of the first Temple, the prophecy was limited to the narrowest circles. Secret societies kept this tradition and over time they made a command that only one person in a generation could be trained. The period of the prophets was replaced by the rabbinic period and the writing of the Talmud, and the last prophets transmitted their secrets to rabbis who took part in the creation of this sacred book. Thanks to Kabbalah, during the two millennia, one of the prophetic secrets has been carefully preserved, and in that context, I would like to mention the book Shaarey Kedusha, The Gates of Holiness, perhaps the most mysterious text of the new era. It was written by a student of Ari’s, the great Kabbalist Chaim Vital, who in fact wrote down and preserved all Ari’s teachings. In this book we find a method198 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY ology of the rise of prophets through the seven chambers of the spiritual world to God. The book sounds like a fairytale. It has precise descriptions of the prophetic path. At the door of each of the seven celestial chambers there are various hierarchies of angels who guard the port of entry. Their names, appearance, and passwords are given, which the prophets have to say to move forward. However, those who tried it were mostly punished by death because they were not pure enough and worthy. Interesting and incredible writings. WHAT THE PROPHECY LOOKED LIKE Everything that was said before for enlightenment is also valid for prophecy. The incredible degree of purity of the Soul is required. In schools of prophets, masters taught their students secrets and separation from the limitations of the physical world. Special prayers were used, and the most important role was played by special methods of meditation. Unfortunately, the prophets have hardly left any of their secrets, so little is known about concrete methods. In the Bible itself, there are no preserved testimonies of their mysticism. What is certain is that meditations were directed toward the Holy Temple. In the Holy of Holies, there stood the Ark of the Covenant, on the lid of which were the cherubim. Their role in prophecy was enormous. God directly instructed Moses what the Ark and cherubim should look like and said that he would address them. At the highest spiritual levels, the Tree of Life was kept by heavenly cherubim, special angels. The earthly ones were their counterparts, and Divine energy was generated between them. The prophets kept this space in mind during meditation. The very act of prophesying is very complex. Visions were experienced in a great trance, with the body of the prophet trembling and falling to the ground. Preparation was also specific. They had to be in a good mood, so the ritual often started with music that was considered to be 199 NEBOJŠA NIKOLIĆ language of the Soul. Then prophets would start to meditate, and the goal was to separate the mind from all physical influences. In this way, the Soul was gradually elevated through several worlds and merged with its root in the place where it was connected with the sefirot. Then, along with the light of the Tree of Life, the Soul rose to God and obtained a vision. This vision was received through the spiritual senses. Then the process of descending through the heavens to the material world took place, when the acquired knowledge was transferred to the physical senses. A special and unique way of prophesying was the one of Moses. His Soul was unrepeatably pure, and “his body was almost transparent from purity”, so he did not need to translate the revelations on the physical plane. By isolating himself in the desert, he brought himself to that level of separation from the material world that he did not have to eat or drink for forty days. All other prophets were below him. The degree of their understanding was very different, because the roots of their Souls were at different levels in the spiritual worlds. After the demolition of the Temple, the prophets could not take the Soul to the level of their predecessors, however, their insights were so strong that after two and a half thousand years they had incredible strength and message. The most famous vision is Ezekiel’s that happened during the exile, i.e. after the demolition of Solomon’s Temple. On the basis of his vision, the Kabbalists mostly build their learning of the higher worlds, and Ezekiel’s vision now serves as a prototype for understanding prophecy in general. A section on the previous pages of this book is described, when God instructs Ezekiel to resurrect the dead. He gradually rose to the heavens and accurately described what he saw in different worlds. He saw angels of the material world and angels in the first spiritual world, different from each other. Then he saw the throne in the third world and God sitting on it. 1 200 KABBALAH AND FREEMASONRY The level of enlightenment that the prophets had has been lost. However, the level Ruach HaKodesh is available even now. It is said that prophecy would return at the time of the coming of the Messiah. In any case, all this entails enormous love for God and readiness for unthinkable renunciation from everything material. Again, I ask the question if that is a Masonic path and with certainty I say it could be. We received the instruction on the third degree that everything that is material in us must lose its meaning, must literally die, in order to be born again in the Spirit. So, Brethren, walk up straight down your own path and strive to bring at least some Light into your Soul every day. If each of us does this all the time, all mankind will shine! 201 A F T E RWO R D I would end the book with the most beautiful words I have read about Kabbalah and Freemasonry. A! of you… who see land beyond the horizon, who read sealed, hidden missives and books, who seek for buried treasures in the earth and in wa!s, you who teach so much wisdom, such high arts—remember that you must take unto yourselves the teachings of the Kabbalah if you want to accomplish a! this. —Paracelsus 1 When its rules are strictly observed, it is a sure foundation of tranquility amidst the various disappointments of life; a #iend that wi! not deceive, but wi! comfort and assist, in prosperity and adversity; a blessing that wi! remain with a! times. Circumstances, and places, and to which recourse may be had, when earthly comforts sink into disregard. Masonry gives real and intrinsic exce!ency to man, and renders him fit for the duties of society. It strengthens the mind against 203 AFTERWORD the storms of life, paves the way to peace, and promotes domestic happiness. It meliorates the temper, and improves the understanding; it is company in fortitude, and gives vivacity, variety, and energy to social conversation. In youth, it governs the passions, and employs usefu!y our most active faculties; and in age, when sickness, imbecility, and disease have benumbed the corporal #ame, and rendered the union of Soul and body almost intolerable, it yields a fund of comfort and satisfaction. —William Preston, I!ustrations of Masonry 204 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank the following people. My wife and daughter for love, understanding, and support in search. Every day you motivate me to try to be a more tolerant and better person. Brother Nebojša Novoselac for his incredible energy and effort to get this book to its final form and help it see the light of day. Brother Milko Štimac who was a lighthouse and guide from the very beginning, the best possible advisor, an incentive when needed and the helping hand of a friend and Brother. Brethren Dragan Vučur and Goran Boljanović who were the only ones to whom I dared show the unfinished manuscript, knowing that you would evaluate it with honesty. In return, I received incredible support and energy to press on and complete the book. The Regular Great Lodge of Serbia and its Masonic Academy who have done me a great honor by publishing the first run of the original Serbian language edition of this book under their auspices. BIBLIOGRAPHY Wilmshurst, W.L. (1911). The Mystical Basis of Masonry. London: Occult Review Morris S.B. Pike, Mackey and the Ancient Mysteries. Retrieved in 2016, http://www.freemasons-freemasonry.com/brentmorris.html Zanelli, L.A. (1998). Pragmatic Masonic History. Retrieved in 2016, http://www.freemasonsfreemasonry.com/pragmatic_Masonic_history.html Knoop, D., Jones, G.P. and Hamer, D. (1975). Early Masonic Catechisms. London: Quatuor Coronati Lodge No. 1 2076 Carr, H. (1946). An Examination of the Early Masonic Catechisms. Johnson, Wykes and Paine William, S.B.A. Guide For A New Esoteric Freemason. Retrieved in 2017, http://www.freemasons-freemasonry.com/esoteric_freemason.html Berg, P. (2002). Essential Zohar. New York: Three River Press 207 BIBLIOGRAPHY Ginsburg, C.D. (1865). Kabbalah: Doctrines, Developments, and Literature. London: Longmans, Green, Reader and Dyer Ginsburgh, Y. (2006). What You Need To Know About Kabbalah. Kfar Chabad: Gal Einai Scholem, G. (1978). Kabbalah. New York: Meridian Kaplan, A. (1982). Meditation and Kabbalah. San Francisco: RedWheel / Weiser Waite, A.E. (1911). The Secret Tradition In Freemasonry. London: Rabman Ltd. MacNulty, W.K. Kabbalah and Freemasonry. Retrieved in 2015, http:// www.gadu.org/wp-content/uploads/kabballah-and-freemasonry.pdf Luzzatto, H. M. (2005). Path of the Just. Jerusalem: Feldheim Publishers Kaplan, A. (1978). Meditation and the Bible. York Beach, Maine. Samuel Weiser, Inc. Morasha 1: A Magazine for Jewish Religious Heritage. Belgrade: Ner Micva Morasha 2: A Magazine for Jewish Religious Heritage. 2015 Belgrade: Ner Micva Vital, H. (2008). Tree of Life. New York: Arizal Publications Inc. Nikolić, S. (2007). Royal Art: Three Centuries of Freemasonry. Belgrade: Ellecta Kaplan, A. (1985). Jewish Meditation. New York: Schocken Books Berg, M. (2004). Become Like God. New York: The Kabbalah Centre Laitman, M. (2007). Guide to the Hidden Wisdom of Kabbalah. Toronto: Laitman Kabbalah Publishers Berg, J. (2004). 72 Names of God. New York: The Kabbalah Centre 208 BIBLIOGRAPHY Berg, J. (2007). Prayer of the Kabbalist. Los Angeles: Kabbalah Publishing Paton, C.I. (1871). The Origin Of Freemasonry 1717 Theory Exploded. London: Reeves & Turner Vail, C.H. (1909). Ancient Mysteries And Modern Masonry. New York: Macoy Publishing and Masonic Supply Co. Matt, D.C. (1996). The Essential Kabbalah: The Heart of Jewish Mysticism. New York: Harper Collins Publishers Kaplan, А. (1990). Inner Space. New York: Moznaim Publishing Corporation Kurtzweil, A. (2007). Kabbalah for Dummies. NJ: Wiley Publishing Laitman, M. (2007). Kabbalah Revealed. Toronto: Laitman Kabbalah Publishers The Greater Key Of Solomon.(1999). Cincinnati: Emperor Norton Books Crowley, A. (2008). The First Book of Solomon’s Keys. Belgrade: Electronic edition, Hrumachis XI Oaza Ordo Templi Orientis Hamblin, W.J. & Seely, D.R. (2007). Solomon’s Temple: Myth and History. London: Thames & Hudson. Falconer, D. (2016). King Solomon’s Temple: Symbol of Freemasonry. Retrieved in 2016, with http://www.freemasons- freemasonry.com/king_solomon_temple.html Preston, W. (1812). I"ustrations of Masonry. London: Mr. Wilkie Newton, M. (1994). Journey of Souls. Woodburry: Llewellyn Publications Zukav, G. (1989). The Seat of the Soul. New York: Simon &Schuster Paperbacks Wilmshurst, W.L. (2006). The Meaning of Masonry. Belgrade: Ellecta 209 BIBLIOGRAPHY Kaplan, A. (1997). Sefer Yetzirah. Boston: Red Wheel / Weiser, LLC Pike, A. (1871). Morals and Dogma. Charleston: Supreme Council, Southern jurisdiction of the United States Burkle, W.S.. Two Esoteric Masonic Concepts Which are Linked by Tetragrammaton. Retrieved in 2017, http://www.freemasons-freemasonry. com/esoteric-masonry-tetragrammaton.html De Hoyas, A. Mystery of the Royal Arch Word. Retrieved in 2017, http:// www.freemasons-freemasonry.com/royal_arch_word.html#_ednref50 Manasseh, C.R. The Mysticism of the Royal Arch. Retrieved in 2017, http://www.freemasons-freemasonry.com/manasseh.html Mackey, A.G. (1882). Symbolism of Freemasonry. New York: Clark and Maynard 210 NOTES 2. ANCIENT MYSTERIES 1. I recommend the excellent book Ancient Mysteries and Modern Masonry by Charles Vail, in which many Ancient Mystery systems and their relationship with Freemasonry are explained and described in detail. 3. MASONIC RITUAL FROM 1717 TO 1813 CE 1. Brothers who have no affinity for the history of Freemasonry, as well as readers who are not members of the Fraternity, may feel free to skip the following lines. 5. WHAT IS KABBALAH? 1. Aryeh Kaplan’s works will often be quoted in this book. 2. My goal in this section is to point out the guidelines to the reader who might be interested in this historical aspect. 3. Books by Gershom Scholem were one of the main sources used in this book because he is an unquestionable expert and great authority on Kabbalah, the founder of modern academic studies of Kabbalah, and a professor of Jewish mysticism. 7. THE TREE OF LIFE 1. Throughout the whole book, we will return to the process of creation, and I would like to explain in several sentences this complex concept as well as the terms used, as they will be frequently repeated. 2. Instead of the term God, Kabbalah often uses the term Light. 3. Explanation of the effect that the sefirot have on each other greatly exceeds the scope of this book. 211 NOTES 13. SILENCE AND SPEECH 1. The reader interested in this topic can find a detailed explanation in Yehuda Berg’s book Prayer of the Kabbalist, which explains everything in detail. Also, there is abundance of various information about this prayer on the Internet. 14 . THE GREAT ARCHITECT OF THE UNIVERSE 1. One of the most important Kabbalistic books in history. 16. BROTHERLY LOVE AND GIVING 1. If someone wants to get a detailed explanation of this complicated process, there is a book Kabbalah Revealed by Michael Laitman. 17. THE LOST WORD 1. Quote taken from work Two Esoteric Masonic Concepts Which Are Linked By The Tetragrammaton, William Steve Burkle. 21. PROPHECY 1. Anyone interested in the material of spiritual worlds and hierarchies should read Ezekiel’s vision. AFTERWORD 1. The quote was taken from the book 72 Names of God: Soul Technology by Yehuda Berg. 212