Kabbalah 1

I've been casually studying some Kabbalah works, recently. My interest was piqued, like many things by a guest on Terry Gross' radioshow Fresh Air. Arthur Green has recently put out A Guide to the Zohar. Hear the interview.

I'm currently reading Daniel C. Matt's Essential Kabbalah. He was interviewed by Gross as well as he has been recently charged with translating the Zohar to english. Quite a daunting task to be sure that will take an estimated 15 years. Interesting enough is that Matt is not a himself a kabbalist. But is one of the most educated on Jewish Mysticism in general. The Zohar is the primary text of the kabbalists.

The scary thing about all this is, is that the new age community as gotten a hold of this stuff, so there is a lot of bullshit to sift through. I generally stick to authors who have strong ties to the Rabbinical communities.

I'm particularly intrigued by Kabbalah for its inclusion of the feminine side of the deity and of existence. It is pantheistic in nature which in someways I think I've agreed with for a while now. But it could also be said to be Transtheistic. My spirituality has been pretty much stagnant for the past couple years. I generally shift into autopilot, and let the decent set of morals and compassion that was result from my "walk" take over general thought. But seeing as how I'll have 12 hours at a time to keep my mind busy. I might decide to take over the wheel again and see if there's any life left in some of the higher gears.