The Binding of Isaac

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‘THE BINDING OF ISAAC'

As Presented on Rosh Hashanah 5768 (2007)
At Pnai Or of Portland, Oregon

My name is Avraham

-- Father of the Abrahamic Traditions as well as Yitzhhaq, the seed of Judaism
-- Thank you for inviting me and sharing this space of palpable love and energy
-- There is a feeling that is stronger than community -- more like family
-- Take a moment to look deeply into the eyes of neighbor & feel the connection
-- Can anyone here see the aura, the field, of energy that surrounds us?
-- Please if you will sit comfortably, close your eyes, breathe and relax
-- It is from this absolutely gentle, supportive, loving space that I
-- Welcome You to my Home -- the Universe

A guided imagery to become integrally connected with a loving Universe

-- With your eyes closed, imagine we are outside on a beautiful, clear night
-- Lie down and feel yourself cradled in the field we call gravity
-- Bask in the crystal clear moonlit, starlit, azure night sky - breathe it in
-- And know that every body is connected through an unseen field
-- Now, with your loved ones you cherish, let go of the gravity that
* holds you in loving relationship with the Earth, and
* be in loving relationship with all the other bodies of the Universe.
-- Like Einstein you can ride the gentle waves of the field that connects us
-- See waves around you bend as they are attracted by surrounding bodies
-- Close you eyes tightly and imagine the blackest place in the night sky
-- Know that the completely dark, nothingness is filled with energy and possibilities
-- This is the quantum vacuum from which things materialize from unseen energy
-- In your mind, you can live the passage of a billion years
.. discern a tiny spot of light as a star is being formed
.. watch it grow and grow for millions of years
.. until it explodes as a Nova, and creates
.. the stardust that has every chemical element necessary for life on Earth
-- Gently float back toward Earth with the stardust
-- Feel the security of the Earth's gravitational field as you settle back into your seat
-- My sense from this journey is always the same -- a paradox of sorts
.. that I have visited an infinite place of gentle caring and purpose, where
.. everything is alive, dissipates and reemerges - nothing is wasted, and
.. there is absolute order
-- There is a word that is very present for me -- ‘Baruch' -- the word for ‘Blessing'
-- And it is also an articulation of Blessing - let me explain

The Language of Adonoi

.. What you have been taught as three Hebrew letters, we perceived as
.. Three powerful shamanic characters (also called letter-numbers)
.. Raysh (200) the Cosmological Order from which all other blessings flow +
.. Final Kaf (500) the Cosmological Universal Life combine to give us
.. Bayt (2) - the ordered container of Nature where zero waste is absolute
-- This we were gifted in Genesis I, the blessing of absolute order from chaos

-- I grew up in a mystic community of Ur - The Chaldeans
-- We were known as the magicians - our magic being a shamanistic intuition
-- We understood at the deepest level what created and sustained life, and
-- We communicated with all of life using ‘a language of life'
-- A sacred geometry of shapes and sounds, energetically connected to each other
-- The same characters that you now know as the Hebrew Alphabet
-- The 22 letters + 5 ‘Finals' are the 27 energetic, shamanic characters, with
-- Three sets of 9 characters each, and each set represents 1 of our 3 World
.. Our World that for you is very abstract is numbered 1-9 - Aleph - Tay
.. Your World of reality (also real for us) is numbered 10-90 - Yod - Tsadde
.. The third set are Cosmological (100-900) come from Adonoi, and give us
.. Insight into the 4th World, Ein Sof, inexpressible in symbols or letters
-- These 9 characters (columns) are all that is necessary to create and sustain life
-- Reflect on these Characters, not a house or chair, but life components

(The 3x9 matrix is from Carlo Suares's, “The Cipher of Genesis”; the commentary on the right hand side regarding the three (3) Worlds, and below regarding the organizational components of life is my own.)

-- For Kabbalists, Hebrew is the creative substance of the Universe
-- Those who understand the language, are in Communion with Adonoi
-- We live in a state of ongoing Revelation
-- Thru this language we energetically connect with the source of life,
-- Constantly informed regarding what creates and sustains life
-- As I share "The Binding of Yitzhhaq", I will select a few key ‘words' like baruch
-- We will look at the ‘letters' of the word as a collection of energies
-- Focusing on the Cosmological (Qof thru Final Tsadde)
-- After all, this is the story of Genesis, our Jewish cosmology and
-- Because these characters contain God's mystery and cosmic forces
-- They are the driving forces of our Creation Story
-- When Genesis opens the World is without form, and
-- We receive the blessing, Baruch, of Cosmological Order
-- Our Torah continues with the 2nd Creation Story of HumanKind - Adam & Eve
-- Later God lets Sarah and I know that we will have a son - the seed of the Jews
-- I am compelled to go on another quest that isn't translated well in Genesis XX
-- "Abraham journeyed ...... and dwelt between Qadish and Shur"

-- Qadish (100.4.300) is an understanding of the cosmic forces of archetypal birthing
-- Shur (300.6.200) is an understanding of the cosmic forces of archetypal fertilizing
-- Combined they are the essence of Aleph, the Life-Death-Life Continuum
-- The process in which all sustainable life is grounded
-- They are also the essence of the #5 character, Hay, archetypal Universal Life
-- This was not a journey to a place at all but a necessary quest for revelation

The Binding of Yitzhhaq

This story is chapter XXII of Genesis - Ayqida

-- The translation that flows from the letter-numbers isn't 'binding', but
-- An archetypal birth, Dallet, and universal life, Hay
-- Emanating from the cosmological life-death-life continuum (Qof), and
-- Manifesting in unbounded possibilities (Ayn)

The Ayqida, our story, begins with God saying, ‘Take now thy son, thine only son, whom thou lovest .... and get they into the land Eretz' that is normally translated Earth, but to us is itself a cosmic container, Raysh, for the life-death-life cycles that both are, and are driven by, cosmic beauty, Final Tsadde.

And go to this ‘place' -- Hamaqom, which with its cosmic Life-Death-Life Continuum (Qof) isn't a place but an internal journey. It is essentially a ‘vision quest', seeking to understand the transformation from birth (Mem) to the cosmically enlightened specie (Final Mem).

(Qof) isn’t a place but an internal journey. It is essentially a ‘vision quest’, seeking to understand the transformation from birth (Mem) to the cosmically enlightened specie (Final Mem),

Yitzhhaq and I were clear -- we were on a quest for Revelation

So with two others Yitzhhaq and I set out across the wilderness and to a destination called Adonoi Jireh -- a place of Cosmic forces that literally means, ‘the mount where the Lord is seen'.

As we walked through barren wilderness, Yitzhhaq got in touch with life. He found sustenance and much, much more. Eretz was abundant with food, water, small flora and fauna, and a sensual beauty that seemed to be in concert with his own appreciation of life.

On the 3rd day we could feel the forces of Adonoi Jireh.

Yitzhhaq and I went on alone. That night we camped near the top of the mount. As we gazed into a sky filled with millions of stars, we embarked on a cosmic journey. We let ourselves be embraced by the loving field of gravity, and then we released ourselves so that we might discover some of the secrets of the Universe. When we returned, we did so ever so slowly, so we could be particularly appreciative of Eretz.

Before we slept that night, Yitzhhaq spoke these most incredible thoughts, --

I believe that I fully understand who each of us is and our relationship to the birth of a new peoples. You, ‘Avraham'

come from the Cosmic Order (Raysh) of life and have become the Cosmic Enlightened Human (final Mem), the archetype of Universal Life (Hay), and living life with a complete acceptance of death (Aleph). And I, Yitzhhaq,

understand my own mission to be the seed for the generations of fully living people, Yod, that manifest their connection to mystery and sensual beauty, Tsadde, make ethical choices, Hhayt, all emanating from the Cosmic Life-Death-Life force, Qof. My Yod flows from your Aleph, and the seed that I produce must not be a Yod that just exists, but one that lives life to the fullest by embracing and being in concert with all the blessings that are life.

Yitzhhaq continued to speak of the paradox of our planet, so powerful and balanced, yet so fragile. He spoke of a narrow bandwidth in which species including ourselves can live, and how we rely on Eretz to cleanse and heal. He discerned the finiteness of the planet, the possibilities of a future in which we might lose touch with the essence of life; that we might not understand that if Eretz was to take care of us then we must take care of her. And that there is a spark of divinity in all of life that must be fully appreciated or we will do great harm to both our social order and our environment.

It occurred to me as Yitzhhaq spoke that we must never lose our symbolic language of life, or our oral tradition, because it is through the language that we are able to deeply understand the revelation.

Yitzhhaq finished with the following statement, "The very essence of life has been revealed to me along with the understanding that life is not deterministic. We have choice, and with choice we have responsibilities. It is through the understanding of life that a clear ethic emerges and becomes integral to the seed. We must not lose touch with the understanding of sufficiency, and sharing that which is scarce. This knowing and way of being can only be present when we discern Adonoi as the essence that resides in all life."

I slept a wonderful sleep that night having had one of those moments of deep appreciation for my son who had transformed from being a young adult to being a peer in terms of wisdom and compassion and leadership of a new people. Yitzhhaq had become an enlightened Yod, and his seed would pass that appreciation of life to all the generations.

We rose early the next morning and completed our journey. We were both clear that there was no ram, but unclear if there was to be more revelation, or if we had passed these most arduous and crucial tests. If we had not passed, then there could be no new people. The seed would be terminated, essentially aborted as it is in Nature if a fetus isn't prepared for birth. We were prepared for that judgment.

The cosmic forces got stronger and stronger as I bound Yitzhhaq and as I raised the knife to slay him. I felt a dissonance the likes of which I'd never felt. I could hardly breathe and I felt as if I was detached from my body. This was the final revelation, being deeply in touch with what it is to take life -- to break the Life-Death-Life continuum in an unnatural way.

I became aware of two new, very powerful forces -- resonant rather than dissonant forces. They were both the cosmological forces of Qof and Raysh, -- one emanating from Eretz, the thicket, that is generally, regrettably translated as ‘horns'

the other from the heavens that is translated as a ‘calling' of the angels.

This was God's acceptance of Yitzhhaq as the seed for perpetuating Judaism.

Yitzhhaq and I shared a simple prayer before we departed Adonoi Jireh. It is a prayer you might not have fully understood when I began but I hope will have great meaning now. We said - ‘Amen', a vibrant set of shamanic characters

.. of all the infinite possibilities & combinations of what might be, Final Noun
.. that create this beautiful Life-Death-Life Continuum, Aleph
.. we give thanks for this moment and what has been birthed - Mem

Epilogue

It is with a sense of t'shuvah that I say thank you and goodbye. We have mostly lost our shamanic language -- the characters exist as letters but their meaning is lost. And our oral tradition is largely replaced with the written word. Without the language and the conversations, we've lost the capacity for deep understanding. What you may have previously understood as a story about a father being commanded to kill his son is more a story about revelation, and the test of adversity to assure a successful birth and perpetuation. Today some of the essence of the understandings gained by Yitzhhaq have been retained and some lost. What has been retained manifests in your ethical behavior, and your beautiful connections with life that give this sanctuary the feeling of deep love and caring from which we built our cosmic journey together. But there are strong cultural forces that impel us into acting in ways that will deeply harm, perhaps kill future generations, our children. From this perspective, the ‘Binding of Yitzhhaq' is a most relevant story of our times. I believe that each of us must find our way to revelation, and to be tested so that we develop our tensile strength and sense of courage. My suggested starting point is the resurrection of our ‘language of life' -- Hebrew characters full of the power and energy to create and sustain life. And that we teach it to people of all ages in order to provide the deep understanding that defines the path to revelation, and the emanation of the ethic that guides us.

I thank you for letting me share this with you and leave with this blessing.

[Rev. 10/26/2008 RKC]