KARMA #2 DESTINY

 

These are the main factors six factors determining our karma and which challenge our free will. 

Fulfill your destiny.

Correct injustice – heal the planet.

Do no harm to any of the Four Beings of Nature.

Subordinate Ego to the Higher Self.

Love.

Be in joy and savor the opportunity of being in a sentient body and fulfilling one’s task or mission.

 

Destiny

The hunt for one's destiny is the hunt of one's life, stay on the scent, follow the spoor.

The Ancestors or our guides are our "Ap" to our destiny. They have access to our Book of Life or our Akashic records and know what our destiny is. They are there to help guide us to it amongst the other things that can assist us on our path. The clues they leave us along the way are like a Bushman tracker after his prey. Sometime the spoor is lost and he must go back to the last track to pick the trail up again or look for the next clue ahead which becomes visible. Similarly for us on the path it is like a treasure hunt where our guides leave clues for us to find. Sometimes they send a clue which seems to take us in the wrong direction but if we did not follow it we would not find the next clue. This resembles a cybernetic negative feedback system not unlike the body's hormonal system which looks like a diurnal wave form, not a straight line. We are often going a bit wrong or "left" and then go "right." We need to not beat ourselves up about being lost when we are just in the process of searching. 

“Everyone has in him/her something Divine, something his own, a chance of perfection and strength, however small, a sphere which God offers him to take or refuse. The task is to find, develop and use it.”

Sri Aurobindo

 

“In every person there is something precious which is in no-one else. And so, we should honor each for what is hidden within them for what only they have.” Talmud

 

“… Each soul makes Two agreements upon entering the world. The First binds the individual to a distinct destiny that becomes the soul’s great project in life. The Second entangles each person in the limitations of fate and responsibilities for family and community. 
While all second agreements can be renegotiated, the first is non-negotiable.” Michael Meade

“It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.”  
William Ernest Henley

 

Fate involves the circumstances surrounding us and our destiny mission. Fate is the cards we are dealt in life which may have a lot to do with our karma. It is said that one's fate may be determined by geography or one's Zip code and there can be truth to that. However, we need to rise above our fate into our true destiny path. Destiny will be fashioned by our choices – skillful or not. Destiny is that illusive, but unique gift we were granted so that we could give of ourselves to the planet and all Beings. Most of us do not find it easily.

 

“All the talents of God are within you.
 How could this be otherwise 

when your soul is derived from His genes!”  Hafiz

 

We co-create with the Divine – His/Her creation cannot fully manifest without our help. God wants a personal relationship with each one of us. God does not play favorites - karma is set as a default into the soul which makes allowance for this love. S/He loves us all. Karma is our test, not the Creator's love.

 

God’s love is not a test, God is not a test of love.

 

 We are all given a destiny cup to fill. Some have been given bigger cups than others. Those who have smaller cups may find it easier than those with large ones.

“To whom much is given, much is expected.”

“The souls of people on their way to earth-life pass through a room full of lights. Each takes a taper, 
often only a spark to guide it in the dim country of this world. But some souls by rare fortune are detained longer and have time to grasp a handful of tapers which they weave into a torch. These are the torchbearers of humanity – its poets, seers and saints who lead and lift the race out of darkness towards the light. They are the law givers and saviors, the light bringers, way showers and truth tellers and without them humanity would lose its way in the dark.” Plato

“The outward work can never be small if the inward one is great, and the outward work can never be great if the inward is small or of little worth... All works are surely dead if anything from the outside compels you to work. Even if it were God himself compelling you to work from the outside, your works would be dead. If your works are to live, then God must move you from the inside, from the innermost region of the soul - then they will really live. There is your life and there alone you live and your works live.” Patanjali

Remember that your purpose exists by being what it is, not by dispossessing, defeating or winning but rather simply by being more and more of what it is. 

Intention is everything. Many are in line with and following their destiny paths but are not doing so within the laws of karma, of right and wrong.

Determine well your heart’s desire for in releasing your intention its energy will affect its holiness or unholiness.

Be attentive only to the responsibility of what compels.
Bestow blessings, refuse burdens.
What makes you beholden enslaves you.
What makes you grateful blesses you.
What you touch, touches you. What you let touch you, enhances or diminishes.

The most dangerous distraction is the lure of beguiling but essentially extraneous information - be it false or true. More important, is it useful to you, does it inspire, support, advance and enhance who you are and your relationship with God or is it merely speculative, and appealing to your curiosity?

Seligman the father of positive psychology stresses the importance of finding one's own core or signature strength and meaning in one's life.  How we serve others has a lot to do with the healing effects of "meaning" - which is so crucial. 

Unthinking conformity no matter how piously enacted lacks meaning and as such is soulless.
One must be bold in questioning; that to just accept without inquiry is simply surface learning by rote not the deeper learning of thoughtful consideration.
Our deeds fashion our destiny so do our understandings fashion our deeds.

 

We cannot separate the Soul from our destiny path.

We have to find our own way and our own spiritual path to assist us along the path. The Infinite One does not want us to have a copy cat destiny. If we are misdirected, we may come to end of our lives with a mission that society or our parents have laid out for us. If so, we will have to come back again to find that gift or taper or myth. 

There is also a direct link with destiny, the search for the Self and the Hero/ine’s quest for his/her archetype, mission or purpose. They are all shades of the same thing.

“Hold to your vision - be true to your myth.” J. Campbell 

“… put out to sea! Save your boat’s journeying soul, cost what it may.” Dom Helder Camara

Frequently when I do divinations, the client’s destiny bone is mal-aligned. When I ask that person what do they do, as opposed to what would they have done if they had had the choice - their heart's choice would often have been very different. The wrong choice was frequently motivated by parental control. By going back to our earlier, especially teenage years, we may discover that the dream that we wanted for ourselves was put aside because of external pressure. This dream could well have been connected to our core strength and our heart's desire. There may be karmic consequences for those who have tried to mold a child in their own image.

Of all the teachings the Ancestors have given us, many focus on our being truly congruent with Self.

Anything or anybody who does not make you more of who we are makes you less of who we are.

 

The focus is on becoming more of who you are.

You must free yourself to be yourself.
Do not be captive to the demands of false duty.
Do not take on what is not yours to take on.
If you will not be you who then will be? 

Be patient with yourself, kind to yourself and release yourself from what you are not accountable.

Look carefully to what you aspire, cherish and guard so as not to squander your gifts nor lose your heritage.

Are you nibbling on the apples of the Tree of Knowledge or are you nurturing whatever proud plant or humble weed is your present entrustment? It is that which you are to make glorious.

 

The sages teach that all that happens; happens as it must.
What occurs cannot occur contrary to the conditions of its occurring or contrary to its nature.
A cedar tree does not spring from an acorn.

 

The menu is only the menu.
It offers, it describes, it suggests.
When the meal arrives do not put it aside.
Absorb the reality of your choice.
If you do not taste the nature of God in your selection, you must choose another dish, if indeed you desire to be for the Infinite One, all that He is for you.
For although the Creator's breath will be present, His presence will not manifest for you.
You need to choose the offering He has prepared especially and selectively for you.

  

Congruence: Emotions and their expression match and behavior arises from the root of their being. They sing their own song and do not do things for others’ approval. Soul, heart and intellect are congruent.

"... Care about peoples approval and you will be their prisoner." Tao Te Ching

 

“The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are.” C.J. Jung

“This above all, to thine own self be true.” Shakespeare

 

We may have found our destiny but it is also essential karmically to do it for its own sake, for the sake of others, without doing harm, and with a feeling of equanimity and gratitude. It is not easy.

Many of us have to live in two worlds - the one that pays the bills and the other that is the heart's purpose. It is never too late.

Play and meditate

02_Be_Yourself.mp3

 KARMA #1

In the last blog we mentioned the principles of Karma only briefly. In this series we will go more deeply into it. From what I can understand from the Ancestors and ancient wisdoms, these are the main tenets.

                                     

                                            Generally speaking 

“This is what God asks of you, only this, to act justly, to love tenderly and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah

"Fill your bowl to the brim and it will spill, keep sharpening your knife and it will blunt, chase after money and security and your heart will never unclench, care about people’s approval and you will be their prisoner. Do your work, then step back, the only way to serenity."  Tao Te Ching

Peace of mind can often be a measure of one's karma.

Without light and dark, good and evil, the sacred and the profane, life would present no challenge. If everything was sweet and good, life would be like spiritual diabetes, spiritually deadly and boring. There must be conflict and tension between the Good Inclination and the Shadow for spiritual growth.

 

Merit on a judgmental level is the balancing of evil and good deeds.
Merit is the credit we receive on the side of good.

 

Karma is about spiritually attaining merit. According to both yoga and kabbalah everything we do is recorded in the Akashic records or the Book of Life. We get away with nothing on the other side. 

The higher we get up the “rungs” to God, the more we will encounter, the challenges to our karma not only from the Shadow, Ego and Monkey Mind but also the Tricksters appointed to sabotage our path. To them, spiritual transcendence is anathema and a reproach to their mission to sabotage anything of the light.

Karma is about subordinating our Evil inclination or Shadow to our inclination to do good, subordinating Monkey (Narrow) mind to Spacious mind and subordinating Ego to the Higher Self. Tricksters or dark forces need to be subordinated to our Good Inclination, Spacious mind, our Higher Self, all with the help of our guides. 

…Love nurtures you, gives you safe haven but you decide, you choose, you are responsible. The consequences are yours. There is wisdom; there is folly; there is love; there is lust; there is surrender; there is willfulness.

Karma depends not only on what we do but how we do it, why we do it, and how we feel about it. If the last is grudgingly or because it benefits us materially there will be a karmic consequence or it will be karmically passive. It is better to give charity - even if it is to get our face in the media or for a tax deduction - than not to give it but the act may not have spiritual merit depending on our intent. 

The Talmud says of someone who has sinned in the worst way but then Repents or "Returns to his or her Higher Self ... 

 

"... This person stands higher in heaven than a righteous one. Their degree is above the degree of those who have never sinned because it is more difficult for them to subdue their passions than for the others."

Those that have risen up from the bottom of the barrel in spite of all the odds against them are looked on favorably from above. 

Karma is built in as a default into the soul. God does not play favorites - S/He loves us all and hopes that the prodigal son or daughter will eventually redeem themselves and return to the Father/Mother.

God is not a test of love, God's love is not a test. 

Like a loving parent the Creator loves us all and all of creation. The Talking Beings, however, are bound to the laws of karma. All the other Beings are doing exactly what they are supposed to be doing and have no such requirement.

Everyone will ultimately achieve the spiritual perfection for which we are created and this may take many lifetimes because of free will. 

Karma occurs as a backdrop to free will and impermanence. Free will rules and nothing last forever except love and the soul. We need to be in the moment with all the gifts given to us with gratitude. The Ancestors live in the moment and teach that we should take only what we need from the past and leave the rest behind.

“One day the people came to the master and asked: “How can you be so happy in a world of such impermanence where you cannot protect your loved ones from harm, illness and death.” The master held up a glass and said. Someone gave me this glass and I really like this glass. It holds my water admirably and glistens in the sunlight. One day the wind may blow it off the shelf or my elbow may knock it off the table. I know this glass is already broken so I enjoy it incredibly.” 

Achaan Chah Subato

Akiva taught;
"Everything is given on loan (impermanent),

 a net is set out for the living (the net of samsara, being bound to and tempted by a sentient existence,)  
... and free will is given."

Attachments also hamper our crossing over to the right vibration at the time of death.

God most delights when you are most you, when you are being most yourself.

We need to see ourselves as the Creator wants to see us rather than those who may be more interested in our personas than our soul. The sages teach that it does not necessarily get any easier as we advance with our practice. The Ego is like a chameleon changing colors and the Shadow will tell us that the means justifies the end.

The light and the dark each exist. We may choose to go towards either and will always be pursued or lured by the other.
The ambushes, the side paths, the pot holes are all clearly marked and may be guarded against if you choose to read the map, scope the terrain, plot the journey.
The contest is fiercest when the stakes are high and so we may expect to be challenged, tempted and dissuaded in any and all manner of our weaknesses - be they physical, mental or emotional - all of which are attributes of the spirit.

“When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bonds; your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction and you find yourself in a new, great and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be.” Patanjali

Click on the link, play and meditate.

Everything we do is a test of our karma. We need to be resolute and hold fast to our potential to gain merit.

15_Do_Not_Bend.mp3

 ARCHITECTURE OF THE SOUL # 8

Below are some of the main challenges that will confront us at every level of ascent towards Unity Consciousness.

We are meant to enjoy the whole conundrum and savor the journey - good or bad, light or dark, sacred or profane. However, lurking in the background, also, are the following factors constantly challenging our spiritual transformation - The Shadow, Ego, Store Consciousness, the occult conditioning of our Subconscious over the course of our life time as well as trickster spirits.

 

Finding the balance between MIND-Understanding (which also houses Narrow/Monkey Mind), INTELLECT (Wisdom and Spacious Mind,) EGO  and SHADOW is an ongoing process that the Ancestors call a process of "Becoming." Depending on our spiritual practice we can subordinate;  Ego to the Higher Self as well as our Shadow or Evil Inclination to our Inclination to do Good. Spiritual pursuits will help us control our Store Consciousness and the dark side of our past lives. It will also assist in modulating the negative aspects of our conditioning residing in the subconscious. Sensory driven positively worded imagination is especially powerful in reprogramming the subconscious.

Without the desire for spiritual transformation we will confine ourselves to the sentient pleasures of the body - PHYSICAL. 

A sensory practice such as yoga asanas (postures,) pranayama or breath meditation, Chi Gong, Tai Chi, kirtans and other practices will help us access ENERGY.

Balance here goes a long way to helping to control MIND.

With this dynamic we can more easily allow INTELLECT to take command

and begin to approach UNITY or Bliss-Oneness or Causal Consciousness.

 

The Mind must mind what the mind minds best.

 

Use the mind, do not let the mind use you!
Use it to support the heart’s wisdom.

 

The heart must honor the mind for its understanding and the mind must follow the heart in its wisdom.

 

The solution is spiritual practice and also;

"With all your strength get knowledge."

The Ancestors also teach ...

It will be given to you according to the measure of your humility.

Transcending Ego by doing things for their own sake and not for an ulterior motive and also attending to needs not wants.

It will be given to you according to the measure of your love.

Opening the heart chakra is the root to the Soul or the Higher Self. Love as a commitment not necessarily an emotion or sentiment. Seeing the divine in others with compassion (You do not have to like them.)

Finally ...

It will be given to you according to the measure of your faith.

 

The challenges that confront us at all the levels of Soul and with each sephirah of the Tree are as follows.

 

At the level of PHYSICAL lies the temptation to immerse irresponsibly in sentient pleasures. Most of us hopefully, even after Covid, are beyond being tied to our survival needs and can begin to emerge again into our growth needs. Sadly, many on the planet are in survival mode clinging to a subsistence living and do not have this luxury.

 

When we get to the two triads of ENERGY, the first triad of Ego tempts us with the need to groom our personas to conform with the expectations of others. Or we become trapped by pride, the desire for fame or and power as well as our attachments to our wants and not to our needs. 

In the second triad of Love, Judgment is one of the hardest sephirot to master. Here we are required to invoke the power of Mercy and to “sweeten” our judgments with compassion. This requires that we see the divinity in others and understand that some have serious conflicts that we do not have or that our spiritual practice has allowed us to overcome. Alternatively, they may be young souls, burdened with Store Consciousness and the poor cards they were dealt at birth. Because of fate they are not as far along the path as we are. We may have even been worse than them in prior life times. Mercy requires discernment and discrimination and the understanding that Ego may be projecting our Shadow onto others for self-gratification.

 

In the top triad of Keter, the shadow side of MIND-Understanding is Monkey or our survival mind. This primitive mind encompasses the qualities of; dogma, zealotry, denial, detachment, resignation and hopelessness.

INTELLECT-Wisdom on the other hand embraces; hope, faith, belief, trust and surrender. The shadow side of wisdom is heartlessness. 

 

Will, intention and passion in the center limb are key to holding the balance between the two limbs of the Tree, the left side of contraction (fear) and the right side of expansion (love.) All these qualities are essential for spiritual transformation.

Tricksters and dark forces become unrelenting at the top triad of Keter. Our light is a reproach to them. Ego also changes color like a chameleon and Shadow can shape shift and delude us that the means justifies the end. The dark forces know our weaknesses and will play on these.

Click, play and meditate 

07_Tilling_the_Soil_..>

11_Golden_Husks.mp3

 

ARCHITECTURE OF THE SOUL # 7

The Four Worlds are the Planes of manifestation.

These apply not only to the Creation but also to anything that we might create. Everything we do must also go through these four stages.

These Worlds correspond to the Five levels on the Tree of Life as below. 

With regard to Creation of the universe or multiverse as well as any of the Four Beings of Nature including us, the Four Worlds or Planes of Reality are as follows.

Emanation

Arising from Source

above Keter, the Crown sephira. 

In the beginning was the Word (or the Song/Sound/Vibration,) the Intention, the Thought. 

Keter emanating from Nothingness nourishes Creation.

Creation

 The plan or the blueprint. 

On the Tree of Life this embraces and requires

 both Intellect (Wisdom) and Mind (Understanding) - 

the two sephirot just below Keter. 

Wisdom is undifferentiated thought - the Einstein archetype. Einstein wanted to understand the mind of God and said that his powers of fantasy and imagination meant more to him than his cognitive abilities.

The Ancestors teach; 

To think like God is to think with imagination.

and

As you think it, so it can be, as you imagine and believe and have faith, so it will be.

Faith 

- not a true sephira - 

is interposed between Wisdom and Understanding and helps us gain access to Keter.

Creation is a property of Wisdom-Intellect-(Spacious Mind.)

Wisdom's imagination, however, requires Understanding-Mind to help it take form.

The shadow side of Mind-Understanding is Monkey (Narrow) Mind with its fear bound limitations of dogma, zealotry, denial, resignation, desperation, detachment and hopelessness.

They are balanced by Wisdom's Faith, Belief, Hope, Trust and Surrender. The shadow side of Wisdom-Intellect-(Spacious Mind) is heartlessness and a lack of Love.

Formation

 The elements and the mystery of the unexplainable ability of the Creator to make something out of nothing. This began with the Big Bang when the elements of the periodic table were infused into the void (Nothingness) to eventually become "Somethingness" and then slowly evolved into order through the world of Formation probably in seven periods of time (maybe billions of years) rather than seven days as in Genesis. There is no time on the other side of the veil between worlds.

The Spirit-Breath-Energy of Formation is contained in 

six sephirot

Love 

in the center is balanced by Mercy on the right and Judgment on the left. 

Ego 

in the center is balanced by Non-Attachment on the right and Attachment on the left (our attachment or non-attachment to our ego and persona as self-Cherishing, Desirous Attachment and Judgment.) 

Actualization

You, me and us in a physical body (and the other Beings as well) living here on Earth where we manifest our sentient existence.

Whenever we do any great project - unlike the Supreme Being -

we can only make something out of something else.

 The process follows the same Four Stages, for instance in the building of a hospital. 

First - the idea, the intention, the thought (Emanation.) 

Second - the plan or design, the architect (Creation.) This begins in Wisdom's imagination; 

"What cannot be imagined, cannot be fulfilled."

 Wisdom's imagination must take form 

with the help of Understanding. Understanding is the sephira of practicalities. How to make the plan fit to what the building contractor requires.

Third - the building contractor putting all the necessary artisans and materials together (Formation.) 

Fourth - finally the building materializes (Actualization.)

If we acknowledge the importance of all these Four Stages and put it out into the "Field," the Creator and our guides in a sensory stimulated active imagination we will have greater success in our ventures.

The correspondence of the 

Fours Worlds to the Five Levels of Soul 

is as below. So as not to confuse, the Five Levels are in magenta, the Four Worlds in purple. 

Hence also - our spiritual transformation will arise by "reverse engineering"- using the sephirot of the Tree, the Five Levels of Soul and the Four Worlds as a template, taking our sacred intentions to a higher level.

Click, play and meditate on the Wisdom of Imagination.

07_Imaging.mp3

13_Imagination.mp3

 

 

 

 

 

ARCHITECTURE OF THE SOUL # 6

"Play in the exultation of the possible." M. Buber

You are much more than you know but ...

"Anyone who isn't confused here really does not understand what is going on." Anonymous

This journey is a little like a layman trying to explain quantum physics. Even the quantum physicists acknowledge that anyone who thinks they understand quantum physics, does not understand it.

The Ancestors say that our role is not to try and explain the mystery but to be in awe of it. However, it helps to try because the deeper we go the less we know and this exaggerates the awe. When we open Pandoras box the mystery becomes even more mysterious.

The soul and breath from the Creator are pure.

 Both arise as a spark from the 

Flame of the Infinite One.

"Flame of the Infinite One is the Soul-Breath of the human."

Click, play and meditate by focusing on your breath. 

Prolong the phases. The exhale should be longer than the inhale. Be aware of the pauses between inhale and exhale as well as exhale and inhale to connect with your divine spark.

06_Soul_Breath.mp3

"The life breath of the human is the flame of the Infinite One searching through the chambers 

of our core." 

(the heart chakra also incorporates our lungs oxygenating the blood being pumped to the circulation).

Click, play and meditate on the purity the breath we are given to animate us. When the Grim Reaper comes to takes us away, that breath will cease.

04_Life_Breath.mp3

 This is an attempt to examine the architecture of the soul by combining Patanjali's Five Sheaths of Consciousness with a similar concept in Kabbalah - 

the Five Levels of the Soul. 

Unity - the First Level 

 descends from Source down through the Four Worlds until it is housed in the body. 

We are a microcosmic chip of the Supreme Being - a minute holographic representation, each with its own destiny and each fueled from the Flame of the Infinite One, to become our own pure soul-breath. 

The Creator made something out of nothingness. Hence I have given Unity - the first level - the designation of a zero (0). 

Unity then descends adopting the other Four Levels or attributes along the way.

Our purpose in life is to ascend back up again into that realization of Self, made in the image of the Divine. There were two Trees in the Garden of Eden. The Tree of Knowledge (ego and acquisitiveness) which got us got kicked out of the Garden and the Tree of Life by which means if we ascend this Tree we can regain "Eden" (The enlightened or Causal realm or the Pure Land of Buddhism.) These Five Levels correspond not only to the Four Worlds (the next blog) but also to the Tree of Life.

However, it is not easy and on the way up we will be confronted by many challenges. The higher up we go the harder it gets.

 "The gates are wide but few will enter."

The purpose of this blog series is to explain some of the challenges presented to us on our journey back to Unity when we rejoin the Flame.

Patanjali's Five Sheaths or Bodies of Consciousness are almost synonymous with the Five Levels of soul. 

The Food (Physical) Sheath. 

The Energy Sheath. 

The Mind Sheath. 

The Intellectual Sheath. 

The Bliss Sheath (Unity in Kabbalah.)

Patanjali's are represented below as circles going from without inward, somewhat different to Kabbalah's representation on the Tree of Life,  where they manifest from Source above (# 0), to the physical (#4) below.

As above, so below, as below so above.

As without, so within, as within, so without.

The Food or Body Sheath in the Patanjali's figure is the same as the Physical level in Kabbalah. 

The Energy Sheath or Sheath of Prana (Breath) is the same as the Energy Level, also of Breath, Wind or Ruach in Hebrew. 

Mind is the same in both. The shadow side of Mind is Monkey (Narrow) Mind.

The Intellectual Sheath is synonymous with Intellect which houses Spacious Mind.

 Ego is not part of the Five but forms a critical Triad with Mind and the Intellectual Sheaths. Shadow should also be included here. These four are always in flux between the properties of Monkey (Narrow) Mind and The Intellectual Sheath (Spacious Mind.) Depending on which prevails we go inward or remain outwardly directed and bound to Ego.

The Bliss Sheath in yoga is where the Higher Self (Soul) dwells and is the place where duality is replaced by Oneness or Unity Consciousness Ananda (Bliss) - Unity in Kabbalah.

The various qualities ascribed to Patanjali's Sheaths and the Ancestors Five Levels are aligned below. The energy centers or sephirot of Understanding and Wisdom on the Tree of Life embellish Mind and Intellect. 

These Five Levels correspond to the Tree of Life as shown below.

They comprise the architecture, anatomy or structure of these levels  - a map to help us navigate the polarities. By a process of "reverse engineering"- if you like - we ascend up the Tree to Unity - to our rightful place with divinity.

Unity 0 

Intellect 1 (Wisdom)

 Mind 2 (Understanding)

 Energy 3 

Physical 4

There are three triads on the Tree

Keter-Intellect (Wisdom)-Understanding (Mind)

Faith between is not a true sephira but is essential to arrive at Keter.

Energy comprises two of the three triads

The Heart triad 

is balanced by Mercy and Judgment. 

Judgment is harder to control so it is situated above Ego. 

We are told to "sweeten" our judgments with compassion. Moreover the Ancestors teach; 

"When you no longer need to be right the purity of your soul will shine through."

The Ego triad 

is balanced by Attachment and Non Attachment to self-cherishing and the desire for the material.

The Ancestors teach that Netzach - the sephirah of Non-Attachment is the key to spiritual evolution since it opens the sephirah of Love (or the heart chakra.) In yoga the heart chakra is the most difficult one to open. In Kabbalah it is said that when the student has mastered Love he or she can teach themselves.

 

Physical 4 (Earth)

Us in a physical, sensate body living on our planet with the huge task  to not only ascend and Self-realize but also to protect our earth home.

In the next blog we will discuss the Four Worlds with their respective correspondence.

The details do not have to be studied or remembered they are just to give an idea of the miracle and complexity of the Divine plan for us.