Devekut and Tzimtzum
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Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
I came across the term devekut (wiki) while reading Dan Cohn-Sherbok's introduction to The Dictionary of Kabbalah and Kabbalists. I found devekut and Luria's tzimtzum (wiki) to be the most fascinating aspects of the read as a whole.
While the this is all new to me, I thought someone here maybe has explored these terms further in their original context or otherwise. To me, devekut seems to explicitly echo of dharana. I wonder if perhaps tzimtzum also does likewise as dhyana, but nothing in my reading suggests that tzimtzum is something that humans do. From what I understand, tzimtzum is to be understood as more of a "big bang" of sorts; a Primum Mobile, if you will.
Maybe I'm totally off on all of this to some of you. I'm interested in reading what you have to say. Any suggestions for further reading or similar aspects found in other religions is always very helpful.
Thank you.
Love is the law, love under will.
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I would suggest that Devekut corresponds more closely to Bhakti Yoga, since it is more about the fervor/emotional/devotional attachment. Alternately, you could make the case for correspondence to Niyama (especially Ishvarapranidhana).
Dharana, on the other hand, is the mental exercise of holding the concentration on a single thought, without allowing it to waver (which for many people is very hard to do for more than about a second, when one is starting off).
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Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
@Avshalom Binyamin said
"I would suggest that Devekut corresponds more closely to Bhakti Yoga, since it is more about the fervor/emotional/devotional attachment. Alternately, you could make the case for correspondence to Niyama (especially Ishvarapranidhana).
Dharana, on the other hand, is the mental exercise of holding the concentration on a single thought, without allowing it to waver (which for many people is very hard to do for more than about a second, when one is starting off)."
Thanks, Av! I think I'm seeing where you're coming from. I especially appreciate that you mentioned Ishvarapranidhana, as this is the first I've come across it in my studies.
I will go ahead and include a bit about devekut from the introduction and its definition in the book I mentioned in the original topic for clarity's sake:
@Dan Cohn-Sherbok said
"For some Hasidim, devekut (cleaving to God) in prayer was understood as the annihilation of selfhood and the ascent of the soul to the divine light. In this context joy, humility, gratitude, and spontaneity are seen as essential features of Hasidic worship. The central obstacles to concentration in prayer are distracting thoughts; according to Hasidism, such sinful intentions contain a divine spark, which can be released. In this regard, the traditional Kabbalistic stress on theological speculation was replaced by a preoccupation with mystical psychology, in which inner bliss is conceived of as the highest aim, rather than repair of the cosmos. For the Beshtian Hasidim, it was also possible to achieve devekut in daily activities including drinking, business affairs, and sex. Such ordinary acts become religious if in performing them one cleaves to God, and devekut is thus attainable by all Jews rather than a scholarly elite. Unlike the earlier mystical tradition, Hasidism provided a means by which ordinary Jews could reach a state of spiritual ecstasy. Hasidic worship embraced singing, dancing, and joyful devotion in anticipation of the period of messianic redemption."
And the definition:
"In kabbalistic literature, the term means 'cleaving to God.' This is achieved mainly during the time of prayer or meditation before prayer through proper kavvanot (intentions). Devekut is described as the highest the on a spiritual ladder; this is reached after the believer has mastered the attitudes of fear and love of God. The aspect of the divine world to which the mystic prays when he aspires to attain the state of devekut is usually Shekinah (the tenth and lowest of the Sephirot) which is identified with the feminine element in the divine realm. Kabbalists emphasize that the communion achieved by the mystic during prayer is transitory; only after death can a person hope that his soul will reach a complete state of devekut with God. ... There are references in early kabbalistic sources of contemplative devekut such as devekut ha-mahashavah (cleaving of thought to God) which means the return of human thought to its origin in divine wisdom, or the devekut ha-razon (cleaving of human will to God) achieved through prayer. Later more emphasis was placed on the union of the human soul with its spiritual origin in the world of the Sephirot. There can also be elements of ecstasy associated with devekut -- in this case, devekut is not an intellectual state of mind, but rather emotional exaltation. In most kabbalistic sources, there is a connection between devekut and prophecy. Moses and the prophets were described as those who achieved devekut When this occurs, Ru'ah ha-Kodesh (The Holy Spirit) comes into contact with the mystic. The notion of devekut as the highest spiritual accomplishment was popularized by some kabbalistic writers. This became a theme of Hasidism."
Its this information that forms the basis of my understanding so far. I highlighted certain parts in bold that lent themselves to my bridging of dharana to this practice. "God" represents the single object upon which the intellect is fixed.
I am of the opinion that one can keep dharana unbroken (i.e. the intellect can remain fixed on its object) while the will performs actions.
In light of all this, do you still maintain that devekut is correspondent with bhakti yoga?
Love is the law, love under will.
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"I am of the opinion that one can keep dharana unbroken (i.e. the intellect can remain fixed on its object) while the will performs actions. "
This is different from the standard definition. In Patanjali's yoga sutras, the 8 limbs are a series. Each is a skill that serves as a baseline for the next one. Dharana requires a foundation of (in sequential order) Asana, Pranayama, and Pratyahara--ceasing action, controlling the breath, and turning the mind away from outside stimuli, respectively.
Something that can be done while reciting prayers and rocking, or living a mundane life (read the list of the 613 mitzvot) is definitely not Dharana by any standard definition. What you're highlighting is devotion to a single broad concept, not concentrating on a single thought. On the map of the 8 limbs, that's much closer to Ishvarapranidhana, the highest form of Niyama, the stage preceding Asana. Ishvarapranidhana includes Bhakti.
Compare the portions you've highlighted to this:
"This is unbroken memory of the Name and Form of the Lord. The mind does not think of any object of the world, but is ever engrossed in thinking of the glories of the Lord alone. The mind meditates on what is heard about the glories of God and His virtues, Names etc., and forgets even the body and contents itself in the remembrance of God, just as Dhruva and Prahlada did."
That's a definition of Smarana, on of the nine modes of Bhakti yoga.
One more point: dharana does not require that the meditating person achieve ego-dissolution or union between him/herself and the thought being concentrated on. That's dhyana.
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@Avshalom Binyamin said
"One more point: dharana does not require that the meditating person achieve ego-dissolution or union between him/herself and the thought being concentrated on. That's dhyana."
A minor tweak, though maybe this is more shading. I would characterize ego-dissolution as part of dhyana, although intellect-suspension is certainly a characteristic. I can't distinguish dhyana from crossing the threshold from Yetziratic to Briatic consciousness.
Another point that I don't see made ever, but I think is impotant: Dharana as a practice is the practice of concentration etc. But when the "8 limbs" are mentioned sequentially, it can't reasonably be the sixth step (more like the first!), and doesn't at all fit inclusion in the triad of samyama. Weneed to distinguish dharana as a practice from dharana as a result (much as Crowley did, at some length, for pratyahara). Dharana as a sixth limb of raja yoga I would have to translate as concentratedness, the state in which attention flows straight to the selected object without disturbance. Possibly only a fine distinction but, I think, an important one.
This state of concentratedness is the natural precursor do dhyana.
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@Jim Eshelman said
"A minor tweak, though maybe this is more shading. I would characterize ego-dissolution as part of dhyana, although intellect-suspension is certainly a characteristic. I can't distinguish dhyana from crossing the threshold from Yetziratic to Briatic consciousness. "
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In my experience (temporary) ego-dissolution happens only when the threshold you mentioned is actually crossed: by sabikalpa samadhi.
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The threshold I mentioned (dhyana) is a preliminary to it; so, in that sense, I agree completely with your sentence as written. - That is, dhyana is preliminary to samadhi.
The ego certainly can be stunned momentarily by dhyana; but that's mostly a stunning of the intellect and reactive faculties.
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@Jim Eshelman said
"A minor tweak, though maybe this is more shading. I would characterize ego-dissolution as part of dhyana, although intellect-suspension is certainly a characteristic. I can't distinguish dhyana from crossing the threshold from Yetziratic to Briatic consciousness.
Another point that I don't see made ever, but I think is impotant: Dharana as a practice is the practice of concentration etc. But when the "8 limbs" are mentioned sequentially, it can't reasonably be the sixth step (more like the first!), and doesn't at all fit inclusion in the triad of samyama. Weneed to distinguish dharana as a practice from dharana as a result (much as Crowley did, at some length, for pratyahara). Dharana as a sixth limb of raja yoga I would have to translate as concentratedness, the state in which attention flows straight to the selected object without disturbance. Possibly only a fine distinction but, I think, an important one.
This state of concentratedness is the natural precursor do dhyana."
Thank you. I had a little confusion between Dharana as the practice vs Dharana as the state in the company of Dhyana and Samadhi. This helps.
There's also the Jewish use of the word Da'ath to refer to the skill "concentratedness". In this context, I've read it spoken of as the union of Chokmah and Binah, but these last two terms seem to refer to Insight and Intellect, respectively, rather than the Sephiroth. Which sounds to me as Da'ath, "concentratedness" , as the point of union between Briah and Yetzirah.
Assuming I'm understanding and stating that concept correctly, does that at all correspond to Dharana as the state?
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It's a little hard for me to map that decisively... can't say it sounds wrong, just not quite certain it sounds right.
Skipping to one piece of your post, one scaling of the Tree would, indeed, show Da'ath as the transition point between Yetzirah and Briah (between the Vav and the Heh in The Name).
I could go round in circles on the bigger question you asked. For example, I don't think of dharana as a bringing of insight, because of the narrowness of the attention. OTOH, I certainly see insight as an occasional consequence of the sort of "out of the usual box" mental processes of dharana (in a similar sense to "sleeping on" a questilon, since one suspends and the other distracts the self-conscious rational processes).
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@Jim Eshelman said
"The ego certainly can be stunned momentarily by dhyana; but that's mostly a stunning of the intellect and reactive faculties."
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Exactly. Stunning is a good word.
Temp dissolution of the 'I' and 'mine' notion (ahamkara), however, only happens in samadhi. Cognitive functions are shut down, only ................. remain.
*sama *- one with, *adhi *- absolute.93 93/93
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@Dar es Allrah said
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@Frater INRI said
"Temp dissolution of the 'I' and 'mine' notion (ahamkara), however, only happens in samadhi. "Untrue. The formless states of dhyana are also characterised by a loss of 'I', and a unity with all. It really depends on who you read on which continent though. "
A good orgasm will give "temporary dissolution of the 'I'," if you don't concern yourself with how long "temporary" is.
Dar, I'm using the term only as in classic Hindu literature (just to be clear about word usage / definitions).
"People lose a sense of 'I' and mine all the time, even when they aren't consciously trying in meditation."
Indeed!
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@Dar es Allrah said
"The formless states of dhyana are also characterised by a loss of 'I', and a unity with all. "
Yep, formless state of dhyana can be equal to samadhi.
We are talking of the same thing here, I believe. -
@Jim Eshelman said
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"People lose a sense of 'I' and mine all the time, even when they aren't consciously trying in meditation."
Indeed!"
Ehm, "losing the sense of I and Mine" is not the same as samadhi, in my opinion (it seems we are talking about the different thing here).
I lose the sense of pretty much everything while driving a very well known route, for example. But that doesn't even come close to the inner bliss, peace and LVX experienced in samadhi. -
@Frater INRI said
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@Jim Eshelman said
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"People lose a sense of 'I' and mine all the time, even when they aren't consciously trying in meditation."Indeed!"
Ehm, "losing the sense of I and Mine" is not the same as samadhi, in my opinion (it seems we are talking about the different thing here)."
Exactly! That's what I've been saying
"Strike! O, take me now, in an instant. Strike! with the passionate strength of thy love to overwhelm this silly thought I have of Thee, this struggling artifice. Flood the channels of my nerves with the lightning current of Thyself." - Liber Amoris vel Calicis, v. 17
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@Jim Eshelman said
""Strike! O, take me now, in an instant. Strike! with the passionate strength of thy love to overwhelm this silly thought I have of Thee, this struggling artifice. Flood the channels of my nerves with the lightning current of Thyself." - Liber Amoris vel Calicis, v. 17"
Lovely Jim, sweet indeed.
Can the Liber in question be found anywhere in its entirety, pls?
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@Dar es Allrah said
"Hellenism or Revelation... that is the question....
Apparently..
Not.
And..
Yet..."93
<smile>
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@Frater INRI said
"Can the Liber in question be found anywhere in its entirety, pls?"
Along with some of my old poetry here: aumha.org/a/poems.htm
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Thank you, Jim.
This touched my heart, striking deeply :
10. I am alone, in a cold, grey, desolate land. There is no other to be found, no companion to ease the going. Yet Thou art the Light I bear (even when I know it not), and the strong, single staff that supporteth me.
and yet:
16. Think not to hide from me, O belovéd One, in thy grotesqueries. I see Thee behind thy mask. It is thy lovely body which I love beneath these motley veils, this midnight comedy; for there is none other than Thee to my eyes, my taste, my touch.
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Simply red.
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